Chipotle’s Cilantro Lime Rice
I am a huge fan of the rice at Chipotle’s. Here is my copycat version for their cilantro lime rice, it tastes just like the real thing! Of course, I used less oil. Makes a wonderful side dish for chicken, beef or pork.
And of course, you can make your own burrito bowl, with my quick black bean recipe, barbacoa beef, sweet barbacoa pork, pork carnitas, or chicken ropa vieja.
Chipotle's Cilantro Lime Rice
I am a huge fan of the rice at Chipotle’s. Here is my copycat version, it tastes just like the real thing. Of course, I used less oil. Makes a wonderful side dish for chicken, beef or pork.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup extra long grain rice or basmati rice
- 1/2 lime, juice of
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
- 3 tsp vegetable oil
Directions:
- In a small heavy pot, add rice, water, 1 tsp oil and salt.
- Boil on high until most of the water evaporates. When the water just skims the top of the rice, reduce to low and cover about 15 minutes.
- Shut off flame and keep covered an additional 5 minute.
- In a medium bowl, combine chopped cilantro, lime juice, rice and remaining oil and toss until completely mixed.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 4 servings, Serving Size: 3/4 cup
- Amount Per Serving:
- Freestyle Points: 6
- Points +: 5
- Calories: 194 calories
- Total Fat: 3.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 280mg
- Carbohydrates: 35.5g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugar: 0.1g
- Protein: 3g
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Hi Gina,Â
Love, love, love all the recipes I’ve tried from your site: truly AMAZING!  I have a question regarding the Cilantro Lime Rice; in lieu of Vegetable oil could I substitute Coconut, EVOO, or Avocado Oil without changing the flavor? Thank you in advance, & thank you for providing your site to ALL of us??❤️
Sure. EVOO would be my first choice..
This was fantastic with the barbara beef recipe on here. Â Everyone in my family enjoyed this!
So unfortunately after following these instructions with basmati rice, the rice  was still hard when all was said and done. I think the trick here is to cook the rice per the package instructions then add the oil, lime juice, cilantro and salt. Oddly enough all rice cooks different even if it is the same kind. I was so disappointed as I was so excited to try this last night.
So odd, was it brown rice basmati?
How would you cook town basmati rice? That is what I got and it’s still crunchy.
Ugh, that should say brown basmati rice, not town.
I made this twice. The first time I followed the cooking instructions and the rice was crunchy. The second time, I made the rice per the package instructions, removed it from the heat, and then added the lime juice, 2 tsp EVOO, and cilantro. It turned out perfectly.
How would the instructions differ if cooking the rice in an Instant Pot?
I have never made rice in the Instant Pot, check the instructions that came with it. 🙂
Definitely boil the water first then add the rice…Stir it for a minute or so then shut off the heat and keep covered for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Regular brown rice in the instant pot is 3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp water for every 1 cup (200g) of rice. Measure the dry rice then rinse it until water runs clearish. I go by measurements on rice because they all settle differently im a cup measure. Best way to make sure you have right proportion of rice and water is to make sure the water covers rice, where you can see it but grains aren’t peeking through to the top. 15 min under pressure, natural release. Open, fluff, mix with oil and others while warm. Best way to absorb the flavors.
This is excellent! I made it tonight (basmati rice) with the Beef Barbacoa (in the slow cooker), corn salsa, and Cuban black beans. Everything was delicious! We love all the simple recipes with spicier flavors from your site. Thanks for the  consistently wonderful recipes!
I’m so bummed – I followed this one exactly (using long grain rice) and mine also came out super hard. Next time, I’m going to try what Julie suggested and cook the rice according to what the package suggests.
Did you open the lid at all? You can’t open the lid, or even stir. and the last 5 minutes of steaming is a must.
I’ve made this several times exactly as written and it always comes out fluffy and flavorful.
For a brown rice version, I make my usual baked brown rice recipe (from Alton Brown), then add 3 cups of cooked rice to the same ratio of lime, cilantro and veg. oil as stated in this recipe. Great every time!
Rice is a breeze in the Instant Pot. I make a huge batch of brown rice in 15 minutes with equal parts rice and water. Today, I’m making Jasmine Rice, which is equal parts water/rice but time is 4-10 minutes (so I went with 8 minutes).
Other types of rice may be 1:1.5 so your mileage may vary.
LJ
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Do you think this recipe will also work with Jasmine rice?
Is 3/4 a cup measured out in a measuring cup or equivalent to 6 oz? Portion sizes differ with measure for weight vs in cups
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Gina you forgot to tell them about the paper towel trick. My rice always came out bad till I saw a video where the lady put a paper towel over the pot when the water cooks down right to the top of the rice then put the lid on and let it cook the 20 min turn it off and let it stand. My rice comes out great every time now
Loved how easy this recipe was to elevate basic rice! I used it for meal prep with the salsa verde chicken and actually liked the rice better the next day after the flavors had a chance to really mingle together. If you can make rice, you can make this recipe! I also already had all the ingredients on hand (used jasmine rice) which was even easier.
I’ve made a couple of Chipotle copy cat recipes before that were….meh. Â This one was awesome. The rice turned out great and the flavour was fantastic. Â :)Thanks for yet another delicious recipe!
I made this in my Instant Pot tonight. 3 min on high. 10 min NR then I added the lime juice am delicious cilantro. Perfect. I didn’t use the oil.Â
Which type of rice did you use, and did you follow Gina’s measurements or use 1:1 ratio? Thanks!
Can I use lime juice instead if fresh lime?
Can I use Minute Rice?
I wouldn’t have thought to use basmati rice for this, but I’m glad I did. I followed directions exactly as indicated and this turned out absolutely perfect. Big hit with the kids, too. Possibly even better than the original, though undoubtedly nearly identical. The only deviation from the recipe was that I used EVOO. This will be a staple in our house!
Could I use the frozen bags of steamed white or brown rice? Steam rice in microwave then mix with oil, cilantro, etc…?
I made rice in my rice cooker and added the oil, lime juice, cilantro, salt afterwards, and just mixed it super well. Really big hit! The teenager loves the lime-est of all cilantro lime rices. I didn’t know how much came out of one lime but I wanted to make 2 cups of rice and I was using bottled juice. I did 2oz. It was really good. He loved it. So not mild on the lime flavor this way! Will make this again and again.
Crazy question. I am ma ki ing this tonight and I have no fresh herbs! Can I used dried cilantro?? Gonna try it. Will let you know how it goes!
Just made this for the first time, to bring to a taco-bar pot luck. I doubled it (hoping to bring home leftovers!) but otherwise followed the directions to a “T” – and it’s PERFECT!! Tempted to stay home and eat it all myself….lol.
After years of making this recipe and feeling that *something* I couldn’t quite put my finger on was missing, I discovered that the secret ingredient was bay leaves. It makes all the difference! Throw a nay leaf or two in there and it will taste just like the real thing.
Made this for the first time tonight to go with the Santa Fe Chicken. I followed her instructions exactly…and the rice came out PERFECTLY. My fiancĂ© says it’s his favorite rice now. I boiled without a lid to be able to carefully watch the water evaporate, and kept the rice covered after that…no stirring or peaking. I’m so happy with how this turned out and will be making again soon!! Used Simply Balanced basmati from Target.Â