Ground Turkey Fried Rice

Who needs takeaway when you can make the most delicious fried rice recipe at home? This ground turkey fried rice recipe combines savoury ground turkey, rice and plenty of veggies for one incredibly easy and yummy dish.

If you’re a carb fan (like me) and just love ground turkey and veggies, then this ground turkey fried rice recipe is for you!

What is it about fried rice? I mean, it’s quite simple, but does it ever taste good!

Plus, it’s such a great way to use leftover rice and turn it into something extra special.

Unlike my pineapple shrimp fried rice, I didn’t add scrambled egg to the fried rice. It’s definitely quite common to do so, though, and you certainly can add should you wish. Another delicious option is to add a fried egg over top upon serving (so good!).

How To Make Ground Turkey Fried Rice

Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

1. Heat some vegetable oil in a wok, add the ground turkey and cook until it’s fully cooked through.
2. Stir in ginger, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and cabbage. Cook until the veggies are tender-crisp.
3. Add cooked (and cooled) rice and a soy sauce mixture (soy sauce, sriracha, sesame oil and fish sauce).
4. Stir everything together and cook until the rice has heated through.

Tip: Ensure your bell pepper is diced small and the carrot and cabbage is thinly sliced so everything cooks quickly!

What Type of Rice Should I Use?

Leftover cold rice is what you’re looking for with fried rice, whether it’s day-old or freshly made and cooled. You can, for example, cook some rice, spread it out in an even layer onto a sheet pan and pop it into the fridge for about 30 minutes until it’s cool and dried out a bit before using in your fried rice. The former is great, especially if you have a mad hankering for fried rice and don’t have any day-old on hand. (Story of my life over here. Ha!)

You don’t want to use just freshly cooked and hot rice here because it’s too mushy and just not optimal for fried rice. Day-old or cooled rice works best because it’s a little drier and will give you a better end result.

I really enjoy using a long-grain or medium-grain rice, like Jasmine rice or medium-grain white rice.

Tip: If using day-old rice, in particular, it’s probably inevitable that your leftover rice will be a little clumpy once it gets cold (from being in the fridge and likely packed into an airtight container). When making fried rice, you don’t want those clumps, you want to see the individual grains of rice. Just make sure you break up any big clump of rice as best you can before adding to the wok. It should further break up as you’re cooking and stirring it.

No Wok? No Problem!

I love to use a wok when making fried rice, but it’s not necessary! Use a large sauté or frying pan.

What To Serve With It

The possibilities are endless! If you want to create quite the feast, any of these are delicious served with fried rice:

• Dumplings
• Egg rolls
• Wonton soup
• Hot and sour soup
• Chicken teriyaki
• Beef and broccoli

Garnish Ideas

• Fried egg
• Chili oil
• Sliced chili pepper
• Sliced green onion
• Sesame seeds

Tips for Making Fried Rice

• As mentioned, cold rice is best because it’s a little drier and tends to cook up better in fried rice than, say, freshly made (and still hot) rice.
• Prep all your ingredients before you start cooking. This fried rice recipe comes together quickly, so you want to have your ingredients ready to go.
• Everyone has a different preference for seasoning. I didn’t add salt because the soy sauce mixture has plenty of salt in it for me. However, if you want a little more seasoning, you could add some salt to taste.
• Don’t have ground turkey on hand? Try this recipe with ground chicken.

More Yummy Ground Turkey Recipes

• Ground Turkey Rice Bowls
• Cheesy Ground Turkey Quesadillas
• Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes

If you make this ground turkey fried rice recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!