This easy, one-pot Ham Fried Rice recipe is perfect for using up holiday leftovers! Fried rice is a delicious and quick weeknight dinner that’s so easy to customize with whatever you have on hand.

Ham Fried Rice is a delicious, filling, easy-to-make, one-pot recipe that makes the best use of leftovers. It makes a perfectly balanced, nutritious meal with protein, veggies and rice. This fried rice recipe is just as good as any takeout place! All you need is a handful of ingredients and 20 minutes and dinner is on the table.

Ham Fried Rice: The Best Way to Use Up Leftovers

I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely swimming in Thanksgiving leftovers. As much as I love ham, I can only eat so many ham sandwiches before I’m itching for something different. Finding creative ways to use up leftovers in new meals is one of my favorite challenges! Reinventing leftovers is a fun and satisfying game and created this incredible Ham and Potato Soup. But one recipe isn’t enough!

Enter: ham fried rice! Fried rice is my go-to way to use up bits of veggies, leftover rice, and leftover meats for a delicious, filling, and simple dinner. It’s great as a side dish, but you can also totally make a meal of it. If you want to use this as a side dish, try it alongside by Thai Basil Chicken for a complete meal.

Ham Fried Rice checks all the flavor boxes. It’s smoky from the crispy ham, hearty from the veggies and rice, and has tons of umami flavor. Leftover GLAZED HAM adds the perfect amount of smoky and savory flavor. I could honestly eat fried rice for dinner every night and be so happy. Once you try this recipe, it’ll be a go-to for you year round!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

One Pot – This recipe is entirely made in one pot! I love any dinner that saves me from tons of clean up. You’re going to love how easy this ham fried rice recipe is.

Quick and Easy – This recipe only needs a handful of ingredients and 20 minutes! This is the perfect dinner recipe for busy weeknights.

Uses up leftovers – If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy eating the same thing over and over again, this is a great way to transform your Thanksgiving leftovers. You could also add in some diced turkey or chicken for extra protein.

Customizable – This is a great recipe for using up extra veggies you may have! The classics here are carrot, onion, green onion, and peas but you could also add chopped up green beans, broccoli, cabbage, etc.

How to Make Ham Fried Rice

I highly recommend investing in a quality nonstick wok for making Ham Fried Rice. It’s also one of my most used pans in my kitchen and is perfect for frying up noodles, rice, and large stir fries.

Tools Needed

• Nonstick Wok
• Sharp Knife
• Cutting Board

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Rice. Day-old long grain white rice is best here! My favorite is basmati because it’s less sticky than jasmine and you end up with nice separated grains.
• Ham. I used leftover glazed ham for this recipe, but you could also purchase a ham steak and dice it up.
• Veggies. Onions, carrots, green onion, and peas create the flavor base here. You could also use some leeks, corn, cabbage, or green beans, etc.
• Garlic. Garlic makes everything better!
• Eggs. It’s not fried rice without some eggs scrambled in.
• Soy sauce and oyster sauce. You don’t need a lot of liquid for Ham Fried Rice but the soy sauce and oyster sauce add tons of umami and flavor.
• Japanese Mayo. I had fried rice at a restaurant once and they drizzled it with kewpie (Japanese mayo) before it came out and I’m never going back!
• Furikake. Furikake is a dry Japanese condiment that has dried seaweed, sesame seeds, katsuobushi (smoked fish), and sometimes dried wasabi. It’s great for sprinkling and adds tons of flavor.

The Process

1. Crisp up the ham. Heat the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the diced ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy. This helps develop flavor in the fried rice.
2. Add the veggies. Once the ham is browned, add the onion, carrot, and green onions to the wok. Cook until the veggies are starting to brown and soften.
3. Add the day-old rice. Mix the rice into the ham and veggies and stir so that the rice really gets mixed in. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.
4. Scramble the eggs. Move all the rice to one side of the pan, leaving a gap on the other side and lower the heat to medium. Add the eggs to the pan in that space and season with salt and pepper. Once the eggs are mostly cooked through, use a silicone spatula to break them up and incorporate them into the rice.
5. Finish the ham fried rice. Add the peas, soy sauce, and oyster sauce and stir well. Cook until the soy sauce has absorbed into the rice. Stir in the rest of the green onions and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with furikake, if desired and serve with a drizzle of Japanese mayo.

Using Day-Old Rice for Ham Fried Rice

It’s important to use leftover or day-old rice for fried rice because it’s had a chance to dry out a bit and therefore will cook and absorb sauce without becoming overcooked and mushy. If you use fresh rice for fried rice, it will still taste great but the texture will be too soft to really be enjoyable.

If you don’t have leftover rice, steam your rice according to your rice cooker’s instructions and then spread it out on a baking sheet in the fridge for an hour or two to dry it out a bit.

Customizing Ham Fried Rice

Ham Fried Rice is such a great recipe for using up holiday leftovers! Here are some ways to customize this soup to your tastes and ingredient availability.

Add more protein. You could add diced chicken, turkey, or diced bacon to the fried rice to make it extra hearty. Don’t forget the leftover chopped ham!

Add veggies. Onions, carrots, peas, and green onions make up the fried rice base here. You could also saute in some sliced leeks for more flavor. Some other great veggies would be corn, green beans, cabbage, snow peas, or chopped broccoli.

Add some fresh herbs. Green onion is great, but you could also stir in some Thai or regular basil or cilantro for a fresh punch of flavor.

Storing, Freezing, and Reheating Ham Fried Rice

Ham Fried Rice is a freezer-friendly meal that is so easy to store! If you find that you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can reheat the fried rice in the microwave in increments until heated through.

To freeze: Allow ham fried rice to cool completely and store it in a freezer safe bag, pushing all the air out before zipping closed. This helps prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator overnight before rewarming. 

More One-Pan Recipes to Try Now

Creamy Pumpkin Tortellini
Caramelized Shallot Pasta
Tomato and Burrata Gnocchi
Red Beans and Rice

This post contains affiliate links from which I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links allow me to keep providing great recipes for free and I never recommend products that I don’t love and personally own.