This cilantro lime rice recipe is super easy, fresh, and tastes better than your favorite restaurants!

If you love Chipotle’s cilantro lime rice, you will love this easy copycat recipe. I say copycat, but it tastes even better than what you get at Chipotle. High praise, I know, but trust me.

Serve this with beans, burritos, and your favorite Mexican dishes, or make a rice bowl! For more rice recipes like this one, see our Mexican rice (aka Spanish rice) and this yellow saffron rice!

Key Ingredients

• Rice: I use long-grain white rice for this recipe. You can also use long-grain Jasmine or Basmati rice, which are more fragrant (in the best way). Brown rice works with our recipe, but the method for cooking your rice will differ. I have included tips below the recipe to help you out.
• Onion and garlic: I cook chopped onion and garlic with a bit of oil and the rice, adding lots of extra flavor.
• Water or broth: I use water in the recipe video, but for more flavor, use a light broth (veggie broth or chicken broth are both excellent).
• Lime: Fresh lime is best for this recipe. After it’s cooked, stir fresh lime juice into the rice.
• Cilantro: I love cilantro and add quite a bit to my rice. For this recipe, I chop the leaves and tender stems (leaving the hardier stems for stock). If you don’t love cilantro as much as me, leave it out and make plain lime rice (it’s still delightful). By the way, if you have extra cilantro be sure to try our creamy cilantro lime dressing.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Cilantro Lime Rice

Tip 1: Rinse your rice. Rinsing the rice removes extra starch, making our cooked rice super light and fluffy! You want to rinse your rice for this recipe (my best tip for cooking perfect rice). I toss my rice into a fine-mesh strainer and place it under cool running water, moving the rice around with my fingers until the water runs clear.

Tip 2: Toast your rice. After rinsing, add the rice and chopped onion to a pot with some oil or butter and cook, moving them around so they toast evenly (this adds so much flavor). Add minced garlic, and then pour in your cooking liquid, which can be water or broth.

Tip 3: Keep your rice covered to make it extra fluffy! I cook the rice with a lid over low heat for about 15 minutes. Then, I remove the pan from the heat and leave it covered for another 10 minutes. This resting time gives the rice a chance to steam, which makes it perfectly cooked and fluffy. (This is the same method we use when cooking Mexican rice and coconut rice.)

Tip 4: Add cilantro and lime last. When it’s ready, uncover the rice and use a fork to fluff it (be gentle). Stir in fresh lime juice and lots of chopped cilantro. Then enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

I love this easy rice recipe and eat it with just about everything. Our family loves this with homemade refried beans or these incredible black beans. It’s always on the table when we make fajitas, enchiladas, and carnitas.

I add cilantro lime rice to my burritos, especially love these spicy cauliflower burritos. It’s also excellent for rice bowls, and I love it with our cilantro lime garlic butter shrimp! And remember the guacamole and salsas! I love this fresh pico de gallo, corn and black bean salsa, and this roasted tomatillo salsa.

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This homemade dill pickle recipe is super simple and results in crisp pickles that beat anything you can find at the grocery store.

Like all of the other pickles recipes on Inspired Taste, these are refrigerator pickles, meaning you can enjoy them in as little as a day. I love the simple dill pickle brine in this recipe. It’s super simple to make and gives the cucumbers a classic flavor.

These are great right out of the fridge as a snack or served alongside your next juicy burger, veggie burger, or sandwich! We also love them for dill pickle dip. For another easy cucumber pickle, try our sweeter bread and butter pickles.

Key Ingredients

• Cucumbers: For the best pickles, choose Kirby cucumbers. They’re short, fat, and have bumpy skin, making them ideal for pickling because they hold up well in the brine and stay crisp. If you don’t have access to a garden, farmers market, or farm, use smaller, thin-skinned cucumbers like Persian cucumbers or English cucumbers as a substitute.
• Fresh Dill: I use a generous amount of dill since we’re making dill pickles. I chop half of it to float in the brine and leave the rest as whole sprigs, which I push into the jar for a pretty look.
• Garlic: I add whole cloves of fresh garlic to my pickle brine because I love the flavor. If you’re sensitive to garlic, use a little less, and if you love it, mince it or add a few more cloves.
• Vinegar: Use distilled white vinegar with 5% acidity (most are, but double-check the label).
• Pickling Spices: For classic pickles, I combine a teaspoon of sugar with peppercorns, pickling or sea salt, yellow mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and dill seeds. I also love a dried arbol chili pepper for a hint of spice (but this is optional). If you do not have any, use a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Pickles

Tip 1: These easy pickles only require two steps. Like all the other delicious pickle recipes on Inspired Taste, these are refrigerator pickles, which means they are quick to make, and you don’t need to wait very long before enjoying them. Here’s what to expect:

1. Let sliced cucumbers sit with salt, whole black peppercorns, chopped fresh dill, garlic cloves, and an optional arbol chili pepper for 30 minutes.
2. Add them to a jar and cover them with our simple dill pickle brine. 

Tip 2: Hot brine vs. cold brine. Depending on the type of crunch and color you love in your cucumber pickles, you have two options for the brine:

• (Option 1) Hot brine pickles: If you prefer pickles with a slightly softer crunch similar to classic store-bought varieties, hot brining is your answer. Pour the hot brine directly over your cucumbers. While this method softens the cucumbers slightly and results in a slightly duller green color, many people love the texture! Another big advantage of the hot brine is that you can start snacking on these pickles the next day!
• (Option 2) Cold brine pickles: For pickles with a snappy crunch and a fresh green color, cold brining is the way to go. For this method, allow the brine to cool completely before pouring it over the cucumbers. Be patient, as the full pickling process takes a bit longer (typically 3 to 5 days). But trust us, the wait is worth it for that extra crunch and bright color. These remind me more of my favorite deli-style pickles!

Ways to Use Dill Pickles (Other than snacking!)

Outside of munching on them straight from the fridge, I use these to make homemade tartar sauce, creamy pasta salad, and this creamy potato salad.

They are amazing with wraps, sandwiches, and burgers, too. I love adding them to smash burgers, black bean burgers, lobster rolls, tuna salad, and more! And, I’d be letting you down if I didn’t mention that you can turn these into a dip! Try our creamy pickle dip for your next get together.

More Pickle Recipes

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Our easy sautéed spinach recipe makes spinach that is perfectly cooked, bright green, tender, and comes together in less than 10 minutes!

If you have never sautéed spinach before, you need to start. As fresh spinach leaves cook in the pan, they wilt, turn tender and become sweet.

This sautéed spinach recipe is one of my favorite spinach recipes on the blog. It’s quick and easy and goes with almost any main dish.

Key Ingredients

• Spinach: I use fresh spinach leaves. Baby spinach is fine, or use larger bunches of spinach leaves often sold at farmer’s markets or grown at home. I keep frozen spinach for other recipes, like spinach and sausage stuffed shells.
• Olive oil: I love sautéing the spinach in olive oil. It has the best flavor!
• Garlic: Before tossing in my fresh spinach, I cook fresh sliced garlic in the olive oil, which gives the olive oil a lovely garlicky flavor.
• Lemon: It is optional but adds fresh flavor!

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Sautéed Spinach

Tip 1: Sauté with garlic and olive oil. Spinach is incredible when cooked with olive and lots of garlic. This is how we prepare most dark leafy greens, like kale, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage.

Tip 2: Cook both the stems and leaves. There’s no need to remove the spinach leaves from their stems. The stems are tender enough to cook along with the leaves, and they add a wonderful texture.

Tip 3: Finish with lemon and red pepper flakes. Warm olive oil in a skillet with garlic and, if you like fresh lemon, lemon zest. Add your spinach leaves and cook, tossing often until bright green, wilted, and tender. It takes less than 10 minutes! Season with salt and, if you like a little heat, a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Serving Suggestions

The recipe is a quick side for many main dishes. I especially love it with turkey meatballs, baked salmon, baked tofu (so good!), shrimp scampi, and a perfectly cooked steak.

It also goes well with other sides. Try it with something creamy, like macaroni and cheese or mashed sweet potatoes. I love adding it to rice or quinoa bowls, and it’s excellent piled onto a slice of this roasted garlic bread. We also add it to this cheese manicotti!

More Easy Spinach Recipes

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I use this homemade tahini sauce recipe for everything! Once you taste this creamy lemon garlic sauce, you’ll find yourself making it on repeat.

Since sharing our easy tahini recipe, we’ve been experimenting with more ways to it. I’ve used it to make homemade hummus and am now obsessed with this easy lemon garlic tahini sauce. I keep a jar in my fridge at all times! For more of a salad dressing, see our easy tahini dressing!

I love serving this creamy sauce over salad, grain bowls, grilled meats, and roasted veggies. And always serve it next to our homemade falafel and pita bread. I can’t wait for you to make it!

Key Ingredients

• Tahini: This sesame seed paste is the base of our sauce. Before measuring it, give it a good stir to make it runny and smooth. You can buy tahini or make your own. Here’s how to make tahini (it’s super simple, I promise).
• Fresh garlic: For the garlic to melt into the sauce, grate it with a microplane or mince it into a paste. I’ve shared some tips in the recipe below.
• Fresh lemon juice: This thins the sauce and keeps it fresh and bright.
• Olive oil: This makes the sauce smooth and luxurious.
• Cumin, cayenne, fresh parsley, and salt: These are optional, but I love them in this recipe.
• Warm water: This is the secret ingredient for making the smoothest, creamiest homemade tahini sauce. Watch our video to see how water quickly transforms the tahini into an unbelievably creamy sauce.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Tahini Sauce

Tip 1: Whisk the ingredients. We’ll start by stirring tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and a pinch of salt in a bowl. It starts creamy and then might seize up on you (see the photo below). Don’t worry if it looks lumpy. We will fix that when we add the water.

Tip 2: Make creamy with water. The tahini sauce becomes super creamy as you whisk in warm water. You can add as much or as little water as you like. It all depends on what you plan to use it for.

For spreads, add less water. Add more if you want to use the sauce as a dressing or for drizzling.

Tip 3: Finish with extra flavor. Add more flavor with spices and fresh parsley. I love a slight smokiness from ground cumin, some spice from cayenne, and a fresh pop of color and flavor from fresh parsley.

Ways to Use This Sauce

Once you make this creamy lemon garlic tahini sauce, you’ll always want a batch in your fridge. Use this sauce whenever you want to add a creamy (non-dairy) drizzle to your dishes. It works for salads, grain bowls, rice bowls, and wraps.

I love it in this tahini kale bean salad and use it to drizzle over roasted veggies. Examples are my honey roasted carrots with tahini sauce and this garlic asparagus, which I love to dip into tahini sauce. I also love this tahini sauce for homemade falafel, grilled chicken, and seafood, like baked salmon or garlic herb shrimp.

More Mediterranean Recipes

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This black bean soup recipe has quickly become a family favorite! It’s easy, incredibly flavorful, and vegetarian when you use veggie broth.

My family loves this easy black bean soup recipe so much. We make it often! I love how quickly it comes together and that it’s designed for canned or previously cooked black beans (hello, quick dinner!).

You can make this soup as spicy as you like. I add canned chipotles in adobo, which adds some spice, but you can add even more for a spicy black bean soup. For more bean soups, try our white bean soup, easy vegetarian chili with quinoa and black beans, or this hearty split pea soup.

Key Ingredients

• Black Beans: You can use canned black beans or home-cooked black beans (here’s how to cook dried black beans).
• Aromatics: I love making this soup hearty, so I combine onion, carrot, and garlic for the base. Then, I add more flavor with a bay leaf, cilantro, vinegar, oregano, and cumin. This soup is so flavorful!!
• Chipotle Chiles in Adobo: Whenever I see them in the store, I add a can of chipotles in adobo sauce to my cart. Chipotles are dried, smoked jalapeños that taste smoky and quite spicy. Adobo sauce is a spicy, red sauce that packs a major punch of flavor. For this soup, I add one pepper, which I mince, along with a little sauce. This amount adds enough spice to the soup so that you notice it. For an extra spicy black bean soup, add more. You will have some leftover, which you can save for another recipe (it freezes well). I also use chipotles in adobo sauce to make my chipotle bean chili.
• Tomatoes: Canned diced tomatoes are perfect for this soup, but chopped fresh tomatoes are great, too. If you go the canned route, look for fire-roasted tomatoes for extra flavor.
• Broth: I use veggie broth, but chicken broth or chicken stock are fine. Use what you love!

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Black Bean Soup

Tip 1: Use one pot. Making black bean soup is simple (it all happens in one pot)! To make it, you’ll cook onions and carrots in olive oil until soft and sweet. Then stir in garlic, ground cumin, oregano, red wine vinegar, and chipotle chiles for more flavor. Pour in your broth, tomatoes, and a bay leaf. Then, stir in the black beans and simmer until the veggies are tender, about 20 minutes.

Tip 2: Season with salt and acid. Before serving, I like to taste the soup and season it with salt and a little extra acid from vinegar or lime juice. I love lime juice for this (it really makes the flavors of the soup pop).

Tip 3: Creamy or brothy. We often enjoy this as a brothy soup (like in our photos), but you can also turn this into a creamy black bean soup by blending. For a thickened soup that’s somewhere in between, blend a portion and add it back (like I do for this white chicken chili).

Serving Suggestions

I usually add a few slices of avocado to the top of this soup, but there are many options. Try our favorite guacamole, crushed tortilla chips, or a spoonful of sour cream. I also love extra lime juice and cilantro!

Beyond that, you can add something to the side. Consider a batch of homemade corn tortillas (they are so good) or a side of this avocado salad.

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Learn how to cook restaurant-worthy scallops at home. Our recipe guarantees beautiful golden-brown seared scallops and comes together in 10 minutes!

Scallops are one of the easiest things you can cook, especially if you sear them in a pan (they’re just as easy as shrimp). This is my go-to scallops recipe, and I’m happy to share it with you!

There’s no need to be intimidated. Scallops are easy to cook, I promise. With a few tricks, you’ll be cooking them like a pro in no time. Plus, I’ll show you how to make our delicious garlic basil butter to serve with them.

Key Ingredients

• Scallops: I look for large sea scallops since they taste sweet. I also prefer fresh. Frozen will work in this recipe, so check the tips section below for tips on thawing them before cooking.
• Oil, salt, and pepper: I cook them in a hot skillet with some oil. Any high-heat oil works. I especially love avocado oil. You’ll also want to season your scallops liberally before cooking them.
• Flour: While optional, I love dusting flour over mine before cooking them. The flour absorbs excess moisture and adds a nice golden brown crust. You can skip this step if you don’t have flour or are gluten-free.
• Butter, garlic, basil, and lemon: It’s hard to describe just how delicious our garlic basil butter is with these seared scallops. I highly recommend it, and it only adds a minute or two of cooking time.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Cook Scallops Like a Pro

Tip 1: Pat them dry. I use a paper towel to pat them as dry as possible. Damp scallops don’t sear or brown in the pan. The drier they are, the better they will sear. Frozen scallops will have more moisture, so take extra care when patting them dry.

Tip 2: Lightly dust flour on each side. The flour absorbs excess moisture and adds a nice golden brown crust. I use the same trick when searing fish, and even pork chops!

Tip 3: Season well. I use a generous amount of salt and pepper. I season one side of the scallops out of the pan, place them seasoned side down into the hot pan, and then while that side cooks, I season the other side.

Tip 4: Use a hot skillet. If they aren’t sizzling when you place them in the pan, it isn’t hot enough. You can always test the heat with one scallop and adjust from there.

Tip 5: Finish with our garlic basil butter. To really make these restaurant-worthy, use our garlicky butter. Scallops already taste incredible, but adding a bit of creamy butter, garlic, and fresh herbs at the end of cooking makes them out of this world. I also love using garlic butter when finishing our shrimp scampi recipe and cilantro lime butter shrimp.

Serving Suggestions

Many side dishes work well with seared scallops. I love creamy grits, polenta, mashed potatoes, and mushroom risotto. For a lighter, low-carb side, try mashed cauliflower or zucchini noodles.

For rice, take a look at our saffron rice, coconut rice or this cilantro lime rice. Roasted vegetables are also lovely. Think about roasted asparagus, roasted cabbage, or roasted green beans.

More Favorite Seafood Recipes

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