This easy cilantro lime rice recipe is fresh and bright. Serve it as a side dish with Asian or Mexican food, or use it as the base of your next burrito bowl.
Jump to Recipe
This cilantro lime rice recipe is even better than Chipotle’s.
Yup, I said it. This easy cilantro lime rice is fresh and bright, flecked with chopped cilantro, lime zest, savory scallions, and jalapeños for heat. It’s an epic base for a homemade burrito bowl—just add black beans, fajitas veggies, salsa, and guac!—but it’s also a versatile side dish. Serve it with Mexican fare like tacos or enchiladas, with an Asian-inspired meal like crispy sesame tofu, or with whatever you’re grilling. This recipe couldn’t be easier or more delicious. I think you’ll love it!
How to Make Cilantro Lime Rice
This cilantro lime rice recipe is easy to make!
First, cook the rice. I recommend using long-grain white jasmine or basmati rice for this recipe.
- Both these varieties cook quickly, in about 15 minutes.
- They’re also fragrant and aromatic, so they add depth of flavor to the final dish.
For rice cooking instructions, see my guide to how to cook rice on the stove. You can also make Instant Pot rice or prepare the rice in a rice cooker. Tip: Rinse the rice before cooking to remove excess starch from the outside of the grains. Without rinsing, the cooked rice will be sticky. You want it to be fluffy for this recipe.
When the rice is cooked, but still hot, toss it with garlic, scallions, and lime zest. Adding these ingredients while the rice is still warm helps it soak up their flavor.
Let it cool slightly, and then add olive oil, sea salt, diced jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro. I wait to add these ingredients until the rice has had a chance to cool so that the cilantro and jalapeño don’t soften or wilt.
Season to taste and serve. That’s it!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Variations
Not feeling white rice? Feel free to use another type of rice in this recipe.
- Brown rice makes it nuttier. Long and short-grain both work well. Note that you’ll need to increase the water measurement to 2 cups.
- Or, for a lighter twist, replace half the regular rice with cauliflower rice or broccoli rice. I love this variation in veggie burritos!
How to Serve Cilantro Lime Rice
This cilantro lime rice recipe is a fresh, flavorful side dish. I especially love it with Asian and Mexican-inspired dishes. Pair it with crispy sesame tofu or baked tempeh, or serve it alongside enchiladas or taquitos. It’s also a great addition to a taco bar!
Of course, à la Chipotle, the rice is a tasty base for burrito bowls too. Build your own with
- Black beans or pinto beans
- Tofu sofritas
- Fajita veggies
- Guacamole
- Pico de gallo, salsa verde, or corn salsa…
…or check out my burrito bowl recipe. Tip: cilantro lime rice is delicious in a sushi bowl too!
How do you like to serve cilantro lime rice? Let me know in the comments!
Storage
This recipe is best on the day it’s made, but leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Enjoy them cold or at room temperature, or pop them in the microwave to reheat!
More Favorite Rice Recipes
If you love this cilantro lime rice, try one of these easy rice recipes next:
- Spanish Rice
- Coconut Rice
- Wild Rice Pilaf
- Forbidden Black Rice
- Broccoli Rice
- Cauliflower Rice
- Or any of these 25 Healthy Rice Recipes!
Cilantro Lime Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup long-grain jasmine rice, rinsed well and drained
- 1½ cups water
- 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Pinch red pepper flakes, or ¼ diced jalapeño, optional
Instructions
- Combine the rice, water, and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a medium saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes (or check the time listed on the package of your rice).
- Uncover and fluff with a fork. Add the garlic, scallions, and lime zest and stir to combine. Let cool for 1 minute, then add the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, lime juice, cilantro, and red pepper flakes or jalapeño, if using. Stir to combine and season to taste.
I have made this 7 or 8 times as well as turning
a few friends on to it. super good. this last time i added a small amount of honey to balance it out and you need to add the honey!
I’m so glad you love the recipe, Shawn!
I followed the recipe and the jasmine rice was sticky and stuck to the pot, not fluffy and I followed the recipe.
Rice can be tricky, get a rice cooker or instant pot
Yummy. I did not have scallions so I chopped up some red onion very small. Rice turned out delicious.
So easy and so, so good 🙂
I’m happy to hear!
You can make this with leftover rice from a rice heavy dish. Just spoon some broth into a warm pan after you break up the rice and add your fixings. I like to add the garlic first and mix it with the rice before adding broth.
Great tip, Linn!
I made this for fourth of July one year and atleast 4 people asked me for the recipe.
Aww, I love that! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Easy to make and delicious
I made it to accompany my salmon tacos and it was all perfect. The rice was bomb
We made tonight for cinco de mayo as the base of a bowl — topped with pork el pastor, roasted zucchini, tomatoes, green onions, avocado, mango and a bit of cotija cheese. It’s definitely a keeper — easy to make and so much more flavor than the rice from that chain.
So easy to make
Delicious! Worth the effort for sure and will make again. I added extra lime zest, extra juice, extra onion. It’s a keeper!
I’m so glad you loved it!
This lime rice is delicious. I’ve made it many times to go alongside tacos, enchiladas, to stuff in burritos, etc. I am wondering if this can be made a day in advance and reheated for larger gatherings?
I would assume so and just treat it like heating up plain refrigerated rice. Just add a few splashes of water before heating to help rehydrate the rice.
OMG soooo good!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Feel free to be creative!
Great recipe.
I made this rice for burrito bowls and it was really nice. The limes that I bought were as dry as could be so I added extra lime zest and what ever juice that I could muster from the limes. Burrito bowls will be in my regular rotation so I will use this recipe frequently.
Do you have nutrition info for this? We loved it!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Jasmine! We are working on adding nutrition facts to all our recipes, but we haven’t gotten to this one yet. Coming soon!
So good! Hit with the kids definitely in the rotation. Absolutely easy to make
So glad you love it, Tamar!
Delicious and easy to make!
So glad you loved it, Jennifer!
Loved your simple recipe for Cilantro-Lime Rice using jasmine rice. I can’t have rice, so I’m going to try this recipe using cauliflower rice. Thanks for the recipe
Hi Bina, I hope you love it!
Didn’t get a picture, but had with cod filled, mango and avocado. So good. Thanks for sharing
So glad you enjoyed it, Dawn!