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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Great recipe, made ahead of time and froze, was still great, did use ready crust. Make, you will love!!!
Oh Wow!! So amazingly delicious! I think the cup of plain yogurt gave it a great tangy taste. Everyone loved it and it came out beautifully. The pieces were firm and perfect. After reading the reviews I did bake it a bit longer (5-6 minutes) because my oven tends to run a bit slow.
Love this pie!!! Made one change – after baking the graham cracker crust, I spread sour cream over the bottom and dusted with powdered sugar, then poured the filling into the pie shell. This will be the “Key Lime” pie recipe I use from now on!
Jenn,
I absolutely love all your recipes. One of my many favorites is your key lime pie. My family requests it all the time. I need your advice. Every time I make it, I bake it the day before and refrigerate it over night. When I cut a piece of the pie, most often it’s soupy, not firm. I bake it according to your directions. Please advise. Thank you!
Hi Monica, glad you like this! Based on what you’re describing, it sounds like it may be just a bit underbaked. I’d leave it in the oven for a few more minutes next time.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! My husband is very picky about key lime pie and he LOVED it. He wanted it for his birthday instead of cake and I’m a terrible baker, so I was worried. And I’ve never liked key lime pie til I tried this! Sooo simple and so delicious and refreshing. This will be the recipe I use from now on.
Used 3/4 of a cup of actual key lime juice and it was incredible.
IMPORTANT POINT: 300ml is 14oz of weight (which is the can size the recipe calls for) and 10oz of liquid (ignore the volume). I feel some of the comments where they are complaining it is too sweet might have been that they thought two 300ml cans were not enough. A 300ml can is 10oz of liquid volume but it is 14 oz of weight. The recipe is calling for 28oz (2 cans of 14oz weight). This means that two 300ml cans are perfect for weight. Do not think you need more sweetened condensed milk. Again, 2 cans of 300ml sweetened condensed milk is perfect.
Wonderful recipe! It was easy to make and everyone loved it, I will make it again definitely!
3/4 c lime juice resulted from 5-1/2 limes. To be sure the pie was flavorful enough and not just sugary I added 1-1/2 limes, so 7 limes and 1 for the zest- the author says 8-10 limes needed.
This is a great recipe, try it if you love Key Lime Pie!
This was a blast at dessert time – every one had a piece – no leftover. Easy recipe. I made the crust with filling the night before – crust did not get soggy. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
I just made this pie for Thanksgiving and it turned out perfect and to rave reviews! This is an outstanding pie and so easy to make but so delicious. I’ll be making this again for sure. I used fresh key lime juice from our own tree here in Sacramento, CA, so you can have fresh key limes and not live in Florida.
Thanks again for this outstanding recipe.
Try putting the quotes around the ‘key lime’ in the title not the page since it’s *not* a key lime pie recipe. And how can you say key limes are near impossible to find unless you live in the Florida Keys? This is just a plain stupid statement. Try saying “if you live somewhere that you can’t find them…” Many supermarkets far away from the Florida Keys carry the fresh limes and even more carry the bottled juice (even Walmarts nationwide).
By your first paragraph, it’s clear your website isn’t worth visiting.
1. Did you make the recipe?
2. There is a difference between a regular lime and a key lime.
Are you having a bad day Kyle? It seems that you are a little too angry about a pie recipe that you didn’t even make.
Rude and unnecessary comment. Would you say this to someone in person? Shame on you.
What is your point Kyle ? That you are a rude person???
I found them here in Kentucky… I actually used real Key Lime juice in the bottle and regular lime zest and it was great!!
SOOO GOOD! Such a perfect balance of sweet and tarte!
I agree on your rating. I tried this in lieu of my traditional key lime pie. You can find key limes all other. The bottled key lime is not as good. This did not set up and turned out more like a pudding. I have never put yogurt or sour cream in my key lime pie. This was the worst tasting key lime pie. It just tasted like Eagle brand with lime juice. I have made key lime pies for 40 years.
True key limes are not available everywhere, all the time. I live in a major east coast metropolitan area with a very diverse assortment of markets and grocery stores. We get real key limes for about a month in mid-winter. Everyone I have served this pie to has nothing but good things to say about the flavor.