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Hawaiian Fried Rice is neither Hawaiian nor Chinese, but it’s definitely delicious! Salty ham and sweet pineapple make an addictive combination, and dinner is done in 20 minutes or less.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Sriracha: Add more for spicy fried rice or omit entirely.
- Ginger: To peel fresh ginger, use the tip of a spoon to scrape off the peel. You can store any extra ginger in the freezer. Whenever you need some, grate the amount you need and return the rest to the freezer.
- Rice: Put your leftover rice to use (cold rice works best).
Step-by-step instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, and Sriracha to taste (I like 1 tablespoon). Set aside.
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until just smoking. Add ham, bell pepper, onion, and scallion whites, and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet, Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add rice and cook, breaking up clumps with spoon, until heated through, about 3 minutes.
- Push rice to one side of skillet and add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the empty side of skillet. Heat oil until shimmering. Add eggs to the oiled side of skillet and cook until set, about 30 seconds, while stirring occasionally.
- Stir eggs and reserved ham mixture into rice. Add soy sauce mixture and stir together until evenly coated. Remove from heat, stir in pineapple and garnish with scallion greens.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 generous servings (about 1 cup each, maybe more depending on the size of your vegetables).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance (store covered in the refrigerator). The ham and vegetables can be chopped the day before. And, cold leftover rice works best.
- Chicken: Substitute leftover chicken for the ham if that’s what you have.
- Teriyaki sauce: For a teriyaki twist on this non-classic dish, try my homemade teriyaki sauce recipe (it’s ready in about 15 minutes).
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Making Baked Rice in the oven is fast, foolproof, and fluffy. This easy 3-ingredient recipe is great for meal prep and freezer friendly, too. Say goodbye to sticky, burned pot bottoms, or al dente grains…
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Hawaiian Fried Rice
Hawaiian Fried Rice is neither Hawaiian nor Chinese, but it's definitely delicious! Salty ham and sweet pineapple make an addictive combination, and dinner is done in 20 minutes or less.
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- Sriracha to taste (see note 1)
For the fried rice:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 cup ham chopped
- 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 small onion halved and thinly sliced
- 6 scallions sliced, white and green parts divided
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated (see note 2)
- 4 cups cooked rice cold (see note 3)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups fresh pineapple cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Instructions
- To make the sauce, in a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, and Sriracha to taste (I like 1 tablespoon). Set aside.
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until just smoking. Add ham, bell pepper, onion, and scallion whites, and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add rice and cook, breaking up clumps with spoon, until heated through, about 3 minutes.
- Push rice to one side of skillet and add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the empty side of skillet. Heat oil until shimmering. Add eggs to the oiled side of skillet and cook until set, about 30 seconds, while stirring occasionally.
- Stir eggs and reserved ham mixture into rice. Add soy sauce mixture and stir together until evenly coated. Remove from heat, stir in pineapple and garnish with scallion greens.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Sriracha: Add more for spicy fried rice or omit entirely.
- Ginger: To peel fresh ginger, use the tip of a spoon to scrape off the peel. You can store any extra ginger in the freezer. Whenever you need some, grate the amount you need and return the rest to the freezer.
- Rice: Put your leftover rice to use (cold rice works best).
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 generous servings (about 1 cup each, maybe more depending on the size of your vegetables).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance (store covered in the refrigerator). The ham and vegetables can be chopped the day before. And, cold leftover rice works best.
- Chicken: Substitute leftover chicken for the ham if that’s what you have.
- Teriyaki sauce: For a teriyaki twist on this non-classic dish, try my homemade teriyaki sauce recipe (it’s ready in about 15 minutes).
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupCalories: 279kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 9gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 649mgPotassium: 234mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 650IUVitamin C: 43mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
You hit it out of the park with your Hawaiian fried rice! I used my left over Easter ham as you suggested, and the fresh pineapple was spot on! My wife loved it .Thank you!
Wow, thanks so much Doug! I’m happy you and your wife loved it. -Meggan
Made for dinner tonight.Tasted really good,but next time will use only one tablespoon sesame oil,was a little overwhelming.We also added a drizzle of lime juice.Thank you so much for this recipe.With social lock down right now,all our local Chinese restaurants have all closed and I miss the food. I did use two cups chopped ham also.
Wow is this awesome. I am not normally a fan of sriracha, but it’s so amazing in this recipe to give it zip! What a great use of leftover ham. Thanks Meggan.
This is not a Hawaiian Dish. Just because there’s pineapple doesn’t make it Hawaiian. This is just pineapple Fried Rice…
Yes, I know. It’s also not Chinese even though it’s fried rice. Thing is, people who are looking for pineapple fried rice tend to google “Hawaiian Fried Rice” for whatever reason. People tend to NOT look for “pineapple fried rice.” So if I want to help the people of Google find what they are looking for, I have the title recipe according to that. Sorry for the confusion. -Meggan