Ham Fried Rice

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about this pineapple ham fried rice recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: you will be able to get everything you need to make this fried rice with ham recipe from your local grocery store. They are year round available ingredients that will be easy to get your hands on. Plus the added bonus is that this is a great recipe to use up leftover holiday ham!
• Chinese food: yup you know what I am saying 😉👍. There is the sauce, the juicy add ins and the fried egg. There is so much to love about it!!
• Leftover ham: this recipe offers the perfect way to use ham leftovers where the finished product is a lot different to how you served the ham in the 1st place.
• Budget friendly: this one pan fried rice recipe works out a lot cheaper than ordering from your favorite Chinese restaurant. So you can put your phone away, head to the kitchen and cook up a feast that won't break the bank 😉👌.
• Versatile: whilst I am showing you a basic ham and pineapple fried rice combo, there is a wide variety of options available. You can use your favorite add ins, creating a combination style fried rice that will be a family favorite.
• Take out food: nothing screams 'the weekend' more than wanting to have a cheat meal or dinner that you wouldn't dream of having throughout the week. Chinese take out ticks a lot of Friday, Saturday or Sunday boxes for good reason. With 20 minutes of your time, you have this easy fried rice and therefore dinner sorted without leaving home or waiting for it to be delivered.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make this easy ham fried rice recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Peanut oil: this is a great oil to use in Asian recipes.
• Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning in the recipe. Cooking salt (kosher salt) is the best type to use.
• Garlic: 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, chunky chopped garlic (as shown above) or minced garlic will all work well for the recipe.
• Sesame oil: a lovely light aromatic oil that brings flavor to the savory sauce.
• Soy sauce: this is regular sushi style soy sauce.
• Oyster sauce: thick and salty. Oyster sauce is very commonly used in Chinese recipes.
• Worcestershire sauce: this is my special ingredient that I like to use in many recipes! It brings a little oomph to a wade variety of dishes.
• Chinese cooking wine: also known as Shaoxing wine. You will find this in the Asian foods section of the store. It has a sweet flavor, thanks to the addition of caramel in the recipe.
• Onion: we use half of a large onion, peeled and diced.
• Bacon: store bought diced bacon is the most easiest and convenient to use.
• Eggs: we want to use free range eggs. These get whisked and then scrambled in the pan as the cooking method.
• Green onion: we want to finely slice some green onion and scatter it over the top of the fried rice as a garnish to finish off the dish.
• Frozen vegetables: I like to use a combination of frozen peas, carrot and corn. You can find this simple trio in the frozen section of the supermarket where the other vegetables are.
• Pineapple: sweet chunks of pineapple from a tin that we drain, no need to rinse.
• Ham: leftover ham from Christmas or Easter is always a good choice! You can use other store bought ham as needed in which case ham steak or ham that you can cut into chunks is the best choice, not thin sandwich style deli ham (no oomph in the rice if used😉👌).
• Day old rice: white rice that you cook the day before is the best type to use. This is because it has a great texture for fried rice. It is firmer and chewier. Basmati rice or Jasmine rice are both good choices. We add the cold rice to the pan and cover it with sauce as it heats through.

Top Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by frying off the garlic and onion.

• Add oil, garlic, onion, salt and pepper (Photo 1)
• Cook then add bacon (Photo 2)
• Add frozen vegetables (Photo 3)
• Whisk the eggs (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Ham Fried Rice

To make the ham fried rice, we start by placing a large sauté pan on the stove top, turning the heat to high and adding the peanut oil. Then add the garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Cook these for about 1 minute, allowing the onion to soften.

Next add the bacon to the pan and stir fry it off with the onion mixture. Once the bacon has been cooked slightly add the frozen peas, corn and carrot. Then cook these for 1-2 minutes, using a wooden spoon to stir and combine as you go.

🍍 Pineapple and Ham Fried Rice

Once done, crack each egg into a small bowl and use a fork to whisk. Then pour the beaten eggs into the pan and scramble them alongside the cooked vegetables.

• Add the eggs and scramble them (Photo 5)
• Then add the cooked rice (Photo 6)
• Pour the sauce over the rice (Photo 7)
• Add the pineapple chunks (Photo 8)

Once the eggs are cooked add the day old cooked rice to the pan and pour the sauce over the top as you see me doing in the photo above.

Now take a few minutes to use a wooden spoon to stir the rice mixture allowing any clumps to break down and the sauce to be consistently mixed in.

• Add the chunks of ham (Photo 9)

Now stir the rice so that the pineapple and ham get gently folded into the mix.

It won't take too long until they heat through in the pan.

Once they have garnish the dish with a sprinkling of sliced green onions like you see in the photo below.

• Heat through and garnish (Photo 10)

Now, that you are all set, call everyone to the table as 'dinner is ready!'.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

If you are looking for an on theme appetizer, the Air Fryer Spring Rolls will work.

If you want a bowl of this on the side of a juicy main, it will work well with the Tiger Prawns, Prawn Skewers, Mexican Prawns, Sweet Chilli Prawns or the Cajun Prawns.

Or if you are entertaining, serving meaty mains and want to serve this as a side dish, pair it with the Chicken Ribs, Honey Soy Pork Ribs, Beef Back Ribs or the Sticky Pork Ribs 😁👌.

It can be a complete meal in one or work alongside other dishes, so use its versatility to your preference.

This ham and pineapple fried rice will go down well with a crisp pinot gris, chilled rose or smooth pinot noir. The best thing is you will enjoy knowing exactly what ingredients have gone into it, using up leftover ham and making Chinese food from the comfort of home.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftovers in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Ham that has been frozen before unfortunately should not be refrozen.

How to Freeze

If using store bought ham that has not been frozen, you can let the dish cool then portion into freezer bags with the air pushed out or airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

How to Reheat

Let frozen portions of the fried rice fully thaw, then reheat in the microwave until warmed through.

Reheat refrigerated leftovers by placing into a bowl and covering with cling wrap. Then heat on high for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use a frying pan in place of the sauté pan. Keeping in mind we need to fit more than 4 cups of cooked rice in there, so opt for the largest one you have.
• If you want to use vegetable oil or olive oil in place of the peanut oil, you can.
• Use dark soy sauce in place of the regular soy sauce if you want the rice to be darker in colour (a little goes a long way). So a 1 tablespoon direct swap is plenty!).
• Add some sriracha sauce (hot chili sauce) if you want to make the fried rice a little bit spicy.
• You can omit the pineapple if you wish to stick to a more savory fried rice than sweet combination.
• You can use different vegetables or extra veggies to me if you wish too. Try either frozen peas or peas and corn, chopped bell peppers or fresh peeled and diced carrots.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• If you want to scramble the eggs as a separate step then add them to the pan, you can (see the Shrimp And Chicken Fried Rice recipe as the step is shown like that in that recipe 😁👍).
• Day old rice really will work better than rice cooked the same day!
• Let the cooked rice sit on the bench for a little bit when you are getting started on the recipe so that it will be at room temperature when you add it to the pan.
• Once you have added the rice to the pan if you find there are some clumps, you can put a lid on the pan for 1-2 minutes and let a few drops of condensation drop into the pan, this steaming effect will let those rice clumps break apart more easily.
• If you want to use brown rice for the recipe, you can. One thing to bear i mind is that it won't taste as similar to Chinese take out as they use white rice in their recipes.
• If you love rice based recipes then you might also like the Seafood Risotto, Steak Risotto, Scallop Risotto, Shrimp Risotto or the Prawn And Chorizo Risotto 😉👌.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ham Fried Rice made of?

Ham Fried Rice is like a Chinese restaurant fried rice with the addition of chunks of ham. It often also has pineapple, egg, mixed vegetables and a savory sauce.

Do you add egg before or after in fried rice?

Traditionally egg is added to the pan and cooked with other ingredients in the fried rice like vegetables and bacon. You can however, also cook it by scrambling it in the pan (on its own) and then add it to the rice later.

Can I use hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce?

Yes, hoisin sauce can be substituted to the equivalent amount for oyster sauce.

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

Dinner can be easy, breezy and fuss free when you have an array of recipes up your sleeve! Here are some more ideas to keep the main meal of the day satisfying and delicious.

• Chorizo Pasta Bake
• Thai Minced Pork
• Garlic Pepper Beef
• Prawn Fettuccine
• Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pasta
• Prawn Pesto Pasta
• Baked Ziti With Meatballs
• Salmon Linguine

It is time to get our Hawaiian fried rice on my friend! You can also find all of my Asian recipes or dinner ideas in the one spot.

Adrianne

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