Key Lime Pie
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Bright, tangy, and ultra-creamy, this key lime pie has just the right balance of sweet and tart—perfect for warm days and easy entertaining.
I use ordinary supermarket limes, also known as Persian limes, to make my “Key lime” pie. Unless you live in the Florida Keys, true key limes are near impossible to find. Furthermore, they’re so tiny that you’d need to juice at least twenty of them for this recipe. No thank you! Ordinary limes make an exceptional Key lime pie, and they’re a much better alternative to bracingly tart bottled Key lime juice. This pie tastes every bit as authentic as the real deal—plus it’s easier to make.
Key lime pie can be made with a graham cracker crust or a traditional pie crust. I always opt for a graham cracker crust because it’s quick to prepare. Plus, why fuss with finicky pie dough when a graham cracker crust tastes so good?
“Off the charts delicious! The brown sugar in the crust is *chefs kiss* and the tart, creaminess of this pie is next-level.”
What You’ll Need To Make Key Lime Pie
- Crust: Made from finely crushed graham crackers, light brown sugar, and melted butter, the crust is buttery and lightly sweet, with just enough structure to hold the filling.
- Filling: Sweetened condensed milk gives the pie its creamy texture and sweetness (don’t confuse it with evaporated milk), while Greek yogurt adds a subtle tang. Fresh lime juice and zest provide bright citrus flavor. You’ll need about 8 to 10 plump limes; zest them before juicing and expect roughly 2 tablespoons of juice per lime.
- Topping: Lightly sweetened whipped cream adds a pillowy topping, with a bit of lime zest for freshness and thin lime slices for garnish.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Key Lime Pie
Step 1: Make the crust mixture. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Start by stirring with a fork, then use your hands to mix until everything is evenly combined.
Step 2: Form the crust. Using your fingers and the bottom of a measuring cup or glass, press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. Aim for a crust about ¼ inch thick.
Pro tip: form the sides first, then press in the bottom.
Step 3: Blind bake the crust. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes, until it’s lightly browned. This quick bake helps set the crust so it stays crisp once the filling is added. Let it cool slightly while you make the filling.
Step 4: Zest and juice the limes. Start by zesting the limes. A rasp grater (the long, skinny kind shown below) works best for this and makes quick work of citrus zest. Then juice the limes using a citrus reamer.
Step 5: Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, yogurt, lime zest, and lime juice. With no eggs, it may be hard to believe that this pie will set, but have faith—it will.
Step 6: Fill and bake the pie. Pour the filling into the baked graham cracker crust and smooth the top. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the filling is just set. Let the pie cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator to chill completely, about 3 hours.
Step 7: Make the whipped cream topping. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or beaters), beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until medium peaks form. (Alternatively, the cream can be beaten by hand with a whisk.)
Step 8: Assemble and serve. Within a few hours of serving, top the chilled pie with the whipped cream and decorate with lime slices and zest. Enjoy!
Key Lime Pie Video Tutorial
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Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1½ cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs, from about 12 whole graham crackers
- ⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling
- Two 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or whole milk)
- 1 tablespoon grated lime zest
- ¾ cup fresh lime juice
For the Topping
- 1 cup cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 8 to 10 thin lime slices
Instructions
- Make the Crust: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter; stir with a fork first, and then your hands until the mixture is well combined. Using your fingers and the bottom of a glass or dry measuring cup, press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 x 1½-in (23 x 4-cm) pie pan. The crust should be about ¼-in (6-mm) thick. (Tip: do the sides first.)
- Bake for 10 minutes, until just slightly browned. Let the crust cool on a wire rack.
- Make the Filling: Lower the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C). In a large bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, yogurt, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour the thick mixture into the warm graham cracker crust. Bake for 15 minutes, until the filling is almost set; it should wobble a bit. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, about 3 hours.
- Make the Topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until medium peaks form. Top the pie with the whipped cream. Decorate with the lime zest and lime slices. Store the pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Slice the pie into wedges, wiping your knife clean between slices, and serve cold.
Notes
- Make-Ahead Instructions: You can make the crust a day ahead of time, but the filling should be added on the day of serving, otherwise the crust will get soggy.
- The nutritional information was calculated using 2% Greek yogurt.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Tastes good and easy too. Made it for a dinner party and everyone commented positively. My only issue was with the number of limes the recipe stated would be needed for 3/4 C of lime juice. I thought it seemed excessive but I bought eight. I used four. The only thing I did was to roll each lime on my counter prior to juicing it to make it easier to extract the juice.
This came out just absolutely delicious! Light, clean, airy, sweet, and tart are some of the words we all used to describe this delicious dessert. The only change I would make, and it may have just been the size of my pie dish, would be to make the crust a little thicker on the bottom. Will definitely be making it again! Thanks for yet ANOTHER delicious recipe. My husband said, “I guess I don’t even have to ask anymore! I assume this is Jenn’s recipe!” All the good ones are yours. Can’t wait for your new cookbook to arrive soon!
– Taylor
❤️
Hello! I would like to try making this for my significant other’s birthday, but he LOVES “extra tart” pie. How can I alter this to give him that puckery satisfaction? I’m wondering if I order some key lime juice online maybe and add somewhere? I love to cook, but I am not a baker and I know these things need to be exact, so any advice would be awesome!
You could add 1 – 2 additional tablespoons of lemon juice. Any more than that and I’m afraid it would throw off the texture. Hope he enjoys it!
Loved it!
We made it with 18 key limes and the zest from 9 limes in a 9×13 casserole dish, using 2 can of milk and all else maintained proportionally same as recipe directed. My son ate 4 servings on 1st day and he loves chocolate more than any dessert. It was slightly too much zest which increased the tartness but we loved it! Will be my go to but next will tryit with regular limes as the zesting and squeeze took over 1 hr.
So glad it came out well — thanks for reporting back!
Loved this recipe! So easy and delicious! Canadians note that our sweetened condensed milk tin sizes are different so you will need 3 tins. (14 ounces is 414 ml, 28 ounces is 828 ml. Our tins are 300mls which is only approx 10 oz.)
I just checked out the Eagle brand website and it turns out that their can sizes refer to weight rather than volume. A 14oz can is equivalent to 10 fluid oz or a 300ml can here in Canada -two cans should suffice. (Assuming this is the industry norm) Hope this helps another Canadian baker!
https://www.eaglebrand.com/products-faq
Here in Sweden all brands of (sweetened) condensed milk & Dulche de Leche are in tins with exactly 397 grams & 1 brand states it’s 305 ml of condensed milk in the tin that weights 397 gram (I’m just looking at my tins right now, I have bought 4 different brands & 2 of them are the grocery store’s own brand).
I’m quite worried now, which brand to use, bc I’ve never tasted 2 of these 4 brands, but at least 1-2 of these 4 tins was quite cheap when I bought them several months ago.
But the other 2 were the opposite; quite expensive, but here in Sweden sweet condensed milk always been more expensive than cheap & now they, of course, are even more expensive (even the cheap brand) & I can’t afford to waist so much money 🙁 The limes are also very expensive & yet always so bad it’s impossible to get any juice out of them, no matter what you do. So I just buy limes to get the zest & then have to use lime juice from a bottle, which actually doesn’t taste good at all. But what else could I do? 🙁
I don’t live in a big city with a lot of stores nearby, with many different brands of everything sold in an ordinary grocery store.
I’m usually not a fan a the taste of sweet condensed milk, but I do love a Key lime pie. But I’m afraid these other brands (cheaper) may taste even worse, so it even will affect the taste of my Key lime pie….
And I’m not really sure how I’m ging to get the right amount sweet condensed milk when the tins are so different.
All Swedish recipes always only use 397 g of sweet condensed milk (and/or Dulche de Leche).
So I guess I’ll have to go back to my ordinary recipe with all these egg yolks, but I was so happy to find one without eggs, bc I have both a very strong smelling & tasting sense & easily feel only “egg taste” when it’s several eggs in such small amount liquid. 🙁
I have made this pie several times and love it. Several people have told me it is the best Key Lime pie they have ever had! Made a few small changes. I used farm fresh probiotic yogurt and added lime zest to the whipping cream and then topped with more lime zest.
Prepared this dish with shortbread crust instead and halved the recipe due to limited limes; also used lime juice concentrate with one lime to supplement juice and zest. Everyone loved it! Very tasty.
This recipe is fantastic. Used key lime juice and it came out great. Taste just like traditional key lime pie (even a little better) and much easier to make. The recipe will work for mini pies instead of two big pies. That allowed me to freeze some pies for later.
No eggs! YAAAAY! And the measurements are accurate, this recipe just made my day. I like Fage Greek yogurt because there is absolutely no whey to drain off. I use it for tzatziki sauce and it’s always perfect, not watery. It may cost a little more, but if you don’t want your pie to separate from the extra liquid they leave in store brands or companies that think they know how to make real Greek yogurt, but don’t. Use Fage. You won’t be disappointed! Thanks for the recipe. We don’t have Key Limes here nor bottled Key Lime juice, too far north I guess, but I bought some organic bottled lime juice and I will get a couple of limes for zest. I have never actually had authentic Key Lime pie so I have nothing to compare it to in that aspect.
I am eating a slice of this pie right now. Delicious. Very light.
As constructive criticism, my wife and daughter both thought the taste of the Greek Yogurt was too pronounced even with slightly less than the recipe called for. I did not, so this may just be a matter of personal preference.
Absolutely wonderful and so easy! I have made it several times this year already and have never made one before!
I have made this pie 3 or 4 times now and it’s wonderful. Always for guests who rave and comment that it is the absolute best they have ever had, hands down. I don’t add the sliced limes on the top. I just sprinkle a nice amount of zest to make it look pretty. That is the only change. I have also frozen individual pieces and that takes it to a whole other level!! It works. I don’t even let it thaw. You can but it tastes great frozen. Thanks for such a great recipe.