Japanese Garlic Fried Rice Recipe

Packed with delicious garlic flavor mixed with chewy rice, this Japanese garlic fried rice is a delicious and easy recipe to make.

✅ Why This Recipe Works

Simple Recipe – No hours of prep needed – this dish is super easy to make, only requiring about 15 minutes to put together.

Flavorful and delicious – By marrying the garlic and butter, we're able to create a mouthwatering garlic flavor that will make you keep coming back for more

Healthy and nutritious – Made with lower calories with careful portioning, this is a great healthy fried rice recipe for those who want to stay on track with their fitness goals

💭 What is Garlic Fried Rice?

This Japanese Garlic Fried Rice (also known as Wafu style fried rice) is a delicious fusion fried rice recipe involving delicious butter-sautéd garlic mixed with fried rice. It's full of delicious garlic flavor. I also added some juicy chicken in this recipe to add protein content, making this a great healthy Japanese dish.

🍎 Calories and Nutrition – Is It Healthy

This recipe doesn't have any calorie bomb ingredients, but given the sheer variety of ingredients needed to make this dish, it's important to mindfully portion the higher calorie ingredients. This recipe has 421 calories with 32 grams of protein, 21 grams of fat, and 37 grams of carbs.

Here's what I did to achieve this.

• Rice portioning – Only used 1 serving of rice at about 160 calories
• Used chicken – Used 4 ounces Chicken thigh at about 140 calories
• Flavor boost – Infused rice with dashi for a low calorie flavor boost
• Use cooking spray – Traditional oil adds a whopping 120 calories to the dish, whereas cooking spray is 0 calories.
• Portioned butter – I used ½ tablespoon of butter, which is enough to get the delicious butter-garlic flavor without adding an excessive amount of calories.

For a detailed breakdown of each ingredient, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of this recipe, refer to the table below:

📋 Ingredient Notes

To make the Japanese garlic fried rice, here are the key ingredients needed:

• Rice – I used Japanese short grain rice, but white rice or brown rice would also work
• Dashi stock powder – Infuses the rice with a delicious umami flavor
• Chicken thigh – Lean protein mix-in for the rice
• Garlic – Lots and lots of it! It is a garlic fried rice after all.
• Butter – A portioned amount of this mixed with the garlic results in a heavenly flavor.
• Egg – Cause a fried rice recipe is never fully complete without a creamy egg mixed in

See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

📖 Substitutions and Variations

Seasonings – You can also use kewpie mayo and/or oyster sauce.

Rice – Feel free to mix and match the rice type used here. Any rice would work well. Just be sure to cook it in advance to prevent it from being soggy.

Noodles – This recipe would also make a delicious noodle recipe. Toss in some yakisoba or udon noodles for a delicious garlic noodle recipe.

Make the rice – Make 1 serving of rice with a sprinkle of dashi stock powder mixed in with the water used to make the rice. This boosts the flavor of the rice immensely.

Prepare the chicken – Cut 1 chicken thigh into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. [Photo 1]

Cook the veggies – In a skillet, melt the butter and sauté the garlic in it. Spray cooking oil and sauté the onion, carrots, and corn for about 2-3 minutes. [Photo 2]

Mix together – When the vegetables and chicken are done cooking, mix in the rice and stir thoroughly. [Photo 3]

Add the egg – Once mixed through, crack in an egg and mix in with the rice. [Photo 4]

Garnish and serve – Garnish with green onions and enjoy your delicious garlic fried rice!

💭 Recipe FAQs

💡Expert Tips

Make Rice Beforehand – The key to optimizing the texture of the rice is to make it a day or two in advance and keeping it in the fridge overnight. Otherwise, the rice can be overly moist and soggy. You can also make bigger portions of rice to prep for various recipes throughout the week to save time.

Infuse Rice with Dashi for Flavor Boost – For a flavor boost you'll love, add in a sprinkle of dashi stock powder in the rice mixture before cooking. This will infused the rice with a delicious umami dashi flavor.

🍽 Related Recipes