Nutritarian Un-Fried Rice

The ultimate Chinese comfort food gets a nutritarian makeover: Let’s Make Un-Fried Rice!

Let’s face it, fried rice is freaking amazing but it has quite a few un-amazing ingredients.

Heavy-handed with the processed oil, white rice, loads of sodium and eggs make this dish a major no-no when you’re following Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritarian lifestyle.

But I’ve got ya covered!

This vegan, Nutritarian Un-Fried rice is the real deal.  Quick-to-make, cheap, filling and chock-full of phytochemicals, plant-based protein and fiber!

This will undoubtedly become a fixture on your weekly food prep menu because it’s so speedy to cook and stores wonderfully in the fridge for up to 9 days (in glass food containers–for recommendations head here)!  And it freezes beautifully.

Pair it with this Citrus Kale Salad and you’ve got a full-blown, flavorful and balanced nutritarian meal!

Low-Fat & Cholesterol Free

When you remove the oil and animal products out of fried rice, you’re actually left with something that is pretty healthy: It’s essentially veggie rice.

Then, by replacing the eggs with tofu and raw sesame seeds, you’re getting loads of plant-based protein with zero cholesterol.

Um, low-fat, cholesterol-free fried rice?  That’s a win-win-win!

I mean look at the freshness going on with those ingredients!

Speaking of ingredients, you’re going to have to make a batch of these tofu eggs, or scroll down to the substitutions at the end of the post.

You can use a combination of any fresh or frozen veggies you have on hand, so this is a meal you can enjoy in every season!

No Oil?  (No Problem!)

The miraculous thing about this recipe is that it uses NO OIL!

Yup, not a spray, not a drop, not a dribble.

In fact, that’s probably the most important thing I learned from reading Dr. Fuhrman’s books–you should not be cooking with oil.

Oil is a processed food.  All of the fiber and nutrients present in the whole food has been stripped away so you’re pretty much left with concentrated calories.

The body easily and efficiently converts the calories from oil into fat cells (we’re talking 3 calories to store 100 calories worth of oil).  I’ll be having no more of that, thank you very much!

Dr. Fuhrman recommends getting your fats from intact sources like raw seeds, raw nuts and avocados.  Why?  Because it takes your body a lot more “work” to digest that intact fiber and the whole-food nutrients have not been stripped away.

So, what in the heck are we going to cook this fried rice with?

Low-sodium veggie broth.

You can pick it up at your local supermarket or you can be an Un-Fried-Rice-bad-ass and make a batch of this low-sodium Ginger Shiitake Broth.

Either way the rice is delicious, but if depth of flavor is your jam go ahead and time-splurge on that homemade broth–you can make this recipe with the leftovers!

It doesn’t take much broth to cook this recipe, because those fresh and frozen veggies will be releasing moisture while they cook.

If this is your very first time cooking oil-free than you’ve picked the very-best recipe to pop your oil-free cherry–I promise, there is no way you can mess up this Un-Fried Rice!

Less Rice?  How Nice!

The last thing we need to discuss here is the rice.

You’ll be happy to know that there’s only 2 cups of actual rice in 6 cups of this Un-Fried Rice recipe!

Yeah, I’m kinda super-proud of that fact.  Why?  Because who wants to only be able to eat one carefully-measured cup of fried rice?

See, if you’re following Dr. Fuhrman’s Aggressive Weight Loss plan (like I do) you’re going to want to cap your whole grain serving at one cup for the whole day.

So, since corn and brown rice fall under the “whole grains” category in Dr. Fuhrman’s plan, and this recipe has 2 cups of rice and about 1/2 cup frozen corn, you’re looking at a grand total of .42 cups of whole grains per one cup serving.

To put that in less-confusing terms: You can have two cups of this Un-Fried Rice and still come in below your 1 cup whole grain quota for the day!

Substitutions

Do you want to level-up your nutritarian game?  Substitute pre-cooked cauliflower rice for the brown rice.

Have an aversion or don’t trust tofu?  First off, make sure to read this article from Dr. Fuhrman, and you can substitute the tofu eggs with whole edamame beans or even garbanzo beans.

Want to pack even more veggies in there?  Feel free to use any fresh or frozen veggies you have on hand and really the more the merrier!  I’ve made versions with frozen broccoli, eggplant, and red cabbage–it’s always magical!

5 from 5 votes

Print

Nutritarian Un-Fried Rice

A nutrient-packed, vegan version of the comfort classic that’s oil-free, low-sodium and packed with veggies and plant-protein!

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 6 cups

Author Kristen Hong

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth or stock
• 2 cups frozen mixed veggies
• 1 cup sliced red bell pepper (one large red pepper)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 2 1/2 cups tofu eggs (see link to recipe in instructions below)
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 1/2 tsp liquid aminos
• 2 tbsp raw sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (see notes)
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder (see notes)
• pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Make a batch of Nutritarian Tofu Scrambled Eggs. 
   

2. In a large pot or pan over medium-high heat add your 1/2 cup low-sodium broth.  Turn your ventilation hood on high.  Add your frozen vegetables first and allow to saute for 5 to 7 minutes, stir well. 
   

3. Add your fresh veggies--red bell pepper and chopped green onions.  And cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.  Test your veggies to make sure they still have some crunch before cooking longer at this stage. 
   

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the tofu eggs.  Stir well to combine, cooking for about 2 minutes so the eggs are heated through. 
   

5. Reduce heat to low and add the brown rice and liquid aminos.  Stir well to incorporate.  Finally add the raw sesame seeds, garlic powder, ginger powder and pepper. 
   

Recipe Notes

NOTES:

Lasts up to 9 days in the fridge and up to 1 month in the freezer. 

If you decide to use the Low-Sodium Shiitake Ginger Broth then you can omit the ground ginger and garlic powder, or greatly reduce. 

If you'd like to add a bit of spice to your rice, but not make it too hot, then I love this little trick: place 3 to 4 thin slices of fresh Serrano or jalapeno peppers in your liquid aminos while you cook the rice.  Remove the slices from the liquid aminos before adding it in (or if you don't mind a little more spice keep them in there).  This imparts a subtle heat to the fried rice.

Alternatively, you can fine-dice 1/2 jalapeno and add it in with the red bell pepper and green onions during the cooking process. 

I really hope you come to love this Nutritarian Un-Fried Rice recipe as much as I do!

If you give the recipe a try I’d love to know what you think, please leave a rating and comment below!