This Spam fried rice is made with seared Spam, eggs, vegetables and rice, all cooked together with seasonings to make a quick and easy meal. A great way to have an economical and flavorful dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes!
I am a big fan of Asian inspired cuisine. I regularly make savory sesame noodles, comforting egg drop soup, and this crowd pleasing Spam fried rice.
Spam: it’s what’s for dinner, and is very popular in Hawaii especially. I don’t serve it every night in my house, but I’ve been known to pull out a can of this meat on occasion. This Spam fried rice is a great way to use up odds and ends of veggies and leftover rice, and it’s a big hit with my kids.
Spam fried rice ingredients
This dish is made with vegetable oil, Spam, onions, carrots, peas, garlic, ginger, eggs, rice, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper and a garnish of green onions.
How do you make Spam fried rice?
Cut a block of Spam into bite sized pieces, then cook the meat in a large skillet until it’s golden brown. Remove the cubes of Spam from the pan, then cook up some scrambled eggs and vegetables. Next, add everything back to the skillet along with cooked rice, toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. Stir fry until everything is coated in sauce, then add a sprinkling of sliced green onions and enjoy.
Tips for the perfect dish
- Long grain rice works best in this dish. You can use a regular long grain white rice or a fragrant variety such as jasmine rice or basmati rice.
- Frozen peas are great in this fried rice, you do not need to seek out fresh peas at the grocery store. I don’t recommend using canned peas, as they don’t have as nice of a color or texture as the frozen variety.
- This recipe is the perfect way to re-purpose leftover rice, because cold rice makes the best fried rice. With chilled rice, the grains are all separated and firm, which will create a better texture than fresh cooked rice. Fried rice made with just-cooked rice will be softer and won’t have those crispy little bits.
- Leftover fried rice will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and can be frozen for two months.
Recipe FAQs
Spam fried rice is not the healthiest choice because it does contain some oil, and Spam is high in sodium. If you’re looking for ways to make your fried rice healthier, you can use half the amount of vegetable oil, substitute cooked brown rice for white rice, choose lite or low sodium Spam, and add an assortment of extra vegetables to the mix.
Restaurants use day old rice to give their fried rice optimal texture and flavor. This is really the preferred method to making the perfect Spam fried rice!
Spam fried rice flavor variations
This fried rice is great as-is, but you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Protein: Feel free to add other proteins or swap out the Spam for other options such as diced chicken, ground beef, pork tenderloin, tofu or bacon.
- Vegetables: I love adding more vegetables including mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower corn and bok choy. You can also give it a tropical twist by adding some diced pineapple.
- Flavorings: Kick up the flavor with a drizzle of Sriracha, Japanese furikake seasoning, extra cloves of garlic, toasted sesame seeds, lime juice or fresh chopped cilantro.
Once you see how delicious this recipe is, you’ll find yourself making it on a regular basis! Serve up a big bowl, and enjoy.
More Asian inspired recipes
Spam Fried Rice Video
Spam Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil divided use
- 12 ounce can Spam cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup yellow onion chopped
- 2 carrots peeled, quartered and sliced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas thawed
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 3 cups cooked long grain white rice leftover rice works best
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce low sodium
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup green onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large pan over medium high heat.
- Place the Spam pieces in a single layer in the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until meat is browned.
- Remove the Spam from the pan. Place it on a plate then cover with foil to keep warm.
- Pour 1 teaspoon of oil into the pan, then add the onion and carrots. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until veggies are softened. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.
- Add the garlic and ginger, then cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove the vegetables from the pan. Place them on the plate with the Spam and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Pour the remaining teaspoon of oil into the pan. Add the eggs and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up with a spatula, until the eggs are scrambled. Add a bit of salt and pepper to the eggs.
- Add the rice, Spam, cooked veggies and peas into the pan.
- Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil and mix until everything is thoroughly combined and warmed through, about 4-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle green onions over the top of the rice mixture, then serve and enjoy.
Notes
- Leftover chilled long grain rice works best in this dish. You can use a regular long grain white rice or a fragrant variety such as jasmine rice or basmati rice.
- Frozen peas are great in this fried rice, you do not need to seek out fresh peas at the grocery store. I don’t recommend using canned peas, as they don’t have as nice of a color or texture as the frozen variety.
Love the flavors and how easy this spam fried rice is to make. It’s a perfect meal for my family on a busy weeknight.
Yessss! I picked up spam recently and needed a good recipe. This is perfect! So easy and delicious. I appreciate your helpful tips. Thanks for sharing.
We love spam, so we knew we had to try this. It was delicious, and so easy to make too.
This spam fried rice is incredible! Super flavorful and absolutely delicious!
This recipe is absolutely fantastic! I saw it and thought, “I’ll give it a try.” I’ve already made it twice. The second time I added some pineapple. So good.
love easy meals like this. Look so good.
Great easy meal to whip up, and tasty too. Added Sriracha as you suggested, and it was delicious.
Such a tasty quick and easy meal. The kids asked for seconds!
I grew up eating both fried rice and spam so this is a dish I would totally devour! What an easy and tasty dinner option every time!
I can’t wait to make this rice ASAP. It looks exactly how I like it. Yum!
Great recipe, perfect for a quick week day meal and kids loved it too!!
This is absolutely delicious! I love that it’s such a crowd pleaser for the whole family
Oh, spam! It’s one of those ingredients that people pretend not to use but secretly love. Works super well in fried rice, I must say. Thanks for the idea and the recipe.
I added some pineapple like you suggested and it was so good! Thanks for the recipe.
What a great, easy meal . We loved this recipe. Thank you!