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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Hi Jenn
Could this pie be frozen? i want to make it for thanksgiving but with work etc will ideally need to make it a week or 2 before. if frozen whats your recommended method to defrost? Thanks
I don’t think this pie is a great candidate for freezing – sorry!
I think it is an excellent pie for freezing. I have bought Edwards brand frozen key lime pie and Marie Callendar’s, and they are both as good or better than what I make, and I am a good cook. I like Marie Callendar’s the best.
Key lime pie is my husband’s favorite dessert, and he said this is the best key lime pie he’s ever had. I made it for our anniversary, and now he wants it for every holiday 🤪 We’re honest with each other about new recipes; we both love to cook, but I do most of the baking. This recipe will definitely be in our family’s regular rotation.
Could this be made using Fage’s Bestself lactose free yogurt and sweetened condensed coconut milk?
Hi Carol, the lactose free yogurt should be fine, but I’ve never made this with sweetened condensed coconut milk, so it’s hard to say for sure. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
How long will the filling stay good in the refrigerator if stored separately from the pie crust? In other words, how many days in advance can I mix up the filling? I’m hoping that four days in advance is ok.
Hi Sue, Since there aren’t any eggs, I think that should be fine. Hope you enjoy!
I made this yesterday and my husband said it was the best dessert he ever had! Ever!
THIS IS IT! Friends/family have been trying to recreate an incredible beach resort bakery key lime pie – and this is the closest we’ve ever come. We made a game of it & baked / blind tasted all sorts of award winning, traditional, and celebrity chef recipes – and this is the clear winner. Everyone agreed that THIS recipe was nearly identical (or better) than the magical key lime pie we’d make special trips to the beach for. I’m shocked because there are no egg yolks, but everyone liked it better without them! Its rich, thick and creamy instead of gelatinous. The greek yogurt is nice and subtle whereas recipes that call for sour cream can sometimes have a sour undercurrent. And although we prefer the filling as written, (very well balanced), it’s super easy to boost the tartness if that’s your thing. Our graham crust is a little different with an added pinch cinnamon that adds a layer of warmth that goes really well with the cool pie. So excited!!! Thank you!
This pie was absolutely delicious! My husband and I are both picky key lime pie critics and I made this for his birthday and we both loved it! I did use Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice instead of the regular lime juice and it was perfection. Definitely recommend this recipe, it was so easy!
I love to use Nellie’s too. Did you substitute it equally for the regular limes and did your pie set up well? I have trouble with eggs so this recipe would be a great alternative. Thanks!
This pie was exceptional! My husband of 30 years has always wanted key lime pie for his birthday and I always made it for him – from scratch. Not my favorite task but I don’t deny him much because I love him mad and its only once a year. My pies were always made with the little tiny key limes or if I couldn’t find the key limes, I used the bottled key lime juice (not bad but not great). I never thought about using regular limes. My recipe also called for incorporating eggs and I always made an Oreo crust (really good flavors together). I got the recipe from a restaurant in Coconut Grove, Florida and its been a good recipe. But! I tried this one and it was a hit! We both really loved it. I will always make this recipe from now on. Thank you for making my life sweeter and easier.
Can you share the recipe from the restaurant in Florida? Just curious to see how it differs from this one. Thanks
I made this pie exactly as directed. I loved the filling. It is awesome. I had two problems though. First, I trusted the statement that 12 graham crackers would be about the right amount. Be sure to measure the crumbs before adding the butter, otherwise the proportions will be off and it won’t hold together. Second, I will skip adding the lime slices to the top as a decoration. If you don’t eat the entire pie immediately, they become very bitter and distort the flavor of the pie just by being in contact with the whipping cream. That ruined the pie. Nobody eats the limes on top anyway. I will make this recipe again with these modifications.
I didn’t have extra limes to slice on top so I used sliced fresh strawberries. Worked great and looked very pretty. Tasted good, too.
This recipe is just so phenomenal! I have made it a number of times and still surprise myself with how enjoyable it is.
This time we made it as individual lime pie cups for a baptism lunch. I subbed melted coconut butter instead of real butter into the crumb layer and gently toasted it all in the oven. Packed that into each glass, then added the lime filling, then – without baking it further – topped it all with whipped cream and a crispy coconut roll in each. Beautiful and delicious!
Thank you, as always, Chef Jenn!
I made this for a small dinner party and everyone loved it. I did not make the topping, as it seems to take away the true tangy lime deliciousness. Be sure to let it set before serving to maintain the shape. Enjoy!