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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made this for some people and they LOVED it, even after a couple days. it’s been requested i make it again
i had someone ask if i could make it with raspberry.. how do you think that could work? i’d like to use fresh raspberries, so I could make a sauce or something to go in..
Hi Alex, so glad it was a hit! I don’t recommend adding a raspberry sauce to the filling but you could top the pie with this berry sauce (and stick with just raspberries), or serve it on the side.
dang I’m making this for tomorrow, I didnt see the note about the pie getting soggy until I already made the filling and crust because its at the very end of the recipe. I haven’t put them together yet, can I keep the filling and crust in fridge and combine them later?
Definitely – hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn! My friend gave me a bag of limes so I decided to try making this keylime recipe. Everything went great from the oven to the set of the filling ! Only thing was my mother and I tried it, we thought it was to sweet for us! I followed the recipe and added no extra sugar or anything (except for the little brown sugar in the crust which I still cut in half). I’m wondering if you can let me know of a way to make it less sweet if that’s possible ?? 🤣 it’s so good and the whip helps it out for sure but my family I guess isn’t as big of a sweet tooth! Thankyou for allowing me to try out your recipe ❤️
Hi Brittany, Glad you enjoyed it overall. If you want to cut the sweetness, you could use a tad more lime juice, omit the sugar from the whipped cream topping, and stick with reducing the sugar in the crust. Hope that helps!
This is my absolute favorite and go to recipe! But I have a question. Why does my crust get soggy by the next day? Thanks for your input!
So glad you like it! This has a very wet filling, so it’s normal for the crust to get soggy by day two. Unfortunately there’s not a lot you can do about it.
Sooo delicious!!
I made 3 for a party and some people were unable to attend so I find myself with an extra pie sans the whipped cream topping. Could I wrap it in foil and freeze it?
Hi Jo, Glad you enjoyed it! I’ve never frozen it and wouldn’t necessarily think it would freeze well, but a few readers have commented they’ve frozen leftover pie successfully, so I think it’s worth a try. And it’s certainly a better alternative to it going to waste!
My pie turned out just okay. I had to supplement half of the graham crackers with soup/oyster crackers (since my son got into them), replaced the condensed milk with almond milk, and used vegan yogurt instead of heavy cream because I forgot it at the store. I also added a pinch of sugar to the almond milk and only put the topping on half of the pie for Mark. My husband Mark is diabetic, while my son is autistic and picky so I tried to make this healthy but normal. Sadly the topping never formed peaks so it went everywhere. The filling was really runny too and seeped into the crust. My son loved it and I did eat seconds so it did the job. Mark could only eat a silver and had to skip dinner. I will never make this again sadly.
How strange that substituting runny almond milk instead of thick sweetened condensed milk would leave your filling a runny mess. Plus oyster crackers and vegan yogurt… Bless your heart, this is the best thing I’ve read all day. 😀
I’m so glad you said it first. I honestly thought it was a parody as no one could possibly make that many odd changes and then comment that they’re unhappy with the results. I don’t know how Jenn holds back sometimes…
This was AMAZING.
Will absolutely make this again
This is the best recipe!! I have made it lots of times and have gotten compliments from Key Lime Pie connoisseurs saying this is the best one they have had! It is my husbands favorite and I make it every year for his birthday. It is also an extremely easy recipe to follow
Can’t we print this recipe or do we have to have an account here to do that?
Hi Debbie, yes, you can print any recipe from the blog – no account necessary. Please LMK if I can help in any other way.
This was AMAZING.
Will absolutely make this again
How would I go about making this into separate tiny pies in a muffin tin? Would it work?
Hi Eva, 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!
Made this for a dinner party last night. It was amazing – probably the best key lime pie I have ever had. Not too sweet and not too difficult to make.