Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice Instant Pot

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice Instant Pot recipe get's done fast & tastes even better than the lime cilantro rice from Chipotle or Cafe De Rio. It's a perfect recipe for homemade burrito bowl & a fantastic side dish for enchiladas, fajitas or tacos.

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Cilantro Lime Rice Instant Pot

Easy Instant pot cilantro lime rice is full of fresh, vibrant flavor and get's done so quickly in the pressure cooker. The lime zest, the tender cilantro stems and the freshly squeezed lime juice takes this lime cilantro rice instant pot recipe to the tops.

This is the best instant pot cilantro lime rice recipe that freezes well, is gluten free, budget friendly & vegan too! Include this as a side with our Instant pot shrimp fajitas or Instant pot chicken fajitas for a Mexican style dinner at home!

Tips & Tricks

1. Fluffy rice secret, no BURN ever: Rinse the rice very well, discard the milky/murky water and rinse until clear water runs through. This is very important and helps rinse out the surface starch from the rice. You will have wonderfully fluffy cooked rice. No more mushy, over cooked rice and no more Burn error!
2. Best rice: White Basmati rice is our first choice. White Jasmine or white long grain rice are also great options for Cafe de rio style cilantro lime recipe. The cook times and the liquid ratio would vary. Refer the **NOTES at the bottom of the post for details.
3. Best cilantro lime rice secret: Use fresh cilantro and use the leaves along with tender stems, that's where the maximum flavor lies. Zest one whole lime and add it to make 2 cups Cilantro lime rice in instant pot. You'll have bursting flavors of fresh lime in every morsel of rice.
4. Love tangy cilantro lime rice: You can control the tartness of the recipe by adding more or less lime juice according to your own personal preference. Today's recipe is just perfect, it's not overtly sour but has all the right vibrant and fresh notes from the lime.
5. Prevent dry rice sticky rice: Once you are done mixing the cilantro, lime juice & zest do bring out the steel insert of the instant pot immediately with the help of a pair of heat proof mittens and keep it on the counter top. This will prevent the residual heat trapped at the base of the pot from making the cooked rice dry and sticky.

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice - Ingredients

Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.

• Rice: Use either white Basmati rice or white Jasmine rice to make this recipe. Rinse & drain the rice very well.
• Cilantro: Use fresh and DO NOT use dried or from the tube. Rinse the cilantro bunch under cold tap water, drain the excess water and chop the leaves and a few tender stems finely.
• Lime: Zest 1 whole lime and squeeze out the juice. This pressure cooker cilantro lime rice recipe would only turn out amazing if you use fresh ingredients. It's a must!
• Salt: According to your own personal taste preference.
• Liquid: Water. You can use chicken broth but I feel it might be an overkill. Using normal water is perfect, you won't miss on flavors at all.
• Oil: Use any neutral oil like avocado oil, canola oil, extra light or light olive oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil. You can use any of these.

How to make cilantro lime rice in instant pot?

Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.

Step #1 Rinse Rice

• Rinse Rice: Rinse the white Basmati rice under running tap water several times gently squeezing the rice with your finger tips and draining out the milky/murky water (as seen in the pic above). You need to repeat the step until clear water runs through (refer the pic above). This will help rinse out the surface starch from the rice grains and will prevent sticky, mushy over cooked rice and also the BURN error!.
• Drain the rice: Drain the rinsed white Basmati rice in a metal colander until all the excess water is drained out. Excess water left behind will result in mushy, gooey pressure cooker rice.

Step #2 Pressure cook

• Add ingredients in pot: Now, add the rinsed rice, water, oil and salt in the steel insert of the instant pot. Gently spread out the rice and make sure that each grain is below the water level.
• Pressure cook: Secure the lid and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 5 mins followed by 5-10 mins natural pressure release and than manually release the rest of the pressure by moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Turn off the instant pot immediately.

Step #3 Mix the cilantro, serve

• Fluff rice: Gently fluff the pressure cook white rice with the help of a fork. This will make the rice grains fluffy and help the excess heat to escape and prevent the rice from getting over cooked.
• Mix cilantro, lime zest & juice, serve: Add the finely chopped cilantro, lime juice and lime zest and gently stir to mix them well. Serve the Instant pot cilantro lime rice immediately or store away for later use. In that case bring out the steel insert of the instant pot with the help of a pair of heat proof mittens and keep it on the counter top. This will prevent the residual heat trapped on the base of the instant pot from making the cooked rice dry.

What goes with cilantro lime rice?

Cilantro Lime Rice is an excellent Mexican side dish that you can include with the following recipe to make a hearty restaurant style Mexican food at home.

• Instant Pot Shrimp Fajitas.
• Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas.
• Tacos.
• Quesadillas.
• Enchiladas.
• Black Beans Chipotle style.
• Mexican refried beans.
• Include lime cilantro rice in your Burrito bowls and include your favorite toppings like Pico de gallo, guacamole, corn salsa, spicy red salsa, salsa Verde.

Can you make cilantro lime rice ahead of time?

Yes, you certainly can make cilantro lime rice ahead of time and store it in air tight containers in the fridge for upto 5 days. Follow the reheating directions shared below.

Can you freeze cilantro lime rice?

Yes, you can freeze cilantro lime rice for upto 3 months in the freezer. Use heavy duty freezer safe bags or individual freezer containers. Follow the reheating directions shared below.

How to reheat instant pot cilantro lime rice recipe?

From Fridge: Sprinkle little water all over the fridge cold cilantro lime rice, this will prevent the rice from getting dry while reheating it in the microwave oven. Pop the container in the microwave oven and reheat until warm or hot.

From freezer: Thaw the Chipotle cilantro lime rice instant pot recipe overnight in the fridge and than follow the reheating instructions shared above.

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice Instant Pot

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Rate

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Mixing & rice fluffing time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 262kcal

Author: Meghna

Watch Recipe Video

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice Instant Pot recipe tastes even better than the lime cilantro rice from Chipotle & Cafe De Rio restaurant. This vegan and gluten free Instant pot cilantro lime rice get's done under 20 mins in the pressure cooker & freezes well too.

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups Basmati Rice (**white Basmati rice rinsed & drained very well.)
• ▢ 1 cup cilantro (**finely chopped along with few tender stems, about 8-9.)
• ▢ 3 tbsp Lime Juice (**from fresh lime. DO NOT use from the bottle.)
• ▢ 1 Lime (**zested, use only the zest. About ½ or 1 tbsp lime zest.)
• ▢ 1.5 tbsp Olive Oil (**use light or extra light olive oil or use any neutral oil, check NOTES below.)
• ▢ salt (**according to your own personal preference.)

Liquid

• ▢ 2.5 cups Water (**room temperature.)

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Equipment Used

Instant Pot DUO 6 quart

Instructions

• Rinse and Drain rice: Rinse the white Basmati rice under running tap water several times by gently squeezing the rice grains with your finger tips & draining the milk/murky water. Repeat this step until clear water runs through. This will help rinse out the surface starch from the rice and make the cooked rice fluffy & also prevent the BURN error. Drain the rinsed rice very well with the help of a colander. Excess water will result in mushy rice!
  
• Add ingredients in pot: Add the rinsed & drained rice in the steel insert of the instant pot, pour water, add the oil & salt. Gently spread out the rice with the help of your spatula and make sure that the rice grains are all submerged in the water. This will ensure in a fluffy rice where each grain is cooked through uniformly.
  
• Pressure cook: Secure the lid of the instant pot, seal the valve and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 5 mins. Once the pressure cooking cycle is over the instant pot will begin to beep. Wait for natural pressure release for about 5 mins and than release the rest of the pressure manually by moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Open the lid carefully when the metal pin on top of the lid drops. TURN OFF the instant pot immediately to prevent the bottom layer of rice from sticking at the bottom of the pot.
  
• Fluff & serve: Gently fluff the cooked rice with the help of a fork. Add the chopped cilantro, lime juice & lime zest and gently stir to mix well. Serve the instant pot cilantro lime rice immediately. If not bring out the steel insert of the instant pot with the help of heat proof mittens and keep it on the counter top. This will prevent the residual heat trapped in the base of the pot from further cooking down the rice & making it dry.
  

Notes

1. Jasmine Cilantro lime rice: The recipe would remain the same, however, the cook time and the liquid amount will change. Use 2 cups water for 2 cups white Jasmine rice and cook on high pressure for 3 mins followed by 5 mins natural release and than release the rest of the pressure manually.
2. Neutral Oils: Any flavorless oil is know as neutral oil. The best examples are avocado oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, light or extra light olive oil.
3. Tangy Lime cilantro rice: You can add more fresh lime juice for a tangy cilantro lime rice.

 

Calorific details are provided by a third party application & are to be used as indicative figures only.

 

 

Nutrition Facts

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice Instant Pot

Amount Per Serving

Calories 262 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 10mg0%

Potassium 105mg3%

Carbohydrates 51g17%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A 189IU4%

Vitamin C 6mg7%

Calcium 27mg3%

Iron 1mg6%

* Read our privacy policy - Calorie information is provided as a courtesy only and should be leveraged as an estimate rather than a guarantee.Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 189IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg

Course :Side Dish

Cuisine :Mexican

Keyword :cafe de rio cilantro lime rice, Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice, instant pot cilantro lime rice, pressure cooker lime cilantro rice

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