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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Hi Jen
I’ve got a big tub of high fat sheep’s milk yogurt. Do you think I could use that instead of Greek yogurt?
Many thanks!
Technically it should work, but it may give the pie a slightly different flavor. Please LMK how it turns out if you use it!
This sounds delicious. I wanted to make these in individual 4″ tartlet pans for a party . Any idea how many pans this recipe would fill? And would I need to use liners? Thank you 😊
Hi Anne, These should work as minis. You don’t need liners for them, but not sure how many it will fill. Please LMK how they turn out if you try it!
I wish I could give it 10 stars. This pie was next level. Two people at our dinner party said it was the best they ever had. And people took the last bits of crumbs home with them! My daughter is an amazing pastry chef, so I am a tough customer, but this was really amazing key lime! Only one issue…I should have made two!
So easy, so delicious! This is a family favorite in our house!
I made this for Pi day at work with a gluten-free graham cracker crust and it worked beautifully! I also used a mix of key lime, normal lime, and lime juice which was far more work than I would have liked but made it delicious nonetheless. Because I was taking it to work too, I was a bit worried about the cream topping so I subbed for store-bought coconut whipped ‘cream’ from the can (thinking the coconut and lime would go nicely together) and it was great! Would make again! (except for all the lime squeezing… I’m just using juice next time lol)
Easy as pie! Easier. And so, so delicious. I doubt I’ll ever go back to making Key Lime Pie or bars the way I used to. I brought this to a friend’s birthday party, and everyone ate a huge piece and absolutely raved. Thank you, Jenn!
I made this for a family dinner and it was a hit! My husband is asking me to make it for his birthday.. love it!
Perfection.
I make my husband a key lime pie every year for his birthday and this year decided to try this recipe. He said that it was hands down the best that I have ever made! The Greek Yogurt made the difference in the texture. Simply the best!
Hi Jenn,
I made this pair last year for Easter and everyone loved it. Making it again this year but I bought picked up regular yogurt instead of Greek yogurt. Will it still work?
Thanks Deb
Hi Deb, glad this was a hit last year! You can use the regular yogurt — just strain it because it’s not as thick. Sour cream would also be fine with no straining.
This recipe is the best!!! I’ve been making this for a while now and everyone raves about it. I was wondering if I can make this into mini cheesecakes. Are the baking times the same and are the ingredient amounts the same? Thank you so much for an amazing recipe!
Hi Carla, So glad you like this! I haven’t tried it but think you could make this into smaller individual ones. I’d keep the temperature the same; bake time is likely to be less but not sure by how much as it depends on the size of your minis so just keep a close eye on them. Also, the ingredient amounts depend on how many minis you plan to make. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
If I use muffin tins/cups, what do you think the ingredient amounts and bake times would be? Thank you!
Hi Carla, I haven’t done it, so I’m not 100% sure. One other reader said the following about using a muffin tin: I used muffin liners in pan, and cut the baking time in half. Hope you find that helpful!
I just made them in the mini graham cracker crusts. It made 15 of them. I baked them all on a cookie sheet for the same amount time, 15 minutes and they were fine.
Sorry, it’s NOT a Key Lime Pie. It’s a lime pie. The whole POINT of a Key Lime Pie is that it IS, as you put it, “bracingly tart.” So this pie cannot taste “every bit as authentic as the real deal.” And BTW, I live in northern Virginia and we get authentic key limes at my local market two or three times a year. Because the vast majority of them come from Mexico – not south Florida. I just squeezed a pound of them today to get 8 ounces of fresh key lime juice to make “the real deal.”
So did you actually make the recipe? You gave it 3 stars, but did not mention the recipe itself except to complain about it.