uncategorized / October 12, 2018

Easy Low Calorie Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

Two years ago, I took the leap and decided I officially wanted to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, I wasn’t ready to give up all of the things I loved! Fried rice is amazing and so tasty and I just wasn’t ready to give that up! Of course, cooking at home is always healthier than eating out, so I decided to experiment at home making fried rice until I came up with something I thought tasted delicious and was still a healthier alternative. This chicken fried rice is the perfect lunch or dinner and it’s so quick and easy to make!

Serves 4
257 calories per serving
7.5 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs & 20 grams of protein per serving

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of cooked white rice (about 2 bags of Uncle Ben’s Boil-in-Bag Rice)
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
Pam Butter Flavor Spray
1/2 lb chicken breast (feel free to use a whole pound if you want to up your protein. One pound would make this recipe 320 calories per serving)
2 Tbsp Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste & Glaze
3 eggs
1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1/4 cup Low Sodium Kikkoman Soy Sauce
*Optional – garlic powder to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring water in a pot to a boil. Once it’s boiling, put the bags of rice in and boil for ten minutes.
2. While the rice is boiling, cut the chicken into bite size pieces (as seen below).

3. Once the rice is done boiling, put the bags into a strainer and drain excess water into the sink. Let the strainer sit on the counter to allow the rice to cool down.
4. Dice the onions. You don’t have to use as many onions as I mentioned here. Do what you feel is best for you! I love onions, so I like to load up!

5. Time to cook the chicken! Pour the sesame oil into a big pan and add in the chicken. Cook the chicken for two minutes on each side on medium heat. Add in the Teriyaki Glaze, raise the temperature to medium high heat, and cook for two more minutes while stirring. This allows the chicken to really soak up that glaze. It also lets the chicken get a bit crispy on the outside, while staying tender on the inside.

6. Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside.
7. Add in your diced onions and cook on low heat. My stove settings go to a ten, so I usually set this to a two or three.
8. While the onions are cooking, in a separate pan, cook the eggs. Spray the pan with Pam Butter Flavor Spray (0 calories!) and scramble your eggs.
9. Once the eggs are done, add the eggs and chicken back to the pan with the onions and raise the heat to medium. Cook for 1 minute.

10. Cut the rice out of the bags and add to the pan. Mix it in until the eggs, chicken, and onions are spread evenly throughout the rice.
11. Add in the 1/4 cup of soy sauce.

12. Mix everything around in the pan until the soy sauce is distributed evenly.
13. This step is optional. I was inspired by Benihana’s Fried Rice – they use garlic butter, which I love! However, it’s super unhealthy. In this step, sprinkle a bit of garlic powder on top. Just make sure you mix it in the same way you mixed in the soy sauce so it’s distributed evenly.

14. Once I’m done, I turn off the stove. Then I like to pat down the rice flat and evenly in the pan. This makes it easier to make even servings. Once it’s all patted down, I use the spatula to divide it like a pizza.

And that’s it! Super simple. This is my go to if I’m feeling lazy or don’t have much time to cook, but I still don’t want to eat something unhealthy. Feel free to add more veggies to this dish, like carrots or peas! I like my fried rice a bit more simple.