This easy cilantro lime rice recipe brings Mexican flavors to your kitchen.
Cilantro lime rice makes a great side dish for many dishes like enchiladas, tacos, burrito bowls, or even with grilled meats.
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This cilantro lime rice recipe is a delicious side dish often featured in Mexican and Tex-Mex foods.
This flavorful rice dish is created by cooking white rice to perfection and then adding a vibrant combination of fresh cilantro and zesty lime juice.
It's not only a delicious accompaniment but also adds a burst of refreshing flavors to your meals.
This recipe for cilantro lime rice is for the stovetop. If you're after a recipe for the pressure cooker, you might like to check out Instant Pot cilantro lime rice.
What can I make with cilantro lime rice?
Cilantro lime rice is a versatile side dish that can be used in various ways. Here are some ideas for what you can make with cilantro lime rice:
- Burrito Bowls: Use it as a base for burrito bowls, adding ingredients like grilled chicken, black beans, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.
- Salads: Incorporate it into salads for added texture and flavor, especially in Southwestern or Mexican-style salads.
- Taco Filling: Serve it as a taco filling alongside seasoned meats, beans, and your favorite toppings.
- Side Dish: Serve it as a side dish alongside grilled or roasted meats, fish, or vegetables.
- Wraps and Quesadillas: Use it as a filling for wraps and quesadillas, along with other ingredients like cheese, vegetables, and protein.
- Meal Prep: Prep it in advance and use it as a base for meal prep, incorporating various proteins and vegetables for a quick and balanced meal during the week.
- Stuffed Peppers: Use it as a filling for stuffed bell peppers, along with ground beef or turkey, tomatoes, and cheese.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Cilantro lime rice is easy to make.
- Gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian friendly.
- This recipe is quick to make, which makes it great to serve on those busy weeknights, last minute dinner parties, or even pot lucks or special occasions like Christmas.
Cost To Make
Estimated cost = $3.75 or $0.94 a serve
Ingredients
Please note that below is a guide for some of the ingredients we used in the recipe. The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.
- Vegetable Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Minced Garlic
- Basmati Rice
- Water
- Lime Zest
- Salt
- Fresh Cilantro (coriander) Leaves: Roughly chopped.
- Lime Juice
Instructions
This recipe for cilantro lime rice on the stovetop serves 4 (it makes about 4 cups, 720 grams, 25.39 ounces of cooked rice). The ingredient quantities can easily be adjusted to suit how many serves you need to make.
Step One: Rinse rice in room temperature water until the water runs clear. Completely drain off all water.
Step Two: In a medium sized saucepan, heat oil. Once hot add minced garlic, and rice. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
Step Three: Carefully place water, lime zest, and salt, in saucepan, stir to combine. Make sure the rice sits flat along the bottom, but no rice is sticking to the bottom. Taste for seasoning, add more salt if desired.
Step Four: Bring liquid to a boil. Once at a boil, stir the rice, and reduce heat to bring it to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 25 minutes.
Step Five: Once cooked, turn off heat and allow the rice to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Step Six: Mix through the chopped cilantro and lime juice. Serve.
Substitutions / Variations
Some delicious variations of this lime and cilantro rice that you might like to try include:
- When you mix through the cilantro, you might like to mix through some black beans and corn kernels.
- Add a bit of heat to your rice by mixing through some finely chopped chilli.
- For cilantro lime rice with chicken, saute some chicken pieces in your saucepan before adding your rice and minced garlic.
- Mash up rice avocados and mix them through the cooked rice.
- Dice some fresh pineapple and mix it through.
- Add some coconut milk in place of some of the water to make a coconut cilantro and lime rice.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some ways you might like to serve this cilantro lime rice:
- With grilled meats, like shrimp, chicken, fish, or beef.
- With a mango or avocado salsa
- As a base for a burrito bowl
Storage
Store this cilantro lime rice in an air tight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
FAQ
Cilantro lime rice pairs nicely with Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, such as burritos, tacos, fajitas, and grilled chicken or shrimp.
Cilantro rice is made from white or brown rice cooked with cilantro, lime juice, and sometimes garlic.
What rice is used for what?
Ever wondered which might be the best rice to use for a dish you're about to make.
Or maybe you're just curious and want to know more about rice in general.
Why not check out our pages on what is basmati rice and what is jasmine rice.
Helpful Rice Cooking Tips
Want to know how to cook rice or just need a little refresher?
Check out how to easily cook basmati rice, sushi rice, and jasmine rice on the stovetop.
Or, why not check out our recipes on how to make basmati rice, jasmine rice, and sushi rice in the Instant Pot.
Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below! We'd love to hear how it turned out.
Recipe
Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams, 15.58 ounces) basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 ¼ cups (560 grams, 19.75 ounces) water
- 2 teaspoons (5 grams, 0.18 ounces) lime zest
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 ½ cups (30 grams, 1.06 ounces) fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice or to taste
Instructions
- Rinse rice in room temperature water until the water runs clear. Completely drain off all water.
- In a medium sized saucepan, heat oil. Once hot add minced garlic, and rice. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Carefully place water, lime zest, and salt, in saucepan, stir to combine. Make sure the rice sits flat along the bottom, but no rice is sticking to the bottom. Taste for seasoning, add more salt if desired.
- Bring liquid to a boil. Once at a boil, stir the rice, and reduce heat to bring it to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 25 minutes.
- Once cooked, turn off heat and allow the rice to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Mix through the chopped cilantro and lime juice. Serve.
Notes
- With grilled meats, like shrimp, chicken, fish, or beef.
- With a mango or avocado salsa
- As a base for a burrito bowl
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