Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice

You’ll love the balance of flavors in this fresh and citrusy rice. Dotted with green chiles and a hint of garlic, this steamy side dish is sprinkled with fresh chopped cilantro for the perfect finish.

You know, it’s good to be able to push the Easy Button in your life whenever possible. And that’s how I feel about making this rice in my Instant Pot!

This side dish is perfect for short attention spans. Just sauté a few ingredients, push a button, and in about 20 minutes you’ll have a delicious side dish that makes you and everyone around you happy. It’s comforting and satisfying - without being heavy at all. And the ingredient list is nice and short.

Jump to:

• Easy Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe
• Check Out these Fresh, Simple Ingredients
• What Pairs Well with Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice
• The Key to this Easy Recipe
• My Favorite Kitchen Time-Saver!
• Make Cilantro Lime Rice in 6 Easy Steps
• Instant Pot Pressure - High, Medium, or Low?
• Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
• Questions About Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice
• More Delicious Recipes
• 💬 Comments

Easy Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe

Who should make this perfect (in my family's opinion)side dish, and why:

• You love Café Rio and Costa Vida, but you can’t go there as often as you like.
• You want an easy recipe that you can make at home to save $$.
• The Instant Pot lets you set it, and then go do other things without needing to check to see if its done.
• It frees up space on the stove/oven to make other parts of your meal.
• Can be made ahead and kept in fridge or freezer to reheat when needed, which is great for meal prep (burrito bowls for lunch this week, anyone?)

Check Out these Fresh, Simple Ingredients

Remember to scroll down to the recipe card for the exact amounts, and all the important information.

• Butter - this can easily be made dairy free by using a non-dairy substitute that contains the same fat grams os butter. We've tried Earth Balance buttery spread, and Country Crock plant butter with great results.
• Garlic - I prefer to use fresh garlic and mince it up myself, but we have made this with minced garlic from a jar and it was just as good.
• Long grain white rice - I would not recommend brown rice for this recipe, because the cooking time will need to be longer. But I'm sure you can use jasmine or basmati rice since the time to cook those would be the same as for long grain white rice.
• Chicken broth - I buy broth in a large carton since I cook with it often. But if you have cans of broth (especially those 14.5 oz. cans) you might be worried because they are not quite 2 cups. No problem! Just add some extra water to the broth until it equals 2 cups 🙂
• Lime juice - fresh lime juice is important to get that tangy, citrusy flavor. I experimented a little with lime zest, but I found it to be too bitter for this recipe. Lime juice from a jar is just fine, but if you don't want the extra preservatives, choose carefully! Be sure and read the label - commercially bottled lime juice tends to have a lot of extra ingredients that are hard to pronounce 🙁
• A can of diced green chiles - around here we get them in 4 ounce mini cans.
• Dried cumin - find it in the spice aisle of the grocery store, or look for it in bags where you get Mexican cooking ingredients.
• Freshly chopped cilantro - the perfect finishing touch to this easy side dish!

The ingredients list can go go either before the image or after, depending on what looks good. I may have some extra hero shots, or not, to go before the ingredients.

What Pairs Well with Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice

This is the perfect addition to most Mexican-inspired meals.  

Cheese enchiladas, burrito bowls, beef and bean quesadillas, refried beans, carne asada, and any kind of Mexican meal would be even better with this delicious side dish. And if you're lucky enough to have some leftover sweet Pork Barbecoa or Cafe Rio shredded chicken - you can whip up some amazing rice bowls with the leftovers + this great side dish for taco night!

The Key to this Easy Recipe

Here’s the Instant Pot I use for making mashed potatoes, rice, beef stew, and so many things. I use it several times a week. It’s such a time saver! You can set it up and leave it alone to do its work, while you do yours. I love it when machines can do some of your work for you!

My Favorite Kitchen Time-Saver!

Instant Pot

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Make Cilantro Lime Rice in 6 Easy Steps

Guess what - I totally forgot to include the rice in the picture for step 2! 🤦🏻‍♀️. In this case, follow what you read, not just what you see 👀

Instant Pot Pressure - High, Medium, or Low?

An Instant pot traps the steam and the heat in an enclosed area, allowing you to cook at temperatures higher than boiling (212℉). This breaks down tough meat and vegetables, making them tender and delicious and in a lot less time.

Different settings on the Instant Pot will automatically choose the pressure for you. Like the “meat/stew” setting, “steam”, ‘bean/chili”. I’ve been cooking with mine for years, and I have never changed the pressure that is automatically chosen for me when I cook a recipe. (examples - oatmeal, pot roast, bean and bacon soup, mac and cheese, etc.)

Most recipes use the high pressure setting, it works for 99% of recipes. The only time I've ever used a pressure setting different from high is when I cook boiled eggs. I use the steam setting, which automatically chooses Medium pressure.

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Questions About Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice

More Delicious Recipes