Last Updated on October 23, 2023
I had no idea that Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice can be so delicious, by simply frying garlic, turmeric, veggies, and rice together.
This recipe is inspired by Wil Yeung, who runs a famous plant-based cooking channel on YouTube.
For this one-pan meal Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice, I’ve made some adjustments after I cooked his recipe more than three times, to make it the way I like (which is more turmeric) and I hope you’d like it too!
Turmeric Fried Rice with Vegetables
As usual, fried rice is the best way to use up any leftover rice and veggies in your fridge, it’s also a comforting quick meal that only takes less than 15 minutes to whip up and serves on the dining table!
After I moved to Australia, I fell in love with Basmati rice (it’s not a popular type of rice in Taiwan.
In Taiwan, we mainly use short-grain rice, which is stickier and wetter when it’s cooked)
Basmati rice is more flavorful than plain long-grain white rice but without overpowering the dish we’re making.
This means it’s great for taking on the flavor of other ingredients, so for me, Basmati rice is perfect for my fried rice.
I also like its drier and fluffier texture. While it’s less filling than other types of rice, you can eat a lot of Basmati rice and won’t feel the heaviness in your stomach after.
Turmeric garlic rice Benefits
Health benefits of eating turmeric and garlic.
Turmeric — its most active compound, curcumin — has many scientifically proven health benefits, such as the potential to improve heart health and prevent Alzheimer’s and cancer.
It’s a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. It may also help improve symptoms of depression and arthritis.
Garlic– has also been used as a medicine throughout ancient and modern history; it has been taken to prevent and treat a wide range of conditions and diseases.
If you like fried rice, don’t forget to check out this delicious Vegan Curried Tofu Fried Rice, Best Vegan Fried Rice.
Ingredients for Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice
Alright, let’s back to “How to make Golden Garlic Turmeric Fried Rice!”
The ingredients are listed below:
- Basmati Rice: For fried rice, ideally, we always use a day-old cooked cold rice. Because the rice dries out in the fridge and becomes crumbly which is what you need your fried rice isn’t wet or mushy to better absorb the flavors from the spices or sauces. Also, easier to get that lightly charred flavor during stir-frying. But don’t worry, if you don’t have leftover rice, you can cook fresh rice, spread it evenly on a tray, and leave it in the fridge until it’s cold and dry. Freshly cooked rice also works well.
- Yellow Onion- Peeled and finely diced.
- Garlic (sliced)- For this fried rice, we need to use fresh garlic. You might think that’s a lot of garlic in one dish, actually, it’s not. We are going to slice the garlic, not minced it, so the garlic is not going to overpower the flavor.
- Broccolini- roughly chopped into 1 cm long pieces. Broccolini is surprisingly going so well with this dish, the crunchiness, and the flavor. When I was having my second and third attempts with this dish, I didn’t have any broccolini in hand, instead, I used Green beans and Chinese broccoli (known as Gai-Lan or Chinese kale), and they both go so well with this recipe.
- Red& Yellow Bell Pepper (Capsicum)- cut them into small dice (approx. 1x1cm). In the original recipe, Wil used red bell pepper and sweet corn in his fried rice. Here I simply use red and yellow bell pepper, well, it’s just personal preference.
- Ground Turmeric – Just pick the ground turmeric you like.
- Red Chili Flakes- This can be optional if you don’t eat spicy at all.
- Cooking Oil – any type of neutral-flavored oil with a high smoking point. Such as peanut oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil…etc.
Cook’s Note
Right! Now we’ve got everything chopped up, it’s time to turn on the gas, let’s cook fried rice Fast and Furious!!
Important: For Stir-fries, always get all your preparation done before turning the gas on! As stir-frying is quick and intense cooking, cooking while chopping will easily ruin the dish.
If you don’t know which type of wok you should choose, always go for a carbon steel wok!
How to make Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice
- Get the preparation ready- if you don’t have leftover rice, you can cook fresh rice, spread it evenly on a tray, and leave it in the fridge until it’s cold and dry. Meanwhile, dice onions, slice garlic( around 2mm thick), broccolini washed and roughly chopped into 1 cm long pieces, and cut red& yellow bell pepper( capsicum) into small dice ( approx. 1x1cm), spices are measured.
- Heat up the half amount of oil on medium-high heat, Add diced onion and sliced garlic, keeping stirring and flipping, until the onions are transparent and the garlic is golden brown.
- Turn the gas on full whack, then add chopped broccolini, red and yellow bell pepper( capsicum, ) Constant stirring, and flipping until the vegetables are lightly charred(around minutes)
- Add the rest cooking oil in the middle of the wok( push the vegetables aside to make a well) and then cook Basmati rice, loosen up the rice by using the spatula to press and cut through the rice. Cook until the rice is heated up with separated grains.
- Add ground turmeric in, mix with the rice until the rice is well-coated.
- Season with salt and taste until you’re happy with it, then serve!
Meal-Prep Friendly
You can also do meal prep by making a big batch of fried rice, portioning it into small packages, and freezing it up. Take out defrost and heat up when needed.
Hope you like this golden fried rice.
More Rice Dishes
Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 Cup Cooked Basmati Rice ( Note1) Cold
- ½ ea Brown Onion( approx. 100g) Peeled and finely diced.
- 7 clove Garlic( approx. 35g) Sliced ( around 2mm thick)
- 100 g Broccolini( Note2) roughly chopped into 1 cm long pieces
- ¼ ea Red Bell Pepper( Capsicum), approx. 80g cut them into small dices( approx. 1x1cm)
- ¼ es Yellow Bell Pepper( Capsicum), approx. 80g cut them into small dices( approx. 1x1cm)
- 2 tsp Ground Turmeric
- ½ tsp Salt to taste
- 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes( optional)
- 3 Tbsp Cooking Oil ( Note3)
Instructions
- Get the preparation ready- if you don’t have leftover rice, you can cook fresh rice, spread them evenly on a tray, and leave it in the fridge until it’s cold and dry. Meanwhile, dice onions, slice garlic( around 2mm thick), broccolini washed and roughly chopped into 1 cm long pieces, and cut red& yellow bell pepper( capsicum) into small dices( approx. 1x1cm), spices are measured.
- Heat up the half amount of oil on medium-high heat, add diced onion and sliced garlic, keeping stirring and flipping, until the onions are transparent and the garlic is golden brown.
- Turn the gas on full whack, then add chopped broccolini, red and yellow bell pepper( capsicum, ) Constant stirring, and flipping until the vegetables are lightly charred( around2-3 minutes)