Lemon Pepper Fried Rice

A Wonderful Summer Side

Lemon pepper fried rice is a flavorful blend of fluffy rice infused with the zesty tang of lemon. The warmth of sautéed garlic, and the kick of freshly ground black pepper make this even better. Enhanced with delicate lemon tea leaves and a drizzle of honey. This dish offers a symphony of flavors that dance on your palate with every bite. Whether served as a vibrant side or a satisfying main, it’s sure to delight with its aromatic charm and irresistible taste.

This dish is a perfect side dish to your Summer grilled. chicken and shrimp dishes. I have been known to have a craving for this and make it as a main dish for myself for lunch. It is perfect any way you look at it.

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Day Old Is A Dream

Making this lemon pepper fried rice is best with day old rice. You can even use rice from leftover Chinese take out to make this easy side dish. If you are in a rush I have also made this with rice straight from my instant pot or slow cooker and it comes out just fine. It is a little more sticky when you use same day rice versus day old rice, but the flavors are all there.

Tea Bags For Flavor

We are a big tea household, so I usually have lots of tea on hand. This lemon ginger tea picture above is one of my favorite teas to drink hot or cold. I add two tea bags of this to the cooking rice and it infuses it with such depth of flavor. You can use any lemon variety of tea. If ginger is not your thing you can use a plain lemon tea as well.

Honey Makes It Special

I love the addition of honey in this fried rice. It cuts the acidity of all the lemon and adds an ever so slight sticky texture to the rice that makes an amazing texture. I love to use Manuka Honey which is expensive, but really good for you. Manuka honey has been found to have various biological activities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-proliferative capacities. 

I have also used many other honeys in this dish. A hot honey is a great choice as well as a truffled honey. Both of these add great depth of flavor to this rice.

Yield: 4 to 6 Servings

Lemon Pepper Fried Rice

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Lemon pepper fried rice is a flavorful blend of fluffy rice infused with the zesty tang of lemon, the warmth of sautéed garlic, and the kick of freshly ground black pepper. Enhanced with delicate lemon tea leaves and a drizzle of honey, this dish offers a symphony of flavors that dance on your palate with every bite. Whether served as a vibrant side or a satisfying main, it's sure to delight with its aromatic charm and irresistible taste.

Ingredients

• *ingredients can be doubled to make larger portions
• **all ingredients are highlighted in the post before the recipe card
• 2 lemon ginger tea bags
• 1 cup of white rice, rinsed well
• 2 cups of water to cook the rice
• juice of 2 lemons, you can use less lemon, but I like it very tart
• zest of 1/2 of one lemon
• 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, adapt this to your taste
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• black pepper to taste (i probably use about a tablespoon total)
• salt to taste (i like to use a pink Himalayan salt for this)
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 6 to 8 chives, sliced very thin
• splash of soy sauce, approximately 1 teaspoon *more can be added to your personal taste

Instructions

1. I cook my rice in my instant pot, rinse the rice really well and add it with 2 cups of water and the 2 tea bags to the instant pot and set to rice setting. If you know how to cook rice on the stove then use that cooking method and also add your two tea bags.
2. When rice is done cooking, remove the tea bags and discard. It is best to make this rice a day ahead of time and let it sit in fridge overnight but I have made this recipe immediately after making the rice.
3. In a bowl squeeze your 1 to 2 lemons. You may want to start with the juice of one lemon and then you can add more lemon juice later. I know we like this very lemony so I add 2.
4. Add the zest of the one half of lemon to the lemon juice, then grate or use a garlic press and add the garlic cloves. You can also finely mince the garlic. Add black pepper to taste. I prefer to use fresh ground black pepper. Add the honey and the soy sauce and whisk until the honey is dissolved. Add half the chives to the lemon juice mixture and a pinch of salt.
5. When your rice is cooked and cooled overnight or cooled slightly if you are making this right away, add your butter to a large, deep sided skillet. Let that melt and then add your rice to the pan.
6. Sauté this recipe for a couple of minutes and then spread it out evenly in the pan and lower the heat. Let it crisp up for a couple of minutes until it is slightly golden brown. Then sauté again and repeat the spreading and crisping process one more time. You want some crispness to the rice but you don't want it hard and dry.
7. Add your lemon juice mixture to the rice and sauté this all for about 5 to 7 minutes until the mixture is absorb into the rice. Taste and add salt and pepper if you like. You can also add more lemon juice if you think it needs it. The rice will be slightly sticky in texture and slightly crisp.
8. Serve with topped with the remaining chives, add more black pepper if needed and you can garnish with some lemon slices.
9. Serve as a main course or a side dish. This goes great with grilled chicken or shrimp.

More Rice Please

If you happen to love rice, please consider giving my Easy Bacon and Onion Fried Rice recipe a try. This is always a fan favorite recipe when I make it.