The Vegetable Fried Rice recipe is a quick and flavorful Indo-Chinese dish that comes together in just 20 minutes using an Instant Pot pressure cooker or stovetop. It's perfect for weeknight dinners or lunchboxes and is Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, and Kid-approved!
Growing up in India, I often enjoyed Indo-Chinese Fried Rice at street stalls and restaurants, along with Gobi Manchurian, Chili Paneer, and Hakka Noodles for a complete and flavorful meal.
The traditional recipe is made with cooked or leftover rice. It was one of my favorites, and I often packed it for lunch when I was working. This dish is easy to prepare, packed with veggies, and full of flavor. If you like this recipe, you may also like my paneer fried rice, and burnt garlic fried rice.
You can make this vegetable fried rice on the stovetop wok, pan, or Instant Pot. When I am in a hurry to make my weekday lunch or dinner, I make this one-pot Indian Chinese fried rice in Instant Pot 6 QT Pressure Cooker. It is so easy to make and takes less than 20 minutes.
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Ingredients for Veg Fried Rice Recipe
You will need the following ingredients to make a vegetable fried rice recipe.
- Rice: Use long-grain, and fragrant rice like basmati rice or jasmine rice to make fried rice for the best texture and flavor. I used basmati rice for the stovetop fried rice version and jasmine rice for the instant pot version. Adjust the water accordingly.
- Onion: I prefer to use the white part of spring onions or scallions. You can also use sweet onion.
- Garlic and ginger: Use freshly minced garlic and ginger for the best flavor.
- Vegetables: I used carrots, bell pepper, green beans, and cabbage in this recipe. You may also add other veggies like green peas, sweet corn, broccoli, and mushrooms.
- Soy sauce: I used light soy sauce. If you are looking for gluten-free, you can use tamari or coconut aminos.
- Vinegar: I like to add white vinegar (or rice vinegar), as it adds a slight tang to the rice and elevates the flavors.
How to Make Vegetable Fried Rice
Stovetop Method
Prep:
Pressure cook 1 cup of basmati rice with 1 ¼ cups of water and let it cool completely. Learn how to cook Basmati rice in Instant Pot. You can keep the cooked rice in the refrigerator to get extra-firm rice if you prefer. You can also use leftover rice for this recipe.
Also, chop the vegetables and keep them ready.
Stir Fry:
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add 3 garlic cloves (minced) and stir fry for a few seconds.
Then add ½ cup white spring onions, 1-2 green chili (slit lengthwise), ½ inch ginger (minced), and saute on high, for about a minute till onions are slightly soft.
Add 1- 1 ½ cups diced mixed vegetables (carrot, green beans, bell peppers, and cabbage) and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes on high heat till they are tender and crisp. Do not overcook the veggies.
Add the cooked basmati rice, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, salt, and ground black pepper. Gently toss the rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until heated through.
Finally, garnish with ¼ cup of spring onion greens.
Serve vegetable fried rice hot with a side of gobi manchurian.
Instant Pot Method
Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Heat oil, add minced garlic, and saute for 30 seconds or until aromatic.
Next, add the onions, ginger and saute for about 2 minutes till the onions turn soft.
Add the mixed vegetables, rinsed jasmine rice, vegetable broth (or water), salt, and mix well. Deglaze the pot by scraping the bits stuck to the bottom to avoid a BURN notice.
Close the lid securely, and turn the vent to "SEALING". Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL (High Pressure) setting and set the cooking time to 4 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure before removing the lid.
Add soy sauce, white vinegar, black pepper powder, and salt if needed. Toss everything well.
Sprinkle sliced spring onions just before serving. Instant Pot Indian Vegetable Fried Rice is ready to enjoy with gobi manchurian.
Note: The color of this instant pot veg fried rice is a little dark because, I used dark soy sauce here.
Serving Suggestions
You can enjoy veg fried rice on its own since they are flavorful. But they also taste great with Indo-Chinese side dishes like
Storage Suggestions
- Store: Leftover veg fried rice will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Let it cool completely, and then store it in an airtight container.
- Reheat: Sprinkle some water and reheat the fried rice in a wok or skillet on medium heat, stirring occasionally. You can also microwave it for a few seconds until it warms through.
Variations for Fried Rice
- Rice: You can use either basmati or jasmine rice, in this recipe. Rice to water ratio will vary for each rice type. For example, for Basmati (1 rice:1 ¼ water), and jasmine rice (1 rice:1 ¼ water).
- Protein: Add ½ cup of crumbled paneer (Indian cottage cheese), scrambled tofu, or eggs.
- Spicy: Add either crushed red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of sriracha or schezwan sauce.
- Oil: You can use sesame oil or olive oil.
- Other Vegetables: You can also add green peas, broccoli, edamame, and mushrooms.
Tips to make the Best Fried Rice
- Use cold pre-cooked (or a day older) rice, It holds up the shape and is perfect for homemade fried rice.
- Always use non-mushy rice.
- Always stir-fry the vegetables on high heat.
- Try to use low-sodium soy sauce, and if you are looking for gluten-free, use Tamari or also Coconut Aminos to replace the regular soy sauce, and it’s the best!
Recipe FAQs
Long-grain white rice, like basmati rice and jasmine rice, works well for vegetable fried rice. They hold up their shape and are great for stir fry. I do not recommend using sushi rice, risotto rice, or paella rice.
You can also add the following vegetables after pressure cooking.
- Mushrooms
- Green Peas
- Broccoli
- Snap peas
Yes, you can. If you are making this using a pressure cooker, then add these frozen vegetables after pressure cooking and mix them well with sauces.
Yes, this veg fried rice is vegan. Substitute soy sauce with Tamari or Coconut Aminos to make gluten-free fried rice.
More Indo-Chinese Recipes
Vegetable Fried Rice (Stovetop & Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice (or jasmine rice)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or sesame oil)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup white onion chopped
- ½ inch ginger minced
- 1-2 green chili slit lengthwise
- 1- 1 ½ cups mixed vegetables (carrot, green beans, bell peppers and cabbage) finely diced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- salt and black pepper powder to taste
- 1 ¼ cups water (depends on rice variety) (or vegetable broth)
- ¼ cup green onions
For Garnish
- 2 tablespoons green onions
Instructions
Stovetop Method
Prep:
- Cook the basmati rice and let it cool completely. Learn how to cook Basmati rice in Instant Pot. You can keep the cooked rice in the refrigerator to get extra-firm rice if you prefer. You can also use leftover rice for this recipe.Also, chop the vegetables and keep them ready.
Stir Fry:
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add finely chopped garlic and stir fry for a few seconds.
- Then add white spring onions, green chili, ginger, and saute on high, for about a minute till onions are slightly soft.
- Add the chopped vegetables and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes on high heat till they are tender and crisp. Do not overcook the veggies.
- Add the cooked basmati rice, light soy sauce, white vinegar, salt, and ground black pepper. Gently toss the rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until heated through.
- Finally, garnish with spring onion greens.
- Serve vegetable fried rice hot with a side of Gobi Manchurian.
Instant Pot Method
- Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Heat oil, add minced garlic, and saute for 30 secs or until aromatic.
- Next, add the onions, ginger, and green chili (optional) and saute for about 2 minutes till the onions turn soft.
- Add the mixed vegetables, rinsed jasmine rice, vegetable broth (or water), salt, and mix well. Deglaze the pot by scraping the bits stuck to the bottom to avoid a BURN notice.
- Close the lid securely, and turn the vent to "SEALING". Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL (High Pressure) setting and set the cooking time to 4 minutes.When the instant pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure before removing the lid.
- Add soy sauce, white vinegar, black pepper powder, and salt if needed. Toss everything well.
- Sprinkle sliced spring onions just before serving. Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Indian Vegetable Fried Rice is ready to enjoy with Gobi Manchurian.
Notes
Variations for Fried Rice
- Rice: You can use either basmati or jasmine rice, in this recipe. Rice to water ratio will vary for each rice type. For example, for Basmati (1 rice:1 ¼ water), and jasmine rice (1 rice:1 ¼ water).
- Protein: Add ½ cup of crumbled paneer (cottage cheese), scrambled tofu, or eggs.
- Spicy: Add either crushed red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of sriracha or schezwan sauce.
- Oil: You can also use sesame oil or coconut oil for this recipe.
- Other Vegetables: You can also add green peas, broccoli, edamame and mushrooms.
Tips to make the Best Fried Rice
- Use cold pre-cooked (or a day older) rice, It holds up the shape and is perfect for homemade fried rice.
- Always use non-mushy rice.
- Always stir-fry the vegetables on high heat.
- Try to use low-sodium soy sauce, and if you are looking for gluten-free, use Tamari or also Coconut Aminos to replace the regular soy sauce, and it’s the best!
Nutrition
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Anne
Hi! Can you use brown basmati rice?
Bhavana Patil
Hi Anne, you can use brown basmati rice too if you are making stovetop version, its just that it will little chewy. I do not recommend making the onepot version because it takes 22-24 minutes for the brown basmati rice cook in the instant pot, veggies will get mushed.Hope this helps.
Kate
Could you use quinoa in this recipe instead of rice? If so how do you adjust for cooking time and ratios?
Bhavana Patil
Hi Kate, Yes, you can definitely make it with quinoa. Cooking time for quinoa would be 2 minutes on HIgh pressure and Natural pressure release. for 1 cup of quinoa, add 11/4 cup of water. One of my Instant Pot quinoa recipe for reference https://www.indianveggiedelight.com/vegetable-quinoa-pulao/
Kim Lippy
Question...before I make this, could you tell me please, what is fried about this fried rice?
Bhavana Patil
Hi Kim, Traditional veg fried rice is made in the Wok, where veggie are first sauteed till tender, and cooked rice is added and tossed with sauces and seasoning. But this is a one pot pressure cooker fried rice recipe. Hope this helps
Cheryl Northrup
I made this tonight amd my husband loved it. The jasmine rice was mushy, though. I accidentally used too much water; could that be why? I added soy curls to make it more filling, and don't use oil. I will definitely use it again, probably with brown rice, which s what I usually use. Definitely a keeper; thank you! I'm also very interested in finding a biryani recipe similar to what we had in Manila-we loved it and want to replicate it.
Bhavana Patil
Thanks for your feedback Cheryl. Yeah excess water made it mushy for sure. This is my favorite Biryani recipe from my blog Vegetable Biryani which is restaurant-style one ... But I do have more Biryani options on my blog, Do check them out 🙂
Charlotte
Hello, do you suggest adding egg before or after pressure cooking? Thanks.
bhavana
Hi Charlotte ,I would recommend adding scrambled egg after pressure cooking.
You can push some cooked fried rice to side ,turn on the SAUTE mode and break an egg in the middle of the pot.cook for sometime and mix with the rice.Hope this helps.
Krissy
Are you using fresh or frozen veggies?
bhavana
Hi Krissy, I have used fresh carrots and frozen peas and corn here.