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 have made this several times. It is easy, straightforward and comes together beautifully to deliver a smooth, creamy, perfectly lime-infused perfect pit! I can’t say enough about it!
My whole family loves it! From picky to particular to easy-to-please! It is a winner!
Hi Jen
I’ve got a big tub of high fat sheep’s milk yogurt. Do you think I could use that instead of Greek yogurt?
Many thanks!
Technically it should work, but it may give the pie a slightly different flavor. Please LMK how it turns out if you use it!
This sounds delicious. I wanted to make these in individual 4″ tartlet pans for a party . Any idea how many pans this recipe would fill? And would I need to use liners? Thank you 😊
Hi Anne, These should work as minis. You don’t need liners for them, but not sure how many it will fill. Please LMK how they turn out if you try it!
I wish I could give it 10 stars. This pie was next level. Two people at our dinner party said it was the best they ever had. And people took the last bits of crumbs home with them! My daughter is an amazing pastry chef, so I am a tough customer, but this was really amazing key lime! Only one issue…I should have made two!
So easy, so delicious! This is a family favorite in our house!
I made this for Pi day at work with a gluten-free graham cracker crust and it worked beautifully! I also used a mix of key lime, normal lime, and lime juice which was far more work than I would have liked but made it delicious nonetheless. Because I was taking it to work too, I was a bit worried about the cream topping so I subbed for store-bought coconut whipped ‘cream’ from the can (thinking the coconut and lime would go nicely together) and it was great! Would make again! (except for all the lime squeezing… I’m just using juice next time lol)
Easy as pie! Easier. And so, so delicious. I doubt I’ll ever go back to making Key Lime Pie or bars the way I used to. I brought this to a friend’s birthday party, and everyone ate a huge piece and absolutely raved. Thank you, Jenn!
I made this for a family dinner and it was a hit! My husband is asking me to make it for his birthday.. love it!
Perfection.
I make my husband a key lime pie every year for his birthday and this year decided to try this recipe. He said that it was hands down the best that I have ever made! The Greek Yogurt made the difference in the texture. Simply the best!
Hi Jenn,
I made this pair last year for Easter and everyone loved it. Making it again this year but I bought picked up regular yogurt instead of Greek yogurt. Will it still work?
Thanks Deb
Hi Deb, glad this was a hit last year! You can use the regular yogurt — just strain it because it’s not as thick. Sour cream would also be fine with no straining.
This recipe is the best!!! I’ve been making this for a while now and everyone raves about it. I was wondering if I can make this into mini cheesecakes. Are the baking times the same and are the ingredient amounts the same? Thank you so much for an amazing recipe!
Hi Carla, So glad you like this! I haven’t tried it but think you could make this into smaller individual ones. I’d keep the temperature the same; bake time is likely to be less but not sure by how much as it depends on the size of your minis so just keep a close eye on them. Also, the ingredient amounts depend on how many minis you plan to make. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
If I use muffin tins/cups, what do you think the ingredient amounts and bake times would be? Thank you!
Hi Carla, I haven’t done it, so I’m not 100% sure. One other reader said the following about using a muffin tin: I used muffin liners in pan, and cut the baking time in half. Hope you find that helpful!
I just made them in the mini graham cracker crusts. It made 15 of them. I baked them all on a cookie sheet for the same amount time, 15 minutes and they were fine.