If you’ve ever had fried rice at a Thai restaurant, you know that Thai fried rice has such unique flavor that really sets it apart. I took the basic flavor concepts of traditional Thai rice (along with inspiration from a recipe in a favorite cookbook) to make this healthy, hearty recipe. This dinner can be whipped up in an hour (or 20 minutes if you are using leftover rice, which I recommend!) and is bursting with flavor and texture.

It’s essentially the same process as making regular fried rice, but the ingredients you add are totally different. I start with cooked brown jasmine rice and then prep all the add-ins. It’s helpful to prepare mis en place here because once you start the frying process everything goes really quickly!

The result is a super flavorful one pan meal with sweet juiciness from the tomatoes and raisins, crunch from the roasted cashews, and loads of flavor from the garlic, shallots, green onion, and cilantro. I could eat this stuff for days!

This is completely vegetarian and is easily made vegan by using crumbled firm tofu instead of eggs. For the meat eaters, this is also delicious with roasted shrimp added in (like how I made it for Jason in yesterday’s vlog).

The types of vegetables that you use is up to you (and you could always use more) BUT don’t sub out the tomatoes or the tomato sauce! They really make the dish!

I have a feeling the same ingredients would work well with quinoa instead of rice! Oh, the possibilities…

-Lauren

More clean dinner posts:

Vegetarian Enchiladas

Falafel with Homemade Pita Bread