Chicken Fried Rice Freezer Meal
This Chicken Fried Rice is an adaptation from my Tante Gisele’s recipe so that it can be made ahead as a freezer meal. Since the chicken and rice are pre-cooked, it is fast to reheat when you are ready to serve. This makes it a wonderful dish for those busy weeknights. 
When I was growing up, Chicken Fried Rice was a staple at family gatherings. Every Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, my Tante Gisele (“Tante” is French for “aunt”) would make her famous dish. This dish was made with much love and I especially looked forward to the crunch of the water chestnuts!
It is hard to convey the memories that my Tante Gisele’s Chicken Fried Rice bring up for me. I think of being allowed to stay up past bedtime while listening carefully to the adults’ conversation and hoping they would forget I was there (I was younger than my next-oldest cousin on that side of the family by 9 years). I can still see the wood paneling on the walls in my aunt’s basement and hear the laughter ringing out. 
This recipe requires a bit more work at the outset to cook the rice and chicken but it pays off on the day of serving because all that’s needed is just reheating.
Chicken Fried Rice Recipe:
- 4 cups cooked rice
- 1 1⁄2 cups diced cooked chicken breast*
- 1⁄2 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cups diced carrots
- 1 small jar of sliced water chestnuts
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
- 4 Tbsp. soya sauce
Cook the rice and add it into a large resealable freezer bag. Add chopped onion, celery, carrots, water chestnuts, and peas. Then add in the cooked chicken* (see note below). Pour garlic cloves, oyster sauce, and soy sauce into the bag. Squish everything together to combine. Remove excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.
*When I make freezer meals, I always make many at one time. I find that the easiest way to cook the chicken for this purpose is to lay the chicken breasts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes at 350° before cubing.
On the day you want to cook the Chicken Fried Rice, take it out of the freezer and thaw. Heat in a covered casserole dish in the oven until warm or fry up in a skillet or wok.
This dish is absolutely perfect for bringing to potlucks which is one of the reasons I love to always have a few bags in the freezer.
You can find this recipe and others along with shopping lists, prep lists, and printable labels in our Dinner in 20 Freezer Meal Plan.
- 4 cups cooked rice
- 1.5 cups chicken breast cooked and diced
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 small jar water chestnuts sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
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Cook the rice and add it into a large resealable freezer bag.
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Add the chopped onion, celery, carrots, water chestnuts, and peas, then the cooked chicken.
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Pour garlic cloves, oyster sauce, and soy sauce into the bag.
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Squish everything together to combine. Remove excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.
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On the day you want to cook the Chicken Fried Rice, take it out of the freezer and thaw.
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Heat in a covered casserole dish in the oven until warm or fry up in a skillet or wok.
You may also like these recipes:
Make-Ahead Chicken and Spinach Penne Alfredo (this recipe also requires pre-cooking and cubing the chicken, so it’s a great one to make at the same time by cooking the chicken altogether)
Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe 
