Need a quick and easy dinner idea for busy weeknights? Fried rice is where it’s at! And this pineapple fried rice in particular is loaded with flavor and comes together in under 30 minutes. There is a catch though: you need to have some leftover cooked rice on hand. Leftover rice always makes the best, most delicious, crispiest fried rice. Trust me. Tip: Plan ahead next time you’re making rice — cook some extra so that you can make fried rice later in the week.
What You’ll Need
Oil. The recipe calls for canola oil, but any high-heat oil will do! Feel free to use peanut, vegetable, or corn oil.Pineapple. Fresh pineapple is ideal, but I can’t see why canned wouldn’t work in a pinch.Scallions.Garlic. Fresh ginger.Red bell pepper. An orange or yellow bell pepper would also work just fine in this recipe.Cooked rice. Fried rice always works best with rice that’s a day or two old and has been chilling in the fridge. Most varieties of brown or white rice work just fine in this recipe. Jasmine is my personal favorite!Soy sauce. Or substitute gluten-free tamari if you’d like.Sriracha sauce. Skip this for a milder version of the dish.Frozen edamame. Look for shelled edamame. Substitute with peas if you can’t find this.Fresh basil.Roasted peanuts.
How to Make Pineapple Fried Rice
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Heat up some oil in a skillet, then add diced pineapple. Pineapple needs a little bit more time to cook at a lower temperature than everything else, which is why we’ll be cooking it separately. Cook the pineapple until the pieces become tender and start to brown, then remove it from the skillet.Add some more oil and your aromatics: garlic, ginger and the white parts of some scallions. Cook them for just a minute, until the mixture becomes very fragrant.Raise the heat, add your bell pepper and stir-fry it for a minute. It’ll just barely soften up in that time. Tip: always use high heat and flip your veggies constantly when stir-frying.Add your rice, soy sauce, and sriracha. I highly recommend adding the rice cold, straight from the fridge — this will help it to cook up nice and crispy!
Stir-fry everything for a few minutes, until the rice starts to dry out and get crispy. This should take five minutes or so.Add your cooked pineapple and edamame to the skillet. Cook everything for just about a minute more, to heat up the edamame.
Take your skillet off of the heat and add the green parts of your scallions, some basil and chopped peanuts.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover fried rice will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days (depending on how old your rice was to start with).
More Fried Rice Recipes
Vegan Fried RiceCurry Fried Rice with Scrambled TofuBrussels Sprout Fried RiceKimchi Fried RiceJapanese Fried Rice
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