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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It’s super good frozen too! Used cinnamon sugar graham crackers and no extra sugar in the crust. It was a tiny bit bitter, but that could be the limes I used?
Hi Helene, I have not heard of it tasting bitter so the only assumption I can make is that maybe it was the limes. Hope you don’t experience that again the next time you make this!
This pie is a keeper. A friend made it for me, and I turned around and made it for my daughter’s birthday, and again for my mother and sister. My 8 year old grandson says that this will be his request for his birthday dinner next year.
I ended up with too much graham cracker crust, but it was likely the size of my pie dish. I didn’t change a thing otherwise. Absolutely stellar!
WOW! Easy and delicious. Our lime tree is now a source for wonderful Lime Pies!
Thanks!
Exquisite! Made this for a friend’s birthday who said it was better than the gourmet restaurant’s where they typically buy key lime pie. Thanks for making me a star…
I live in HI and I have lots of limes in my yard.. I stumbled on this recipe which has enormously good reviews. I will make my pie today using this recipe. But one thing worries me is the amount of sweetened condensed milk ( I don’t like my lime pie to be so sweet). Is this something to worry about? I do not plan to make a whip cream topping so I cannot cut on the sugar there. Let me know.thanks
Hi Mar, I don’t find this to be too sweet but some readers have commented that they have cut back on the sweetness by using a tad more lime juice and reducing the sugar a bit in the crust. Hope that helps!
There’s so many fabulous reviews to sift through that this question may have already been asked! I see you use the Persian lines but I have a key lime tree that is bursting with fruit and want to make good use of them. Do any of the lime measurements change if I use key limes? I’m not to knowledgeable in that area. Thanks!
Hi Christina, You can use the key limes without any adjustments to the recipe. Hope you enjoy!
This was absolutely diviiiiine!!! With Fall here, Trader Joes is not selling our favorite key lime pie anymore. I’m not much of a baker but I decided to give this recipe a go and it was 1. not very difficult 2. phenomenal. 11/10 recommend & we didnt modify a thing. Best key lime pie I’ve ever had.
Incredible! Better than the best bakery or restaurant can offer!
I have made key lime pies before and was skeptical that this recipe would taste like key lime pie. I did not do a side-by-side comparison, but regardless, this was excellent. We really liked the creaminess versus using sour cream. And using Persian limes made the recipe far easier to prepare. I use a garlic press to juice limes, and juicing Persian limes versus Key limes is significantly quicker. (I did not need the number of limes suggested in the recipe, but the extra ones I put to good use in cocktails.) I used a pre-made crust, which made preparation even easier. I have made graham cracker crusts before but always had trouble with the sides and evenness of the crust. Perhaps due to the premade crust, I did not find the crust to be soggy the next day(s), and the lime flavor became significantly more intense. On the day I made it, although the texture was good, I, and the rest of my family, wished the lime flavor was more intense. We liked it much better then next two days.
Just made this and it is really good. I am wondering if a meringue topping can be successfully put on top of this recipe?
Glad you like it! I wouldn’t recommend a meringue topping here as I’m afraid that the filling in the pie would get overbaked when the meringue gets baked. Sorry!