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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The recipe is fine, but better with key limes. The “impossible to find” comment is nonsense, but you can also buy key lime juice.
Alan – I just made it with the Persian limes but I just received about 10 key limes so I’ll try that next week and compare.
Omg. Made this on random and it came out delish!! Will use this recipe again!
We live in South Africa and some of the ingredients for some of the US recipes are different but your Key Lime Pie with digestive biscuits was so good I’m about to make it a second time, it’s a recipe to keep.
This pie is amazing! I (inherited) 2 bags of key limes and then hunted for a recipe. I will never juice that many key limes again, though the results were incredible. I substituted Vanilla flavored Greek yogurt, since I couldn’t get the plain variety at our local store. The only other change to the recipe was to add a couple drops of lime essential oil to the filling and topping, and omit the lime zest in the topping. Other than juicing the key limes, this pie was quick and easy to make. My husband loved it! Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Hi Jen! Your recipes are always a big success in our house, so I’m going to try this one my husband’s birthday, which is in a couple of days. He loves Key Lime Pie & we both know that your recipes are unfailingly yummy! This will be my 1st attempt at this flavor of pie but I’m looking forward hopefully to a delicious result, as is usual with your recipes. I would like to make whatever I can as far ahead of time as possible (starting today, if possible!) Can the crust be made 2 days ahead & chilled? Would it be ok to chill the filling in the refrigerator for 24 hours or more? I would make the topping & put it all together just before the birthday dinner. Since our house will be filled with guests for several days, I am hoping to accomplish as much as possible ahead of time. (A further question — do you recommend using regular limes or actual Key limes?) Many thanks for blessing us all with your talent & expertise!
Hi Toni, Yes, it would be fine to make the crust 24 to 48 hours ahead and store them separately in the fridge. Hope everyone enjoys! 🙂
This is a decadent pie for sure! I followed the recipe as written except I put a ring of cream around the edge instead of covering the whole pie. Turns out one of our guests that we had over last night is a key lime pie connoisseur and said this pie was as good if not better than any he’s had in Florida which is where it originated. I’ll take that as a wonderful compliment! Thank you for posting this recipe!
I always come to your website first when I want to try something new and I’m never disappointed. I made this key lime pie for my Book Club and everyone loved it. I used extra lime zest, about 1 1/2 tbl in the filling and 2 tsp on top. It was delicious!
Next time, I’ll use gluten free graham crackers and my granddaughter with celiac will be able to eat it. Thank you.
My keylime pie turned out great, so much so, my husband ate two slices back to back. Best advice… be patient and let the pie set and cool as instructed. Next time I make this pie I am going to try keylime or coconut flavored greek yogurt. 🍈🥧
I’m located in Portugal and we don’t have graham crackers. Can you suggest some alternative that would be just as tasty?
Hi Katia, Do you have access to digestive biscuits? If so, those will work nicely.
I sure do! Thank you!
Amazing! So good! After I made and tried the pie as shown, I made a Mango Coulis (https://www.abakingjourney.com/easy-mango-coulis/) and spread it on top (after baking the pie), which brought the pie to a whole other level!