Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe is a vibrant & fragrant side dish, which can be accompanied by other main dishes that may contain vegetable, meat, or seafood.
![Aromatic Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe [Easy], How to make fresh Coriander lemon Rice from scratch with the step by step recipe instructions and including pictures www.MasalaHerb.com #rice #lime #cilantro #masalaherb](https://www.masalaherb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Coriander-Rice-Recipe-How-to-make-Coriander-Rice-Cilantro-Rice-6.jpg)
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Cilantro Lime Rice in my realm is in the same category as the sunny yellow lemon rice, the enthralling cumin rice or the natural-looking clove rice.
I love these aromatic rice side dishes, they give character to a meal with plenty of flavors! I first encountered them in India.
Flavored rice side dishes are common in India, for example, and there are countless variations besides Pulao rice.
Side dishes such as this Cilantro Lime Rice are versatile, and you can serve them up with different main dish variations.
![Aromatic Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe [Easy], How to make fresh Coriander lemon Rice from scratch with the step by step recipe instructions and including pictures www.MasalaHerb.com #rice #lime #cilantro #masalaherb](https://www.masalaherb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Coriander-Rice-Recipe-How-to-make-Coriander-Rice-Cilantro-Rice-7.jpg)
Ingredient Tips
- Basmati Rice — or your favorite long-grain rice.
- Onion — Any variety but I like purple or red onions for this recipe,
- Cilantro — Fresh (aka fresh Coriander leaves)
- Olive Oil — or vegetable oil.
- Brown Mustard Seeds — or dark red variety)
- Ginger + Garlic — Paste or finely chopped garlic and finely grated ginger.
- Cumin Seeds — Ground optional
- Turmeric Ground
- Salt
- Lime Juice
- Cilantro Fresh to garnish
This Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe has a grass green/yellowish color to it.
The trick is to turn fresh cilantro leaves into a paste and enrich it with other flavors, including the bright yellow turmeric powder (also known as Curcuma). The Turmeric and the lime flavors lighten up the rice!
To make the cilantro lime rice, use only super fresh cilantro leaves, either the flat cilantro variations or the fatter cilantro leaves, it doesn't matter. Both kinds have the same flavor.
Process Overview
Step 1
Cook the rice according to packet instructions, then strain and set aside.
Blend cilantro leaves, onion, and water into a smooth paste.
Step 2
Heat olive oil, pop mustard seeds (optional), and add ginger-garlic paste, cumin, and turmeric.
Stir in the cilantro paste.
Step 3
Cook for 4 minutes, season with salt, and mix in lime juice.
Combine the cooked rice with the cilantro mixture, garnish with fresh cilantro, and serve hot.
📖 Recipe
Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe
Ingredients
To boil the rice:
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 2 cups Water
For the paste:
- 1 Onion quartered
- ½ cup Cilantro Fresh aka Coriander leaves
- ¼ cup Water
To cook and assemble:
- 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Brown Mustard Seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic *see Notes
- ½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Ground optional
- ½ Teaspoon Turmeric Ground
- pinch Salt
- Juice of one Lime fresh
- Cilantro Fresh to garnish
Instructions
- Wash your rice well and cook it for about 12 minutes, or until it's soft and cooked through. Refer to packet instructions, the rice shouldn't be overcooked and soggy. Strain the rice and keep aside once cooked.1 cup Basmati Rice, 2 cups Water
- Add the Cilantro leaves and onion quarters to the blender jar with the water and blend to a smooth paste.1 Onion, ½ cup Cilantro Fresh, ¼ cup Water
- Add to a pan the olive oil and mustard seeds. Carefully heat up and pop the mustard seeds. You need to keep the heat steady for a short time (less than a minute) so that the mustard seeds get “cooked” in that time. While doing that, the mustard seeds will pop up and emit a nutty flavor. Take from the heat to cool down a bit.2 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 Teaspoon Brown Mustard Seeds
- Take the pan back to the stove and keep over the lowest-heat setting and add the Ginger Garlic Paste, Cumin Seed Powder and Turmeric Seed Powder (careful because too hot and the ingredients will jump up).1 Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic, ½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Ground, ½ Teaspoon Turmeric Ground
- Stir the whole content for a minute on this low-heat setting and then add the green cilantro paste which you prepared earlier.
- Cook the green cilantro paste on a low-heat setting for 2–3 minutes. Season with salt. Take from the heat and leave to cool.pinch Salt
- Mix in the fresh lime juice.Juice of one Lime
- Stir in the cooked rice. Carefully mix the rice in so that everything is well combined. The rice should be completely covered with the seasoning.
- Top with freshly chopped cilantro leaves.Cilantro Fresh
Notes
- Reduce the cooking time by using boiled rice.
- Use fresh ginger and garlic with a ratio of ⅓ ginger and ⅔ garlic or use Asian ginger garlic paste.
Equipment
- Blender/ Spice Grinder/ Food Processor
- Small Pot
Nutrition
Storing Leftovers
Keep your cilantro rice leftovers in an airtight container. They are good for at least 5 days, refrigerated.
Don't freeze the rice, as it will turn out soggy when you attempt to thaw it.
Serving Ideas
I, personally, think that this rice side dish goes well with both Western and Asian meals.
You can enrich a gravy base meat dish, such as my hamburger cooked in a creamy red pepper sauce, with this aromatic rice side dish.
If you like Indian food, try making this cilantro rice with North Indian or British curries such as Chicken Pathia or Chicken Balti.
Craving vegetarian meals? You will want to try my creamy vegetable korma with this flavored rice.
More rice side dishes:
![Aromatic Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe [Easy], How to make fresh Coriander lemon Rice from scratch with the step by step recipe instructions and including pictures www.MasalaHerb.com #rice #lime #cilantro #masalaherb](https://www.masalaherb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Coriander-Rice-Recipe-How-to-make-Coriander-Rice-Cilantro-Rice-5.jpg)
I really wish that people would actually write comments about how a particular dish turned out vs how it looks or how much they're anxious to make it. It's annoying to read all these meaningless "fluff" comments! It's not just on this blog - it's everywhere. When I find a recipe on a blog, I want to hear who else has made it and how it turned out - not how beautiful the pictures look!
Hi Melanie, I appreciate your feedback and I understand your point of view.
I have taken up a new approach towards submitted comments at the beginning of the year and have been trimming and removing not useful submitted comments. Newer posts reflect just that, however, older posts are being cleaned up as we speak and over the next months this should be completed. Thank you for your understanding and please let me know if you have any other concerns.
Cilantro is one of my favorite herbs. Seriously, I'd put it in EVERYTHING if I could. I'm definitely going to have to give this a try!
Love the vibrant color of this rice! The pop of green is so alluring. This would make an awesome accompaniment to our next taco night!
Whenever I think about cilantro lime rice I think about the stuff you get at Chipotle...I must admit, I love that you admit turmeric to this, to get that beautiful golden color. Wonderful recipe!
I love how you cook Indian good better than anyone else! How flavorful is this rice,I need rice at-least once in a day and need to try something like this so aromatic than regular biryani and pulao.
What a delicious cilantro lime rice recipe!
I've never added the ginger and turmeric to my cilantro lime rice, but I love the color and the added flavor would probably taste so much better than mine! I'll have to try this - maybe with your butter chicken recipe.
This recipe looks delicious. I love rice, It's a blank slate that can be so easily transformed into something different for every meal. I have bookmarked this recipe to try later, and I want to thank you for so clearly explaining the other names of spices. I knew about coriander and cilantro, but I have seen curcuma on other websites and had no idea it was turmeric. Thank you for such clear and understandable instructions.
I love all of the bright flavors that went into this and the color is fantastic! This would definitely punch up any main dish as a wonderful, flavorful side!
Unfortunately my fiance doesn't like cilantro. But that just means more for me, right? 🙂
I really like how this rice dish looks! I would definitely eat this.
Looks beautiful love the colors, bet it's delish too!
oh this Cilantro lime Rice looks so healthy and delicious… wish I had some right now!
Step by step representation with the images are really very helpful. rice is something which we can have with dal or other gravy with veg pr non-veg. I loved reading this food blog.
Love the color of this! And love the flavor of coriander. This is exactly the sort of dish I really like -- thanks so much!
wow awesome recipe i love it
Helene, your gorgeous flavoured aromatic coriander rice looks phenomenal! I would love to have it for tomorrow's lunch!
Hi Helene, your gorgeous flavored aromatic coriander rice reminds me of my mom's with mustard seeds, cardamom pods and whole cloves in it too.
Loving the beautiful color of this rice, perfectly done..
That apron is so cute - love that it has your logo on it! And this rice sounds perfect, I'll have to make some to go with dinner sometime this week..
Like you I love all the flavored rice we Indians have. Never a boring kind of rice dish for our meals. This looks great Helen!
It's a stunning colour and the flavours sound wonderful. What a great side dish.
I love the sounds and look of this dish. I like rice anything so I know I would love this. Saving this one to make asap.
Gorgeous colour. I adore coriander and usually have a bunch in my fridge, this is a perfect way to use it up!
Looks so delicious, I don't like coriander but this recipe is very inviting so I think I'm gonna try it. Thank you for sharing! Have a nice day!
Flo
These days I don't eat as much rice and other grains as I used to..but I always love coriander and parsley rice...so fragrant and delicious!