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March 27, 2017

Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice

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Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice–this quickly cooked seasoned rice made in you pressure cooker is just like Cafe Rio’s and it makes the perfect addition to any Mexican dish for dinner. 

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Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice--this quickly cooked seasoned rice made in you pressure cooker is just like Cafe Rio's and it makes the perfect addition to any Mexican dish for dinner. 

Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice

Today’s recipe for Instant Pot Café Rio Cilantro Lime Rice is a good one. If you’re not familiar with Café Rio it’s a really great fresh Mexican joint here and it is our go-to restaurant. But sometimes it’s fun to throw a party and make a homemade Café Rio dinner. In fact, I’m doing that today (recipe for Instant Pot Café Rio Chicken is coming soon)! I love this rice because it can be made soooo quickly in the Instant Pot. You only need 8 minutes of cooking time. It takes a total time of 18 minutes in the pot. But that is totally HANDS OFF time. You can be chopping up lettuce or preparing guacamole or doing a million other things while this rice cooks.

I have decided that the Instant Pot is the best way to make rice! I love it! I’ve made brown rice already in it and it turned out beautifully. In fact the Instant Pot is a terrific way to cook a lot of grains like wheat berries or steel cut oatmeal. What shall I try next? Barley? Quinoa? If you can’t tell I’m really loving my new Instant Pot toy. What would you like to see me cook next?

More Café Rio Copycat Recipes

Café Rio Black Beans in the Instant Pot

Café Rio Slow Cooker Black Beans

Café Rio Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Salad

Slow Cooker Café Rio Chicken Salad

Café Rio Tomatillo Dressing

Slow Cooker Café Rio Pulled Pork by Oh Sweet Basil

Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette by Our Best Bites

Pin this recipe for later!

Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice--this quickly cooked seasoned rice made in you pressure cooker is just like Cafe Rio's and it makes the perfect addition to any Mexican dish for dinner. 

What Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Did You Use?

For this Instant Pot Instant Pot Café Rio Cilantro Lime Rice recipe I used this Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. It’s 6 quarts, so the same size as most slow cookers. It cost me around $80 on Amazon.

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Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice


★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 8 minutes
  • Total Time: 23 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x
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Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 2/3 cup white rice (short grain or long grain)
  • 1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 (4 oz) can green chiles
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Press the sauté function on your Instant Pot. Melt the butter and then add in the onion. Cook until translucent. Add in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add in the water, rice, bouillon, cumin, green chiles, cilantro, lime juice and salt.
  2. Turn off the sauté function. Cover the pot and turn it to manual. Press the timer to 8 minutes for short grain white rice or 3 minutes for long grain white rice. Make sure the valve is set to “sealing.” When the timer beeps let the pot sit for about 5 minutes.
  3. Turn the valve gently to “venting.” If any foam comes out then turn the valve back to sealing and try again in a minute to release the pressure. Once pressure is released remove the lid and stir a bit and then serve.

Notes

I used my 6 quart Instant Pot for this recipe.

Did you make this recipe?

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This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. Each time you purchase something from Amazon that I’ve linked to I get a few pennies. Thanks so much for supporting my blog!

Pin this recipe for later!

Instant Pot Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice--this quickly cooked seasoned rice made in you pressure cooker is just like Cafe Rio's and it makes the perfect addition to any Mexican dish for dinner. 

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26 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Instant Pot, Meatless, Side Dish Tagged With: cafe rio, instant pot, 5 stars, 0-2 hours

Recommendations

Comments

  1. Cara Childs says

    January 15, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    Can you use Minute Rice?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 16, 2021 at 5:34 pm

      I haven’t tried it but if I did I would literally use a 1 minute cooking time with 5-10 minute natural pressure release, possibly reduce liquid a bit.

      Reply
      • Cara says

        January 17, 2021 at 11:27 am

        Ok thank you! I will try it sometime. I just used regular rice this time because I had some, but I just wondered about the Minute Rice.

        Reply
  2. Sharon says

    April 1, 2019 at 6:54 pm

    This turned out good. Just needed bit more salt and also added some pepper to it. Sure makes a lot, so froze 3 containers for future meals.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 8, 2019 at 3:33 pm

      Yeah, it makes a ton!

      Reply
  3. Kristen says

    January 18, 2019 at 5:26 pm

    This rice recipe tasted delicious, but it was super sticky. Not quite what I would have at Cafe Rio or Costa Vida., or what your picture looked like. Any suggestions?

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 18, 2019 at 5:29 pm

      Perhaps rinse the rice. That will help get off some of the starch.

      Reply
      • Kristen says

        January 19, 2019 at 12:19 pm

        Thank you Karen, I will try that.

        Reply
  4. Susan says

    October 21, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    I have just purchased an insta-pot. Is a 6 qt. insta-pot big enough to double this recipe in?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 23, 2018 at 9:54 pm

      yes!

      Reply
  5. Britania says

    September 24, 2018 at 11:18 am

    Could I do this on the stove top?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      September 24, 2018 at 12:34 pm

      Here is a recipe for a stove top version: https://ohsweetbasil.com/cilantro-lime-rice-cafe-rio-copycat/

      Reply
  6. Pamela says

    May 2, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    Could you cut this recipe in 1/2?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      May 3, 2018 at 8:30 pm

      Yes I think that would work just fine. Cut all ingredients in half and keep cooking time the same.

      Reply
  7. Ann says

    May 2, 2018 at 9:53 am

    What would I use to substitute the chicken bouillon to make this a vegetarian dish? It looks fantastic and I’m eager to try it.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      May 2, 2018 at 1:30 pm

      I would use four cups of vegetable broth instead of four cups of water and then leave out the bouillon.

      Reply
  8. Amy Arnold says

    April 12, 2018 at 7:49 am

    This recipe looks amazing! Do you think it would work with Jasmine rice?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 12, 2018 at 8:18 am

      Yes I think you could use jasmine rice. I would use 2 2/3 cups jasmine rice and 2 2/3 cup water. Rinse the rice before adding it to the pot. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.

      Reply
  9. Kristi says

    March 22, 2018 at 9:34 am

    Would the time be the same if the recipe is doubled?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 22, 2018 at 11:18 am

      Yes Ma’am!

      Reply
  10. Julie says

    March 8, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    Could you use the “rice” button?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 9, 2018 at 10:03 am

      I’m sure you could! Read this article for more info: https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/

      Reply
  11. Mandi Chappell says

    October 15, 2017 at 11:52 am

    Could you use brown rice in this recipe?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 16, 2017 at 12:22 pm

      yes, I think you could. I would do 2 cups brown rice with 2 1/2 cups water. The cooking time will be 22 minutes.

      Reply
      • Charity says

        February 17, 2018 at 12:49 pm

        22 minutes in the instant pot??

        Reply
        • Karen says

          February 17, 2018 at 7:41 pm

          no, the recipe says ” Press the timer to 8 minutes. Make sure the valve is set to “sealing.” When the timer beeps let the pot sit for about 5 minutes.”

          Reply

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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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