Leftover Ham Fried Rice + low carb option

There are MANY advantages of leftovers and having ham as a leftover is wonderful. There are so many great ways to use it, I’m sharing with you today my favorite, Ham Fried Rice. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner! That’s a winner in my book.

*** INCLUDES a low carb Cauliflower Fried Rice Option too!

Make this with leftover ham, or you can easily purchase cooked ham at the grocery store and dice it up and make this dish anytime even if it’s not anywhere near a holiday and you don’t have ham leftovers.

I use plenty of eggs in my fried rice, that way I don’t always feel like I’m eating dinner for breakfast…

With all the eggs, this really is a wonderful breakfast, full of protein and great to get your day going!

And yet… it’s still perfect for dinner.

You can even serve this with fried eggs on top of the rice if you prefer.

Now there is one thing I typically have on hand…

and that is cans of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice.

I love sweet and salty recipes, and I love adding pineapple to this fried rice recipe.

I love Chinese food because it’s so flavorful. Yummy savory, nutty, sweet, spicy, crunchy… I just adore it.

My family also enjoys Asian food, but I don’t often want take-out. I’d much prefer to make my own, but some of the recipes require so much food prep and chopping, it often doesn’t fit into my busy schedule.

So I’ve been making fried rice for years since it’s so quick to prepare and satisfies our hunger for Chinese cuisine.

It’s also a great way to clear out the refrigerator and use up leftover meats and veggies.

But oh, the flavor! I could be happy with a huge plate of this fried rice and not share it with anyone, it’s that GOOD!

This year, as usual, we had plenty of leftover ham after Easter, and – as usual – everyone wanted fried rice.

I’d already anticipated this request and prepared a double batch of white rice.

It’s best if you cook the rice up and refrigerate it ahead of time, as the cold grains are firmer and stand up better to frying rather than getting mushy and clumping together.

If you have any leftover fried rice, pack it up for lunch the next day. It’s even better the day after, and can be eaten cold – no need to reheat.

Be sure to keep this recipe close when you make a large Holiday Ham 🙂

If you like eating low carb, give this a try.

Instead of rice, use crumbled cauliflower (or cauliflower rice available in the produce section or put cauliflower in a food processor until it’s small pieces) Don’t overcook the cauliflower,  you’ll want it to have some bite to it.

Using the recipe below add 2 lbs of cauliflower rice instead of real rice.

(If you don’t want as much cut the recipe in half and use 1lb  cauliflower rice)

This is one of my favorite LOW-CARB meals and it’s perfect after all the holiday indulging!