If you’re looking for an excellent side dish for Fajitas, Tacos, or Enchiladas, try this easy recipe for Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice!

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Jump to RecipeEveryone loves cilantro lime rice! Well, almost everyone. I’m sure you’ve heard about the very unfortunate portion of the population who seem to think it tastes like soap! For the rest of us, cilantro is an awesome and vibrant addition to so many dishes. From tacos, to soups (Like my Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili), and even to rice dishes such as this one. Cilantro is a way to add some fun flavor to just about anything!
In the spring/summer, I grow cilantro in my garden. I’ve learned to plant it in a mostly shaded area, which prevents it from going to seed too quickly! I love brushing by my cilantro plants and rubbing them to release their delicious scent. I can just smell it now! It’s so wonderful being able to grab a bunch of cilantro to add to a dish when needed, but I mostly buy mine at the store since I live in a temperate climate with LOTS of snow every year! This is one way I’ve learned recently about keeping cilantro fresh in the fridge and it really works!

What Do I Need to Make Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice?
- An Instant Pot: I have both the 6qt and the 8qt Instant Pot. I prefer my 8qt (this is the model I love) because it has a yogurt button and lots of room for soups and bone broth. This particular recipe works great with the 6qt models as well.
- Long Grain White Rice: I find this cooks really consistently in the instant pot, and is widely available. White rice is great for the classic Cilantro Lime Rice taste, but I plan on experimenting with brown rice in the future too!
- Butter: I only cook my rice with butter! It’s not called for in most rice recipes, but I add it to all of mine. I mean, everything is better with butter, right?
- Salt: Since this is a simple dish with no canned or processed ingredients added, you definitely need that salt! You can use Real Salt or table salt depending on what you like to keep on hand in your home!
- Fresh Lime: I’m all about getting away with bottled lime juice if you can, but this recipe calls for both the lime zest and the lime juice, so fresh is what is recommended here!
- Fresh Cilantro: Just a little bit of chopped fresh cilantro goes a long way in this recipe.
What Do I Serve with Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice?
- Tacos
- Fajitas (Try my Skillet Chicken Fajitas!)
- Burritos
- Burrito Casserole (We LOVE this recipe from Written Reality)
- Tostadas
- Enchiladas

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup Long Grain White Rice
- 1 tbsp. Salted Butter
- ½ tsp. Mineral Salt
- ½ large Fresh Lime zested and juiced
- ½ cup Fresh Chopped Cilantro Leaves
Instructions
- Add the rice, butter, and salt to the insert of an Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of cold water.
- Set the valve to “sealing” and set to 4 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the pot has come to pressure and the timer beeps that the cooking time is done, let the Instant Pot do a natural pressure release for 12 minutes.
- Flip the valve to “venting”. Once the pin drops to indicate all the pressure has been released, open the lid.
- Fluff the rice with a fork.
- Add the lime juice and the lime zest. Mix well.
- Fold in the cilantro and serve immediately.
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