Cilantro Lime Brown Rice
Our Cilantro Lime Brown Rice is an easy stovetop take on Chipotle’s recipe—a perfect, healthy Tex-Mex side dish you'll love!
Servings: 6 -8 people
Calories: 220kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked long grain brown rice or short grain *See Notes
- 2 cups water plus more, if needed *See Notes
- 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1-2 limes, depending on size)
- ¼ teaspoon lime zest (1 lime)
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Add rice, water, broth, butter, and fresh lime juice to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover the pot with a lid.Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 35-40 minutes. *Check it after 20 minutes; if the cooking liquid is absorbing too quickly, lower the burner heat. Then, stir in 1-2 additional tablespoons water, and continue cooking.
- After 35 minutes, or when grains are tender and liquid is absorbed, stir in lime zest and chopped cilantro.Transfer to a serving bowl, and use a fork to fluff rice before serving.
Notes
- Rinse the rice so it’s not overwhelmingly starchy, clumpy, and gummy.
- Season the water with herbs and spices, or use broth instead of (or in addition to) water.
- Finally, stay hands-on while cooking — keeping an eye on the liquid — so that it doesn't end up either undercooked and crunchy or drowned and mushy.
- When cooking on the stovetop, the ratio of water to rice is 2 cups of liquid for every 1 cup of uncooked rice. For this Chipotle brown rice recipe, as long as you use 4 cups of cooking liquid, it can be all water, all broth, or a combination of both.
- The amount of cooked brown rice this recipe makes depends on whether you use long or short grain. Long grain contains less starch than short grain, so the cooked grains aren't as sticky and compact. This means, long grain yields more than short.
- On average, 2 cups of uncooked long-grain brown rice makes 5 cups cooked. Using 2 cups of short-grain brown rice yields a little more than 4 1/2 cups cooked.
- It’s very important to store it in an airtight container so that it doesn’t dry out too much. Stored well, leftover brown rice lasts for 5 days in the fridge.
- To reheat, microwave it with a bit of water, or cover the bowl with a damp paper towel to return some moisture to the grains.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.6cup | Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 333mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
