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,
This sounds delicious! Can I substitute whipping cream (have on hand) for the heavy cream? If so, is it a 1:1 substitution?
Yes and yes. 😊
Enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
Could the key lime pie recipe be doubled for a 9×13” pan? I want to make this for my large family at Easter. If not, I’ll just make two pies. 😋
Thank you! You are my “go to” for the very best recipes!
Linda Florreich
Johns Creek, GA
Hi Linda, I haven’t tried it, but I think it should work. Baking time may be a little different so keep a close eye on it. And thank you for the kind words about the recipes – so glad you like them!
Hi Jenn,
I made the pie using the Meyer lemons and took it to PT for the staff…they loved it! One gal said she took a slice home for her mom, who also enjoyed it!
Thank you so much…both lime and.lemon are huge hits!
Maile
Great recipe. I’ve made this three times and everyone has loved it and asked for more.
Fantastic recipe! Whenever I make it, it goes fast and it is top of the request list with my kids and friends. I have only made it once with limes, the rest of the times I have used whatever lemons I have on hand since lemons are NoCal’s version of zucchini. I have made it with European yogurt (slightly longer cooking time), only 1 can SCM (more lemony and tart, very good), no sugar in crust (don’t miss it), different random things in the crust (Nature Valley Honey&Oats, TJ’s triple ginger cookies are both worth it), and with and without the whipped cream (does not change the speed of group inhalation). Utterly delicious, and I have cited you in our family recipe notes. Thank you!
I used this crust recipe and it was too crumbly. Needed more butter. I didn’t go with this key lime pie recipe because of the yogurt. Not sure how that would taste.
But I do love once upon a chef. My go to recipe finder. Beautiful website. Great recipes!
Hi Jenn,
I’ve been gifted lots of Meyer lemons; have you tried substituting lemons for the limes? I realize this is a lime pie recipe but I’m looking for a creative way to use all these lemons, thank you!
Hi Maile, I’ve never tried it with lemon but some other people have commented that they have and have enjoyed it. I believe Meyer lemons are slightly sweeter than traditional ones, so you may want to reduce or omit the sugar in the crust to account for that. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Hi I am making for Friday can I make this pie and freeze it and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and garnish Friday morning before work ?
Hi Kim, I’ve never frozen this and wouldn’t think it was a great candidate for freezing, but a few people have mentioned that they have, and have been happy with the results when thawed. Keep in mind though that the crust will not stay crisp if the filling sits inside it (either in the freezer or the fridge). Please LMK how it turns out if you freeze it!
Full disclosure, I used a pre-made pie shell. I made the rest of the recipe as written, except I used Honey flavored greek yoghurt instead of plain, and it was delicious! I made it again, subbing all lime ingredients for orange, and it was also amazing. The extra oils in the orange make it a little more difficult to mix, but it sets fine. It’s fantastic. So, so yummy.
We LOVE this Key Lime Pie recipe. I’ve made it twice now and it’s always a hit. But, how do we keep the graham cracker crust from sticking on the pie glass dish? The crust fell apart and I wish it looks as pretty as it tastes after cutting into it. Any tips?
Hi Sue, Glad you like it but sorry to hear you’re having a problem with the crust. Are you using all 4 tablespoons of butter in it, or making any other adjustments?