Make the most of your leftover rice with this Filipino-style Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag) recipe. It’s a quick and easy side dish packed with amazing garlic flavors. I always serve this on the side of my favorite Filipino dishes, and it’s even great for breakfast!
We love a good takeout-style meal in our house, which is why I keep a batch of day-old rice in my fridge at all times. You never know when a fried rice craving will hit! If fried rice is a part of your family’s takeout-inspired meals as well, then you’ve gotta try my Chicken Fried Rice and this classic Egg Fried Rice.
Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag)
Garlic fried rice, or sinangag (pronounced see-nahn-GAHG), is a Filipino breakfast or side dish traditionally made with fresh garlic and leftover rice. With only a few other ingredients—oil, butter, salt, and pepper—it’s quick and easy to make and packs a tasty garlicky punch.
Unlike other fried rice recipes that rely on soy sauce, vegetables, or meats for flavor, garlic rice lets toasted garlic (like, a lot of garlic) shine front and center. My wife isn’t much of a garlic fan, but even she liked this recipe. I think it’s because frying the sliced garlic in oil and infusing the rice with melted butter evens out the garlic flavor, so it isn’t overpowering.
At its core, this is a very basic side dish meant to elevate whatever it’s served with. You can serve it with eggs for breakfast or use it as a base for classic Filipino dishes. I couldn’t get enough of this meal paired with Filipino marinated chicken (chicken inasal) and inasal dipping sauce.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Rice – Day-old rice is one of those things I have in my fridge almost all the time. I like long-grain rice best, like jasmine or basmati rice, because it’s light and crisps easily.
- Oil – I use a neutral-flavored oil to gently toast the garlic and keep the rice from sticking to the pan. Any neutral oil you have on hand works (vegetable, canola, avocado, etc.).
- Garlic – A whopping 6 cloves of garlic are sliced and lightly fried in oil to release their almost-addictive flavors into this side dish. Freshly sliced and fried garlic cloves deliver the boldest flavor.
- Butter – I prefer unsalted butter, but salted butter works too. Always taste the rice before adding extra seasoning.
- Seasonings – The toasted garlic does most of the heavy lifting, so I keep the seasoning simple with just salt and pepper.
How to Make Filipino-Style Garlic Fried Rice
Toast the garlic: First, I heat the oil in a wok over low to medium heat. Once it’s warm, I add the garlic and lightly fry it until it’s golden and fragrant.
Sear the rice: Next, I add the butter and let it melt into the garlicky oil. Immediately after, I add the day-old rice, turn the heat up to medium, and cook until the bottom starts to sear.
Season and serve: To finish, I season the fried rice with salt and pepper to taste, then give it one last toss before serving.
Chef Tip + Notes
The most important part of making fried rice is to use day-old rice. As the rice sits in the fridge overnight, any excess moisture will evaporate, and the rice grains will firm up. Firm, dried-out rice will sear very easily in a hot pan, giving you the crispy texture and golden color that great fried rice is known for.
- Don’t burn the garlic: It doesn’t take much to burn garlic. Keep the heat on low-medium and never walk away from the stove when making this.
- Use a wide pan: A wok is the best for fried rice recipes. Its wide shape gives the rice plenty of room to spread out, so every grain can crisp up. If your pan is too small, the rice will take longer to crisp.
- Fresh rice option: If I’m all out of leftover rice but still want to make fried rice, I’ll cook a fresh batch, then spread it out on a baking sheet to cool at room temperature or in the fridge. Spreading it out helps the grains dry out faster.
- Add more flavor: Minced onion or fresh ginger can be toasted with the garlic. Adding a splash of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, or toasted sesame oil at the end will give the rice a nice boost of umami, too.
- Add-in ideas: When I want to turn this garlicky rice into a meal, I’ll fold in cooked vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, scallions, etc.) or my favorite proteins, like chopped longganisa (Filipino sausage), bacon, spam, chicken, shrimp, or eggs.
Serving Suggestions
Garlic fried rice is one of those easy side dishes that goes well with pretty much anything. It absolutely makes the meal when I serve it with my favorite chicken inasal. When I want the whole Filipino-inspired experience, I’ll have a bowl of this rice on the table along with my saucy pork adobo, a big plate of bistek tagalog, or my fresh-but-filling classic pancit.
It’s not uncommon to serve garlic fried rice for breakfast in the Philippines as well. When I have leftovers in the fridge, I’ll quickly reheat them and pile a couple of fried eggs and some crispy bacon on top. It’s filling, delicious, and most importantly, a great way to start my day.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: Serve garlic fried rice immediately, or keep warm in a preheated, turned-off oven, stirring occasionally.
How to Store: Store leftover fried rice in a sealed container in the fridge for 3–4 days, or freeze it for up to 2 months. Flatten in freezer bags for easy storage and thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
How to Reheat: Reheat in a skillet over medium heat with oil or butter for the best texture, or microwave if short on time.
More Filipino-Inspired Recipes
Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 6 thinly sliced garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 cups cooked rice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil to a wok over low to medium heat and cook the garlic just until lightly browned, which takes about 3 minutes.
- Add in the butter. Once melted, add the rice and stir-fry over medium heat until the rice starts to sear gently, which takes about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Garlic Fried Rice Recipe