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Cilantro Lime Rice is the perfect side dish for all your Mexican-inspired meals. It also goes great as a filling in a burrito or as a way to bulk up a salad.
Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice Copycat
If you are looking for a new, delicious side dish, then this Cilantro Lime Rice recipe is your answer. You can have delicious Cafe Rio or Chipotle-style rice in no time! It is bursting with flavor and really brings your Mexican-inspired meal together. It comes together in just a few easy steps. First, you cook the rice in chicken broth, garlic, lime juice, and butter to make a rich, flavorful base. Then, when the rice is cooked you stir in a sweet and tangy cilantro mixture to top it off. That’s it!
Ingredients for Cilantro Lime Rice
- Rice – a white, long grain rice like Jasmine rice or basmati rice works best. You can substitute for brown rice but cooking times will be longer
- Butter
- Garlic
- Limes – fresh limes are best to get the best flavor. Use a juicer to get the fresh lime juice. You can also add a little lime zest if you like it extra lime-y.
- Chicken broth – you can also sub for vegetable broth
- Salt (to taste if needed)
- Sugar
- Fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
Tips for Making Cilantro Lime Rice
- The rice recipe really does make a ton so if you aren’t a huge fan of rice, I would suggest halving the recipe.
- Use long-grain white rice when making this recipe. Once I tried it with Calrose rice because it was the only rice I had on hand and it DID NOT turn out well.
- Make sure you use fresh cilantro! Dried cilantro just won’t cut it. Using fresh gives the rice an incredible flavor.
- For a little extra flavor, sauté a little finely dice onion in some butter in the saucepan before adding the remaining ingredients.
- To make Instant Pot Cilantro Lime rice, combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 teaspoon lime, chicken broth, salt, and water to the Instant Pot and follow the instructions to make our easy Instant Pot rice. Continue with Step 2 in the recipe below.
What Pairs Well With Cilantro Lime Rice?
Cilantro lime rice pairs well with so many delicious dishes including black beans, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, carne asada, fajitas and more! Here are some more of our favorite recipes to serve with cilantro lime rice:
Read More: 33+ Easy Dinner Ideas
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze the leftovers. Simply place leftover rice in a freezer-safe container in the freeze for up to 5 months. Reheat in the microwave by heating for a minute at a time, stirring each time. You cal also re-heat by placing the rice in a large non-stick skillet with a little oil or butter and heating on the stove top until heated through. If re-heating frozen leftovers, thaw the rice in the fridge overnight before re-heating.
Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes
This easy cilantro lime rice recipe originally came from our collection of Cafe Rio inspired dishes. It is the perfect copycat for Cafe Rio’s Cilantro Lime Rice. Cafe Rio is a beloved Tex-Mex chain that serves burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, salads, and more! We were obsessed but some of us didn’t have a location near our house. We started trying to recreate Cafe Rio recipes at home. Not to toot our own horn, but we totally nailed them! Those recipes helped us get on the map as recipe bloggers and they are some of our post popular posts to this day! Check out the collection here: Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes – All the Best in One Place. We have had such great feedback with ALL of our Cafe Rio recipes and we’d love to hear yours! Leave us a comment and let us know how your Copycat Cafe Rio dinner turned out! We love hearing from our readers!
How to Make Cilantro Lime Rice
Cilantro Lime Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice uncooked, long-grain, white rice
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon lime juice freshly squeezed
- 15 ounces chicken broth
- salt (to taste)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons cilantro fresh chopped
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 teaspoon lime, chicken broth, salt, and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro.
- Pour the mixture over hot, cooked rice as you fluff the rice with a fork. Mix until fully combined.
Notes
- Make sure you use fresh cilantro! Dried cilantro just won’t cut it. Using fresh gives the rice an incredible flavor.
- For a little extra flavor, sauté a little finely dice onion in some butter in the saucepan before adding the remaining ingredients.
- To make Instant Pot Cilantro Lime rice, combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 teaspoon lime, chicken broth, salt, and water to the Instant Pot and follow the instructions to make our easy Instant Pot rice. Continue with Step 2 in the recipe below.
in your instant pot suggestion it says to add broth and water…is that how much water to rice ratio for the instant pot…as in is it the same or do I decrease the water amount?
Use the same amount of water and broth in the instant pot as listed in the recipe.
There is way to much water in this recipe. It made the rice bland and mushy. I skipped the water and just used two cups of chicken broth. Came out perfect!
I agree Sami. It’s a great recipe when using the regular 2 cups of liquid to 1 cup rice ratio. I tripled it and used 4 cups chicken broth and 2 cups water and it was really good!
Thank you for the comment on the chicken broth and water. I thought it seemed like too much liquid and decided to check the comments for confirmation. I did just the chicken broth and the rice turned out fantastic.
I wish I would have seen the comments. This recipe has so much potential, but definitely way too much liquid. I should have followed my gut. Ours was mushy, yuck! I’ll try again with less liquid. Also recommend that the recipe is updated for less liquid.
My favorite rice ever!! It’s light, fluffy, & I love the flavor! We eat it with everything!
I make this over any other rice! We love it & my kids love it, so it’s a win, win! It tastes great with many things!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
This taste even better than the cafe rio rice and bean. So unbelievably easy to make too. I prefer this recipe over cafe rio anyday.
We’ve been using your cafe rio beans and rice recipe for a while now, and I finally came on here to write the recipe down… and where’d the beans go?! They’re so good! Please help me find your beans recipe. I can’t find it anywhere.
Thank you! Emily
Not to worry! We still have the black beans recipe, we just moved it to its own post! Here is the link: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/black-beans/
Thank you so much!!! Can’t wait to try some of your other delicious recipes! Keep up the good work!
I will definitely be making this again! Delicious!
These rice and beans were delicious! And my toddler just ate it up!
I love cilantro lime rice! Living in SoCal we eat it often! Thanks for the great recipe and reminder I need to make this again soon!
Love this side dish idea! We are a family that loves cilantro so I am always looking for recipes that have cilantro. Thanks for the great recipe!
This cafe-Rio cilantro lime rice and black beans sounds delicious and makes a wonderful dinner idea!
This is so delicious! The whole family loved it. Thanks again for yet another awesome recipe.
I’ve been in such a cooking rut lately, so I’ve been exploring new recipes to make! I happened upon your recipe and I am so glad I did. I made it today and my entire family loved it! Its doing into our menu plan rotation!!
I have made this several times and my family loves it !
Is there something I can substitute for the tomato juice in the recipe for the beans?
You can mix one part tomato sauce with one part water!
Do you use canned beans or dried beans for this recipe?
We used canned in this recipe!
If you make this in a rice cooker, do you still hold off to add the “sauce” until after the rice is done?
Yes. It will taste more fresh if you add it at the end. Hope this helps!
Heads up, people. Notice that this recipe calls for more liquid than you’re used to using for your rice so if you happen to be making this rice in bulk, you will NOT be able to make as much in a rice cooker as you normally would be able to. I made this to serve 60 people and if you need that much, plan for at LEAST 3 (20 cup) rice cookers, 4 to be safe. May your rice cooking be much less messy than my fiasco today! 🙂
Thank you for the heads up! This is helpful info for cooking for a crowd.
How many times did you multiply the recipe? And do you feel like it was sufficient? I’m making it for 30, so I’m just trying to decide how much I need to make!
If you really have an aversion to cilantro, should you make something else, or could you sub something? I really like the idea of using the lime.
My long grain rice ended up with so much liquid after the cooking. I wondered if the extra liquid is the reason. Turned out very sticky and mushy.
Jk you can delete my previous comment…I read through the directions again and now get why there are two deprecate measurements if lime 🙂 thanks!
haha k 🙂 I deleted the last comment. Hope it turned out well for you!
I am doing a freezer group and am wondering how well the rice and beans would freeze and reheat. Have you tried that before? How would you prepare this so it is ready to go for a freezer group?
Actually I think they might freeze just fine. Just make sure they are totally thawed before re-heating. Haven’t done it before but I don’t see why it would be a problem. Hope this helps!
I noticed that it’s okay to cook in the rice cooker, which makes it easier.. I have made these recipes before but cant remember if I need to wash rice before hand?
I am so use to washing rice and cooking in the rice cooker, and wondering if it would make the rice too soggy or ruin the recipe?
Thanks, I really love these recipes, it’s our only way to get the taste of cafe rio since moving to Hawaii.
I love this recipe. Thank you for sharing. Can I use a rice cooker for this recipe or will it make the rice sticky and soggy? I just want perfectly fluffy delicious rice!
We have used a rice cooker and just thrown everything in and started it… works great!
Hi, I don’t know if I’m just not seeing it, but you don’t have the recipe for the rice. Just two recipes for the beans? Is it posted somewhere else?
Whoops– you are right, let me see what exactly happened here! We will change it ASAP It looks like the INGREDIENTS are correct for the rice, but we have the instructions for the beans for some reason. We have been doing a little construction on our site and it must have been jumbled up!
Thank you SO SO MUCH!!!!!
I can’t wait!!!!
xoxo
Hiiiiiiii!!!!
What happened to the rice recipe!!?? I keep trying to bring it up and it won’t!!!
I made it before and everything was deLish!!! It’s stopped showing somehow! Is it just me??
You are totally right— a few of our recipes disappeared in a transition that we have done recently. We will get this back up ASAP
You’re not the only one! I haven’t tried the rice yet and am hoping the recipe comes back up soon for my next meal plan! Yum 🙂
It should be back up! Try refreshing the page.
Has anyone ever tried making this with quinoa? I am IN LOVE with all things café rio but was wondering if anyone had tried the quinoa. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it with quinoa, but it’s a great idea.
After reading the many comments, I understand the pinto beans use a different recipe. Will you please share?
Hi Christie, Check your email. Thanks!
I know someone said not to use calrose rice but I totally disagree! The trick to not having a sticky rice with calrose is to use less liquid and let it sit after cooking for at least 10 minutes. Then fluff and add some tomatillo sauce (cafe rio mild sauce) just before serving. For added flavor and authenticity add some butter as well. Cafe rio cooks their rice, covers it with plastic wrap and then tin foil before storing it in their warming ovens until used each day. As they pull it out they add butter a several ladles of mild sauce. I may or may not have worked there for a while… Calrose rice gives that perfect texture without becoming mushy like long grain will almost every time because it splits so easily. Just my opinion of course…
Nate— Thank you so much for this comment! This is awesome advice!!! I am definitely going to try it this way next!
Just made the black beans. I didn’t have tomato juice or tomato sauce. I used 1 chopped roma tomato, about 1/2 a cup of chicken broth, and 1 tsp of tomato paste. I also used low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed. I used about 1/2 a tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Turned out so yummy! The rice is in the rice cooker now. the 15 oz chicken broth and 1 cup water is too much I think so I just went with how I’ve always cooked rice. Used 1 cup brown rice, and about 2 cups of chicken broth/water combo. I usually do the finger measure whenever I’m cooking rice (don’t ask! lol! It’s a cultural thing) and it always turns out right. Can’t wait! Pairing it with peruvian style roasted chicken thighs 🙂
So glad that you liked it!!! haha I wish I was able to perfectly cook rice by just doing the finger test.. I am pretty dependent on a rice cooker most of the time. The chicken wings sound delicious! Sounds like you have a pretty impressive meal going on there 🙂
Would you recommend cooking beforehand and reheating to save time, or are taste and texture compromised too much? Thanks! I’m excited to try these!
No, making ahead would be fine!
How are these reheated? Would you recommend cooking beforehand or just serving fresh off the stove? Thanks! I’m excited to try these! (Beans and rice)
Made is sans onion due to food allergy. Delicious! Cooking around an onion allergy is not easy, but the taste for this shines through without it. Excellent recipe! Thanks so much!
I am planning on making the rice and beans for a big family Christmas dinner. My sisters and I are vegetarians and so I was wondering if it would change it too much if I used veg. Broth instead of chicken. Thanks
It should be fine with vegetable broth!
Well, these weren’t bad per se, but I was expecting the flavor of Cafe Rio’s cilantro lime rice and black beans. Neither one of these recipes tasted anything like Cafe Rio’s food. I won’t be making them again.
I live in Oregon, we don’t have Cafe Rio here, but so many visitors from Utah *Missionaries* LOVE Cafe Rio… so, I started making these recipes 2 years ago… then, last summer, we visited a cafe rio when visiting family in layton…
Personally, we love these recipes and flavor MORE than Cafe Rio! 🙂 we won’t go back to cafe rio. our family has another restaurant they like better and we will try that one. but we love these recipes!
kari
This is the best comment EVER! Thank you so much! I am so glad you have liked these recipes 😀 I am sure the missionaries love coming to dinner at your house.. I would!
I used your recipe for the cilantro lime rice and it was so yummy! Thank you so much for sharing.
Is there any substitute for the tomato juice? My nursling is sensitive to tomato products; too acidic. Thanks!
I have never used a substitute. Maybe V8 juice? or is that still too acidic?
We are wanting to do these for a meal when we go to Lake Powell, so I wanted to do as much as I could before we leave. Have you done the rice or beans ahead of time and if so, how long will they last before they need used? Thanks, we love these!
First of all…. JEALOUS!!! I love Lake Powell. It is probably my favorite place in the world! Secondly, I have done them ahead of time– totally fine. I would say 4-5 days ahead would be just about right.
How did you store these items to make in advance (especially the 4-5 days)? Just in the fridge? Or did you freeze the rice/beans/etc…?
For dried beans, soak overnight then simmer for about two hours – don’t add anything to them until they are cooked otherwise they will toughen. Once cooked, drain and follow the recipe above
Thank you so much for all these fabulous recipes! I’m wondering if you could email me your recipe for the pinto beans…?
almost 3 cups of liquid for 1 cup uncooked rice seems like too much is that the correct amount? You said in a comment that you use a rice cooker have you used the stove as well ? The flavor is great but it is almost mush and I did not over flake with a fork and I also browned the rice in butter and garlic prior to adding the liquid.
Now that it’s cooled off its perfect. I’m making this for 100 people and I think I’ll try a little less liquid. Thank you!
I LOVE your Cafe Rio recipe! Thanks so much for posting it! One question…is there something I could substitute the chicken broth with in the cilantro lime rice? I’m making this for a party on Sunday and my father is a vegetarian.
You could try vegetable broth.
When you say tomato juice in the bean recipe – is that tomato sauce? or actual tomato juice – aka V-8?
Yes, I used v8 but I’m sure tomato sauce is ok.
Exactly how long did it take u to create “Our Version
of Cafe Rio
Do you want to know how long it takes to prepare or how long it took me to come up with the recipe?
I was wondering if you have the recipe for Pinto Beans, we live near the Pinto Bean Capitol of the World and we love the Pintos but not the black beans. Is it the same recipe just different beans?
Yes we do! It is in our cookbook! The recipe isn’t the same… Send me an email and I will email it to you.
This may seem like a silly question, can you cook the rice and the rest of the ingredients in a rice cooker?
Yes, you can. I usually do!
The rice was fantastic, I love the tartness of the lime with the little bit of sweetness from the sugar. Yum, thanks!
@ Frank and Victoria– I don't know. I have never tried it. If you do it, maybe don't used canned beans, try using the dried ones. I'm not sure what to recommend! If it turns out well, let me know!
can this be cooked in a crock pot with out the beans going mushy?
@ Megs– ya know, I have had a lot of people complain about the amount of salt. For some reason I haven't noticed but I will actually go ahead and change it on the recipe. I wrote it up over 3 years ago so it very well could be a typo. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
I loved your Cafe Rio salad dressing recipe, but these beans have SO much salt! 1 1/2 tsp for one can of beans?! If I had stopped to think before just following the recipe, I never would have added salt. I'm sure this is a typo– right???
Canned beans are very high in sodium, I would not recommend adding salt to them. Just look at the label on the can to see the salt content of the brand you are using.
I've never had Cafe Rio (they haven't made it to Texas yet apparently!), but this recipe looked great so I gave it a try anyway. Although at first the sweetness of the pork scared me a little bit, when you layer it with all the other flavors, it was wonderful!! I didn't do the tortilla/cheese part, and I also skipped the rice. Finally, I added a can of corn like you suggested. Although the changes I made surely made it less like the actual Cafe Rio salad, it was really good none the less! I think it would be great for having guests over! Thanks!
thank you, we love these!!! and have had them SEVERAL times now!!!
However, they are WAYYYYYY too salty for us with that much salt. Like, I don't know how it's not too salty for everyone! But, we know that now and have adjusted to for what we like! thanks!
Just made this tonight for dinner and it took me right to Cafe Rio 😀 Delicious!
Also for the rice, make sure you don't stir it too much otherwise the rice gets sticky and mushed together.
Just the regular size.. I think it's 14 oz…
What can size of black beans did you use?
I made the beans for my family last night. The only complaint was that they were too salty. I didn't even put in the amount listed on the recipe because I thought it was a lot of salt but it was still very salty. Otherwise it was good.
We like pinto beans on our salads do you use the same recipe for those as you would for the black beans? Thanks:)
4-6 depending on how big of eaters you have…
How many servings do you get out of this recipe? We are wanting to do it for a Company party and I don't know how much to plan on. Thanks
the key to getting the rice just right is to brown it before you add the water. heat the butter or oil in the pan on medium heat, then add the rice and cook it until it starts to brown being careful not to burn it. add the garlic and cook the rice until it is a golden color, then add the water and other ingredients and cook following the rest of the directions. this keeps the rice from being sticky at all and each grain stays individual. it is seriously the key to getting the rice right. and you can can pretty much use any kind of rice, including calrose, and it turns out just right.
I've tried making this and my rice always comes out sticky. Do you have any tips?
Yeah that's right. The lime juice is divided. You use a little bit of it earlier in the recipe (when cooking the rice) and then you use the rest later (in the sauce you pour over it).
on the rice it says lime juice two times, is that right?
I have never made the beans from scratch, but I am sure they would be great if you added the seasonings while cooking them. If you are worried if it will be too strong or come out mushy (which I don't know if they would, because again, I have never made the beans from scratch), I would say just make them plain and then add them afterwards. They will probably taste the same either way you do them.
DO NOT cook dry beans in tomato juice first! The tomato juice must come after they are completely cooked, otherwise, your beans will never soften. It has something to do with cooking them in acid. Cook with spice in water if you must, but add tomato juice last.
I always start with dry beans, and I agree…don’t start with juice. I actually don’t evens add spices because it always makes them cook longer. I cook them in a crock pot, but you can cook them on the stove. When they are soft, add the ingredients, and follow the recipe as directed. They won’t get too mushy. The tomato juice and salt will ensure they are fine.
How would you recommend doing the beans from scratch? Would you cook with the seasonings or just plain and then add things afterwards?
love their sweet rice and black beans, many thanks for sharing♥♥ love their salads♥ many thanks again♥
Yeah, you just serve them with a slotted spoon so they drain off. If they aren’t swimming in juice they will dry out.
We tripled the black bean recipe and ended up using 4 cups of tomato juice. The beans were swimming in the juice and didn’t look right although they okay. Do you really use that much juice?
I tried it with instant rice and it turned out great. I look forward to trying it again when I have long grain. I combined the can of broth with the butter, garlic, lime juice and eliminated the water. Once it was boiling I added 2 cups of instant rice and let it stand. Then I poured the other mixture over it the same when I fluffed it. Great!!
I used just plain, long-grain white rice. I tried it once with Calrose rice (because it was what I had on hand…) NOT good! 🙂
I’m wondering what kind of rice you used. Obviously not minute rice because you cooked it 15-20 minutes.
I used bismati, because it is what I buy bismati and arbeo in bulk (my two favorite white rices.) it worked well. Venessa, I noticed the web site looked like the family might be from UT….so I read their bios. I think they are. I know since I have moved to UT, I often have to add a little extra water (water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so more of it boils off). Maybe, if you are at a lower altitude, if your rice was sticky…add a little less water or broth. Maybe 1/4 cup less? Add more if it is still not hydrated enough?