Yep, that’s right, just like you find in your burrito at Chipotle. This recipe for Cilantro Lime Brown Rice is super easy to make as a side dish or as an addition to make-ahead frozen burritos.
Or piled up with with beans, vegetables, salsa, sour cream, and avocado. It’s very versatile, very tasty, very inexpensive, and super simple.
Whenever I make rice, I toast it slightly in butter before adding water. It adds a deeper depth of flavor to the rice.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium pot over medium heat, and add 1 cup of brown rice (I used basmati), the zest of one lime, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and toast, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water (or chicken or vegetable stock, if you are feeling crazy).
Stir, bring to a boil, cover, and turn the heat to low.
Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked and the liquid has been absorbed.
Stir in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and the juice of the same lime you zested. Serve as a side next to vegetarian enchiladas verdes or stuffed into your favorite burrito, such as baked chipotle chicken burritos.
Boom. Done.
Cilantro Lime Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon butter or olive oil
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 cups water chicken broth, or vegetable broth
- 1 lime zest and juice
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat in medium-sized pot.
- Add rice and the zest of one lime; toast, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes.
- Add liquid, stir, bring to a boil, cover, and turn heat down to low.
- Simmer for approximately 25 minutes or until rice has absorbed all the liquid.
- Stir in lime juice and chopped cilantro.
Notes
- If you have a particularly juicy lime, start with only 1/2 of the juice. Taste and add more if necessary.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
CC
So delicious! Thank you, I decided to add corn and served it with black beans and avocado.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jonni
Made this to serve with black bean soup. I used a brown rice/ wild rice mix and trader joe’s Vegetable broth and Amish butter (if you access to this you should try it) & the Rice was very, very good and complemented my soup quite nicely. I will be using this recipe again.
Elizabeth Lindemann
I’ve never tried Amish butter but I’m a butter fiend so I’ll definitely have to pick some up! Thanks for the recommendation, and so glad you liked this recipe!
Stormy
I just made a double batch of this, and it’s EXACTLY like Chipotle’s rice. I used brown long grain rice from Sprouts. I used 3 limes instead of two as mine were small. Also I rinsed the cooked rice out in a very fine screen when it was done cooking so that the lime zest wouldn’t be lost. I also used 3 limes zest. I love limes as you can tell.
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve been wanting Chipotle’s lime/cilantro rice for ages and I’m glad I found yours!
Elizabeth
SO glad you liked it! Thanks very much for the comment and suggestions!
whitepearl
Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for rookie blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.
Elizabeth
Oh no! Sorry my website ate your comment :-( I’m so happy you are liking the blog- thank you for saying so! I love food blogging and would encourage ANYONE to start a blog about something they love. I think my biggest piece of advice is to make sure you are writing about what you like and know a lot about, otherwise it won’t be sustainable and you’ll get sick of it. And if you want it to be your job and make money from it, treat it like a business from day 1. Post consistently, and try to learn as much as you can. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at first, since there is a surprising amount of stuff that goes into it, so take it one step at a time. Happy to answer any questions you have that come up, feel free to contact me if you have more specific questions! Good luck!
Betty jo mounts
What kind of brown rice do you use in this recipe I use Jasmine Brown rice and it kind it is a little sticky thank you
Elizabeth
I used brown basmati rice- I find it’s the best for non-sticky rice!
Tashina Schimming
I made this and it’s DELISH!!! Thank you so much!!
Elizabeth
So glad you liked it! :-)
Anna
Have you done this in a rice cooker? If yes, do you just add all the ingredients in the rice cooker & just let it cook or do you still pre-cook the rice using your method for 3-5 minutes?
Thanks
Elizabeth
I have not done it in a rice cooker, but I would still precook the rice and stir in the lime juice and cilantro at the end. I almost always add fresh herbs at the end of cooking because the flavor is stronger, and I’m not sure if the acidity of the lime juice would affect the way the rice cooks. Hope you like it! :-)
Melissa
This evening we needed a quick meal idea and ended up with seasoned cod grilled on a himalayan salt block, a mixed greens salad (Organix baby romaine, Organix baby spinach, chopped artichoke heart, sundried tomato, green onion, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh ground pepper, garlic) and the recipe that pulled the meal together – my makeshift version of your terrific rice recipe.
I had to improvise to work with what was in the pantry, which is why I am commenting – my first time & likely last, to comment on any site anywhere on the www. :-).
The improv began with discovering there was no fresh lime in the house – say it isn’t so! I had the lime juice in the green bottle that lives in the frig, but I had half a dozen fresh lemons. Decisions, decisions… Fresh trumps a bottle, in my opinion, so it was decided. The gamble paid off. It worked with this meal, so I thought I would share and say “Thanks.”
1 Tbs Olive oil & sea salt Land of Lakes Butter (was in the freezer & the first thing I grabbed.)
1 cup Lundberg Organic California White Bazmati rice (I didn’t even know I had this – must have been a recent purchase by my darling daughter)
1 3/4 c water added about 3 minutes after the rice & butter had become better acquainted in the pan on medium heat
Per your instructions, about 20ish minutes later, voila – juice of a lemon and 1/4 or a little more freshly chopped cilantro thrown in after removing the rice from the burner and dinner is served. Start to finish, all in under 30 minutes – That’s a winner in my book!
I was a little concerned the rice was going to be sticky when I first peered in after lifting the lid, but it turned out wonderfully well! It did not achieve its lovely texture until the juice and cilantro were added, but then it was absolute perfection!
My entire family enjoys lime cilantro rice quite often in our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants and will continue to enjoy yours at home! I would not say this evening’s lemon version would surpass my desire for the great lime creation; however, this really complemented the meal beautifully. In fact, my hubby and I decided the rice & salad were so tasty together, I plan to create a new dish inspired by the combinatino of ingredients for a tasty light lunch sometime soon. Thanks so very much for your recipe. Supper was saved by a Bowl of Delicious!
Elizabeth
This is awesome- I think it’s ALWAYS better to use fresh citrus than the bottled stuff, plus lemon goes so well with fish! I’ll have to try this soon. Thanks for the suggestion, and for the comment! :-)
Janelle
Hi, I tried the recipe and it was great! Very inspirational. I kinda put a twist to it by adding lemon. This was my first times making this recipe turned out well!
Elizabeth
I’ve always wondered how this would be with lemon! I’ll have to try it sometime. Glad you liked it!
Adrian Smith
I am trying to keep away from butter and oils is there anything you recommend to replace it?
Elizabeth
You don’t technically need to use butter or oil to make rice- just omit it and add the rice and water together. Hope that helps!
Elyse
When do you add the salt?
Elizabeth
I always add salt to my rice in the very beginning, so the salt infuses into the rice grains (like pasta). Makes it more flavorful!
Faunai
How does this have 742 calories!? Holy cow that is a lot!! I want to try this but that is almost half of the calories I eat in a day!
Elizabeth
Don’t worry! I believe that number represents the ENTIRE batch of rice, not one serving! It has about 6-8 servings of rice (depending on how hungry you are or how big of a side you want it to be). So if you have 8 servings, that’s actually fewer than 100 calories a serving! :-) The nutrition info just started showing up in my recipes and I have to do some tweaking to try and figure out how it works. Thanks for the heads up, and sorry for the confusion!
SM
I needed to add more water to cook the rice for this recipe.
Elizabeth
Thanks for letting me and my readers know! Can I ask what kind of rice you used? I find that different kinds of brown rice require more or less water.
Gail
I had the same problem as SM, my rice did not get done despite extra time and I even added some extra water after it had cooked 40 minutes. Did you notice that in the written instructions in the body of the text between the photos that it calls for “1 and 3/4 cups water” instead of 2 cups as are called for in the listed ingredients?
I was reading as I went down the page and only added 1 & 3/4 cups water– do you think that could have been the problem?
BUT it was still delicious! Thanks
Elizabeth
Ah! THANK YOU for letting me know about that discrepancy! I recently changed the recipe card instructions to say 2 cups (due to reader feedback) and I forgot to change the text in the post. Fixing now- thanks again!
Jenny
I can’t see how much butter?
Elizabeth
Jenny- thanks for catching that! I often forget to put the measurements for butter or oil since I usually just eyeball it :-) 1/2 tablespoon should be good (although if you are in a buttery mood, a full tablespoon would make the dish richer and delicious!). Hope this helps- fixing the recipe now!
Alyssa
I love the combo of flavors! I just wanted to let you know that I have a website (Simply Creative Recipes) where I showcase recipes that I find and I am linking to this post if you don’t mind. Please feel free to submit any of your recipes to my site if you’d like.
Elizabeth
Thanks so much, Alyssa! I don’t mind at all… thank you for linking! Can’t wait to check out your website :-)
BG
Sounds great! I also like to simmer my rice, but I’ve used olive oil and cumin for a mediterranean flair. Looking forward to trying this Chipotle style rice.
Elizabeth
Thanks, hope you like it! What a good idea- I love cumin, it’s definitely one of my top favorite spices- I’ll have to try using it in rice this way sometime!