Instant Pot Cilantro Rice

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice makes the classic Chipotle Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice Mexican side dish recipe easier to make in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker! It will be ready quickly for your Mexican dinner!

Traditionally, this copycat Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice is made in a rice cooker or on top of the stove, but pressure cooking the rice in an Instant Pot pressure cooker provides an easy, hands-off method of cooking the Cilantro Lime Rice.

What is Cilantro Lime Rice?

Cilantro Lime Rice was made popular by the chain restaurant Chipotle. They added lime juice and chopped cilantro to white rice, to change it up slightly from typical white rice, and people loved the flavor!

I started making Cilantro Lime Rice at home years ago as an easy side dish alternative to my Mexican Rice Recipe for my Mexican Food Recipes, such as Mexican Shrimp Cocktail,  Tex-Mex Enchiladas, Skillet Chicken Fajitas, and Stuffed Chile Relleno Recipe.

When I got my Instant Pot years ago, I started using it to make rice because it was just so easy and because it was a set it and forget it recipe that requires you to do nothing until it is finished cooking. Like all my Instant Pot Recipes, 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This website is all about fast, easy, flavorful cooking, and this recipe fits that to a tee! Here are some of the things that I think you will love about this recipe!

• Flavor. You’ll love the flavors of lime and cilantro! In addition, I add some lemon juice as well to the recipe so it has a lemon-lime flavor in addition to the cilantro! 
• Easy. This recipe is an easy set-it-and-forget-it recipe! There is no fussing, draining, stirring required during cooking.
• Fluffy. The Instant Pot makes perfect, fluffy rice every time. Just follow my tips and recommendations in this recipe, and it will have a perfectly fluffy texture.

Why Use The Instant Pot To Make This Recipe

The reason I switched to using the Instant Pot for cooking rice recipes, like this Cilantro Lime Rice, is because it is just so darn easy, and it is a set-and-forget-it recipe. The Instant Pot cooks the rice perfectly, and you can easily adjust the settings so it cooks it just the way you want it.

What Is the Water To Rice Ratio For Pressure Cooking Rice?

The biggest adjustment to make is adjusting the water to rice ratio. Typically, when you are cooking rice on top of the stove, you would use a 2:1 water to rice ratio when cooking. 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. This allows for enough water to take into account the evaporation of the water while cooking.

However, with an Instant Pot, or any other electronic pressure cooker, it is a completely enclosed cooking mechanism, so you don’t have the water evaporation that you would normally have when cooking on the stove.

Therefore, you don’t need as much water when cooking rice in an Instant Pot. Therefore, you will see in most Instant Pot rice recipes, the water to rice ratio ranges anywhere from a 1:1 ratio (1 cup of water to 1 cup of rice) to a 1.5:1 ratio (1-1/2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice.)

The official recommendations from Instant Pot are to use a 1:1 water to rice ratio when cooking rice in an Instant Pot. However, I have tested this and it comes out too al dente for my taste preference. Therefore, I like to use a 1.25:1 ratio or 1-1/4 cups water to 1 cup rice. I find that gives me the perfect texture of rice for my taste preference.

How To Make Cilantro Lime Rice In An Instant Pot

Cilantro Lime Rice Ingredients

Below I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions in case you don’t have a specific ingredient on hand. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.

• Rice. I’m sure many of you may be asking, “What Type of Rice Should I Use?” for this recipe. For a perfect Cilantro Lime Rice, you want to use long-grain white rice, like this one.
• Water or Broth. I use water in this recipe. However, if you wanted to add additional flavor you could use chicken broth or vegetable broth instead.
• Salt. As with most rice recipes, you need to add some salt.
  • NOTE: If you use chicken broth, or vegetable broth instead of water, then you may need to reduce the amount of salt you add to accommodate for the salt that is in the broth.
• Limes. You’ll need the juice of two fresh limes. You can use store-bought lime juice, but I prefer using juice squeezed from fresh limes.
• Lemons. For this recipe, I also add the juice of one lemon fresh lemon. Like the lime juice, you can use store-bought lemon juice, but for the best flavor, I recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• Cilantro. Chop up some fresh cilantro to add to the rice. I highly recommend using fresh cilantro for the best texture and flavor. However, in a pinch, you could use dried cilantro.

Directions

Making this recipe requires the steps below. For the full detailed directions, scroll down to the bottom of the blog post, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card.

1. In the instant pot place the water, rice, and salt. (See photo 1 in the photo collage below.)
   1. NOTE: If you like your rice less sticky rinse the rice first before putting it into the instant pot. 
2. Put the lid on the instant pot, make sure the knob is set to sealed. Select manual, change the pressure to LOW. Cook for 12 minutes. (See photo 2 below.)
3. After the rice finishes pressure cooking, perform a 15-minute natural pressure release. Carefully release the rest of the pressure and remove the lid. The rice should be cooked with no excess water
4. Next, add the lime and lemon juice.
5. Fluff rice with a wooden spoon or fork making sure to incorporate the lemon and lime juice. 
6. Finally, add the cilantro and mix until it’s spread evenly throughout the rice.

Recipe Tips

• How Much Salt Should I Add?
  • That depends. I always recommend using the amount of salt in a recipe as a guideline rather than a hard fact as people’s taste preferences vary widely when it comes to the amount of salt to add.
  • If you use chicken broth instead of water, then I would recommend reducing the amount of salt that you add to accommodate for the salt that is included in the chicken broth. If you use reduced-sodium chicken broth, then you could reduce the salt by a smaller amount.
• How To Make the Rice Less Sticky?
  • If you like the rice less sticky, then rinse the rice thoroughly with cold water. 
• What is The Correct Water to Rice Ratio For Cilantro Lime Rice in an Instant Pot?
  • 1:1 officially from Instant Pot. Start with this ratio for your first rice recipe.
  • 1.25:1 is my preference.
  • 1.5:1 is the maximum water to rice ratio that I have seen for pressure cooking.
• What Is the Best Rice To Use for Cilantro Lime Rice?
  • As mentioned under ingredients, I recommend using long-grain white rice for the best results.

What To Serve With Cilantro Lime Rice

• Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers
• Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Tinga

More Recipes You’ll Love

• Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Chicken and Rice Casserole
• Instant Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole (Coming Soon)
• Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole
• Chicken Mango Salsa Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette
• Chipotle Lime Chicken Fajita Sliders
• Chipotle Sauce
• Mexican Cauliflower Rice

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