Enjoy this Cilantro Lime rice recipe. It is packed with flavors like garlic, onion, and fresh flavors like cilantro and lime. Also, enjoy the different textures this rice brings, enjoy as a complete meal or as a side dish.
Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe
The History:
Cilantro Lime rice is such a staple in our home. It is easy to make and packs a lot of flavor! The first time (I think) I had cilantro lime rice was at a Chipotle restaurant.
There was a time where I was doing an internship in Florida and there was a Chipotle not too far from were I worked so a few colleagues and I would go there for lunch. I became obsessed with the burrito bowl with barbacoa and brown rice, yumm.
After I moved back to Indiana, and some life went on, I decided to go to a nutritionist and get a food allergy test. I was having some stomach issues and my brother and his wife had recommended one. When I finally received the results, I was so shocked! A few things high on the list were lemons and brown rice. Now I knew it was nearly impossible to stay away from lemons entirely being that most restaurants use it so often for everything. However, at this time when I had stomach issues and was going through so many tests, I definitely wanted to stay away from it for the time being.
So during that time I used to only order Chipotle, Mexican food, or cook at home. Then I found out that Chipotle uses a mixture of limes and lemons to make their cilantro lime rice. Nooooooooooo! I was so flustered and really just felt like I couldn’t eat anything at the time. So I decided to make my own rice so that I would know what went into it. As time and years went on the recipe evolved to what it is today.
Renditions:
- My first rendition just used rice as recommended on the packaging and simply adding cilantro and lime.
- Another rendition adding lime zest, wow!, it really amped up the flavor of the lime, I was immediately addicted.
- Next I learned to only using a dutch oven for making rice, that, I learned from making Puerto Rican rice.
- Finally, reading America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks and learning to use a dish towel over the rice for the last 10 minutes just before serving.
Below is my take on Cilantro Lime Rice.
Why:
To control what ingredients go into my body. Also, I just love to cook and create in the kitchen. This recipe add additional underlying flavor to your rice as well as combine more than one texture to the rice for those lovely mouth feels.
Ingredients:
Equipment Recommended:
1 Dutch Oven (stainless steel, cast iron or aluminum (caldero)). Substitutions: large saucepan or small stock pot
Technique used:
Similar to making a rice pilaf or similar to making Puerto Rican rice.
Cilantro Lime Rice
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Enjoy this Cilantro Lime rice recipe. It is packed with flavors like garlic, onion, and fresh flavors like cilantro and lime. Also, enjoy the different textures this rice brings, enjoy as a complete meal or as a side dish.
Ingredients
1.5 Cups White long grain rice (rinsed)
2.5 Cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil
1 small onion chopped
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
1.5 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Teaspoon lime zest
Instructions
- Melt butter and oil over medium heat
- Add onion, cook 5 minutes
- Next, add garlic, cook 30 seconds
- Then, add rice, stir often for 2 minutes
- Stir in chicken broth, bring to a boil
- Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes (see notes below)
- Remove from heat and quickly add the cilantro, lime juice and zest.
- Place a dish towel over the pot and cover again for 10 more minutes or until ready to serve.
Notes
The reason for the fluctuation on time for the rice is dependent on your stove top and the type of dutch over or pot you decide to use.
When I use a stainless steel dutch over an induction stove top it is 15 minutes exactly.
When I cook over my gas stove top with a stainless steel dutch oven it can be anywhere between 18 minutes and 20. I do not have numbers on my stove top knob only low, med, or med high. So for me it is a balancing act most days. But if you try the rice before you turn the heat off you can tell if you need to cook it longer.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: rice, mexican cuisine, dinner recipes
More Recipes:
If you like this recipe please leave a comment below, if you make the recipe make sure to tag me @savorparadise on Instagram for a chance to be featured in my stories. Also, I started a YouTube channel. It have been a long time coming and I am super excited. If you want to see more recipes via YouTube than please subscribe to my channel and let me know what you’d like to see. If you like this recipe you might also like my Puerto Rican rice recipe.
This was delicious!! I did cut down on the butter and oil a little bit and it was still perfect. It’s now been requested as my standard rice recipe. 🙂
★★★★★