Chicken Fried Rice with Cabbage

Cooked rice – Leftover rice or day -old rice will hold up when fried. White or brown rice are delicious options to use.

Chicken – Chicken breast or chicken thighs chopped into bite-sized pieces. Chicken thighs will be juicer but cubed breast or ground chicken or turkey could work here.

Shredded cabbage – Shredded green cabbage, coleslaw mix, or napa cabbage.

Soy sauce or liquid aminos – Liquid aminos is basically a gluten-free version of soy sauce. It has less sodium than traditional soy sauce, but either one will work for this recipe. If you need to avoid soy and gluten altogether, use tamari or coconut aminos, which is fermented coconut nectar and has a very sweet, slightly savory flavor. 

Serving suggestions – chopped spring onion, chives, or bean sprouts.  

Step one. Scramble 2 eggs with vegetable oil or butter with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside once done.

Step two. Sauté onions. To the same skillet, cook onions with a bit of oil until soft and just starting to brown. Add in cubed chicken and seasonings. Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through and browned. Add in the sliced cabbage and minced garlic. Cook for another 2 -3 minutes or until the cabbage has softened.

Step three. Fry the rice by increasing the heat, then add cooked rice and 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce or liquid aminos. Stir until everything is combined. Scrape the bottom and side of the pan and make sure the rice is well coated with the soy sauce. Add as much oil as needed and continue frying the rice until it reaches your desired crispiness.

Step four. Mix in the scrambled eggs, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then serve hot with chopped green onions. Enjoy!

You can totally use leftover day-old rice to make fried rice, but I almost always use freshly cooked rice in my Instant Pot. It always comes out perfect and it holds up really nicely when fried. 

To make Instant pot rice: Simply add 1 cup of rice and 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of water to the instant pot. Secure the lid, then press the RICE button. Set the timer to cook for 12 minutes then allow the rice to stay on the KEEP WARM setting and release the steam naturally for another 10 minutes.

Remove the Instant Pot lid then allow the rice to cool for at least 30 minutes before making fried rice.

Your cabbage needs to be cut thinly enough so it will easily cook with the fried rice. Here are a few methods to do this.

Cut a head of cabbage in half, then using a sharp chef’s knife to cut long, thin strands.

Use a mandolin. This is quicker than using a knife and cutting board. Just make sure to watch your fingers.

Use the Kitchen Aid shredder attachment. The flat slicer blade gives you the best thin slices of cabbage that cooks quickly in this fried rice recipe. Start by cutting the cabbage head into small enough chunks so they fit into the opening. It shreds a lot of cabbage in just a few minutes.