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Copycat Cilantro Lime Brown Rice is the 10-minute homemade version of the famous Chipotle brown rice. It's so easy and goes with all things Mexican!
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If you love Chipotle Cilantro Lime Brown Rice, this recipe lets you make it right at home with minimal effort! In 10-minutes, you can turn brown rice into a citrusy, festive side dish for your Mexican-inspired eats.
You'll love the simplicity of heating up cooked brown rice and adding fresh cilantro and fresh limes. Not only is it crazy easy and bursting with flavor, but it's naturally vegan and gluten free!
Cilantro lime brown rice is super versatile too! We love it with burritos, steak nachos, taco meat, healthy taco bowls, vegetarian skillet enchiladas, burrito bowls, refried black beans, and of course, restaurant style salsa. Whether it's game day, family dinner, or Taco Tuesday, copycat Chipotle brown rice fits right in with all the Mexican recipes.
Key ingredients
- avocado oil - or preferred cooking oil
- cooked brown rice - use stove-cooked, rice cooker, or Instant Pot brown rice. Also you can use brown rice in the form of basmati. long grain, or jasmine rice.
- fresh limes - always zest and juice the limes to get the full flavor
- fresh cilantro - you can never use too much fresh cilantro in cilantro lime brown rice
- salt and pepper - to taste
How to make Chipotle brown rice
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add cooked brown rice and saute until warmed through, stirring as needed.
Stir in fresh cilantro, lime juice, and lime zest. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Remove from heat and serve warm, garnished with fresh limes and chopped cilantro.
Rice tips and variations
You can substitute white rice for brown rice in this recipe. Of course you'll lose the nutritional value of the brown rice, but it'll be just as delicious.
I recommend using long grain brown rice for its fluffy texture and nutty flavor.
You can certainly use short grain brown rice but it tends to be stickier.
Use any method to cook the rice for this recipe. My go-to is pressure cooked brown rice, but rice cooked on the stove or in a rice cooker works beautifully too.
When cooking rice for this recipe, I recommend adding a bay leaf to the cooking liquid if you want to model the official Chipotle® Cilantro Lime Rice.
If your brown rice was cooked with salt, I recommend adding salt to this recipe in very small amounts, if at all. You may not need it.
More recipes we love
📖 Recipe
Cilantro Lime Brown Rice
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Video
Note about scaling
When scaling, the light gray ingredient notes after the comma don’t change. Adjust as needed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Avocado Oil, or any oil
- 4 cups Cooked Brown Rice (or white rice), *see recipe footnote
- 2 Limes, zested and juiced
- ⅓ cup chopped Fresh Cilantro
- Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a nonstick skillet, heat OIL over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Add COOKED BROWN RICE and sauté until warmed through, stirring as needed.
- Stir in CILANTRO, LIME JUICE, and LIME ZEST.
- Add SALT and PEPPER, to taste.
- Serve warm, garnished with fresh cilantro and lime wedges.
Recipe Notes
-
Microwave: Sprinkle a few drops of water over it, cover, and reheat rice in one-minute increments until warmed through.
-
Stovetop: On medium heat in a nonstick skillet, heat a few drops of oil, add rice, saute until warmed through, stirring as needed.
Equipment
- 12" nonstick skillet
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are estimates and may vary based on brands, ingredients, and portions.
Joy says
I skipped the skillet and made it in my Instapot. It was a huge hit with my family.
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome! Yes, I'm planning to include Instant Pot instructions for this recipe 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
Trililac says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It's so quick and delicious. My kids and hubby loves it.
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome! So glad the family signed off on this recipe. We're big fans too 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!
Mackenzi says
Just made this, it's delicious!! Thank you for sharing!
The Kitchen Girl says
You're so welcome and thanks for the feedback, Mackenzi. So glad you enjoyed 🙂
Holly says
Could you freeze this? I can’t wait to try!
Traci Antonovich says
Hi Holly, I haven't tried it...and probably would only do so with a vacuum sealer to help prevent the rice from drying out. It's so good though, it probably won't make it to the freezer 😉
Stephanie says
This was great. My 5 and 2 year old really love the rice at Chipotle so I really wanted to recreate it at home and they both loved it.
Traci Antonovich says
Yay, slad to hear it, Stephanie! Thanks for stopping back by to let me know. We love our Cilantro Lime Rice too 🙂
Tatiana says
This was delicious! My hubby and 5 year old son, absolutely loved it. Made it with cooked white rice.
Traci Antonovich says
Tatiana thank you! This absolutely makes my day...so glad your family loves it! 🙂
Claudia says
Hi Traci Tks. for this recipe. It will go well with my Tequila lime prawns. I always have too much cilantro and squeezed lime juice so now I know what to use it for. I'm excited to also try your way of cooking beans in the oven. Your recipes sound wonderful. Now I must get off my duff and try them.
the again. Claudia
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Claudia! Hope you love this one...and the beans. I'm crazy about both! 🙂
Chris Collins says
I'm a huge cilantro lover so this recipe is right up my street! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Chris! I'm right there with you one the cilantro love 🙂
Jessica Formicola says
I love a good copycat recipe! And this one looks great!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Jessica...hope you get to try it sometime 🙂
EA The Spicy RD says
Just pinned! I love how easy this is. And, even better, my 16 yo daughter finally likes cilantro (yay!), so I'm definitely making this!
Traci Antonovich says
Awesome! Your daughter is getting a great head start...some people never end up liking it 🙂
Stephanie says
This sounds so easy and delicious. I'm a big fan of cilantro so I'll definitely be giving this one a try!
Traci Antonovich says
Awesome Stephanie! Right there with you on the cilantro love 🙂
Pam says
I've never had this at Chipotle, but now I think I'll just try your version. It looks so easy and cilantro is one of my absolute favorite flavors!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks so much, Pam....hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Natalie says
Such a great side dish! I love the combination of cilantro and lime - looks and sounds absolutely delicious.
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Natalie...cilantro and lime are definitely a fav combo over here! 🙂
Elizabeth says
This sounds utterly gorgeous, and not too complicated to make too. It's my husband that's the rice maker in our house - I'll have to show him this recipe!
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Elizabeth! Love hearing the kind words. Hope your husband gives it a try! 🙂
Elizabeth says
As someone completely obsessed with Chipotle, I can't wait to give this rice a try!
Traci Antonovich says
Haha I hear ya Elizabeth...you'll love this then! Thanks!
Laura says
I always cook my brown rice in my pressure cooker. What a great idea to season it Mexican style. I will try this.
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Laura! I'm with you on the pressure cooked rice...hope you get to try this too! 🙂
Luci's Morsels says
This looks so good! I love cilantro lime rice but it usually takes forever! I love this quick alternative.
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks Luci! Yep, we have cooked rice on hand so often...that's how I came up with the idea 🙂
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
They have the BEST RICE!!! I can't wait to try making my own at home! Yum!
Traci Antonovich says
You're so right, Liz! I can't even imagine modern day Mexican eats without it, actually 🙂 Thanks so much!
Lisa says
I always love this rice at Chipotle -- looking forward to making it at home.
Traci Antonovich says
Lisa, I think you'll love it if you love theirs! Here's hoping and cheers to copycats 🙂
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen says
This is a great way to liven up brown rice with a few simple steps! Bookmarking this to try!
Traci Antonovich says
So glad to hear it Carrie! Hope you get a chance to try it and hope you love it like I do! Thanks so much 🙂
Tracy | Baking Mischief says
I've never had Chipotle's brown rice before, but I can't wait to try your version. It looks like a perfect easy side, and cilantro and lime is one of my favorite combos!
Traci Antonovich says
Haha Tracy, cilantro lime are a staple condiment in my kitchen 😉 Thanks for commenting...hope you try it and love it!
Amanda Finks says
Love this recipe! so good 🙂
Traci Antonovich says
Thanks so much Amanda! I'm pretty crazy for it 🙂
Coco Nut says
I tried out this recipe and it was absolutely perfect! Tasted exactly like Chipotle's rice! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Traci says
Well, you just made my day! So glad to hear you like it...thanks for stopping by and letting me know 🙂
Karen Cushing says
I'm trying this today, using olive oil rather than avocado oil, as the avocado oil was $10.99 for a small bottle at Meijer.
Traci says
Yay Karen...hope it turned out for you! Ya, I hear ya on the Avocado Oil. I buy it at Costco, so it's a great deal, otherwise, I'd use my trusty, Extra Virgin Olive Oil for this one. 🙂
Jen Hoo says
Awesome, It look so yummy wanna try it. Thank for sharing!!!
Traci Antonovich says
Jen, pleasure is mine. Hope you enjoy the recipe! I love it with brown or white rice 🙂