Lazy Garlic Steak Fried Rice - The Recipe
Garlic-forward, built with steak, and fried properly — this isn’t repurposed takeout.
There’s nothing “leftover” about this fried rice. It’s not an afterthought. It’s built on purpose, from the garlic up. The steak is cubed and cooked fast, the rice is fried in garlic oil until it crisps in places, and the sauce is layered without being heavy. It’s the kind of dish you make fresh, eat hot, and remember how good it was the next day. No clutter. No filler. Just the right flavors, cooked the right way.
Here’s how to make it the lazy way ~
The Final Product
You start with garlic. Minced fine and cooked slowly in cold oil, it becomes crisp, golden, and sweet. Once pulled, the oil it leaves behind becomes the base for everything else. Steak is tossed in cornstarch and baking soda, then seared until browned at the edges but still tender inside. The rice comes in cold, broken up, and ready to fry — not steam. Once it starts to crisp, the sauce hits: soy for body, oyster for glaze, fish sauce for depth, and rice vinegar for balance.
Red chili adds a little bite. Green onion finishes it clean. The garlic chips go back in at the end where they belong. A fried egg on top is optional — but welcome.
Building Flavor: The Structure
This recipe is short, but it works because the order is right. Garlic always starts cold — that’s how you keep it from burning. Once it crisps, it gets pulled and reserved. That same oil carries the flavor through the beef and rice.
The steak is coated just enough to crisp when it sears. The cornstarch helps it brown. The baking soda keeps it soft. It cooks fast and gets pulled so it doesn’t steam later.
The rice goes in dry and cold. You let it sit. Stir. Sit again. That’s what gives you the texture. The sauce goes in after — not before — so the rice doesn’t go soft. Once the sauce reduces and glazes, the steak and chili go back in. Sesame oil finishes the pan. Garlic and green onion finish the bowl.
Ingredient Deep Dive
Garlic
This dish starts and ends with garlic. You mince it fine, cook it slow, and use the oil as your base. The crisped garlic chips get reserved and sprinkled on top at the very end. It’s not optional.