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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Made recipe with 5% Greek yogurt. Came out perfectly. I just don’t understand what the 15 minutes in the oven does since there are no eggs. What is the chemistry between yogurt, evaporated milk, and lime juice and heat? Thx, David
Hi David, Great question! The acid in the lime juice reacts with the proteins in both the yogurt and sweetened condensed milk, causing them to coagulate and thicken. Without this acid, the mixture wouldn’t set properly, and you’d end up with a runny filling. This reaction is similar to what happens in cheese-making, where acid causes milk proteins to curdle and solidify.
The texture alone makes me want to make this recipe over and over again! 😋 Absolutely brilliant recipe
If I want to use ginger snap crumbs instead of graham cracker should I omit the brown sugar?
Hi Andi, Instead of omitting it, I think you could reduce the sugar by half.
OMG. Honestly I was skeptical of this receipe. Key Lime Pie without eggs? How would it firm up? But holy crap, it does and it’s delicious. The flavor is rich and the texture very creamy. It is absolutely amazing. Now, the color is a little pale not having egg yolks but that’s all I could find wrong. I will make this again and again.
This truly was the best key lime pie I’ve ever made/tasted!! Great recipe. Do you think I could use this same recipe to make key lime pie bars so I’d have more to share? Or do you think it’d need to be doubled?
Hi Rose, if you want to make this into bars, it’s doable but I don’t think the filling will be firm enough to eat as finger food — you’d need to serve them with a fork. I’d suggest using an 8-inch square pan. Hope they come out well!
Made this yesterday for a big family dinner and it was perfect!!
Would this set fine if I used regular unflavored yogurt instead of greek?
Hi Katherine, You can use the regular yogurt — just strain it because it’s not as thick. 😊
We like more tart than sweet. We are going to use bottled key lime juice which calls for three egg yolks and makes a very small and not as tart as I like pie. So I am wondering about maybe using a combination of egg yolk and sour cream or egg yolk and yogurt. Maybe even half yogurt half sour cream in combination with egg yolk. Possibly half yogurt half sour cream without egg yolk. If I did a combination with egg yolk as one of the above what quantity of each (egg yolk, yogurt or sour cream) would be a recommended suggestion?
Hi M.E., based on what you’re looking for, I’d suggest using a different recipe. This pie is fairly sweet and other than reducing the sugar in the crust and/or the whipped topping, there’s not a way to adjust that. Plus, I’ve found that key lime pies that include eggs tend to be more tart.
Last night I made this recipe with 3 egg yolks and 1 cup of regular unsweetened dannon yogurt. We didn’t use lime zest and used a meringue topping. I added a little extra lime juice. As for the tartness for us was perfect. The filling was a little runny (not sure if it just needed a little extra baking time or if the extra lime juice and yogurt was the problem. So next time. I will probably leave out the yogurt. I found the sweetness was overpowered by the tart and we liked that. Just thought I’d let you know how we did. Thanks for responding.
So good to know that you were pleased, overall — thanks for the follow-up!
My family didn’t care for this. Way too tart.
Will a 9 inch pie crust fit this recipe or should I half the ingredients?
Hi Lily, as long as it’s deep-dish, you don’t need to modify the recipe. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn:
Thank you so much. I was worried it would overfill, so I got a 10 inch and it fit great. Very nice and easy recipe. Super delish and not heavy. I like the Greek yogurt addition and not sour cream. Thanks again!
Hi,
I made this last year and it came out awesome. This year, I can’t find key limes at any local store and intend to make this with regular limes. Should I be doing anything differently with the recipe because of this?
Thanks so much!
Hi Courtney, Glad you’ve enjoyed it! And this is actually intended to be made with traditional limes, so no need to make any modifications. 😊