My Epicurean Adventures

A food blog about cooking quick & easy, healthy(ish) meals that my family loves + fun lunchbox ideas for kids with nut allergies and more!

Cilantro Lime Rice Chipotle (Copycat) Recipe

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My family and I have recently discovered and fallen in love with Chipotle Mexican Grill. It’s a great place to go for a quick yet healthy meal when you’re on-the-go. My hubby and I love their bowls which are so delicious and filling while my girls really like their kids’ burritos. I love that it’s a get-your-veggies-and-protein-all-at-once type meal. There’s just something about one-dish meals that speak to me. Or I guess I’m just kind of lazy that way. 😉 What I find myself craving the most, though, is their Cilantro Lime Rice. It goes great in the bowl or just plain. The flavor and texture are a perfect compliment to just about any meal, like these taquitos, grilled burritos and empanadas.

cilantro lime rice Chipotle copycat recipe

As much as we love all eating there, I made it my mission to figure out how to make the rice and these bowls at home. The veggies and protein are the easy part. The key is perfecting that rice! I tried various recipes but they never turned out quite right. That just meant it was time to start experimenting on my own for a good cilantro lime rice Chipotle copycat recipe. I started from Epicurious’ Chipotle-Style Cilantro Lime Rice which was pretty close. While the flavor was good, it didn’t have that shiny texture that I fell in love with. After modifying a couple things, it’s just the way I like it, with a hint of coconut to go along with the cilantro and lime. The family gave it an eye-popping thumbs up and now it’s time to file it away for future reference and share it with you! 🙂

Without further ado, here is my cilantro lime rice recipe! Hope you love it too!

cilantro lime rice Chipotle copycat recipe
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Cilantro Lime Rice Chipotle (Copycat) Recipe

Cilantro Lime Rice, Chipotle Copycat
Cuisine Mexican
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 small servings

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white jasmine rice
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice (~1/2 lime)

Instructions

  1. In a medium pot, add water, salt, butter, coconut oil and rice and bring to boil over high heat.
  2. Reduce heat to low and cook covered, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 18-20 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes.
  4. Fluff with fork, then gently fold in cilantro and lime juice. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Update 8/1/2019: Just wanted to add that you can also make this in a rice maker. That's how I've been making it lately. Simply combine the rice, water, salt, butter and coconut oil in the rice maker and press the "Cook" button. Once the rice is done, mix in the cilantro and lime and serve immediately. A link to my rice cook is at the bottom of the recipe post.

And when I want to make this a little healthier, I'll substitute half of the white rice with brown rice. Makes for a pretty speckled rice with a little more goodness. 

cilantro lime rice chipotle copycat recipe

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Christine, aka happyvballgirl 🙂

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