Name: Chicken Un-Fried Rice
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 cups brown rice (soaked); 1 tbsp avocado oil; ½ medium-sized red onion (chopped); 1 red bell pepper (chopped); 2 large carrot (peeled and chopped); 5 cloves garlic (minced); 3 1/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water; ¼ cup liquid aminos; 2 cups peas; 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (chopped into bite sizes)

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One-Pot Chicken Un-Fried Rice is a super easy one-pot meal ready in 40 minutes or less! All the flavors of classic fried rice made a little cleaner with a little less prep and cleanup.

One-pot chicken un-fried rice. Should we make this a thing??

You may be wondering what exactly is un-fried rice?

Well, I’m just making it up as I go along, but from my invention, it’s simply steamed rice that tastes like fried rice but requires zero technique or fancy tricks.

It’s a lazy Julia meal is what it is.

You’ve seen the one-pot wonder in the past in my Instant Pot Rosemary Lemon Chicken and Rice and my One-Pot Indian Chicken Biryani.

Traditional fried rice is made using leftover steamed white rice. It’s fried up in a wok or skillet with green onions, garlic, egg, soy sauce, and whatever else fits the style of the person cooking.

And it is absolutely delicious. Hands down one of my favorite dishes.

While I have a plethora of fried rice recipes on my site, I thought it would be fun to make a one-pot meal out of it for a couple of reasons.

First, not everyone (myself included!) has the forethought to have leftover rice on hand so making fried rice right when you want it in one pot for minimal cleanup is just convenient.

Secondly, less oil or flash cooking is needed, so you’re ending up with a lower fat version of Chinese-inspired fried rice.

Plus, because we’re already taking this one-pot approach, I use brown rice for added fiber and slow-burning carbs.

While I’m a huge fan of white rice, I stick with brown rice (sprouted brown rice, to be exact) the majority of the time because it has less impact on the blood sugar. Plus, I’m super into the texture of brown rice, how about you??

Since we’re talking ingredients, let’s dive deeper into this one pot situation.

Ingredients for Chicken Un-Fried Rice:

Brown Rice: The rice portion of this un-fried rice fest. This is one of my contributions to making fried rice an everyday kind of affair versus an every once in a while thing. Complex carbs, lean protein, spritz of veg? Off we go!

If you prefer white rice, you can absolutely use white rice instead! The recipe will take less time to cook so either follow the cook time on the package of rice you’re using or eyeball it – you’ll know it’s done when the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken is cooked through.

Avocado Oil: Used to sauté the vegetables, I use avocado oil for its neutral flavor and high smoke point. If you prefer using olive oil or coconut oil, make the swap!

Onion, Garlic, Red Bell Pepper, Carrots, Peas: The flavor, texture and color makers! Onion and garlic give a tremendous amount of flavor to any dish and I love the texture of the bell pepper, carrots and peas. If you love green onion, chop it up and serve it on the rice once it’s finished. Feel free to add in any additional veggies for extra credit.

Chicken Broth: Used to cook this whole thing together, chicken broth brings flavor to the dish without any additional effort. If you’re fresh out of broth, you can use water – just note the rice will taste less rich.

Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce: That ingredient that makes fried rice fried rice! I use liquid aminos but soy sauce is identical in flavor so you can make that substitution if you’d like. Add it to taste – some folks (like me) like a lot, and some people prefer less. Remember that liquid aminos and soy sauce are very salty, so proceed with caution if you’re adding additional salt.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: Protein! We chop up some boneless skinless chicken breasts and add them in part-way through the cooking process.

If you want to make this dish extra easy on yourself, you can add the chicken along with the rest of the ingredients rather than waiting, but it will more than likely be a bit tough.

So let’s do it!

How to Make Chicken Un-Fried Rice:

Soak the brown rice in water for at least 15 minutes (ideally several hours…up to 24). Drain the water completely and set aside.

Add the avocado oil to a large thick-bottomed pot and heat to medium-high. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes.

Add the rice and chicken broth, cover, and bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the chopped chicken and peas, stir well, replace the cover and cook for another 20 to 35 minutes or until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through.