This Bacon Fried Rice is a gluten free comfort food, made slightly healthy with the addition of veggies. It’s an easy recipe for family dinners, or put an egg on top and eat it for breakfast.
It is definitely December. The weather has gotten colder and the days have gotten (much) shorter. When it gets like this, I tend to fall back on my old stand-by recipes for dinners. Things that are tried and true, and easy. That’s where this Bacon Fried Rice comes in. My mom used to make a version of this when I was growing up and it was always a favorite. I mean, who doesn’t love bacon?
This version is similar to traditional fried rice, but a quick and dirty version. If you’re looking for something more similar to a takeout version, I found this resource that might be helpful.
How to Make Bacon Fried Rice
To make this Bacon Fried Rice, you’ll want to start by cooking the rice. I have a rice cooker that is actually my husband’s from before we were married. It cooks rice like a champ and I love that I don’t have to think about it once it’s turned on.
The next steps in this dish help keep the recipe pretty simple: cooking the bacon in the oven and using frozen veggies. First up – the bacon.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Cooking bacon on the stove can be such a mess – all the grease splatters everywhere and I always get burned. Once I learned you can cook bacon in the oven, I was sold.
Start by lining a sheet pan with foil, then laying the bacon out in a single layer. Be careful not to overlap the bacon when you lay it out on the pan. A little bit is okay, as the bacon will shrink as it cooks, but they shouldn’t be directly on top of each other. It should look like the picture below.
After 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven), you have crisp, perfectly cooked bacon. You may want to flip it after 20 or so minutes, to make sure both sides get browned. And be careful to watch it in that last 5 -10 minutes as it can burn easily. Keep an eye out and you will be rewarded with delicious bacon.
Next you’ll put the bacon on a towel lined plate, then drain the fat from the pan. I remove the foil (or parchment paper), then drain it off in a cup to save for cooking later. You can also just drain the fat into the garbage, if having a cup of fat around grosses you out.
Then comes the veggies. You’ll want to cook them similar to the package directions, except you want to undercook them by 1 minute. For the veggies I typically use, it calls for 6-8 minutes of cooking time and I do around 5 minutes. The veggies will continue cooking once everything is combined in one pan. Be sure and drain them! You don’t want the extra water making your rice soggy.
Once the rice is done cooking, you’ll want it to cool off a bit. This is where the drained bacon pan comes in. I typically spread the rice out on the pan that has a little bacon grease in it. This gets some of the bacon flavor onto the rice without pouring all the grease into the dish.
The bacon will have cooled a bit by now and you can chop it up into smaller pieces. I usually halve it length-wise, then chop it up from there.
Next you’ll heat oil (or bacon grease!) in a large pan and scramble the eggs in it. After they’re cooked, combine everything into the large pan, mix it together and heat it through.
Add in the gluten free tamari sauce and you’re good to go!
Pin this Bacon Fried Rice for later!
Recipe for Bacon Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked white rice
- 1 pound of bacon
- 10 ounces frozen peas and carrots
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons gluten free tamari sauce
- 1 tablespoon cooking fat of choice
Instructions
Items Needed:
- One large baking sheet
- Aluminum foil or parchment paper
- One pair of tongs
- One medium-sized pot to cook rice (or a rice cooker)
- Large plate
- Paper towels
- One medium-sized pot to cook frozen veggies
- A cutting board
- A large knife
- A large pan
- A tablespoon
- A medium sized bowl
- A whisk
- A wooden spoon
Directions:
- Being by cooking the rice according to the package directions.
- Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or aluminum foil. Lay the bacon out on the sheet, with very little overlap of the slices.
- Stick it in a cold oven and turn the oven to 400 degrees F. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
- Once the timer for the bacon goes off, take the bacon out of the oven and flip each piece over with tongs. Return the pan of bacon to the oven and set the timer for another 10 minutes.
- When the second timer for the bacon goes off, check the bacon for doneness. It may need another 5 to 10 minutes in the oven. Once it’s done, take a plate lined with paper towels and transfer the bacon onto it, using additional paper towels as necessary between layers of bacon. Let the bacon cool.
- Remove the parchment paper (or aluminum foil) from the sheet pan and drain the bacon fat off (into a bowl to save, or into the garbage).
- Grab a medium-sized pot and cook the frozen vegetables using the directions on the package until just nearly done, around 5 minutes. Drain off any excess water and set aside.
- Once the bacon has cooled, chop it into smaller pieces on a cutting board with a large knife. Typically I stack several pieces, then slice them in half lengthwise, then chop them into smaller pieces from there.
- When the rice is finished cooking, lay it on on the baking sheet that was used to cook the bacon. It will get some color and flavor from the leftover bacon grease as it cools.
- Heat a large pan with the cooking fat (I use avocado oil or leftover bacon grease) over medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together 3 eggs then pour them into the hot pan, scrambling them with a wooden spoon to cook them thoroughly.
- Once eggs are cooked, add in the rice, veggies, and bacon. Stir with the wooden spoon to combine.
- Add in the tamari sauce and stir together to coat evenly.
Notes
- If you’re looking for less sodium, use low-sodium bacon and one tablespoon of tamari sauce instead of two.
- You can use other frozen vegetables besides only peas and carrots. Just be sure to slightly undercook them before adding everything together.
Looking for more meal ideas? Check out my Oven Roasted Kabocha Soup with Coconut Milk or my Quick & Easy Meat Sauce.
Son Steffee
Wonderful post!