Cilantro Lime Rice

No matter whether you are using Cilantro Lime Rice as a side to tasty white chicken enchiladas or to roll up inside a burrito, its so easy to make cilantro lime rice at home. Skip the running out to the resteraunt, this Copycate Chipoltle Lime Rice is DA BOMB!

(Can I say that? I mean, I did graduate high school in the 90’s)

The best thing about this rice is that the recipe is relatively simple but still packs a delicious, addicting flavor that all rice lovers will….well….love.

Does this taste like Copycat Chipotle Lime Rice?

This rice recipe really does taste just like Chipotle’s cilantro lime rice. There are only 5 ingredients – and that’s counting the water in which you boil the rice. 

Lime rice will only take about 10 minutes total to put together and then the 20 minutes to cook the rice fully.

LIME RICE GROCERY LIST

Below are the ingredients to make this rice. Please scroll to the bottom of the post for a printer friendly version of this with full step by step instructions.

• White rice
• Butter
• Lime – fresh lime for the juice AND the zest!
• Chopped cilantro – again, please only use FRESH herbs. Adding dried cilantro will not have the same color, texture or flavor.
• Broth

RELATED RECIPES: Hawaiian Rice, No Fail Fried Rice, Low Carb Chicken Fried Rice, Cheesy Riced Cauliflower

How to make Cilantro Lime Rice

Before you get started on flavoring this rice, you have to make the rice! Here are my instructions to make rice super simple, but its also fine to use a rice maker and your favorite rice kind in a way you are used to making it.

• Add rice, water, and broth to a saucepan.
• Heat on medium-high heat until boiling.
• Reduce heat to simmer and cover.
• Cook for 20 minutes or until rice is done.
• Remove from heat and stir.

Time for Lime!

• Add in juice of 1 lime and zest of one lime.
• Stir in chopped cilantro and serve immediately while hot and tangy.

What type of rice is best to use? 

While instant rice is super convenient, it won’t have as much flavor or the right texture if you are trying to recreate the iconic Chipotle rice side.

Here are some rice variations that will taste fantastic when you add the lime.

• Jasmine – This type of rice is a Thai rice, is long grain and very fragrant.
• Basmati – Basmati rice comes from India and is soft and nutty
• Brown rice – Brown rice is a whole grain rice and many people like brown rice as an alternative to white rice (or cauliflower)

Low Carb Alteration: Use Cauliflower Instead

If you want to make this a keto-friendly recipe, use cauliflower rice. Cauliflower rice is used in a variety of recipes as a variation, like this loaded cauliflower casserole and low carb chicken fried rice.

Personally I prefer to just use a bag of frozen cauliflower rice that you can steam in the microwave. It’s the same thing as if you chop up cauliflower florets but it saves you a ton of time and kitchen mess. 

• After the cauliflower rice is steamed, just add the lime and cilantro and follow the rest of the instructions as written. 
• When you use cauliflower, the texture of the final recipe will be a bit different, but the flavor will be the same.

More Mexican Side Dishes

Here are some more amazing side dishes that you can serve on Taco Tuesday or your next Tex-Mex meal. 

• Enchilada Dip with Ground Beef
• Cowboy Caviar
• Pico de Gallo Recipe