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Small portions and extra money for guac? Not when you make your burrito bowls at home with our Cilantro Lime Rice! This rice is easy to make on the stove with minimal prep and ingredients.
This cilantro lime rice is the perfect addition to your burritos, tacos, and quesadillas!
Chipotle? We Have Chipotle At Home.
I hate to be that mom, but I also really struggle to hit up Chipotle with my family and pay a fortune for small portion sizes when I can make the same thing at home for so much cheaper…and it tastes better, too.
You can’t have a burrito or a burrito bowl (my personal fav) without the base of cilantro lime rice, though. So we went ahead and perfected that for you. 😉
This cilantro lime rice recipe is easy – no rice maker needed! Just a pot, a stove top, and a handful of ingredients.
Highly recommend stuffing this inside a tortilla with our barbacoa recipe, pressure cooker beans, and some of our guacamole for an easy Chipotle-at-home sort of situation.
Not a fan of cilantro? Try out my easy Mexican rice. Also perfect for serving with tacos!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Simple: There’s just a few simple ingredients in this recipe. Rice, lime juice, and cilantro. It’s so easy and basic but so good and great for serving alongside a variety of dishes.
- Refreshing: We love the bright flavors and simple, refreshing goodness of cilantro and lime juice! It’s a zesty combination that we just can’t get enough of.
- Budget-Friendly: Chipotle and Qdoba are tasty, but gosh they’ve gotten pricey. This copycat recipe is budget-friendly and a great base or side dish for many Mexican-inspired recipes.
Ingredient Notes:
Rice – You’ll need some long grain white rice for this recipe. Do not use instant rice as it’s par-cooked and will not work in this recipe.
Cilantro – Use fresh cilantro for the best results. Dried isn’t nearly as good here.
Lime – We also prefer freshly squeezed lime juice for the best flavor. Simple recipes really do need good quality ingredients for the best taste.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Citrus Juicer
Freshly squeezed lime and lemon juice is useful in lots of recipes, and this tool makes it easy and mess free.
How to Make Cilantro Lime Rice:
Add the rice, water, and oil to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it boil over medium heat until the water just skims the top of the rice, then reduce heat to low, cover, and continue cooking for 15 more minutes.
Turn the heat over, cover the pot, and let the rice sit for 5 minutes before fluffing it with a fork. The rice should be perfectly cooked at this point.
Add the remainder of the olive oil, the freshly squeezed lime juice, and some finely chopped cilantro to the rice and stir well to combine. Taste this and season with salt to taste.
Freezing & Storage Instructions:
You can keep any leftover cilantro lime rice stored in the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 days. Let it cool completely in the fridge before covering.
It can be reheated in the microwave with a splash of water.
The cilantro lime rice can also be frozen. Let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe bag or container. It can be stored for up to a few months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Recipe FAQs:
We’re keeping it real simple in this recipe! Our cilantro lime rice recipe is made with just long grain white rice, lime juice, and fresh cilantro along with a bit of oil and salt.
Cilantro is a key ingredient in this recipe but not everyone likes the flavor of cilantro. A good substitute would be parsley, or even oregano could be used here as a sub.
We’re using extra long grained white rice for this recipe.
Serving Suggestions:
We love to set up a little burrito bar situation and let everyone make their own burritos, bowls, and tacos. Here are a few ideas to add to yours:
Proteins:
Toppings:
- Homemade Guacamole
- Pico de Gallo
- Sliced Radishes
- Pickled Red Onion
- Shredded Cheese
- Cowboy Caviar
- Easy Refried Beans
- Diced Tomatoes
Sauces:
Cilantro Lime Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup extra long grain white rice
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 lime
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or more, to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Pour the rice, water, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into a small sauce pan.
- Bring to a boil and continue boiling over medium heat until the water just skims the top of the rice.
- Reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
- Turn the heat off after 15 minutes and keep covered for 5 more minutes.
- Remove lid and transfer the rice to a large bowl. Fluff the rice with a fork. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the juice of the lime, and the finely chopped cilantro to the rice.
- Mix well and salt to taste.
mary says
^ i make the rice plain in the rice cooker, let it sit for five minutes then add a small pat of butter, chopped cilantro and lime juice with a pinch of salt. comes out just like chipotle!!
Pat Campbell says
Do you think you could make this in a rice cooker?
Barbara says
Well, the rice probably would be OK with chocolate, but cilantro? LOL
Great photo!!
megan says
your picture is beautiful! And the rice sounds incredible. like everyone else who commented, my husband and I LOVE chipotle. i’ll be making this!
Talita says
I’ve never heard about this dish. I also never tried Mexican food. But looks great I’d love to try it.
Your blog is amazing! I read all the posts and copied many recipes that I’m crazy to bake.
Alanna says
oh nom, nom, nom!
Simone (junglefrog) says
The rice sounds perfect to me and hey, maybe you should just try it inside a chocolate cake…lol
shelly (cookies and cups) says
haha! never been to chipotle, but I really want to..there are none near me, so it’s off my radar. this rice sounds yuummmm!! I love all food mexican too, it’s my thing 😉
grace says
i LOVE chipotle. i do not, however, love rice. i’m not sure why it bothers me so, but it does. i will say, though, that if i were ever going to love it, it would contain cilantro and lime. 🙂
the wicked noodle says
I adore Chipotle, we just ate there yesterday in fact 😉 Thanks for this yummy recipe!
Memoria says
What a beautiful bowl of rice! I love the cilantro lime rice at Chipotle, too. Thanks for a great recipe.
amy2boys says
And also, why is it so hard? It’s FOOD. It doesn’t like, move or anything. But getting good pictures takes talent.
amy2boys says
This picture is gorgeous – pretty rice! Food photography is so freaking hard and you are great at it.
Stephanie says
Um, I think my husband is in love you now. He is OBSESSED with everything Chipotle! Thanks for the recipe!
katie says
I made cilantro lime rice last week too! I like mine mixed into chipotle chicken salad, yum. Sadly I lost my photos. Luckily that means I get to make some more!