This quick and easy Filipino garlic fried rice recipe (sinangag) uses only few ingredients and is a must have in every meal. The buttery, garlicky and salty flavors in this garlic fried rice go with any meal you make and it's so simple you'll never serve plain rice again!
Table of Contents
- What is Sinangag (Filipino Garlic Fried Rice)?
- Why You'll Love This Fried Rice Recipe
- Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Garlic Fried Rice At Home
- How to Make Garlic Fried Rice (Step-by-Step)
- Joyce's Tips For Making the Best Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag) Every Single Time
- Serving Suggestions
- Garlic Fried Rice Variations
- How to Store Leftover Garlic Fried Rice
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recipes to Use Up Leftover Rice
- More Fried Rice Recipes You Make Like
- Did You Make This Recipe?
- Recipe Card
Fried rice is a staple in Asian cuisine, but with so many versions out there which one is a good one to make? My answer to this will always be the simple and easy garlic fried rice.
This Filipino garlic fried rice is one my favorite ways to serve fried rice because of how flavorful it is, but also because of how simple and quick it is to put together as well.
One of the best part of this garlicky fried rice is it uses butter. The butter adds a richness to the rice as well as a layer of umami.
When the milk solids from the butter gets toasted with the minced fried garlic, not only brings out the delicious garlic flavors, but the toasted milk solids in the butter also add a lot of delicious nuttiness as well.
If you're looking for an easy and easy and incredibly delicious and salty garlic fried rice, then this is it!
What is Sinangag (Filipino Garlic Fried Rice)?
Garlic rice (Sinangag) is essentially a simple fried rice made with a lot of garlic that have been toasted in oil.
It's most commonly made in Filipino cuisine and is absolutely delicious with dish like chicken adobo to absorb all the flavorful sauce.
This garlicky and salty fried rice is also an amazing accompaniment to sweet meats, such as tocino. (For those of you that don't want to to make tocino super quickly, I cheat and use pan fry tocino spam and it's just as delicious!)
That being said, there are also Japanese versions of garlic fried rice and Indo-Chinese ones as well which are more commonly called burnt garlic fried rice.
What's the difference between Filipino garlic fried rice and Indo-Chinese or Japanese garlic fried rice? Not much really except they all have a lot of garlic, it's fried rice and it's absolutely delicious!
Why You'll Love This Fried Rice Recipe
- Quick and Easy - This garlic fried rice is incredibly easy and simple and only uses a few ingredients. If you're looking for an quick side dish, this would be it.
- Use Up Leftover Rice - If you have leftover day-old rice, this is the perfect way to use it up.
- Delicious and Versatile - This garlicky fried rice is incredibly delicious because of the toasted garlic and butter combination. You can also easily transform it to a full hearty meal by adding in frozen vegetables, or ground meat in it as well!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Garlic Fried Rice At Home
- Rice - To make the best garlic fried rice, it's important to use leftover cold rice because it is drier and it will create a less soggy fried rice. Any type of rice will work, both Jasmine long-grain, and Japanese short-grain rice work beautifully for this recipe. If you don't have any day old cold rice, you can use fresh rice but you must put in less water to cook it and make sure it has fully cooled either by putting it in the freezer or fridge for a few hours after it has finished cooking.
- Garlic - This is the star of this dish. There's a lot of it. I like to use both finely minced garlic and fried garlic chips for this recipe for extra flavor and textures.
- Butter - To make this garlic fried rice extra flavorful, I like to use a few tablespoons of butter instead of a lot of oil. Both, unsalted or salted butter will work nicely for this garlic fried rice recipe.
- Oil - Any type of vegetable oil will work. I like to use avocado oil for this recipe because of the higher smoking point.
- Salt - Any type of salt will work for this recipe. I avoid using soy sauce in this recipe because I like adding salt directly into the oil to season the oil which spreads throughout the rice much more evenly.
How to Make Garlic Fried Rice (Step-by-Step)
Prepare the Grated Garlic
Finely grate or mince the garlic and set it aside for later.
Prepare the Cold Cooked Rice
Rub a bit of oil into your hands so that the rice doesn't stick to your hands and take large chunks of cold rice and break them up into smaller rice grains by putting pressure on it with your thumbs.
Do this for all the large chunks of rice.
I like to get them into individual rice grains if possible. Set the rice aside for later.
Make Garlic Chips (Optional)
Peel and remove the hard end from 2-3 cloves of garlic and thinly slice them as evenly as you can. The more even you cut them the more evenly they will cook together.
In a large skillet or a wok, add the oil and thin garlic slices and spread them out so they are in a single layer.
Set the stove to medium low heat and slowly toast them until they are golden in color. This will take about 7 minutes. Flip them to make sure they cook evenly on both sides. Make sure not to leave the stove for this because they burn quickly.
Don't worry they will continue to cook even after you remove them from the oil and they will turn crispy and light brown. Making garlic chips will also add additional garlic flavor to the oil. Set them aside for later.
Make the Garlic Fried Rice
Add oil (if you didn't previously make the garlic chips), and butter into the frying pan and set the stove to medium heat.
Don't wait for the oil and butter to get hot, add the garlic in right away. We want to slowly infuse the oil with garlic and toast it slowly so that it doesn't burn. I also add the salt in now so that the oil is seasoned, which makes it much easier to spread through the rice later.
Toast the garlic until it is golden brown. This will take about 5 minutes.
They may clump together, so use your spoon to separate them as best as you can.
Add in the cooked rice rice into the pan.
Mix everything together well, and continue to stir fry the garlic fried rice until the rice is hot, which is about 3-4 minutes. If you still have clumps of rice, you can use this time to break them into smaller pieces with your utensil.
Once the garlic fried rice has finished cooking, if you made garlic chips, you can sprinkle it on top of the rice as a garnish or stir fry them directly with the rice so that it's evenly mixed in. Alternatively, you can also add some finely chopped green onions/scallions or toasted sesame seeds on top as a garnish as well. Enjoy!
Joyce's Tips For Making the Best Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag) Every Single Time
Always Use Day Old Rice - Leftover cold rice always makes the best fried rice because it is drier, so it doesn't make soggy fried rice. If you don't have leftover white rice, you can make a fresh batch of rice, but you must put in less water to cook it and make sure it is completely cooled in the fridge or freezer before you use it.
Use Butter - To make the rice more flavorful, I like to use butter along with some oil. I like to use salted butter to add more flavor to the rice, but unsalted butter works as well.
Add Salt to the Oil for Better Flavor Distribution - By adding the salt to the oil, you flavor the oil which is a lot easier to spread evenly throughout the rice. If you add the salt directly to the rice, it can potentially just stick to a clump of rice and not season the whole dish evenly.
Rub Your Hands With a Bit of Oil - To prevent the rice from sticking to your hands, when you are breaking up the rice by hand, add a bit of oil to it.
Toast The Garlic Until It Is Golden Yellow - It's important to make sure you toast the garlic until it is a golden color for the best flavor. If it's not toasted enough, you will have a spicy garlic bite.
Serving Suggestions
I love to drizzle garlic chili oil on all my fried rice dishes to give it some extra flavor. With chili oil, there's no extra heat, just an extra kick of garlic and spice flavor. That being said, I also love to drizzle a bit of sesame oil on it right before I eat it for an extra layer of nutty flavor as well!
This simple and quick garlic fried rice is also my favorite way to enjoy my Chinese takeout favorites like sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour chicken, lemon chicken and sesame chicken. The sweet and tangy sauces pair amazingly with the salty garlicky fried rice.
What really makes this fried rice shine is sweet meats like tocino (filipino sweet pork), and Chinese char siu (Chinese BBQ Pork). The sweet and savory combination is absolutely delicious and hits every single comfort spot.
As a shortcut to making tocino, I love to use tocino flavored spam! I love to slice it thinly and pan fry it until it is crispy and serve it with this flavorful garlicky fried rice.
Another amazing dish that goes beautifully with this rice is adobo chicken, especially if you drizzle some of the adobo sauce over the rice. The rice sops of all the amazing flavors and each bite is loaded with flavor.
Garlic Fried Rice Variations
Add Ground Meat - An quick and easy way to make it a hearty fried rice is to add some ground meat! Ground beef, chicken, pork, turkey or lamb will work very well in this dish. Add the ground meat in after you toast the garlic in the butter.
Add Chicken or Shrimp - Add thin slices of chicken breast or shrimp (thaw the shrimp first, if you're using from frozen) to make it a more hearty meal. Quickly stir-fry it after you toast the garlic for a few minutes until it is fully cooked before you add the rice.
Garlic Egg Fried Rice - Add an egg to to make this a garlicky scrambled egg fried rice! Once the garlic fried rice has finished cooking, push it aside and then add a bit more oil and add in some beaten eggs. Let the eggs cook to about 75% and then mix the rice over the eggs and cook it until all the egg is fully cooked and has dried up.
Spicy Chili Garlic Fried Rice - If you like your foods spicy, you can add chili flakes at the same time as the garlic to toast them together to create a spicy chili oil for the fried rice to cook in.
Vegetable Garlic Fried Rice - A simple way to make this a more hearty fried rice, is to add frozen veggies to it after the garlic has finished toasted. Cook the frozen vegetables for a few minutes until they are soft before adding in the rice.
Onion Garlic Fried Rice- To add even more flavor, toast finely minced onions (or shallots) with some garlic! Add it in the same time you add the garlic.
How to Store Leftover Garlic Fried Rice
To store leftover garlic fried rice, wait for it to cool before putting it in an airtight container or covering it with plastic wrap. It can be stored up to a week in the fridge.
To reheat it, you can microwave it for 1-2 minutes, stirring every minute to ensure it is heated evenly, or you can heat it up in a skillet on medium heat with a bit of oil. Just be careful not to overcook it, because the garlic can burn.
To freeze garlic fried rice, store it in a freezer bag with all the air squeezed out. It can last in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat from frozen, simply microwave it or heat it up in a skillet again.
Frequently Asked Questions
To get the best flavor, I highly recommend fresh garlic for this garlic fried rice recipe because we infuse the oil with garlic, which distributes the garlic flavor better. Garlic powder has a bigger chance to stick to a clump of rice, and it will burn if you try to toast it in oil.
Traditionally, garlic is not a common ingredient in egg fried rice. That being said, if you love egg fried rice, there's nothing wrong with adding garlic in to give it that delicious garlicky flavor. You can even add egg to this garlic fried rice as well!
The secret is to use day-old cold rice. The rice is drier so you get delicious fried rice with a better texture, and you have less of a chance to make it soggy as well.
Slice the chicken thinly, so that it cooks quickly and add it after the garlic turns golden. This way your garlic has already been cooked to the perfect state. If you add the chicken first, the garlic has a chance to steam and boil from the extra juices and you won't get the delicious toasted garlic flavor.
Recipes to Use Up Leftover Rice
More Fried Rice Recipes You Make Like
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you made this garlic fried rice recipe, I want to see! Follow Pups with Chopsticks on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @pupswithchopsticks and #pupswithchopsticks. I love to know what you are making!
Please also consider leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and a comment to tell me how it went! I'd love to hear from you if you made this!
If you like my recipes and want to be updated on when new ones come out, please consider subscribing to my newsletter (we don't spam) and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for all of my latest recipes!
Recipe Card
Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag)
Joyce's Recipe Notes
- Always Use Day Old Rice - Leftover cold rice always makes the best fried rice because it is drier, so it doesn't make soggy fried rice. If you don't have leftover white rice, you can make a fresh batch of rice, but you must put in less water to cook it and make sure it is completely cooled in the fridge or freezer before you use it.
- Use Butter - To make the rice more flavorful, I like to use butter along with some oil. I like to use salted butter to add more flavor to the rice, but unsalted butter works as well.
- Add Salt to the Oil for Better Flavor Distribution - By adding the salt to the oil, you flavor the oil which is a lot easier to spread evenly throughout the rice. If you add the salt directly to the rice, it can potentially just stick to a clump of rice and not season the whole dish evenly.
- Rub Your Hands With a Bit of Oil - To prevent the rice from sticking to your hands, when you are breaking up the rice by hand, add a bit of oil to it.
Ingredients
- 4 cups rice (day-old, leftover rice)
- 1 bulb garlic (minced) (approx. ¼ cup)
- 2-3 cloves garlic (for garlic chips) (optional)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Prepare the Garlic
- Finely grate or mince the garlic and set it aside for later.
Prepare the Day-Old Cooked Rice
- Rub a bit of oil into your hands so that the rice doesn't stick to your hands and take large chunks of cold rice and break them up into smaller rice grains by putting pressure on it with your thumbs.
- Do this for all the large chunks of rice.
- I like to get them into individual rice grains if possible. Set the rice aside for later.
Make Garlic Chips (Optional)
- Peel and remove the hard end from 2-3 cloves of garlic and thinly slice them as evenly as you can. The more even you cut them the more evenly they will cook together.
- In a large skillet or a wok, add the oil and thin garlic slices and spread them out so they are in a single layer. Set the stove to medium-low heat and slowly toast them until they are golden in color. (Approx. 7 minutes)Flip them to make sure they cook evenly on both sides. Make sure not to leave the stove for this because they burn quickly.
- Don't worry they will continue to cook even after you remove them from the oil and they will turn crispy and light brown. Making garlic chips will also add additional garlic flavor to the oil. Set them aside for later.
Make the Garlic Fried Rice
- Add oil (if you didn't previously make the garlic chips), and butter into the frying pan and set the stove to medium heat.
- Don't wait for the oil and butter to get hot, add the garlic in right away. We want to slowly infuse the oil with garlic and toast it slowly so that it doesn't burn. I also add the salt in now so that the oil is seasoned, which makes it much easier to spread through the rice later.
- Toast the garlic until it is golden brown. (Approx. 5 minutes)They may clump together, so use your spoon to separate them as best as you can.
- Add in the cooked rice rice into the pan.
- Mix everything together well, and continue to stir fry the garlic fried rice until the rice is hot, which is about 3-4 minutes.If you still have clumps of rice, you can use this time to break them into smaller pieces with your utensil.
- Once the garlic fried rice has finished cooking, if you made garlic chips, you can sprinkle it on top of the rice as a garnish or stir fry them directly with the rice so that it's evenly mixed in. Alternatively, you can also add some finely chopped green onions/scallions or toasted sesame seeds on top as a garnish as well. Enjoy!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. While I appreciate the support – please try to buy your items locally if possible to support your local shops (chances are they are they will be cheaper as well)
Josie says
This recipe is really a fast easy way of cooking when have not enough time especially after work to get a dinner for the family. Favoured garlic make the whole dish taste the best, I added chicken dice and sunshine fried eggs. Voila!! Thank you.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Josie!
I'm so happy you liked it! I love making this with ground chicken to make a quick and easy meal too 🙂