Benihana fried rice is so tasty. If you have been to Benihana, you know you should not skip the hibachi fried rice they serve. To me, it is the best menu item of all. Want to know the real secret to this? It’s the Benihana garlic butter.
With a few simple ingredients, you can make the Benihana fried rice recipe at home. Thankfully there are no exotic ingredients in this recipe. You can find everything you need at home. Best of all you can turn into your own Benihana chef with this easy recipe.
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Table of Contents
What Makes Benihana Fried Rice the Best Fried Rice?
Ordinary fried rice is deceptively tricky to make. Cooking it at home usually ends in overly salty clumps of soggy rice. However, hibachi fried rice from Benihana turns out perfectly light with an amazingly rich, garlicky flavor that is like no other fried rice.
Why This Is the Recipe You Must Try for Homemade Hibachi Fried Rice
The magic of Benihana’s fried rice lies in its cooking technique and that incredible garlic butter. By cooking vegetables separately from the rice, you achieve the perfect texture without soggy clumps. Using cold, day-old rice prevents stickiness, while the generous addition of garlic butter creates that distinctive Benihana flavor profile that sets it apart from ordinary fried rice. With this method, you can create exceptional hibachi-style rice at home without a teppanyaki grill.
Benihana Fried Rice Recipe Ingredients
For the Garlic Butter
- Unsalted butter – Creates the rich base that gives this rice its signature flavor
- Roasted garlic – Provides deep, mellow garlic flavor without harshness
- Soy sauce – Adds umami depth and salt to the butter mixture
For the Fried Rice
- White rice – Long-grain varieties like basmati work best for distinct, separate grains
- Sesame seeds – Add nutty flavor and subtle crunch when toasted
- Butter РCreates richness in the initial vegetable saut̩
- Yellow onion – Provides aromatic sweetness when cooked
- Carrots – Add color, texture, and subtle sweetness
- Scallions – Deliver fresh, mild onion flavor and vibrant color
- Vegetable oil – Helps prevent sticking and adds richness (canola preferred)
- Eggs – Bind ingredients together while adding protein and silky texture
- Soy sauce – Provides the characteristic umami flavor and saltiness
- Salt and pepper – Enhance overall flavor profile
To make the garlic butter, mix 1/2 stick of butter, one bulb of roasted garlic (or one teaspoon of garlic powder), and 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce.
How To Make Benihana Fried Rice
To make fried rice like they do at Benihana:
- Cook the rice, preferably the day before you make the fried rice. Fluff the rice and spread it on a baking tray to cool at room temperature. Store in the fridge in a covered container until you need it.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Toast the sesame seeds in the oven until light brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes. If in doubt, take them out. Sesame seeds can burn quickly.
- In a large frying pan / large skillet or wok over medium-high heat, melt the unflavored butter.
- When the butter stops foaming, add the carrots and cook for a minute. Then add the onions and cook until they are transparent.
- Toss the scallions with the other vegetables and heat through.
- Spread the cooked vegetables on a plate to allow them to cool.
- Heat a clean, large pan with a heavy bottom over medium heat.
- Add vegetable oil to the hot pan and cook the eggs until they are set but still shiny.
- Dump in the cooked, cold rice. Mix well.
- Add the garlic butter and the cooked vegetables to the pan.
- Stir to combine. When all the ingredients are hot, transfer to a serving platter.
Add-ins for Benihana Fried Rice
Feel free to add protein to the dish. Beef, chicken, and shrimp are great, but you can also use tofu to keep the dish vegetarian.
For this recipe, you need to cook the protein separately. Add the protein when you return the cooked veggies to the pan in step 11. No matter what you add in, I know you are going to find this the perfect copycat recipe.
Serving Suggestions for Benihana Rice
Hibachi fried rice is a great side dish for any Asian-inspired meal without additional protein. Try pairing it with Sweet and Sour Chicken or Spicy Asian Chicken Wings. With protein, this recipe makes a light meal on its own.
Benihana Rice Recipe FAQ
What Is the Difference Between Fried Rice and Hibachi Fried Rice?
Besides the fact that Benihana chefs cook the restaurant’s fried rice on a teppanyaki grill and not in a wok, there are other differences.
Ingredients-wise, the Benihana Fried Rice recipe uses a lot of garlic butter, one of the biggest secrets to the dish’s unique flavor.
In addition, since the teppanyaki grill doesn’t get as hot as a wok, the dish doesn’t have wok heir or the “breath of the wok,” that slightly charred flavor that comes from cooking on very high heat.
What Kind of Cooking Oil Do They Use at Benihana?
At Benihana, they use safflower oil. Safflower oil has no taste and a very high smoke point, an ideal combination for cooking fried rice.
What Type of Rice Do They Use on a Hibachi?
You can use any long-grain rice, but basmati rice is a favorite. Just like any other fried rice recipe, you should use day-old rice.
If you don’t have time to cook the rice the day before, you can make it an hour or two before cooking the fried rice. Once cooked, spread the rice out on a rimmed baking tray, and put it in the fridge until chilled. To prevent clumping, use your fingers to separate the grains of rice as much as possible before chilling.
How To Store Leftover Fried Rice
You can store extra fried rice in the fridge for up to five days. Let it cool and put it in a container with a cover.
You can freeze fried rice for up to three months in the freezer. Spread out the room temperature rise on a baking tray. Stick it in the freezer for about two hours or until frozen. Transfer to a freezer-safe container.
To reheat the Benihana Fried Rice straight from the fridge or the freezer:
- The easiest method is using the microwave. Cook on HIGH for 3 minutes and stir it. Heat in one-minute increments until the rice is hot enough for you.
- You can also reheat fried rice in a pan over medium heat. Add a little oil to the hot pan and pour in the rice. Use a spatula to stir. Cook until hot and serve.
Recreate a Japanese Steakhouse at Home with These Recipes
- Best Tempura Shrimp
- Teriyaki Madness Chicken Teriyaki
- Hibachi Grill Steak
- Tori Katsu
- Beef Teriyaki Recipe
- Yum-Yum Sauce
- Hibachi Mustard Dipping Sauce Recipe
- Ginger Salad Dressing Recipe
- Famous Japanese Salad Dressing
Best Chinese Recipes
- Authentic Chinese Spare Ribs Recipe
- General Tso Chicken
- Hunan Chicken
- Simple Chicken Lo Mein
- Simple Egg Foo Young Recipe
Be sure to look at my side dishes at restaurants and the best copycat recipes.
Authentic Benihana Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 2/3 cup chopped scallions (green onions)
- 3 tablespoons garlic butter
- 5 eggs beaten
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the rice in the water according to package directions. For best results, spread the cooked rice in a shallow metal pan and stick it in the freezer to cool quickly. Do not let it freeze, though. If you don’t have time to chill the rice, just spread it out so it cools completely.
- While the rice is cooking and cooling, spread the sesame seeds in a shallow baking pan. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes, shaking pan occasionally for even color. Remove from the oven.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions, carrots, and scallions. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the onions are translucent. Remove from the heat and set aside. Heat another large skillet or a wok if you have one. Add a splash of oil and swirl it around. Pour the eggs into the hot skillet. Cook as you would scrambled eggs. When the eggs are barely done, add the vegetables, rice, 2 tablespoons of the garlic butter (you can add more if desired) and sesame seeds and sprinkle with the soy sauce. Stir-fry until everything is mixed and hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
They also use Safflower oil. Not canola oil.
I tried to this rescipe and everything was great !! The taste was like Benoehana.
Thank you for this amazing rescipe
Let’s try it before complaining about it ^_^
Tasted tasted nothing like the Benihana fried rice. Too much butter and eggs and missed the garlic. So disappointing!
I know that all the recipes around call for day old rice, but at Benihana’s (which is what this recipe is about) the rice is clearly freshly cooked and steaming.
Thank you for noting what was wrong with the recipe. I appreciate your comments.
I think this is amazing but just knowing that 5 table spoons of butter are close to 500 calories, freak me out, its better to use sesame oil instead (:
Have you been to Benihana? They add a lot of butter.
Well I tryed garlic butter out the store almost but not right so I went in boughtb the garlic butter from benihana for 5 dollar in I can promise u it the butter
I definitely think there is garlic in the butter.
I just made this tonight and WOW! Its amazing! I did add garlic to the rice as it cooked and also right at the end. It was so good, extremely close to Benihana! This will be a staple in our house now! Thank you!!
Well don’t forget that the preliminary frying is not with butter but with saffron oil. I liked the rice very much so I studied the steps. And yes the butter is actually garlic butter.
Spot on!!! Tastes exactly like Benihana’s.
what tipe of butter do i use
Do you use butter in the pan when cooking the eggs in the skillet? Or are you using a non-stick pan?
I am using a well seasoned wok. If you have a skillet or a pan that isn’t very seasoned you can use a little extra butter, or a non-stick pan.
My girlfriend and I went to Benihana for a recon mission after trying this recipe and the chef only used 3 eggs in roughly 16 cups of cooked rice. We just tried it again with garlic/ginger butter, minced vegetables, and 2 eggs to 7 cups of cooked rice. It was much better!
WAAAAYYY too much soy sauce.
I suggest whenever salting, food, you start out with about half, and work your way upward until you get to the saltiness level that you like the best.
RE: cici
Please re-read the recipe. It CLEARLY states that the only thing being baked is the sesame seeds.
And 1 cup uncooked rice yields about 4 cups cooked.
——————————————————–
People need to learn to read AND understand what they are reading.
As far as the recipe goes the only thing I see missing is garlic in the butter. Benihana uses garlic butter.
why so hostile? they way that you replied to the comment was so volitile. its only a recipe
it’s missing the chicken!
It doesn’t have chicken with lunch, the chicken fried rice happens during dinner.
Oh no, you can ask for their “chicken” fried rice anytime. We ALWAYS get the chicken fried rice at lunch as we never go at dinner time!
This recipe is perfect. I thought 5 eggs were too many so I used 4 and I definitely should have used 5 eggs. Also, I am a garlic fanatic so I added 3 cloves of garlic. My friends and family could not rave enough about my rice. Thanks Stephanie!
This looks almost spot on, and really I should wait to post this till after I try it tomorrow, but the rice should be cooked but cold when you put in the skillet, usually a day old. And you are missing garlic in the butter.
The trick to fried rice is use cold rice.
they have chicken in the fried rice
The the fried rice at lunch has no chicken, dinner time, yes!
Again……Oh no, you can ask for their “chicken” fried rice anytime. We ALWAYS get the chicken fried rice at lunch as we never go at dinner time!
Drink Bleach.
Yes, you have to request chicken in the rice and pay a couple dollars extra…. But its soooo GOOD!!! Im addidicted to the “chicken fried rice w/ the garlic butter….just drink some Hot tea, so it wont clog up!!!
i have never been to a benihana that uses 1c rice to 5 eggs, also, ive never seen them bake it (The only thing getting baked are the seseme seeds – Stephanie ).
This recipe is using uncooked rice, so it should be yielding much more than 1 cup. Also, the only thing is getting baked are the seseme seeds.
Silly cici LOL.
At home I just toast the sesame seeds in a skillet for a few seconds.
I would like to mention that the restaurant uses a mixture of butter, ginger paste & garlic paste in the rice.
Can be easily done by whipping 1 stick of unsalted butter [softened] 2 ts of fresh garlic paste and 1 ts of fresh ginger [grated], wrap into a log and freeze. Slice as needed.
Good Job Stephanie!
Delicious!!