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’ve been making this Key lime pie for years, and it’s one of my favorite desserts to serve when the weather warms up. Inspired by the classic pie made famous in the Florida Keys, it has a buttery graham cracker crust and a cool, creamy filling that’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Best of all, it’s easy to make with just a handful of ingredients—you can use regular limes from the grocery store, and Greek yogurt stands in for the usual egg yolks (trust me, it works). I’ve served this pie everywhere from summer barbecues to holiday dinners, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.
“The best key lime pie I’ve ever had!! Tart, sweet, fresh but rich.”
Do You Really Need Key Limes?
Despite the name, you don’t need Key limes to make an outstanding Key lime pie. Over the years, I’ve made this pie with bottled Key lime juice (such as Nellie & Joe’s), fresh Key limes, and regular limes (also called Persian limes), and I actually prefer regular limes. They’re easy to find year-round and have a bright, fresh flavor that makes an exceptional pie. If you have access to fresh Key limes, though, they’re delicious too, lending the pie a slightly more floral, aromatic flavor.
What You’ll Need To Make Key Lime Pie
For the crust, you’ll need finely crushed graham cracker crumbs, light brown sugar, and melted butter. For the filling, you’ll need sweetened condensed milk, Greek yogurt, fresh lime juice and lime zest. For the topping, you’ll need heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar.
You’ll notice this recipe doesn’t call for egg yolks, like many traditional Key lime pie recipes. After testing it both ways, I found they simply weren’t necessary. The pie sets beautifully because the lime juice’s acidity reacts with the proteins in the yogurt and sweetened condensed milk, thickening the filling as it bakes (the same basic reaction that turns milk into cheese). And from a taste standpoint, I actually prefer the cleaner, brighter lime flavor that comes from leaving the yolks out. As a bonus, there’s no separating eggs, making the recipe even easier to prepare.
“Outstanding! Sets up beautifully and has the most perfect lime flavor.”
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the crust. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter, stirring first with a fork, then finishing with your hands until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when you squeeze a bit in your palm.
Step 2: Press the crust into the pan. Work the crumbs up the sides of the pan first, then press the bottom—it’s easier this way. Press firmly; a loosely packed crust tends to crumble when you slice the pie later.
Step 3: Blind bake. Bake just until the edges turn a shade darker and it smells toasty. This short bake deepens the flavor of the crust and keeps the crust from turning soggy once the filling goes in, but it doesn’t need to brown deeply.
Step 4: Zest, then juice. Zest every lime you plan to juice before you cut into them—it’s nearly impossible to zest a lime once it’s been squeezed. A rasp grater makes this fast; a reamer or your hands work fine for juicing.
Step 5: Whisk the filling. Whisk the condensed milk, yogurt, zest, and juice together until completely smooth. The mixture will look thick, almost like a pudding.
Step 6: Bake and chill. Pour the filling into the warm crust and bake until the center looks just set. Let it cool for a bit on the counter, then pop it in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set completely. It’ll firm up further as it cools and chills.
Step 7: Whip the cream. Beat the heavy cream until it just starts to hold soft peaks, then add the confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until it’s thick enough to hold its shape when you lift the whisk. Don’t take it too far past this point—overwhipped cream turns grainy and starts to look more like butter than a topping.
Pro Tip: A hand whisk works fine here too if you don’t feel like pulling out the mixer—it just takes a bit more elbow grease.
Step 8: Top and serve. Top with the whipped cream shortly before serving rather than hours ahead, since cream loses its shape sitting on a cold pie for too long. A knife wiped clean between cuts will give you the neatest slices.
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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Best Key Lime pie I’ve made! Maybe even the best I’ve ever eaten! Maybe I had very large limes, but I needed to juice only four. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Firstly I would like to thank you Jen for sharing your great recipes online. I have made several of them and have liked them all. Your Key Lime Pie was delicious, light and not too sweet. Coming from Australia I substituted Graham crackers with Digestive biscuits and followed the recipe which still worked out great even though I didn’t bother to convert the measurements from the American ones to metric. This recipe made a nice change from Lemon Meringue Pie.
Gwen what limes did you use for it? I am Aussie too and making this for my daughters birthday on Christmas Day, her request from living state side for years
Oh Jen – can you do no wrong? This was absolutely LOVELY. It’s silky and refreshing. I can’t wait to try it with Meyer lemons – or maybe a combination of lemon and lime. An absolutely perfect summer dessert. You’re the best!
P.S. – I realized I had forgotten Greek yogurt at the store, but I had an 8-ounce container of sour cream on hand and used that instead. Still absolutely brilliant!
💗
I can’t wait to make this recipe!
My question is Can I make it in a disposable pan and if so should I change anything about the recipe/ time?
Thank you so much!
Hi Sam, As long as you use the correct size (9 x 1.5-inch) it should work without any modifications. Hope you enjoy!
Is it possible to make the crust without any sugar?
Sure, that should be fine. Enjoy!
My son (18) has made this twice.
It’s excellent & he says easy to make.
This is the best “key” lime pie recipe. I tried several recipes and hands down this is the best. My hubby said “I can eat the whole pie! This was the best key lime pie I ever ate!” Thank you! I even gave my dogs a little puppuccino. Win win for everyone! Did not change a thing, I used 7 limes and it was the perfect limey taste. Onto a next dessert recipe…your peach cobbler😊
This pie is frickin awesome, my family and friends were just blown away. So easy and delicious, I’m not a baker so I was nervous but Ms. Segal’s recipe is no fail. Thank you Chef!
Just made this recipe for the fourth time (it was the first time some former co-workers had experienced it). Their responses: “This was as good as any Key Lime Pie I have ever had.” “This is so good!” … And later from that same person, “This is so good. Can I have an extra piece for my wife?” Her response that was later texted to me, “The pie was heaven.” In summary, I can’t wait until I make it again! Thanks Jenn.
Can you use regular whole yogurt? I bought it by mistake instead of Greek.
Hi Jenni, for the best, results, I’d stick with Greek yogurt. Sorry!
As with so many of the recipes Jenn posts, this one is top notch. The texture of the pie is incredibly light and smooth. The perfect amount of sweet and tart! Delicious!
This is an excellent recipe, even for so-so fans of key lime pie. Also very forgiving. I wanted a bigger pie (not 2 pies) for a 10″ pie plate and to feed a birthday crowd so I 1.5x the recipe and accidentally doubled the lime juice. No problem and outstanding reviews from key lime fans. Also cut back on the sugar in the pie crust with no problem. Love the addition of the yogurt as I agree with other reviewers that it cuts the weird after taste sometimes found in key lime pie. Total keeper! Thank you!