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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Sooo delish!! People who don’t like key lime pie still love this one
Delicious. Easy to make and a big hit among the eaters
Hi Jenn. This is my favorite key lime pie recipe, and I have tried many. Thank you!
We are planning a trip to Italy in September and are having a planning dinner with our travel partners this weekend. I want to try this pie using lemons to honor the Amalfi Coast. Have you ever tried this substituting lemons? Thanks!
Hi Kathy, so glad you’ve found your favorite Key lime pie! I’ve never tried it with lemon but some other people have commented that they have and have enjoyed it. Please LMK how it turns out!
Hi Jenn, I made it with lemon this past weekend for our friends. It was perfection! Just as good as the key lime, and with the lemon flavor. I will use both recipes. I used the same proportions as the key lime. Thank you for this yummy recipe, so much better than the one I have been using for years.
I live here in Reston and follow you (have your books too), but interestingly my cousin from Cleveland sent me your recipe!
Thanks for the follow-up — nice to know that you enjoyed it just as much as the lime flavor!
This recipe was one of my favorites! I’m wondering if I made these as mini pies, how long I would bake it for?
Hi Nicole, So glad you like it! For minis, the bake time is likely to be less but not sure by how much as it depends on the size of your tarts so just keep a close eye on them. Hope you enjoy!
I made this yesterday for our 4th of July party. Everyone raved! I did make a change to the whipped cream (I’m a huge fan of stabilizing whipped cream with mascarpone and I really needed to as the home I was bringing the pie to was pretty warm). I also added two extra tablespoons butter to the crust recipe but that’s just because I’m a hedonist. It would’ve been delicious without I’m sure. Anyway, the filling tasted perfect, set up beautifully, and everyone couldn’t say enough good things. I wished there had been enough to sneak a second piece because boy, was it good!!
How much mascarpone did you use? I love mascarpone & whipped cream for frosting! Thank you!
Hello,
Looking forward to making this pie…I am however sugar sensitive and not able to have sugar…can I use something else with regards to the “sweetened condensed milk”? I use real maple syrup…please let me know your thoughts…thank you!
Unfortunately, I don’t know of a good substitute for the sweetened condensed milk here — I’m sorry!
Try Xylitol. It tastes and acts like sugar. Equal measurements as well.
You might want to give this a try. It uses coconut milk and maple syrup. I plan on trying it since dairy and I are not friends.
https://cleangreensimple.com/article/condensed-milk-substitute/
Brought this to a 4th of July party – everyone raved about. My first time making key lime pie and it was very straightforward compared to other recipes I found. Definitely going to make this again and try other recipes from Jenn Segal!
I tried this recipe for the first time this weekend and everyone loved it! My friend said it was one of the best pies he had ever eaten. Will do it again!
This pie is SO GOOD! I made two of them for a Beach Bash we had this past weekend. WOW! It was so easy and it was the hit of the party. I didn’t read the part about making the pie part the day of the event until it was too late. LOL And I had already prepared the pie to serve the next day. It mentioned that making it a day before would make for a soggy crust. Mine wasn’t soggy, maybe a little moist but still had a crunch and was delicious! Everyone raved about the pie and asked for the recipe. :). THANK YOU!
I made the key lime pie for my husband on Father’s Day. I followed your recipe, except I used key lime Greek yogurt and added just a touch of vanilla flavoring to the filling. The pie came out perfect. My husband and friends loved it. Thank you!
I made this per the recipe. It was very good, but seemed a bit too sweet for me. Is there a modification that would make it a bit less sweet?
Hi Patty, 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!