Cilantro Lime Rice

4.99 from 51 votes
113 Comments

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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.

A bowl of cilantro lime rice topped with a lime wedge and a cilantro leaf
Featured With This Recipe
  1. Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice Copycat
  2. Ingredients for Cilantro Lime Rice
  3. Tips for Making Cilantro Lime Rice
  4. What Pairs Well With Cilantro Lime Rice?
  5. Storing and Reheating Leftovers
  6. Frequently Asked Questions
  7. Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes
  8. How to Make Cilantro Lime Rice
  9. Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe

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)
A large pot of cooked white rice and a small bowl of cilantro lime mixture


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.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of rice is Chipotle’s cilantro lime rice made with?

Chipotle uses long-grain white rice for their cilantro lime rice.

How do I make cilantro lime rice low carb?

You can always do a mixture of rice and cauliflower rice to make a low-carb version. Sometimes we do a 50/50 ratio and can hardly tell a difference. Either way it is a great side dish!

Does Chipotle add oil to rice?

Yes, Chipotle adds a little oil to the rice after cooking to keep it from sticking together.

Is Cilantro Lime Rice gluten-free?

Yes, just make sure that the chicken broth that you are using doesn’t contain gluten.

What other Mexican sides do you recommend?

Refried Beans, Salsa, Guacamole, Nacho Cheese, and Sour Cream are all great Mexican sides.

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

A bowl of cilantro lime rice next to a juicer and a bowl of lime

Cilantro Lime Rice

4.99 from 51 votes
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.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Mexican/Spanish
Servings 4

Video

Ingredients

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.
    A pot with rice, butter, chicken broth, and water in it
  • In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro.
    A large pot of cooked white rice and a small bowl of cilantro lime mixture
  • Pour the mixture over hot, cooked rice as you fluff the rice with a fork. Mix until fully combined.
    A bowl of cilantro lime rice topped with a lime wedge and a cilantro leaf

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.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 194kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 404mgPotassium: 152mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 56IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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Comments

  1. 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.

    1. 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

      1. 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!

  2. Is there any substitute for the tomato juice? My nursling is sensitive to tomato products; too acidic. Thanks!

  3. 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!

    1. 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.

      1. 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…?

  4. 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

  5. 5 stars
    Thank you so much for all these fabulous recipes! I’m wondering if you could email me your recipe for the pinto beans…?

  6. 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.

    1. 5 stars
      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!

  7. 5 stars
    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.

  8. 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?

  9. This may seem like a silly question, can you cook the rice and the rest of the ingredients in a rice cooker?

  10. @ 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!

  11. @ 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!

  12. 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???

  13. 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.

  14. 5 stars
    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!

  15. 5 stars
    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!