It’s easy to make this delicious, homemade cilantro-lime rice in an Instant Pot. It’s great freshly-made, but just about exactly as good reheated.
Cilantro-Lime Rice in an Instant Pot
Course: SidesCuisine: Mexican4
servingsIngredients
14 oz. (2 cups) rice
2 bunches fresh cilantro
4 Tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
2 tsp onion powder (optional)
16 oz. (2 cups) water
1.5 tsp coarse sea salt
2 large limes, zested and juiced
Directions
- Rinse rice in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water until the water runs clear, a full minute at least. Allow to drain.
- Separate the cilantro leaves from the stems. Finely chop both, keeping them separate. Measure out 1/2 cup of each, repurposing any remaining.
- Set the Instant Pot’s SAUTÉ function to more, 30 minutes. Once you get the “hot” indication, add the olive oil. Wait a second or two for it to shimmer. Add the cilantro stems, garlic, and onion powder. Cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly with a flexible spatula. Add rice and cook 30 seconds more, stirring constantly. Add the water. CANCEL the sauté. Stir with the spatula, assiduously scraping the bottom of the pot, in case any fond has developed.
- Add salt. Stir to combine. Set the Instant Pot’s RICE function to normal (time), low (pressure); natural release for 10 minutes.
- Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork. Add the remaining zest and 4 Tbs lime juice. Add half (or to taste) of the chopped cilantro leaves and stir to combine. Taste and season with more leaves, salt, and/or lime juice as needed.
Notes
- I developed this recipe using a six-quart Instant Pot. If you have a different type of or different size pot, you may have to make modifications.
- Substitutions: butter for the oil, or a mixture of the two; 1/2 tsp garlic powder for the fresh garlic
The dish I photographed here was just something I threw together over the rice: cubed chicken, BBQ pork, and melted cheese. This rice is a great side with Mexican food, but it’s also a great side with all sorts of foods.
Social Learning
Two bunches of cilantro seem like a lot before you chop it, but you won’t have much left over once it’s chopped and measured.
Removing the leaves from the stems is a total time suck. Do it the night before, while you’re watching something mindless on TV, something with insultingly implausible plot developments and a thoroughly unlikeable main character, but with two supporting actors that keep it from being a total waste, like “The Lake.”
You’ll have enough of the chopped leaves leftover that you’ll wonder why you didn’t use them instead of chopping up all those stems. Well, first, you were just going to throw those stems away, weren’t you? And now you ate them instead. The leftover leaves you can use to garnish whatever dish you’re going to serve this with. Or you can put them by a sunny window and dry them.
Looking Forward
I’d be interested in upping the onion powder to as much as two tablespoons. Yes, two tablespoons. But I’m not sure. I think I’d inch my way up there.
Cilantro-Lime Rice in an Instant Pot
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Great recipe! Of course I love cilantro. I don’t yet understand an instapot’s purpose.
I know I’ve been using the Instant Pot a lot, and have been writing about it a lot. I was tempted just the other day to make a stew the old fashioned way, but opted for the damned Instant Pot again! To me what’s most attractive about it is its consistency, and that you can walk away from it and not check, stir, or anything while it’s doing its thing. That AND it cooks rice so much better than my former rice cooker.
The rice must be very aromatic, esp. if you enjoy cilantro.
Yes, it is.
I love cilantro-lime rice — it works so perfectly with so many Asian dishes. Great recipe!
Thanks, David!
This paragraph is an absolute classic: “Removing the leaves from the stems is a total time suck. Do it the night before, while you’re watching something mindless on TV, something with insultingly implausible plot developments and a thoroughly unlikeable main character, but with two supporting actors that keep it from being a total waste, like “The Lake.””
Haha. Thanks! Long story short, don’t watch The Lake unless you have something else to keep you occupied. 🙁
We are in the love cilantro camp so this dish is totally up my alley. It goes with so many dishes from Thai to Chinese and even Indian. Great recipe.
Thanks! My niece used to manage a Chipotle, and I think this version is better than theirs!
Hi Jeff,
I’ve also found that if you can find a bunch of coriander (what we call cilantro in Australia) with the roots still attached, the roots have a lot of flavour and they along with the stems can be used rather than discarded.
In supermarkets here, it’s a bit hit and miss on whether the roots are on or off the bunches being sold.
Oh, that’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen cilantro with roots!
Coriander and lime? Yes fab flavours!
Thanks, Sherry!
2 tablespoons of onion powder? That sounds intense, but I trust your opinion on food, Jeff! I do love cilantro-lime rice. It’s so versatile! I should make a batch for side dishes this week. Also, now I’m craving Chipotle. Thanks a lot.
Haha. You’re welcome. Yes, I also think that two tablespoons is a lot, which is why I’d want to inch my way toward it. It’s either a big mistake, or genius. Only time will tell!
This is something completely new to me, and that I’ve never even considered. I have never used the cilantro stems, always just discarded them.
Me too, so I was glad to find out that they’re really good in this context!
¡¡Hola Jeff!! Qué fresco tiene que quedar este arroz de sabor, con el cilantro y el zumo de lima. Me ha gustado eso de que hasta recalentado queda rico, que ya sabemos que el arroz, no siempre queda bien si lleva tiempo hecho. Una fantástica receta. Besitos.
Thank you. Yes, I know what you mean about leftover rice. Maybe it’s because of the olive oil? I don’t know. But this rice was good leftover and reheated.
Jeff,
I would make this in a minute!! Sounds wonderful and the Instant Pot is a big plus. We eat rice about 4 times a week.
🙂
Sounds yummy!! My IP is sitting in the closet collecting dust—my youngest uses his to make rice a lot, so your recipe is just the nudge I needed.
Perfect!
Ottima ricetta, un’esplosione di sapori!
Thank you!
I would love this jam. Your competence and sense of adventure in the kitchen never cease to amaze me.
They never cease to amaze me, either! I guess I rarely ever post my blunders!
Oh yum. Easy and delicious is always a win for me.
Thank you!
C’est une recette qui me met en appétit
Merci
Thank you, Delphine!
Great flavors in this rice dish. The combination of lime and cilantro is so tasty. 🙂
Thank you!
Your Cilantro-Lime Rice recipe sounds fantastic! This will be my next rice dish 😁
I hope you like it. I definitely did.
I also just made a rice with cilantro. Yours sounds fantastic, especially with the lime. And I love generous amounts of seasonings, so I’m all for more onion powder. 🙂 ~Valentina
I’ll let you know how it comes out!
👍😊