Packed Lunch Ideas: Chicken Fried Rice

There was a time when the business of fried rice in a box sprouted like mushroom. I still remember buying it from nearby food stalls in plazas, supermarkets and malls. The great thing is it is a complete meal in one convenient packaging, wherein meat and vegetables were served in bite size pieces well mixed with rice and sauce. Best part is you only need a spoon or a “spork” to eat it (table is not necessary).

Just in case you miss it like I do, am sharing with you my Chicken fried rice recipe (made with less oil and more veggies). This is a perfect packed lunch/”baon” or picnic food for you and your family. Get your non-stick pans and knives ready. Enjoy! :)

Ingredients:

Shredded boiled chicken thigh fillet or store bought roasted chicken

Soy sauce

Salt

Olive oil

Ground black pepper

Garlic powder

Scrambled large egg

Canned button mushrooms

Carrots

Cabbage

Spring Onion

Cooked rice

Procedure:

1. Option 1: Boil the chicken in water with salt and whole black pepper. Shred into bite size pieces once the chicken is cooked.

Option 2: To cut down cooking time, you may use store bought roasted chicken and shred it to bite size pieces. Using store bought roasted chicken makes the dish more flavorful.

2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a non stick pan.

3. Sauté the shredded chicken.

4. Add the sliced button mushrooms. (To cut down preparation time, choose the canned pieces and stems mushrooms.)

5. Season chicken and mushrooms with salt and pepper.

6. Put in rice and soy sauce. Mix well to ensure that the soy sauce is evenly distributed on the rice. (Suggested ratio of soy sauce to rice is 1:1, wherein you will put 1 tbsp. of soy sauce for every cup of rice to get a nice brown color.)

7. Season with ground black pepper and garlic powder. Mix well.

8. Add the chopped carrots then mix well.

9. Add the chopped cabbage then mix well.

10. Add the scrambled egg and then mix well. (Suggested ratio of scrambled egg to rice is 1:1, wherein you will put 1 scrambled large egg for every cup of rice.)

11. Serve and garnish with spring onions and toasted garlic.

Watching your weight or allergic to chicken? A low calorie option using tuna will be shared with you soon. For now, let’s enjoy a spoonful of our homemade Chicken Fried Rice. Yum!

Budget Journal

Option 1: using boiled chicken thigh fillet

Estimated cost is for a 6 persons. Cost per head is approximately Php48/head.

Option 2: using store bought roasted chicken.

Estimated cost is for a 6 persons. Cost per head is approximately Php52/head.

Calorie Journal

Figures shown are estimated calorie count.