Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice – light and fluffy rice flavored with cilantro and lime to give your rice a bright and refreshing taste.

Every time that I order from a Chipotle restaurant, the one thing that I look forward to the most is the rice. I absolutely love the taste so much that sometimes I just order extra rice just so I can bring some home.

However, the one downfall of the rice is the amount of salt that they include in the mixture when they make it. Depending on who is behind the prep counter, you can get a portion that is so salty that it is difficult to eat.

But when it is prepared with just the perfect amount of salt, it is outstanding! And because it is more difficult for me to get to a Chipotle right now, I knew that I would have to learn to make it in my own kitchen.

My entire family loves Mexican food. From tacos, burritos, enchiladas, bowls, salsa, salsa verde and more, we could eat Mexican almost every night. And I have a feeling that we aren’t the only ones.

I mean, what other cuisine has an entire day of every week dedicated to it? Sure it is called Taco Tuesday, but that term has broadened over the years to include any type of Mexican food.

And we couldn’t be happier about that! Especially since we have learned to make Cilantro Lime Rice in our Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice

Making rice is so easy in a pressure cooker. After many trials, we have have perfected Instant Pot White Rice. In fact, we make it at least twice a week. So we took the same cooking concept to make this recipe.

The first step when making rice is to rinse it under cold water. This will help remove the dirt and starch on the outer surface. Simply place white long grain, Jasmine, or Basmati rice in a fine mesh colander and rinse under cold water. Shake the colander around a few times so that the bottom of the rice gets rinsed as well.

Continue to rinse for several minutes until the water underneath runs clear. Let the rice drain and then place in the Instant Pot.

Next, add the water, salt and one teaspoon of olive oil to the rice and stir. Immediately lock the lid in place and move the valve to the SEALING position. Press Pressure Cook or Manual and set the timer to 4 minutes on HIGH pressure.

While the Instant Pot comes to pressure, prepare the cilantro and lime juice. First, take a bunch of cilantro, stems and all, and place on a cutting board. Cilantro stems taste just like the leaves and can be used to flavor the Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice.

Roll the cilantro leaves and stems together and then using a sharp knife, cut into strips. Then continue to cut until the cilantro is finely diced.

Measure out 1/4 cup of cilantro and set aside.

The Easiest Way to Juice A Lime

Next, cut a lime in half. Over a small bowl, squeeze the juice out of the lime. Although we have a juicer, we find it easier to squeeze the juice out by placing the lime half between tongs.

This method is not only easy, but it is one less difficult dish to clean when you are finished.

Simply squeeze the tongs together and extract the juice. Be sure to place the cut side up so that the seeds don’t fall into the juice and set aside.

Once the cook time expires, allow the rice to Natural Pressure Release in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure. Press CANCEL.

When the pin drops, carefully remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. You will notice that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan as long as you fluff it immediately.

Now add the cilantro, lime juice and the remaining oil to the Instant Pot rice and toss to incorporate. Remove the rice from the pot into a serving bowl.

We have found that if you leave the rice in the Instant Pot, the rice at the bottom will begin to stick because the pot still has residual heat from the cooking process.

Serve immediately or let cool and then cover and store in the refrigerator for up to one week. We will often make a double batch and use it for a quick meal prep later in the week.

Enjoy!

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