Key Lime Pie
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Made with ordinary limes, this “Key lime” pie tastes every bit as authentic as the real deal — plus it’s easier to make.
I use Persian limes, otherwise known as ordinary supermarket limes, to make my “Key lime” pie. Unless you live in the Florida Keys, 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 are 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.
Similar to coconut cream pie and lemon meringue pie, key lime pie can be made with a graham cracker/cookie 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?
What You’ll Need To Make Key Lime Pie
- You’ll need 8 to 10 limes total for this recipe. Choose plump limes that give a little when you squeeze them; they will be easier to juice. You should get about 2 tablespoons of juice from each lime. Be sure to zest the limes before you squeeze the juice from them, as it’s near impossible to do afterward.
- Sweetened condensed milk is canned milk from which water has been removed, and sugar has been added. Be sure not to confuse it with evaporated milk, which is usually sold right alongside.
- With no eggs, it may be hard to believe that this pie will set, but have faith — it will.
How To Make Key Lime Pie
Step 1: Make The Crust
Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Stir with a fork first, and then your hands until the mixture is well combined.
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-in deep-dish pie pan. The crust should be about 1/4-in thick. (Hint: do the sides first.)
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Then let the crust cool a bit while you make the filling.
Step 2: Make the Filling
Begin by zesting the limes.
It’s best to use a rasp grater, which is a long, skinny tool that works well for grating hard cheeses and zesting citrus.
Juice the limes using a citrus reamer, then combine the juice with the sweetened condensed milk, yogurt, and lime zest.
Whisk to combine.
Pour the filling into the cooked graham cracker crust.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the filling is almost set.
Let the pie cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, about 3 hours.
Step 3: Make the 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.) Top the chilled pie with whipped cream and decorate with lime slices and zest.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
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Key Lime Pie
Made with ordinary limes, this “Key lime” pie tastes every bit as authentic as the real deal — plus it’s easier to make.
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
For the Crust
- Preheat oven to 375 °F 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 1.5-inch (deep-dish) pie pan. The crust should be about ¼-inch thick. (Tip: do the sides first.)
- Bake for 10 minutes, until just slightly browned. Let the crust cool on a wire rack.
For the Filling
- Lower the oven temperature to 350°F.
- 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.
For 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.
- 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.
- Note: The nutritional information was calculated using 2% Greek yogurt.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (10 servings)
- Calories: 481
- Fat: 24 g
- Saturated fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 60 g
- Sugar: 54 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Sodium: 183 mg
- Cholesterol: 76 mg
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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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.
Made this to take to friend’s house for dinner. Everyone loved it…two and three pieces for several! This was so easy. I made the crust one day and filled it the next morning.
So easy & so delicious! I just used a store bought crust & had lots of filling left over, probably enough for a second pie.
Making this for the second time. No eggs! No weeping! So delicious. Thank you <3
Can i use a premade graham cracker crust?
I love the crust in this recipe, but you can get away with using store-bought. Enjoy!
Can you use this recipe as is for key lime tarts?
Sure, Naomi — that should work. The cook time will likely be a bit shorter; I’d start checking after 10 min.
Made this yesterday morning for our dinner dessert and it was so easy and delicious!! I have never tasted key lime pie so don’t know how authentic this is but it tasted like a slightly tart creamy cheesecake texture. My mom immediately asked for the recipe. I made it using an 8×1” tart pan and decrease ingredients by 25%. I also only used 1 Tbs of sugar and crust felt perfectly sweet and balanced with tartness of filling. This one is a keeper!!
Hi Jenn,
I’m a very amateur baker. Re storage of crust, If I’m to make this a day ahead – do I just keep the crust in the fridge continually after 3 hours and store the filling separately in the fridge?
Correct — hope you enjoy!
Can this be frozen once baked? I’m attempting to make it ahead of a trip over 4 days (tarts on day 2 and 3), and though my crust held for about 4-5 days as the complete pie (tarts with graham cracker crust), I wanted to make this like a week or two ahead and freeze it. Or even a few more days ahead of the trip. I have a lot of baking to do so this would help my timeline.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the best candidate for freezing — sorry!
I’m just seeing this in March of 2022. Unless I read this wrong, I believe she’s asking about just the storage of the already baked crust without the filling. I don’t see why there would be reason to refrigerate a baked graham cracker crust prior to filling it the next day?
Hi Terri, that actually is correct. Waiting to add the filling to the crust keeps the crust from getting soggy prior to serving it if you want to make it ahead. Hope that clarifies!
The pie was good, however, it was much too sweet for my taste. I thought about making my own condensed milk to control amount of sugar. ?
Hi Josie, I’ve never made sweetened condensed milk myself, so it’s hard to say. If you want to cut back on the sweetness in other ways, you can use a tad more lime juice, omit the sugar from the whipped cream topping and reduce the sugar a bit in the crust. Hope that helps!
As a southerner, this is not a real key lime pie. It was okay, but you need egg. Healthier version, but real key limes and egg.
My husband and I vacationed in Florida for many years. We’d go on a tour to determine where the best key lime pie could be found. We tasted many. This is the best “key” lime pie I’ve ever had.
This pie is to die for!
Easy to make and yet so very tasty. I’ve made it twice already and nothing but compliments and people asking me to make it for their birthday :).
It’ll be my go to for summer pies from now on.
I recently suggested this recipe to a family member for her monthly dessert club. She reported back that it received rave reviews, and the guests couldn’t believe how simple it is to prepare! I’ve had fun experimenting with different crusts…the coconut cream pie shortbread crust and the addition of gingersnaps with the graham cracker crust… both are pretty awesome! Thanks for these wonderfully delicious recipes!
I haven’t made this yet, but my sister in law made it as written a few weeks ago and I found it to be THE BEST key lime pie I’ve ever had. Key limes aren’t easy to find in my little corner but I will be making this as soon as I find some. Super yum! And not as sharply tart as some key lime recipes can be. Thanks yet again, Jen!
Glad you liked it! The good news is that you don’t have to search for Key limes — this is made with ordinary limes. 🙂
I made this Key lime pie. I had never used brown sugar in a graham cracker crust so that intrigued me. I made this for my DIL’s birthday and everyone loved it! Thank you for a great recipe, and it looked great also.
Has anyone tried 1/2 lemons and 1/2 limes instead of all limes?
I’ve made it will all lemon and it was delicious!
One more question. Do you measure yogurt in dry or liquid measuring cup?
I’d measure it in a dry measuring cup.
Hi Jenn
Love your recipes! Making this tomorrow and noticed that my 4%greek yogurt is not as thick as I have known greek yogurt to be. Do you think this will be a problem with setting?
Thanks so much!
Hi Jennifer, it should be fine. I’d pour off any liquid that’s accumulated on top of the yogurt or, if you’re really concerned, you can pour the yogurt into a fine mesh sieve and let any liquid drain out. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn— If I use bottled key lime juice for this recipe (already have a bottle), would I still use 3/4 cup? Or reduce because key limes are more tart? I am making this for a terrific cook who loves key lime pie…fingers crossed! Thank you—your recipes are delicious!!!
Hi Nancy, You’ll get much better results with the fresh limes, so I wouldn’t recommend the bottled version – sorry!
I’ve been looking for a good key lime pie recipe and this one far exceeded my expectations. It was delicious and so easy to make. Everyone loved it. This is definitely a keeper.
I found Key Limes at our Acme in NJ. Pie delicious but too sweet.
I made this for my brother’s birthday. It was easy, and came out perfectly. Everyone loved it.
So easy and delicious!
Jenn,
I want to make this for my friend’s birthday. Is there any way to adjust the sweetness by reducing the sweetened condensed milk and subbing with more yogurt?
Hi Kerrie, I wouldn’t change the ratios of the sweetened condensed milk and yogurt. If you want to cut the sweetness, you could use a tad more lime juice, omit the sugar from the whipped cream topping, and reduce the sugar a bit in the crust. Hope that helps and your friend enjoys!
Jenn I am determined to make a key lime pie not so sweet, so I am experimenting with this recipe. The original recipe is very tasty, but definitely too sweet for us like I thought it would be. So on my second attempt I was able to get the sweetness down by using 2T brown sugar in the crust, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup of lime juice, 1 cup of yogurt and two egg yolks. I increased the cooking time to 25 minutes. The pie set and the flavor was perfect, though I may reduce the lime juice. The only problem was that the crust got soggy quickly and it stuck to the pie plate a bit. Any suggestions? BTW adding 1/4 sour cream to the whipped cream is really good.
Hi Kerrie, I think the addition of more lime juice probably caused that and I’m not sure of a way to rectify it – sorry!
This “key lime” pie makes me look way better in the kitchen than I deserve! It has become my signature (😉) dessert! Question – as I perused some of the earlier reviews but couldn’t quite find an answer to mine: I’m thinking of making individual key lime pies in a cupcake pan. Do you think this would translate well? I plan to use cupcake wrappers to keep each mini pie together. Anyway, just curious if you’ve tried or if anyone else has. Thank you so much!!! Love all of your recipes!!
Glad you like this enough that it’s become your “signature!” 🙂 Yes, I do think this would work in a cupcake pan and the wrappers will make them easier to handle and remove from the pan. Please LMK how they turn out!
This time, (love this recipe!) I divided this recipe into 11 four oz Mason Jars. Crust used about 1.5 T per jar; baked as directed; used about 4 oz. of filling (2 muffin scoops) per jar; baked for 11 mins. Will dollop with the whipped cream at serving time. With the lids, they are easy to transport too!
Follow-up post in case anyone is curious about the “tart/cupcake tin” version: my revised “go-to!” Translated perfectly into little cupcake holders. I would say for both the crust setting phase and the filling phase, I probably shaved 2-3 minutes off the time in the oven. Other than that, absolutely perfect & my new method of serving. Thank you thank you!!!!
So glad they came out well — thanks for reporting back!
What oven temp
Hi Lauryn, the crust should bake at 375°F/190°C, and then the oven temperature should be lowered to 350°F/180°C for the filling. Hope that helps!
This is one of the best Key Lime Pies that I have ever had and so easy to make!!!!!!!!
This is the best key lime pie ever. Everyone raved about it. Thank you for this recipe.
I loved this pie, so easy and everyone in the family loved it.
I have made this several times, the recipe is easy and the flavor is spot on. My son in law is from North Carolina and said it was the best he ever had.
Made with non-fat Greek yogurt and couldn’t tell. My guests – including a very experienced cook/baker – all agreed this was the best key lime pie they’ve ever tasted! I have to concur. And realized it’s a big win for those with egg allergies, like my niece.
OMG, this is by far the best Keylime pie ever- I used to think “the original keylime house” in Florida had the best but no more.
I made this in the pie form and it was fantastic, I was wondering can you make this into a tart??
Glad you liked it (and I think this will also work in a tart pan). 🙂
My first key lime pie. I admitted I was skeptical at first as I tasted the filling before baking and felt the yogurt flavor was too strong. Well, that changed when I served it after dinner. The whole family loved it! They said it was the best they’ve ever had! I agree!!
I am making this tomorrow (Friday) night for my dads birthday the following day, Saturday. Two questions, I bought non fat Greek you first because it was on sale, and after reading some reviews, should I go back and get the 2% or whole as said in recipe, or could I substitute some sour cream instead (maybe 1/2 then non fat Greek yogurt and 1/2 sour cream)? Read reviews that sour cream works just as well which is why I ask. Second question, I want to make the entire pie Friday evening and leave in fridge overnight to bring to my dad’s birthday the next afternoon, is that ok? If not, how do you suggest I go about making this so it’s ready to serve Saturday afternoon? It’s an hour drive to my parent’s house and I don’t want to have to get up super early just to make the pie for that afternoon, if I don’t have to!
Hi Amber, I’d just replace the yogurt with sour cream. And to make this ahead, I’d suggest making the crust and the filling a day ahead of time, but storing them separately. (The filling should be added on the day of serving, otherwise, the crust will get soggy.) Hope that helps and that your dad enjoys!
How do I go about making them separately to sit overnight, then assemble in the morning? Do I need to refrigerate the crust and the filling, then put the filling in the crust in the morning, bake, cool down, and re-refrigerate for 3 hours?
Yes, that’s correct, so you’ll still need to leave time for those steps.
I followed exactly mine never set (was very watery) 🙁 any advice?
Hi Morgan, I’m sorry you had a problem with this! What brand of sweetened condensed milk did you use? I find that Eagle brand gives the most reliable results. Also, did you by any chance use nonfat yogurt?
BEST KEY LIME PIE EVER!!! So easy and simple I doubted it at first. Best blend of sweet and tart!!!
I’ve never made key lime pie before. This turned out incredible (I used 10% milkfat Greek yogurt b/c that was what I had on hand). I thought the condensed milk flavor was strong at first (though no one else thought so). But the next day, that flavor had mellowed and was just perfect. The texture is amazing… we all marveled over how creamy it was.
I halved the sugar in the whipped cream and it was perfect for me. Thanks for a super-easy recipe that really wowed everyone this holiday!
I made these as bars instead of pie, using biscoff cookies as the base.
YUM!!!! It was a huge success!
I now have a favorite!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I dream about this key lime pie! I have made it several times to RAVE REVIEWS. I used to only make it once or twice a year….now I look for any occasion to enjoy this delicious pie. Truly the best key lime pie ever!!! The yogurt is a fantastic touch.
i decided to make this recipe and was a bit skeptical if it would set since it had no eggs and this was my first time ever making key lime pie but this recipe was honestly a hit. i used actual key limes for this, doubled the recipe but used 3 cans of condensed milk like another comment recommended and i would say that if you have bigger pie dishes do 4!
Tasted so fresh and so good
Ok..I was worried this would taste like yogurt but wow was I wrong. This is the BEST key lime pie I’ve ever had and it was so easy to make. It is so rich, creamy, tart, tangy, and decadent! We ate the WHOLE pie. I lucked out and found key limes but added a few regular limes to get enough juice. I used whole milk Greek yogurt and added butter shortbread cookies to the graham cracker crust (I had to make a day ahead of time), which turned out to be an excellent addition and the crust held up beautifully. Keeping this recipe forever. THANK YOU!
I don’t do reviews BUT on this pie – omg love love love. I even had a few ppl buy them from me. I had a southern Florida lady say it’s the best she’s ever had and she’s from the keys.
This recipe was delicious, our family considers Key Lime Pie a favorite and this pie was one of the best we’ve tasted. The filling is light and silky, and the crust was the perfect buttery shell for the filling. Even though Persian limes are used, I found the flavor to be better than key limes, much less acidic.
If you like summer in a pie, this is the recipe!
A very good-tasting pie. For the first several times I made this, I followed the recipe exactly. However, the last time, I made some adjustments. I find it works just as well with sour cream instead of greek yogurt. I make 2 pies at a time when I make this, as it’s not much extra work. One pie goes in the fridge; the other straight to the freezer.
I use slightly less condensed milk than it calls for (3 cans rather than 4–remember, I’m making two pies), and less graham cracker. Perhaps my glass pie plates are shallower than hers. The graham cracker crust crumbles apart very easily when dishing a piece out onto a plate. I also found that I can save time and effort by replacing the limes (and zest) with just store-bought lime juice, and I didn’t notice any degradation in taste.
All in all, a very good dessert. Highly recommended if you like lime pie.
It was ok. Not the authentic key lime pie recipe I was looking for…. Healthier though, I think? It was easy enough, but I wouldn’t make it again.