Canned Tuna Fried Rice makes a quick and easy family-friendly meal idea. It is packed with fresh herbs and protein. The kind of meal you cook in your pajamas after a long day at work!
I love cooking for my family. But, the reality is that sometimes cooking is just hard and tiring, and I’m already short on energy by the time I get home. Everyone who is tired of planning, shopping, and chopping away in the kitchen every day says “Aye”.
So there’s a thin line between the Giada-fangirl version of me who loves comfort food with fresh ingredients and the sushi date for dinner version of me, and I often pick the latter. At one point, I wondered what life would be like if I was Samantha from Bewitched with her magical spells… But this Tuna Fried Rice IS my spell.
Yes, fried rice is a no-brainer for me when I’m thinking of quick and easy dinners to put together especially when we have friends or family over. Duck fried rice, scallop fried rice, tom yum fried rice, and so much more. And this tuna fried rice is not an exception.
I believe that everyone needs a clean-your-pantry-and-fridge kind of recipe, and I can’t think of something easier than this fried rice. It is easy to make, healthy delicious, and a highly customizable recipe with star quality.
And the best part is that all of the ingredients are so simple and you probably already have them in your fridge and pantry. Canned tuna. Canned tuna is one of my favorite pantry staples and also emergency food when I run low on time or energy.
The ingredients
Here’s a list of ingredients you will need:
- Canned tuna. Any canned tuna works with this fried rice
- Rice. Definitely use chilled cooked rice
- Butter, sesame oil. Yes, butter and it makes this fried rice tastes so much better
- Onion, garlic for extra fragrant and texture
- Cilantro, parsley, basil. Be sure to use fresh herbs!
- Fish sauce annd that’s the only sauce you need
When making fried rice, leftover cold rice is ideal to use because the grains are separate and cook easier in the wok.
How to make tuna fried rice
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter into a large skillet. Saute onion for 2 minutes until soft and add garlic to saute for a further 1 minute
- Add tuna into the pan and separate it using a spatula
- Add rice and fresh herbs; then saute everything until well combined and no more clumps
- Add fish sauce, stir again for a further of 1-2 minutes until well combined
- Adjust seasonings and serve immediately
Easy tuna rice variations
I love that this easy delicious fried rice is customizable and you can add scrambled eggs, fried eggs, peas, or diced carrot.
And if you like spicy food, add chopped jalapeno or chopped chilies. There are no rules holding you back from adding more flavor!
Low-carb tuna fried rice
You can swab white rice with cauliflower rice or broccoli rice for a low-carb option. It also tastes great with shirataki rice or quinoa.
Storing
Fried rice is so good, but sometimes you can end up with an extra serving or more. When that happens, you can store leftover rice in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze this in the freezer for up to 2 months. And when you’re ready to enjoy it, just thaw and throw it into the skillet for 5-10 minutes.
Fried rice is a quick and delicious way to transform leftovers into something delicious. And this canned tuna fried rice will be your new favorite!
Canned Tuna Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 can of tuna
- 1½ cups cooked and chilled rice white or brown rice
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 small white onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 cup of lightly packed cilantro
- ½ cup of lightly packed parsley
- ½ cup of lightly packed basil
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter into a large skillet. Saute onion for 2 minutes until soft and add garlic to saute for a further 1 minute
- Add tuna into the pan and separate it using a spatula
- Add rice and fresh herbs; then saute everything until well combined and no more clumps
- Add fish sauce, stir again for a further of 1-2 minutes until well combined
- Adjust seasonings and serve immediately
Wow!!! This looks fantastic. I’ve tried to make my own fried rice a couple times, but I think I need a better pan/wok. I don’t have a wok and I think it might turn out a bit better if I can had one! Beautiful photos.
Yum this sounds amazing and looks it too. Such a healthy meal and i never can find great ways to fix Tuna..thanks for sharing!
Valerie
I looooove “clean your panty” recipes, and this one looks especially tasty! I happen to love tuna, too, so this is perfect for me! Healthy dish, too! Score!
What a great meal idea! I’ve always got a few cans of tuna in my pantry. The flavors sound so delicious!
Now that it’s getting dark so early, I am ALL for comfort foods with minimal prep work. Early bedtime, folks!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe 🙂
Yum!! Love how quick and healthy this recipe is.
Sounds super easy to throw together after a long day! Thanks for another yummy recipe!
Sounds delicious! I’m down for anything with fish sauce.
I’m a fan of tuna so this looks great to me, but my family isn’t really on board, haha! Bummer. More for me. 😉
I was looking for something different for lunch and this totally filled the need…especially because I nearly always have all these things on hand anyway. This was so quick and filling and yummy (yay for fish sauce!).
needed to change up my canned tuna routine and this was the perfect recipe for it! Such a great lunch!
This is an incredible recipe. Love the convenience and ease of it with the amazing flavours. Thanks for this.
A perfect Lent meal for all of us catholic’s that are struggling to get a delicious home cooked meal on the table. Thank you for a great tasting recipe!
I love fried rice and using canned tuna made it so easy!
This is comfort food for me. I ate this growing up and am so excited to find a recipe for it. It’s better than I remember! So easy and so good!
I love this idea! My family loves this recipe! It’s so easy and so full of flavor!
I love this tuna fried rice so much! Something different from the regular fried rice. The tuna isn’t that strong and balances out so nicely with the rice. My fiance loved this a lot and he’s not so big on tuna.
I would not have thought to use tuna in my fried rice. Most seafood is so expensive right now, so this is a great idea.
We had this after a late sports session tonight, and the kids gobbled down every last bit. Definitely going onto the busy night meal rotation!
Added some shrimp chips on top for a little crunch and it was amazing!
Great recipe.