What to Make With Leftover Rice: 7 Recipes That Use Cooked Rice
What to make with leftover rice: 7 Savour dinners that start from 1 1/2 to 4 cups of cooked rice, from 22-minute egg fried rice to stuffed peppers.
Published · Updated · 9 min read
Quick answer
Seven Savour dinners show what to make with leftover rice: 3 fried rices, 2 rice bowls and 2 stuffed pepper bakes. Egg fried rice is the quickest at 22 minutes in total, then chicken fried rice at 25 minutes and nasi goreng and Korean ground beef bowls at 30 minutes each. The fried rice recipes ask for rice cooked the day before, and each one says how to chill fresh rice first if that is all you have.
- Recipes featured
- 7
- Quickest
- Egg Fried Rice (22 mins)
- Average total time
- 1 hr 31 mins
- Average calories
- 487 per serving
- Reading time
- 9 min
- Section
- Ingredient guides
Seven Savour dinners show what to make with leftover rice: 3 fried rices, 2 rice bowls and 2 stuffed pepper bakes, each with an ingredient line that calls for rice already cooked. By total time, the quickest are egg fried rice at 22 minutes, chicken fried rice at 25 minutes, and nasi goreng and Korean ground beef bowls at 30 minutes each.
Recipes that cook raw rice in the dish are left out. This guide gives the cooked rice each one uses, what to do with fresh rice and each dish's own fridge note.
What to make with leftover rice: 7 dinners compared
All 7 are main courses, sorted by stored total time. The rice column is from each ingredient line, in the recipe's own units.
The fried rices and the Korean bowls are in Quick Weeknight Dinners; four of the 7 are in Meal Prep Recipes.
Why do fried rice recipes use day-old rice?
All three fried rice recipes give the same reason in their FAQs. Rice that has chilled overnight is drier and firmer, so the grains separate and fry; freshly cooked rice is soft and steamy, and it tends to clump and turn mushy in the pan.
Egg fried rice is the quickest ("Total 22 min (10 prep + 12 cook)", serves 4) and the only vegetarian one of the three. You break up the cold rice by hand first. In the pan it is spread out, left for 30 seconds, then tossed and pressed against the pan again for 4 to 5 minutes, until every grain is hot, separate and lightly toasted.
Chicken fried rice uses the same 650 g of cold long-grain rice with 400 g of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked first to 74°C (165°F). The rice sits for 30 to 60 seconds between tosses for 3 to 4 minutes. At about 530 calories and 31 g protein per serving (estimate), it has the most protein of the three.
Nasi goreng starts with a fried paste of shallots, garlic and chillies and uses the most rice by weight of the three, 750 g of cold cooked jasmine rice. After 3 minutes of stir-frying, the rice is tossed with kecap manis and soy sauce and left alone for 20 to 30 seconds at a time so a few grains turn crisp.
Can you use freshly cooked rice instead of leftover rice?
Yes, say the three fried rice recipes, but chill it first. Their instructions differ:
The other four recipes do not ask for cold rice. The Korean bowls cook their rice fresh in step 1, and with leftover rice the step says to reheat it until steaming hot. The stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice say to use cooked rice, not raw, because uncooked rice will not soften properly inside the peppers in the baking time. The burrito bowls have no step for cooking rice: the cooked rice goes straight into the bowls.
Which rice bowls can you make with leftover rice?
Both bowl recipes put 4 cups of cooked rice under the topping.
Korean ground beef bowls top the rice with 500 g of lean ground beef, browned to 71°C (160°F) and glazed in soy sauce, brown sugar, gochujang and rice vinegar, plus cucumber, carrot, sesame seeds and an optional fried egg. It is "Total 30 min (10 prep + 20 cook)" for 4, at about 600 calories and 33 g protein per serving (estimate), the most protein of the 7.
Slow cooker black bean burrito bowls take 6 hours 15 minutes, mostly hands-off: the beans cook on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. The rice can be white, brown or cilantro-lime, under the beans, corn, tomatoes, greens and guacamole. The recipe lists vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and low-fat diets, and its tip says to check that the salsa, broth and tortilla chips are labelled gluten-free if you need them to be.
Can you put leftover rice in stuffed peppers?
Yes. Both stuffed pepper recipes stir cooked rice into a browned ground beef and tomato filling, and both bake 6 peppers at 190°C (375°F) to serve 6.
Stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice mix 280 g of cooked rice with 500 g of ground beef, drained diced tomatoes, half the tomato sauce and half the cheese. They bake covered for 35 minutes, then uncovered under the rest of the cheese for 10 to 15 minutes: "Total 80 min, 1 h 20 min (20 prep + 60 cook)". The recipe is gluten-free as written, and its FAQ says to check the labels on the tomato sauce and spices. It and the Korean bowls are 2 of the 10 recipes in our guide to what to make with 1 lb of ground beef.
Stuffed pepper jack-o'-lanterns are a Halloween dinner: orange peppers carved with faces, filled with taco-spiced beef, 300 g of cooked rice and cheddar or Monterey Jack. "Leftover rice works well," the ingredient line says. They take "Total 75 min, 1 h 15 min (25 prep + 50 cook)", and the FAQ says you can stuff and refrigerate them, covered, for up to 1 day, adding about 10 minutes to the covered baking time.
How much leftover rice do you need?
By the ingredient lines, 4 cups of cooked rice covers any one of the fried rices or bowls (4 servings, or 6 for the burrito bowls), and 1 1/2 to 2 cups fills 6 stuffed peppers.
To cook rice ahead on purpose, start from the uncooked amount in the dish's own line, because the cooked yields differ:
- Egg fried rice: about 250 g uncooked for 4 cups cooked, about 650 g, cooked a day ahead.
- Nasi goreng: 250 g (1 1/4 cups) uncooked for 750 g cooked, about 4 cups, cooked the day before.
- Korean ground beef bowls: 300 g (about 1 1/2 cups) uncooked jasmine or short-grain rice, or 4 cups cooked.
- Stuffed pepper jack-o'-lanterns: about 2/3 cup (125 g) uncooked long-grain rice for 300 g cooked, about 2 cups; the tip also suggests a pouch of ready-cooked rice.
- Stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice: about 100 g uncooked for 280 g cooked, about 1 1/2 cups.
Chicken fried rice and the burrito bowls give no uncooked amount. The 30-minute dinner meal plan with one shopping list builds this step in: Monday's dinner cooks the extra rice for Tuesday's egg fried rice.
Swaps and variations from the recipes
These swaps come from each recipe's tips, variations and FAQs. The calorie and protein estimates on the recipe pages are for each recipe as written, not for a swap.
The rice itself. The egg and chicken fried rice FAQs name long-grain white rice such as jasmine as the classic choice; egg fried rice adds basmati, chicken fried rice adds medium-grain, and both say brown rice works. The Korean bowls' FAQ suggests cauliflower rice or noodles. Stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice can swap in 300 g cauliflower rice, cooked with the beef for 3 to 4 minutes.
Proteins and extras.
- Egg fried rice: 200 g cubed firm tofu or cooked shrimp with the vegetables (shrimp makes it no longer vegetarian), or 1 cup chopped kimchi with the onion, with 1 tbsp kimchi juice and 1 tbsp soy sauce in place of the soy sauce.
- Chicken fried rice: skip the raw chicken and add about 2 cups (280 g) diced cooked or rotisserie chicken with the eggs, or add 150 g diced fresh pineapple with the peas and carrots.
- Nasi goreng: 300 g peeled raw shrimp instead of chicken, stir-fried for 2 to 3 minutes until pink and opaque; 200 g cubed firm tofu and a handful of green beans with no chicken or shrimp paste; or 2 cups shredded leftover roast chicken added with the rice.
- Korean ground beef bowls: ground turkey or chicken cooked to 74°C (165°F), or 200 g broccoli florets or sliced mushrooms stir-fried with the beef.
- Stuffed pepper jack-o'-lanterns: ground turkey or chicken cooked to 74°C (165°F), or two 400 g (14 oz) cans of black or kidney beans, rinsed and drained, added with the tomatoes in place of the beef.
- Slow cooker black bean burrito bowls: one can of pinto beans in place of one can of black beans, or 1 diced sweet potato with the beans.
For gluten-free fried rice, egg fried rice uses tamari or a soy sauce labelled gluten-free, and chicken fried rice uses tamari with an oyster sauce labelled gluten-free.
How long can cooked rice stay in the fridge?
By their own notes, the finished dishes keep from 1 day (egg fried rice) to 5 days (the burrito bowls' beans and toppings); for plain cooked rice, a government food safety page says 24 hours.
Each recipe's fridge and freezer note
Egg fried rice and chicken fried rice say to reheat only once, until steaming hot and 74°C (165°F). Both stuffed pepper recipes reheat covered at 180°C (350°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, or in the microwave, until the centre reaches 74°C (165°F).
General guidance for plain cooked rice
The egg fried rice tip: spread leftover rice out to cool quickly, refrigerate it within 1 hour of cooking and use it within a day.
Food safety: A government food safety page (listed under Sources) says uncooked rice can carry Bacillus cereus spores that survive cooking, and the longer cooked rice takes to cool and sits at room temperature, the more likely the bacteria are to produce a toxin. It advises chilling cooked rice as quickly as possible, ideally within 1 hour, refrigerating it once it reaches room temperature, eating it within 24 hours, reheating it until steaming hot all the way through and never reheating it more than once.
Sources
- Food storage: storing cooked rice foodstandards.gov.scot
Recipes in this post (7)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make fried rice with freshly cooked rice?
Yes, if you chill it first. Savour's egg fried rice says to cook the rice with slightly less water than usual, spread it on a tray and chill it uncovered for 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer. The nasi goreng recipe asks for at least 1 hour of chilling.
How long does cooked rice last in the fridge?
One government food safety page says to chill plain cooked rice as quickly as possible, ideally within 1 hour, eat it within 24 hours and never reheat it more than once. Finished dishes carry their own notes: Savour's egg fried rice says to eat it within 1 day, and chicken fried rice and nasi goreng keep up to 3 days.
How much leftover rice do you need for fried rice for 4 people?
About 4 cups. Savour's egg fried rice and chicken fried rice each use about 4 cups (650 g) of cold cooked long-grain rice for 4 servings, and nasi goreng uses 750 g (about 4 cups) of cold cooked jasmine rice for 4.
Can you freeze leftover rice dishes?
Some of them. Savour's chicken fried rice freezes for up to 2 months, nasi goreng for up to 2 months without the eggs, and both stuffed pepper recipes for up to 3 months. Egg fried rice has no freezer note, and the Korean bowls and burrito bowls freeze only their beef or beans.
Can you use uncooked rice in stuffed peppers?
Savour's stuffed peppers recipe says it is not recommended: raw rice needs more liquid and time than the peppers can give it, so it stays hard. Use about 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice, which is roughly 100 g uncooked.
More from the blog
Ingredient guides
What to Make With 1 lb of Ground Beef: 10 Recipes by Total Time
What to make with 1 lb ground beef: 10 Savour recipes that use one 450 or 500 g pack, sorted by total time, with servings per pack and what freezes.
9 min read
Ingredient guides
Leftover Rotisserie Chicken Recipes: 15 Ways to Use Cooked Chicken
15 leftover rotisserie chicken recipes from Savour, with the grams of cooked chicken each needs, the shortcut steps and each dish's fridge and freezer notes.
9 min read
Meal plans
Slow Cooker Meal Plan for a Busy Week, With a Shopping List
A 5-dinner slow cooker meal plan matched to your week by time on LOW, from 8 to 10 hours down to 6, with night-before prep and one shopping list.
10 min read