When Life Gives You Extra Steak, Make Fried Rice

When life gives you extra steak, that's a good problem to have. Leftover steak means you dined well the night before, and the fact that you have a surplus ... Well, you certainly won't want to let that expensive steak go to waste since even the cheapest cut of sirloin is now selling for what might have seemed like a wagyu-level price a few years ago. There are several ways to reheat a steak without drying it out, but another great option is to repurpose it in a recipe like this one for leftover steak fried rice. Developer Cindy Chou describes it not only as "a great way to use up leftovers" but also as "an easy way to get a delicious and complete meal on the table in under 30 minutes."

This recipe is also excellent for pinching pennies (which you may need to do if you blew your week's grocery budget on that steak) since it takes just 4 ounces of meat and stretches it out to make a couple of helpings of fried rice. If you have more steak than that, you can either double the recipe or just make a meatier dish. If you don't have quite enough steak left but you still want two portions, you can always just dice the meat extra-small and then throw in an extra egg or two to make up the protein deficit. Chou also suggests substituting cooked shrimp or chicken and either could be used in addition to steak.

In order to have this meal ready in under half an hour as per Chou's endorsement, you'll also need to have leftover cooked rice on hand. If you don't, you'll need to tack on an additional 20 minutes or so to prepare this all-important ingredient. You'll need cooking oil as well (Chou favors canola), plus a few seasonings: soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and white pepper. (Black pepper will do in a pinch.) An egg is a must for fried rice, of course, and you're going to want some vegetables, too.

Chou uses four types of produce in this recipe: a shallot, garlic, and scallions add an aromatic component, while celery provides some crunch as well as the green stuff necessary to make this fried rice qualify as a one-pan meal. Even though Chou tells us, "I personally think [celery is] a must-have," she admits that you can sub in other vegetables if you're not such a fan. Among her suggestions are carrots, corn, sugar snap peas, or, as she puts it, "any other vegetable you like that has a slight crunch." She also suggests adding additional vegetables on the side if you really want to up your daily roughage, noting that "a simple stir-fried bok choy, yu choy, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, or zucchini with garlic and salt pairs well with fried rice."