Spicy tuna fried rice with canned tuna, eggs, and vegetables. A simple and delicious meal that’s ready in about 20 minutes.
Today's recipe makes a great quick lunch or dinner, delicious tuna fried rice made with some of our favorite pantry staples: canned tuna, corn, rice, and eggs. A great way of using leftover rice or any vegetables you might have forgotten in your crisper drawer.
Check out more fried rice recipes: Fried Rice with Turkey, Pork Belly Rice, Fried Rice with Spam and Eggs, and Ketchup Fried Rice.
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Recipe ingredients
Long-grain white rice like Basmati or Jasmine.
- Cook the grains one day ahead or use leftover rice.
- For a change, you can use brown rice or a mix of Basmati and wild rice; the dish will be chewier and nuttier.
Canned tuna
- Either tuna in brine or oil. Drain well before adding it to the pan.
- You might need one can of tuna or two, depending on their size. You should be OK with something between 5.5 - 7 oz (150 - 200 g); a little more or less is ok.
Vegetables:
- I used some typical fried rice vegetables: carrots, onions, corn, and scallions. However, the sky is the limit; you can use other veggies you like. See below for more ideas.
Sauce ingredients: Soy and fish sauce, sesame oil, and ground black pepper.
Garnish with green or spring onions and sesame seeds (preferably toasted).
Step-by-step instructions
- Get everything ready: Chop the vegetables and drain the corn and the fish (separately). Whisk the eggs with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Cook eggs: Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a wok or a large frying pan. Pour in the whisked eggs (1) and cook them for a few minutes until cooked yet still slightly wet (2). You should not overcook them. Transfer to a plate.
- Cook the vegetables in another tablespoon of oil for about 2 minutes (3).
- Add rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and drained tuna. Stir fry on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until the contents of the pan are hot (4).
- You can adjust the taste with a bit of salt and pepper, but it probably won’t be necessary; the soy sauce and fish sauce are salty enough.
- Add the chopped scrambled eggs and fold in gently (5).
- Garnish with the chopped green onions and sesame seeds, and serve immediately.
Additions
- There are lots of other vegetables you can add to tuna fried rice.
- How about bell pepper, garlic, zucchini, mushrooms, peas, sugar snap peas, broccoli, or cauliflower? I also love using diced eggplant, but in this case, ensure that you cook it long enough before adding the rest of the ingredients; eggplants should always be soft.
- Replace the scrambled eggs with one fried egg per serving.
- Another sauce: Replace the soy sauce mixture with your favorite stir-fry sauce. The egg-fried rice will have another flavor, but it will still taste great.
- Make it spicy: Add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, sriracha, sambal oelek, or another hot chili sauce.
Expert Tips
- Use day-old rice. Cool it quickly and refrigerate it in an airtight container until ready to fry. Only chilled rice that’s been cooked a day ahead will have the nice chewy texture that fried rice should have. Just-cooked grains will turn soggy during frying.
- Prepare all the vegetables and drain the tuna before you start cooking. Once the cooking begins, everything will go super-fast, and you will not have the time to chop things in between.
- Don’t overcook the veggies, especially the carrots should not be super-soft; they are better when they are slightly crunchy.
Recipe FAQ
Long-grain rice, like Basmati or Jasmine. For best results, cook it one day ahead.
Yes.
Refrigerate the tuna fried rice in an airtight container; it will be fine for about 3 days.
Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and reheat before serving.
Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
How to serve?
Serve with some extra sauce if you like it. A bit of sriracha, sweet or hot chili sauce, or even ketchup is excellent.
Side dish ideas: Salad with vinaigrette or yogurt dressing or steamed vegetables like pak choi, spinach, kale, broccoli, peas, etc.
More tuna recipes
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📖 Recipe
Simple Tuna Fried Rice
Equipment
- Wok or large frying pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked rice day old, about 350 g/ 12 oz, Notes 12, 3
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- ½ cup carrots diced, about 50 g/ 1.8 oz
- ½ cup corn canned, about 50 g/ 1.8 oz
- 1 onion small, finely chopped
- 1 can tuna Notes 4, 5
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1 small bunch of parsley
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds roasted
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables: Chop the onions finely, peel and dice the carrots, and drain the canned corn. Set aside.
- Cook eggs: Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large pan. Cook the eggs until set yet slightly undercooked; they should not be completely dry. Remove them from the pan.
- Cook vegetables: Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Cook the vegetables on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes.
- Fry rice: Add the cooked rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and drained tuna. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until the rice and tuna are hot.
- Adjust the taste if necessary. Gently fold in the chopped scrambled eggs.
- Stir in the chopped green onions and parsley. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Notes
- Long-grain white rice, Basmati, or Jasmine rice are all great.
- The rice should be cooked one day in advance and chilled.
- To get 3 cups of cooked rice, you will need to cook about 1 ⅓ cups of rice.
- Cans of tuna often differ in size. You will need about 150-200 g of drained tuna; a little more or less is ok.
- You can use tuna in brine or tuna in oil.
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