Budget egg-fried rice

Budget egg-fried rice
Prepare
less than 30 mins
Cook
10 to 30 mins
Serve
Serves 2

Egg fried rice makes a brilliant, and economical supper. You can add any fresh, frozen or leftover cooked vegetables or cubes of cooked meat. It’s a great way to use up odds and ends from the fridge to save waste.

This recipe is part of a budget meal plan for two. In September 2023, this recipe was costed at an average of £2.61 when checking prices at four UK supermarkets. It is designed to be made in conjunction with a low-cost store-cupboard.

By Justine Pattison

Shopping list

Ingredients

  • 100g/3½oz frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 pepper, any colour, deseeded and diced
  • 4–5 spring onions, trimmed and sliced, including lots of the green end
  • 3 free-range eggs, beaten
  • 250g/9oz cooked and cooled long grain rice
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce (preferably dark), plus extra to serve
Recipe tips

Method

  1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and cook the peas for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.

  2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the pepper over a medium-high heat for 4 minutes, stirring. Add the spring onions and cook for 1 minute more, stirring.

  3. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the remaining oil to the other. Pour the beaten eggs into the frying pan, away from the vegetables and scramble over a medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula until softly cooked.

  4. Add the cooked rice and peas to the pan and mix all the ingredients lightly. Cook together for 5–10 minutes or until everything is steaming hot, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce and toss together well before serving, with extra soy to sprinkle.

Recipe tips

If you don’t have any spring onions, you can use half a finely chopped brown onion instead, and fry at the same time as the pepper.

This dish isn’t quite as crispy as traditional egg fried rice as the rice is warm when it is used.

Sometimes cheaper long grain rice cooks more quickly, so be prepared to add the peas once the rice has been cooking for about 8 minutes instead of 10.

It is best to use cooked and cooled rice for this recipe.