Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe Using Basmati Rice

Instant pot cilantro lime rice recipe is easy to make, flavorful and you can easily pack this in lunch box, or can be used as burrito fillings or in burrito bowls too.

This cilantro lime rice can be enjoyed as a main course for lunch or dinner along with any curry or side or it can be enjoyed as a side along with other main dishes, whichever way you like to serve it!

In fact, mostly cilantro lime rice is served as a side dish for any Mexican style lunch or dinner, but I make this as a main course dish which is enjoyed with other vegetarian sides 🙂 and so the serving size is quite larger as we use this as a main course here.

But if you usually enjoy this cilantro lime rice as a side dish, there will be more servings and so the total calorie for each serving will be smaller.

Mexican style chipotle cilantro lime rice is so popular and delicious, but this instant pot cilantro lime rice is exactly not a copycat recipe for chipotle cilantro lime rice recipe, but I can assure you that it is very delicious (assuming you like the flavor of cilantro leaves!) and easy to prepare too.

I love to prepare rice dishes in my instant pot, as it is more easy to make and I always find the instant pot rice dishes more yummier than those prepared in a pan on stove top.

It could be because the rice is prepared under high pressure, that its turning out so delicious, and the best part is that it is so easy to prepare rice using instant pot!

The combination of fresh cilantro leaves (also known as coriander leaves) and lime is so perfect and it is a simple and easy way to add flavor to your rice with minimal efforts.

And not to mention the health benefits of cilantro and lime as they are really really good for health!

I have also made this Indian style cilantro coconut chutney using fresh cilantro leaves which is super easy to make and delicious!

The first time I made this rice, I used lemon juice instead of lime juice and that turned out perfectly delicious as well.

So if you are out of limes and if you have lemons in your kitchen, use lemon juice instead of lime juice which will work fine as well!

I also used ginger and garlic which adds even more healthy antioxidants and flavor to the rice, you can use fresh ginger and garlic as I used in this recipe or you may use dried garlic powder and ginger powder to make it more easy.

But I love the combination of fresh ginger and lime, so I recommend using fresh ginger itself if it is available to you.

Cilantro lime rice is so simple that the main ingredients of the rice is white rice, cilantro leaves and lime juice.

I used white basmati rice to prepare this cilantro lime rice and I recommend you to use the long grain white basmati rice for best results if you are following this instant pot cilantro lime rice recipe, as the water to rice ratio given in this recipe is for using white basmati rice.

To make the rice even more fragrant and flavorful, I added a few extra spices like bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon sticks.

Adding garlic and ginger adds even more flavor to the delicious cilantro lime rice, you may use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic if you wish.

Try this cilantro lime rice with any sides of curry of your choice for a simple and delicious lunch or dinner!

I made this cilantro lime rice for 2.5 cups of white basmati rice as we wanted some leftovers too!

See more easy one pot instant pot meal recipes from this blog:

easy instant pot tomato rice recipe

instant pot jeera rice (cumin seeds rice) recipe

one pot instant pot penne pasta recipe

instant pot buttered noodles recipe

So here is how I made this simple one pot cilantro lime rice following this easy instant pot cilantro lime rice recipe.

How To Make Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice

We use the following ingredients to make easy, simple and flavorful cilantro lime rice in the instant pot!

ingredients to make cilantro lime rice

2.5 cups White basmati rice

5 cups water

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons butter

¼ teaspoon salt (may adjust the amount) do not use a lot as we are adding lime juice

1 lime (or about 4 tablespoons of filtered lime juice)

3 cloves garlic crushed

2 inch piece ginger peeled and crushed

1.5 cups cilantro leaves finely chopped may adjust the amount slightly based on your preference

Whole spices used

2 bay leaves

2 small cinnamon sticks

3 cloves

For garnishing

2 tablespoons cilantro leaves chopped

Step by step instructions

Wash the rice and keep it aside.

Add the oil and one tablespoon of butter to the inner pot and press the saute function, adjust to low setting.

Add the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and cloves, lightly fry for about a minute.

Add the crushed garlic and ginger also to the pot, mix well and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes until the ginger and garlic are lightly fried.

Add the rice also to the pot, add the remaining one tablespoon of butter and lightly fry the rice for another 2 minutes. Press the ‘keep warm/cancel’ button so the sauteing function will stop.

Add the water and also 2 tablespoons of lime juice (make sure to use filtered lime juice without seed, mix everything well.

Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position and press the manual, cook in high pressure for 5 minutes.

It will take a few minutes for the instant pot to build up enough pressure, after which the pot will start cooking.

Once the cooking is done, the pot will beep so you will have to wait until then.

Once the cooking is done and the instant pot beeps, press the ‘keep warm/cancel’ button and wait for the instant pot to naturally release all the pressure which will take another few minutes of time.

Meanwhile in a bowl, mix together the 1.5 cups of chopped cilantro leaves (may adjust the amount based on your preference) and remaining 2 tablespoons of filtered lime juice.

Keep this cilantro lime mixture aside.

Once the pressure is all naturally released (may do a careful manual release of pressure after an NPR or natural pressure release of about 15 minutes), carefully open the lid by turning it in venting position.

Add the cilantro lime mixture also to the cooked rice, and gently mix the rice using a good quality spatula or fluff using a fork until the rice is evenly mixed with the cilantro lime mixture.

If you do not do the mixing properly, some parts of rice will be less flavored, so make sure to mix the rice evenly with the cilantro lime juice mixture.

I recommend keep this closed for another couple of minutes so that the flavors will nicely blend in making it even more delicious.

This cilantro lime rice has a light lime flavor, if you wish for more of the lime flavor, you can add little more filtered lime juice and mix it up!

Garnish the rice with chopped cilantro leaves, serve hot with any curry or sides of your choice!

Notes: If you are serving the rice later, it is advisable to gently fluff the rice a few times in between on regular intervals, while the rice is still hot, which will prevent the rice from sticking together as it cools down.

As I mentioned earlier, this cilantro lime rice is flavored with the fresh cilantro leaves (coriander leaves), few spices, ginger, garlic and lime juice (can use lemon juice too if that is what you have in your kitchen).

It has a light lime flavor which I think is perfect, but if you prefer more lime flavor, you can always add more lime juice according to your preference, and mix it up.

Just make sure to mix up properly so the added lime juice will mix up with the rice evenly adding the same flavor to each grain of the cooked rice.

The nutrition facts entered here are approximate values as I divided the entire dish into 7 to 8 large servings.

You can also enjoy this as side dish (which is more popular) which will give you even more small servings.

As I already mentioned in the post, I often enjoy it as a main dish along with other vegetarian sides, though this cilantro lime rice is often served as a side dish for Mexican style meals.

So if you like to use it as a side dish, the number of servings will be even more than this and the calories will be smaller for individual servings.

Below you can get the detailed recipe for cilantro lime rice in instant pot pressure cooker!

Hope you found this post on instant pot cilantro lime rice recipe helpful in making easy and yummy cilantro lime rice for lunch or dinner.