Thai Crab Fried Rice
Classic Fried Rice with Crab – This flavorful Thai fried rice recipe includes tender chunks of real crab meat quickly cooked in a hot skillet with leftover rice, scrambled eggs, and veggies. It’s ready to serve in 30 minutes for an elevated yet easy weeknight dinner!
Why We Love This Crab Fried Rice Recipe
This simple and quick fried rice recipe is reminiscent of classic Thai Crab Fried Rice, and features chunks of sweet and tender crab meat snuggled in with scrambled eggs, rice, and veggies.
We have several fried rice recipes on the site, like Shrimp Fried Rice, Triple Pork Fried Rice, Hawaiian Fried Rice with Kimichi, Thai Chicken Fried Rice, and traditional Japanese Hibachi Fried Rice. However, the combination of clarified butter and crab included here offers a rich, luxurious flavor combined with bold punches of scallions and ginger. And if you want to kick up the spice department, you can add crushed red pepper flakes or chili garlic paste to the stir-fry rice!
A note before getting started: As with all fried rice recipes, it’s important to start with pre-cooked cold rice. When the rice is refrigerated, it firms up so that it stays fluffy and piece-y when you stir fry it. If you use freshly cooked hot rice, it turns to mush.
But the good news is that if you don’t have time to cook and chill the rice ahead of time, you can buy pre-cooked vacuum-sealed rice at the grocery store to use in its place.
Either way, once your rice is good to go, this crabmeat fried rice recipe comes together in only 30 minutes! Make it part of your weekly meal plan as a way to use day-old rice and have lunch ready to enjoy the next day.
Ingredients You Need
- Clarified butter – or regular unsalted butter
- Eggs – large, at room temperature
- Scallions – sliced and separated into greens and white onion ends
- Ginger – freshly grated
- Jasmine rice – previously cooked rice, completely cooled, or ready-to-use vacuumed sealed rice
- Soy sauce – low sodium soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- Rice wine – can sub with white wine or mirin
- Sesame oil – or other high-heat and neutral-tasting cooking oil, like avocado oil or canola oil
- Cooked crab meat – fresh cooked or a refrigerated tub of jumbo lump cooked crab meat from the store
- Frozen peas – optional, but highly recommend
- Lime juice – fresh squeezed is best
Optional Add-Ins –
Include any of these extra goodies while stir-frying the crab meat and peas. Or add to the finished dish as garnishes!
- Chili garlic sauce
- Chili oil
- Fish sauce
- White pepper
- Lime wedges
- Pineapple tidbits
- Shredded carrots
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Fresh mint or cilantro
- Cucumber slices
How to Make Fried Rice with Crab Meat
- Prep all the ingredients: Beat the eggs, chop and separate the scallions, grate the ginger, and drain the crab meat.
- Set a large wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, pour in the beaten eggs and scramble the eggs until fully cooked. Then, remove the eggs to a plate and chop them into small pieces.
- Next, add the scallion whites and grated ginger to the skillet. Stir and sauté for a couple of minutes. Then, add the remaining butter and drained crab meat to the skillet. Stir and sauté for another minute or two.
- Add the cold rice to the pan, followed by the soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil. Stir fry the rice for approximately 5 minutes, until warmed through.
Pro Tip: Be sure to stir the rice once a minute so the rice doesn’t burn.
Get the Complete (Printable) Thai Fried Rice Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
- Finally add the chopped scrambled egg, peas, scallion greens, and lime juice to the pan. Stir gently and allow the peas to warm through. Then turn off the heat.
- Taste, salt and pepper as needed.
Recipe Variations
- Rice – Long grain jasmine rice is traditional for this Thai recipe, however, you can make this recipe with short grain white rice or even brown rice.
- Veggies – Feel free to add other vegetables to the fried rice. Include shredded carrots, corn, green beans – or make things easy and pick up a bag of frozen mixed veggies!
- Extra goodies – Bring some super flavor to the party and stir in drained pineapple tidbits… Or go the opposite direction with some spicy chili oil.
- Crab meat – Yes, you can use chunks of imitation crab meat in this recipe. But no, it will not taste the same.
Serving Suggestions
Crab rice is savory and flavorful on its own, but feel free to top it with traditional cucumber slices and any number of sauces and garnishes! Try adding a drizzle of homemade yum yum sauce, eel sauce, kewpie mayo, spicy sriracha, chili oil, or chili garlic sauce.
And a sprinkling of chopped herbs like Thai basil, cilantro, or mint brings a nice pop of freshness. Or add some spicy heat with crushed red pepper flakes!
Lighten your meal with a refreshing salad, like green papaya salad (som tum) or crispy ramen noodle salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
You sure can! The recipe is prepared the same way – but you want to use a wooden spatula so you don’t damage the Blackstone’s surface.
Traditional Chinese fried rice is made with short-grain white rice and soy sauce. This crab meat Thai fried rice recipe, on the other hand, uses longer jasmine rice and includes rice wine in the stir fry sauce.
Store cooled crab fried rice in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
I don’t recommend freezing fried rice. The rice has already been cooked twice, so it will likely become quite mushy if frozen, thawed, and reheated again.
Looking for More Easy Asian-Inspired Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Spicy Thai Basil Chicken
- Thai Shrimp Curry Noodle Bowls
- Salmon Sushi Bake
- Vietnamese Bahn Mi Street Tacos
- Spicy Shrimp Ramen Noodles
Thai Crab Fried Rice Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons clarified butter or peanut oil
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 1 bunch scallions chopped and divided into greens and whites
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice COLD
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine
- 1 tablespoons sesame oil
- 16 ounces cooked crab meat fresh-cooked or refrigerated tubs
- ½ cups frozen peas optional
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Prep all the ingredients: Beat the eggs, chop and separate the scallions, grate the ginger, and drain the crab meat.
- Set a large wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Once hot, pour the beaten eggs into the skillet and move around the pan until fully cooked. Then move the eggs to a plate and chop into small pieces.
- Add the scallion whites and grated ginger to the skillet. Stir and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the remaining butter and drained crab meat to the skillet. Stir and sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the cold rice to the pan, followed by the soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil. Stir fry the rice for approximately 5 minutes, until warmed through. Stir once a minute so the rice doesn’t burn.
- Finally add the chopped scrambled egg, peas, scallion greens, and lime juice to the pan. Stir and allow the peas to warm through. Then turn off the heat.
- Taste, salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
- Chili Garlic Sauce
- Chili Oil
- Pineapple Tidbits
- Shredded Carrots
- Fresh Mint or Cilantro
- Sliced Cucumber for Garnish
I was looking for an authentic Thai crab fried rice recipe, and this one did not disappoint! It came together so quickly and easily, this will be on repeat in my kitchen!
Hands down the best crab fried rice I’ve ever made! The seasonings are perfectly balanced, and it has just the right amount of crab.
This Thai Crab Fried Rice is absolutely incredible! It’s easy to make and tastes just like my favorite Thai restaurant – it’s definitely a new favorite in our house!