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 like topping it with blueberries rather than lime slices. I don’t think my guests would eat a lime slice but they love berries, so why not make those fruit dollars count.
This pie was amazing. My fiancé loves key lime pie and he raved about it.
This was really easy to put together but unfortunately it was a bit too sweet for me and overpowered all the flavours. It didn’t have the balance of tart, sweet and sour.
I just realized I read the recipe wrong and I only added 1/4cup of lime….. so with that said it probably would have tasted good with the right amount.
I don’t cook, let alone bake. I was forced to make this because someone gave me 12 limes and I hated the idea of letting them rot. I made 2 (one for them and one for my family).
Thank God that life gave me limes, because everyone loved the taste of this pie! Thanks to this recipe, everyone is extremely surprised and impressed with my cooking skills, which is a double-edged sword. Still, I hope they don’t have expectations of me now to make yummy things because I really don’t want to cook or bake more than I have to.
Pie turned out amazing. It makes more than what can fit in a standard sized pie crust, but that was fine with us-we ate the filling while our pie was in the refrigerator🤣. If you’re pregnant and have sweet and sour cravings, this is the recipe for you!
Is there a replacement for the yogurt?
Jackie, you can use sour cream in place of the yogurt.
The most disgusting key lime pie I’ve ever made. It was so sickly sweet and far too rich. There was not enough acidity to balance out all the sweetness, put a little more effort in and make a true classic key lime pie, your efforts will be rewarded.
Lol you clearly made it wrong. I’ve made this exact recipe 3 times in a row because it’s so good we can live without it. If you can’t bake get outta the kitchen!
Wow. There’s always someone. Maybe you left the Love out…💁♀️
Hi this looks delicious. Any way to make this dairy free?
Hi Chaya, based on the amount of dairy it has, I’m not confident that it would turn out well with dairy-free alternatives. I’m sorry!
Maybe try coconut yogurt?
This recipe is great. I modified it by using whole milk regular yogurt and putting slightly less sugar in the crust (about 2-3 tablespoons less) and only using a can and a third of condensed milk. It was the perfect sweetness, and even with the regular yogurt the pie set well and it had a silky texture. My pan was slightly bigger at 9.5 inches so my crust was thin, but it wasn’t much of an issue. Delicious pie!
Oh my gosh… this pie. It left two of my friends without words haha it was so good! I even substituted lime once and a lemon juice. It is amazing and easy. My go to citrus pie recipe now! I want to do an orange next ❤
I never leave comments on anything, but I have to for this pie. It was SO SO SO good!!! I made it for Thanksgiving and it was the first pie to go. I’ve already had requests to make another one. Absolutely amazing!
Absolutely the best pie recipe ever retrieved online. Superb directions and taste. It’s all in there.
Absolutely delicious! Lovely, tart lime flavor and creamy texture. The homemade Graham cracker crust is a must and the whipped topping was perfect. I made this for Thanksgiving and my brother in law went back for seconds AND took a slice home! My husband loved it. I will definitely make this again. Followed the recipe and instructions as written. Easy as pie!