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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I made it for a friend who said Key Lime Pie was his favorite birthday dessert. He loved it! It was perfect and delicious. Easy to follow fool-proof recipe. My only swap was Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice instead of key limes. Thank you!!
My family just returned from Florida where we sampled many key lime pies. They all said this recipe was better than any we tasted in Florida!
I just wasted so much time and money on this recipe. This is not key lime pie. And a huge mess. What the hell is up with these comments. 28oz of condensed milk!?!?? That much liquid wouldn’t fit in a single pie. I’m flabbergasted and kicking myself for mindlessly following this recipe!!!! I don’t even know what I just pulled out of the oven. It’s 100% liquid. I’m gonna have to freeze it and hope it is edible once its frozen.
I’m so confused, it’s less than a litre and two normal cans. Less liquid than sort of custardy texture. Did something go wrong with measuring? Or did you maybe use evaporated milk?
I gave this pie 5 stars! I’m sorry something went wrong for you. I’d encourage you to check your measurements/ingredients and try it again. Yesterday, I had a slice of key lime cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and I was disappointed because I thought it would have to top this recipe but NOPE! This pie is a KEEPER.
Did you possibly use evaporated milk instead of condensed milk? The evaporated milk would be more liquid. Just a thought as to why your pie was too liquidy…
So glad you made this comment before I tried the recipe! I have a Keebler graham cracker crust on hand I wanted use and you are absolutely correct that there is No way the volume of this filling would fit into the premade crust. It looks to me like Jenn used a deep dish pie plate, but I don’t see that it’s noted. I decided to use a recipe that is more traditional – 1 can of sweetened/condensed milk, egg yoks, etc., and it fills the pie shell quite well – I’m trying to imagine how so many reviewers crammed double the volume in their shells….
Jenn, I think you have some ‘splainin’ to do :-D. Will you please double check your pie plate size and depth?
Rave Reviewers: did you have to toss a bunch of the filling? Did you make your crust in a deep dish pie plate?
I would like to be in on the resolve to this mystery!
Thanks, All!
Sorry for any confusion — it is a deep-dish pie plate. I just added that to the instructions. 🙂
I am usually a bit skeptical about superlatives in the name of the recipe. After all, who gets to claim “the best”. But this one definitely lives up to its name. Third time making this in the last three months. Can’t get enough of it!
First time ever to make a key lime pie(they’re OK but not my favorite). It really was as simple as the recipe said it was. My daughter requested it for a neighborhood get together. She loves key lime. Everyone there raved about it, said it was the best one they had ever eaten. It was a major hit. Thanks for the guidance on how to evidently make an amazing key lime pie.
I made your recipe tonight for our anniversary. It was awesome! Definately a keeper. Everyone loved it. Thank you!
I live in Florida. Key limes are available *all over* the state in most grocery stores (in bags in the produce section, where the regular lemons and limes are).
This is the most delicious pie. I stabilized the whipped cream with a little bit of cream cheese so that it would last longer, and used regular limes. I have now made it twice and people have raved about it.
How much cream cheese do you think you added to the whipped cream? How far ahead could you make the topping before serving?
Loved everything about this pie!
It’s our new favorite key lime pie recipe…I’ll never use any other! Thank you!
Thank you for a wonderful key lime pie recipe. I made it with key limes. It is one of the best pies that I have had.