Simple Tuna Fried Rice

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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 Spam and Eggs and Ketchup Fried Rice.

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

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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