Schezwan Fried Rice Recipe
Updated: April 20, 2023, By Swasthi
Schezwan Fried Rice recipe with easy instructions to make your own schezwan sauce for rice. This spicy Schezwan Fried Rice is a breeze to whip up in just 20 minutes with the best homemade sweet, sour and hot sauce. Made with everyday ingredients, it is insanely flavorful & delicious!! This recipe is vegetarian, but you can easily add the protein of your choice. Easily customize it to your taste and add the choice of veggies or even egg.
About Schezwan Fried Rice
Schezwan Fried Rice is a popular fried rice variety from the Indo Chinese Cuisine. It is quite popular & is the most ordered in Indo-Chinese restaurants. Unlike the regular fried rice, Schezwan Fried Rice is hot & spicy with bursting flavors of ginger, garlic, soya sauce & red chilli paste.
This is an easy recipe to make better than restaurant quality schezwan fried rice. It is so much flavorful, delicious and super simple to make with pantry staples. Another similar dish is this Schezwan Noodles.
Schezwan rice is made by frying rice along with schezwan sauce which is a unique blend of sauces cooked together. In this post I have also shown how to make the sauce from scratch & use the same for your schezwan fried rice.
Usually bottled Schezwan sauce from the stores contain additives & preservatives. So that keeps me away from using them most times. This homemade sauce is much flavorful & superior in taste that the ready made one. So do try the simple sauce I have shown here.
The Schezwan fried rice served in most restaurants in India do not have Sichuan peppers since it is already included in the store bought sauce they use.
The unique aroma actually comes from the sichuan peppers. However if you do not have then just skip them. Your dish will still turn out amazing.
To make schezwan sauce, red chilles are soaked in warm water and then blended to make red chilli paste. But if you do not have red chilies or do not want to blend them, then just use red chilli powder the same way I have used in this post.
But do note that the taste of the red chilies is much superior to the red chilli powder in the sauce. If you want to make your own sauce & store it then you can check this Schezwan sauce recipe.
More fried rice recipes
Veg fried rice
Mushroom fried rice
Paneer fried rice
Egg fried rice
Chicken fried rice
Photo Guide
How to Make Schezwan Fried Rice (stepwise photos)
Preparation
You can cook rice in whatever way you like. It has to be grainy and not mushy. Here I have shown how I do.
1. Rinse and soak 1½ cups basmati rice for 20 to 30 minutes. Bring about 10 cups water to a rolling boil in a large pot. When the water begins to boil, drain the water from the rice and add it to the water. Also add 1 teaspoon oil to the water. Cook rice on a medium high flame till al dente. It must be grainy, almost cooked and not mushy.
2. Drain the rice immediately to a colander. To avoid drying, cover and keep the rice.
Preparation for Schezwan sauce – skip this section if you have the sauce.
3. Soak about 8 to 10 deseeded red chilies in little warm water for 15 minutes. Later make a fine paste in a blender jar along with little water. I like to use red chili powder just to skip the lengthy process of soaking and blending.
To make that, add good quality Kashmiri red chili powder to a small bowl. Then pour very little water. Stir and make a fine paste.
Make Schezwan Sauce for Rice
4. Pour 1½ tablespoons oil and heat it. Fry ½ tablespoon ginger and 1 tablespoon garlic until it turns aromatic.
4. Next add 1 medium onion chopped.
5. Fry until the onions turn golden. If using celery add 2 tbsps chopped celery. I do not use it. Saute for 2 to 3 mins.
If you already have the sauce and want to use it, skip to 11.
6. Next stir in 1½ tablespoon soya sauce, 1 tablespoon red chilli paste, 1 tablespoon ketchup (optional), ½ tablespoon sugar, vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt. To make red chilli paste, stir together ¾ to 1 tbsp red chilli powder with 3 tablespoons water.
7. Add ¾ to 1 teaspoon crushed Sichuan pepper or half teaspoon crushed black pepper. Please note you have to crush the Sichuan peppers well. If using them in ground form, cut down to half.
8. Saute furthermore till the sauce thickens.
9. Pour water and stir again. Cooking further brings out the flavor of onions and pepper.
10. Cook until it thickens. Set the sauce aside until needed. To the same pan, add 1½ tablespoon more oil and proceed to the next step.
Make Schezwan Fried Rice
11. Regulate the flame to high. Pour 1.5 tablespoons oil. When the oil turns hot, add spring onion whites, carrots, french & beans. Stir fry chopped veggies until half cooked yet crunchy.
12. Add capsicum. Stir and fry until they are half done but not soft.
13. Add the spring onion greens and Schezwan sauce.
14. Add cooled rice. I added a bit of oil at this stage. Gently mix to coat the rice with sauce.
15. Stir fry further for 2 minutes. If making for later use or for packing in lunch box, then just mix and do not fry longer. Rice becomes harder. Taste test and add more salt and sauce if needed.
Servings Suggestions
Serve Schezwan fried rice with any Indo Chinese appetizers or sides like
Veg manchurian
Paneer manchurian
Chilli paneer
Pro Tips
Cool Rice: Always use only completely cooled grainy rice. Either you can cook freshly and cool it while you make the sauce. Or just use precooked rice. Avoid using mushy rice or sticky rice.
Store bought sauce: If you do not want to make your own schezwan sauce, you could just grab a bottle of schezwan sauce from the nearest Indian or Chinese store or buy online.
Wok or a skillet: To make the best schezwan rice, use a wok if you have. Even a cast iron skillet works great.
Fry on a high heat: To get a smoky aroma always fry the veggies at the highest flame. You can also skip the veggies in the recipe. I have seen many restaurants serving the schezwan fried rice plain without any veggies added to it.
Variation: Since this is a vegetarian recipe I have used only mixed veggies but you can also stir in some beaten eggs or your choice of meat like chicken or shrimp.
If using chicken just boil it first until tender & then fry it before adding the veggies. Same with shrimp. If using egg then fry the veggies first & then the eggs.
Make ahead: You can make the sauce ahead & refrigerate it. When needed you can just stir the sauce in some hot oil and fry the rice together.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Schezwan Fried Rice Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1½ cups rice uncooked (any premium quality)
- ¼ cup spring onions or onions
- ¾ cup carrots fine chopped (1 small) (optional)
- ¾ cup french beans fine chopped (4 medium)(optional)
- ¾ cup capsicum chopped or (½ bell pepper)
- 1½ tablespoons oil
- ½ tablespoon ginger chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons celery chopped finely (optional)
to make sauce or use 2 to 3 tbsp ready-made Schezwan sauce
- 1½ tablespoons oil
- 1½ tablespoons soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- ½ to ¾ tablespoons vinegar
- ¾ to 1 tablespoon red chili powder mixed with 3 tbsps water (or 1 tbsp red chilli paste)
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt as needed
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corn (or ½ tsp black pepper powder)
- 3 tablespoons water to cook the sauce
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash rice and soak for 20 to 30 mins. Bring 6 cups water to a boil.
- When the water begins to boil rapidly, then add rice and 1 teaspoon oil. Cook on a medium high flame till al dente.
- Al dente rice is firm but fully cooked. Make sure rice is not over cooked.
- When the rice is cooked al dente, drain it to a colander.
- While the cooked rice cools completely, chop the vegetables.
How to Make Schezwan Fried Rice
- Pour oil to a hot wok. Fry ginger & garlic till they smell good.
- Next add onions and fry until golden.
- Skip this step if you have the sauce ready. Stir in red chili powder with water. Add this to the pan along with soya sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, salt and schezwan pepper. Cook until it thickens. Pour 3 tbsps more water and cook till it thickens, Remove to a bowl. To the same pan, add 1½ tablespoon more oil.
- On a high flame, fry spring onion whites, carrots, beans & capsicum until half cooked yet crunchy.
- Next add Schezwan sauce, cooled rice and spring onion greens.
- Mix and stir fry schezwan rice for 2 minutes. Taste test and adjust salt and spice if needed.
- Serve schezwan fried rice hot or warm with any Indo chinese side.
Notes
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
You revolutionised my cooking. Thanks for the recipes,for making my cooking tasty and interesting.
That makes me happy Sapna. Thank you so much!
Actually, to add to my previous comment. Steps 1 and 2 are also part of the Schezwan sauce preparation. So, instead of saying “Skip this step …” you should be saying “Skip steps 1-3 …” In other words, if you already have the Schezwan sauce prepared, the fried rice recipe actually starts with Step 4 with “add 1 1/2 tbsps oil …”
Thank you, I will look into that and update.
The recipe card would be clearer if you put “To the same pan, add 1 1/2 tablespoons more oil” into step 4 (instead of at the end of step 3–that way the entire step 3 can be skipped if the Schezwan sauce is prepared ahead of time).
Just tried this schezwan rice recipe and it came out great! Thank you so much!
Glad you like it Srilatha. Thank you
Hi, awesome!! That’s the only word I will use for how this recipe turned out. I made the Schezwan sauce from scratch too, without vinegar because I don’t like its taste, and still it was hot favourite of my kids. They will surely forget all the brands they had made me purchase in the past. And the rice was finished in a blink. What can I say, it’s a dream of every mother’s to see the kids licking very last bits of food, and lo, i felt blessed. Thank you so much Swathi, for the perfect recipe.
Hi Arti,
Thank you so much for sharing back how your kids enjoyed. My boys love it too. You can also make the sauce and store it for a few months. I have a recipe here – Schezwan sauce. Try using apple cider vinegar. You actually won’t know the flavor in the sauce as it cooks down.
🙂
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you so much Sanika
Hi swasthi, your recipes are too good and easy to follow.i want to know if I have schezwan sauce already instead of preparing it .how much I should add.
Hi Fatima
Thank you! Every brand is different, some are way too hot. Start with a small quantity like 1.5 teaspoons per serving. Add more if required when you mix the rice.
Hi
Though never met you, I am at home in your kitchen.. any dish I want to try the first thing I check out is your page… by now almost everyone would have told you how wonderful your recipes are.. I too agree n would try more n more of those.. special thank you for the effort you put in each of them.. very detailed and informative also yummy …I want to tell you so much.. the joy we experienced after trying your recipes but somehow no words to express exactly how we feel .. all we can say is ….
Thank you
Hi Arathy,
So glad to know you! You are most welcome!
Thank you so much for the heartwarming words.
Felt so good reading it.
🙂
This turned out just like it tastes at the restaurants! The Schezuan Sauce too! Thank you!
Hello Rati,
You are welcome! Glad you liked it. Thank you!
Great information. Thanks for posting this recipe…I wanted to try it since long.
Can you PLEASE suggest Amazon link for Schezwan sauce ? Particulary wanted to try your recommendation, as there are many many options – makes it confusing. (Focusing on EZ part of SchEZwan here!)
Hello Saee,
My recipe does not need a store bought sauce. You can make it instantly following my recipe. But if you still want, please check on amazon for chings schezwan sauce. But note that it comes with so many preservatives
Hi can u mention how much quantity of red chilly powder v should take for making the paste
You can use 1 tbsp powder
Hi dont have the Sichuan pepper..do I need to substitute it with something else
Hi Anjali,
Just replace it with little regular pepper
Hi, please can you tell me what sort of beans you add to the rice. I am in the UK so any equivalent would help. Thank you.
Hi Avril
Your are welcome. I used french beans. You can also use baby beans or chef beans. You can also skip them totally.
Thank you for your recipes.
Hi Joshi Laxmi,
You are welcome.
Hi Swasthi, I’ve been trying your recipes from the time I got married. I love them all. I see you try to keep it as healthy as possible which I’m comfortable with since I have a lot of health restrictions.
Can I make this recipe without using soy sauce? Or do you know what I can use to substitute soy sauce?
Thank you
Welcome Greeshma,
Thank you so much for following. Yes you can skip soya sauce. There is no substitute to it. If you have not been using it in your food so far, then you will find any dish good even without it. Most times I skip it as i am afraid of serving it to my kids. We find no difference in taste.
HI SWASTHI I LIVE IN UK .TRIED SCHEZWAN FRIED RICE AND GOBI 65 YESTERDAY.CAME OUT VERY GOOD.THANK YOU FOR THE RECIPE
Welcome Priya
Thanks for trying.
I LOVVVEEE YOUR RECIPES .DON’T YOU HAVE PASTA RECIPES? I M ACTUALLY A TEENAGER WHO LOVES COOKING. IF I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO COOK I ALWAYA COME IN YOUR SITE.
Thanks a lot. You can check this collection of pasta recipes
Hi Swathi
your doing good job ….all .yummy yummy recipes.
Thanks Rajitha
Tasty and tested recipes . Thank you
Welcome Nishitha
very useful and very tasty when cooked using the recipe
Thank you Krishna kumari
Hi.swathi..its really nice today i try this recipe..my fatherinlaw said its very nice ..thanks a looooooottttttt …love it..
Welcome Revathy