I can’t compare my fried rice with potatoes with any take-out because I’ve never had any take-out, but I can attest that it’s delicious! I prefer fried rice that’s full of tasty mix-ins with lots of different flavors and textures. The natural sweetness of peas and shrimp is the perfect balance to the deeply savory ham and earthy mushrooms. But the real stars of the show are the fluffy potatoes with their golden brown crisp exterior!

fried rice with potatoes on serving spoon

These little nuggets of deliciousness go hand in hand with the rice. There’s just something magical about combining the two. If you have tried it before you understand me, if you haven’t, you’re missing out! In one mouthful you get fragrant rice that stays firm and slightly sweet buttery tender potatoes. You get the best of both worlds. And when you add all the other mix-ins, this fried rice with potatoes simply gets fantastic!

VERSATILE RECIPE

One of the things I love the most about making fried rice with potatoes is that it’s an extremely versatile recipe. You can always follow the directions but change up the mix-ins according to your tastes or what’s in your fridge/freezer. You can use fresh mushrooms, fresh shrimp, any other proteins (poached chicken, sliced sausages, salmon fillet, ground beef,…), other vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, corn,…). As long as you use day-old long-grain rice, and that your mix-ins are cooked and warmed through before being stirred into the rice you’ll be good to go!

This is a recipe for simply seasoned fried rice with potatoes. The flavors mostly rely on salt, pepper and the deliciousness of the mix-ins. But if you prefer a more seasoned darker-looking rice, pour 1 ½ tbsp of soy sauce & 1 tbsp of Shaoxing wine (or cooking sake if unavailable) over the rice once you’ve spread it in the pan instead of using the salt & black pepper.

HOW TO MAKE IT

Making fried rice with potatoes is basically the same as making normal fried rice except that at some point you’ll have to cook potatoes before adding them to the final product. First up, wash and cook the rice the day before. Let it dry up overnight in the fridge while you also thaw the frozen ingredients. Prep the add-ins the day after and then heat up a deep nonstick frying pan.

Now all you have to do is to stir-fry the ingredients one by one until they’re cooked or just warmed through; first the eggs, then the ham, then the potatoes, etc… It usually is a matter of a few minutes for each type of ingredient, except for the potatoes which take longer to get crispy and tender.

Once one type of add-in is cooked, set it aside on a plate or into a mixing bowl and stir-fry the next one. When they’re all ready, reheat the rice by stir-frying it and stir in all the mix-ins. Serve the fried rice with potatoes immediately!

AVOID MUSHY FRIED RICE

From experience, my fried rice with potatoes got mushy when:

I made fried rice with freshly cooked rice that didn’t have time to properly drain in the colander or dry up in the fridge. The longer the cooked drained rice can stay in the fridge, the drier it will get and thus the end result will be firmer.
I didn’t cook my adds-in separately.
I didn’t cook my adds-in long enough for them to release and evaporate all of their water before being stirred into the rice.
I wasn’t heating my pan enough and so I was cooking my fried rice over a lower heat. It was taking ages to heat up the rice throughout and it was turning it gummy. The heat needs to be sufficient to actually ‘fry’ and slightly crisp up the rice. Fried rice should be cooked quickly in a hot pan.
I kept the fried rice with potatoes over the heat for too long once ready instead of serving immediately because I wasn’t done setting the table etc.

HOW TO REHEAT

I actually prefer fridge-cold fried rice to warm fried rice. I even make more fried rice so I can relax and be sure I’ll be able to eat some cold leftovers the day after. I know I’m probably the only one who feels this way so here’s how to reheat it. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a deep nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Once hot add the fried rice with potatoes to the pan and stir in 1 to 2 tbsp of water (depending on how much rice are you reheating). Cover the pan with a lid and cook, stirring every minute with a wooden spoon, until the rice is completely reheated through, about 5 min. Add a bit more water if you notice while stirring that some rice is sticking to the bottom of the pan.

HOW TO FREEZE

Sure but it does tend to dry out after 1 month. To freeze wait for the fried rice with potatoes to cool down to room temperature and place in a freezer bag (don’t fill it up to the brim). Press down on the bag to flatten it and try to expel as much air as possible while closing the bag tightly. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Fried rice definitely brings back fond childhood memories since it was part of my dad’s meal rotation schedule. Now that he moved from the Caribbean to a lost village in the Pyrenees, he will only make fried rice he if spots nice fresh shrimp at the fishmonger (which is extremely rare). I didn’t quite manage yet to convince him that frozen shrimp will do the trick too.

When I was in high school my sister and I declared that we didn’t want to it at the cafeteria anymore because:

1/ they were remodeling and you had to queue for 20 min in the midday sun before entering

2/ to be served reheated canned food

3/ before rushing back to the other side of the school for extra credit lessons. So my amazing parents started to pack us lunch instead!

They would cook a huge batch of rice on Sunday and make enough tuna rice salad and fried rice to last us the whole week. I can still see my mum peeling carrots so we could have some raw veggies on the side. We never grow tired of opening our lunch boxes and seeing one of the same two meals over and over again. It was just too delicious! Plus spending our lunch hour reading or hanging out with friends instead of queuing up under the sun to eat mushy bland food was a huge improvement.

Reflecting upon this now I feel bad that my parents were spending some of their limited free time making us lunch whereas my sister and I were old enough to cook for ourselves. It never came to my mind back then, I definitely took their efforts for granted. If I could go back in time I would ask them to show me how to make the recipes, say thank you a thousand times over, and then gently nudge them out of the kitchen.

VARIATIONS

In case my dad reads this I have to put a disclaimer that over the years I adapted his recipe a bit and changed a few things. I added pan-roasted potatoes to the mix (golden brown potatoes with a fluffy center go so well with rice, once you’ve tried it you can never go back), I use peas instead of chopped green beans (my sister hates every kind of pulses with a fiery passion so my dad had to improvise but I don’t live with her anymore so peas it is), I put a third less shrimp than him because I also added pieces of crispy golden cured ham. It might be unconventional to some but these little morsels of savory goodness do a bang-up job at seasoning the whole meal! I scramble my eggs before folding them in the fried rice whereas my dad makes a very thin omelet, rolls it up and slices it up into very thin ribbons. I basically kept his method but turned his shrimp fried rice into the fried rice with potatoes of my dreams!

Looking for other rice recipes? Here are some of my favorites:

Fried rice with potatoes

Author: Amélie
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Yield: 3 1x
Category: Main course
Method: Stovetop

Print Recipe

Description

This fried rice with potatoes is full of tasty add-ins; savory ham, sweet peas, scrambled eggs, juicy shrimp, tender mushrooms… But the real stars of the show are the fluffy potatoes with their golden brown crisp exterior. These little nuggets of deliciousness take the fried rice to a whole another level!

Ingredients

Scale

300g uncooked jasmine rice (1 ½ cups)
70g frozen peas (½ cup)
200g frozen cooked shrimp (7 oz), peeled & deveined
100g dry-cured ham (3.5 oz),
450g all-purpose potatoes (1 pound), such as Yukon Gold
115g drained canned sliced mushrooms (4 oz)
4 eggs
4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
2 tsp of fine sea salt, divided
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Cook the rice the day before. Fill a medium saucepan two-thirds full with water. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. While the water heats up put the rice in a colander and rinse it under cold running water until the water runs clear. Getting rid of the starch prevents the rice from clumping together. Add the rice to the boiling water, stir a few times and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook the rice, uncovered, for 11 min. Drain and then set the colander over a mixing bowl and wait until the rice cools down to room temperature. Put the cooled rice into an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. Day-old rice is perfect to make fried rice because it has time to dry up in the fridge. Moisture is the enemy of fried rice as it leads to a mushy end result. Thaw the peas and shrimp overnight in the fridge.
Prep the add-ins. Take the rice out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature while you prep the other ingredients. Cut the ham into 1cm (½ in) pieces and set aside. Peel the potatoes and wash them under cold running water. Dice them into 5mm (⅕ in) cubes and set aside. Place the peas, shrimp and drained mushrooms on several layers of paper towels. Pat dry with another piece of paper towel to absorb excess water. It’s important to get rid of as much moisture as possible if you want fried rice with perfectly separate grains that stay firm. Beat the eggs in a small mixing bowl until well combined.
Stir-fry the add-ins. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a deep nonstick frying pan (for which you have a lid) over medium-high heat. Add eggs and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until almost completely dry, about 2 min. Transfer to a plate. Heat 1 tbsp of oil again and add the ham to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and crisp, about 4 min. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the potatoes to the pan. Mix the potatoes to cover them in the oil and cover the pan with a lid. Cook the potatoes for 10 min, stirring often. Remove the lid and cook uncovered for 5 min or until the water has evaporated and the potatoes have a crisp golden brown exterior and a soft center. Stir in 1 tsp of salt and transfer to the mixing bowl with ham. Add the peas, shrimp and mushrooms to the now-empty pan and cook until completely warmed through, about 2 min. Transfer to the mixing bowl.
Stir-fry the rice. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and stir in the rice. Spread it into an even layer using the back of the wooden spoon. Sprinkle the other 1 tsp of salt and the black pepper over it and stir. Heat the rice until completely warmed through, pressing down on it while stirring often to break up clumps. This might take between 2 to 5 min. Add the mix-ins from the bowl to the pan and stir through. Lastly, add the scrambled eggs and use the edge of the spoon while stirring often to break up the eggs into small pieces. Serve.

Notes

Any leftover can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

I prefer jasmine rice when it comes to making fried rice. It’s less sticky when cooked so the rice doesn’t really clump together once together. It’s less of a hassle then to separate the grains while stir-frying. It also holds its shape better and stays firm even after having been boiled and stir-fried. You can pick another long grain rice if you can’t find Thai jasmine rice.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1
Calories: 885

Keywords: leftover rice recipes, thai rice recipes, ham and shrimp fried rice

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