The Best Key Lime Pie recipe EVER! Tart and sweet and incredibly easy, this Key Lime Pie is sure to be a family favorite! A delicious graham cracker crust filled to the brim with an incredibly creamy filling that is just so quick to make! You won’t be able to stop at just one slice!
Love key lime desserts? Check out my Key Lime Pie Bars and Key Lime Pie Snowball Cookies!
Key Lime Pie
I’m admittedly not much of a pie person. I only share pie recipes that I absolutely love. Recipes like this Key Lime Pie. That incredible combination of tart and sweet is absolutely irresistible and will make this pie a family favorite, guaranteed.
So, confession time. I didn’t squeeze a bunch of key limes for this pie. This is an easy key lime pie recipe, after all 🙂 I used key lime juice. You can find it the produce area in most grocery stores. It makes this pie even easier to make!
Now, if you have access to key limes and want to squeeze them, go right ahead! Absolutely perfect in this pie.
After all of that, Happy Pi Day! With an electrical engineering degree you can bet I’ve had my fill of pi. But never, NEVER will I have my fill of this pie.
So this “key” lime pie recipe is crazy easy. And I mean cray-zee. So easy, you may find yourself making one a week, like I plan to, for the rest of your life.
Key Lime Pie – Always Start with a Graham Cracker Crust
The pie starts with a graham cracker crust. I am terrible at crusts but gosh darnit, a homemade graham cracker crust tastes WAY better than a store bought one and it’s pretty simple to make. Just some graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter will do the trick.
I’m a big fan of graham cracker crusts because they are super easy to make and go so well in many desserts. I use it in this Pistachio Pie and these No Bake S’mores Cheesecake Bars.
(Extra graham crackers? You can find all my recipes that use graham cracker crusts here.)
What Is In Key Lime Pie Filling
Now let’s get to the filling. It’s a whole lotta lime juice, lime zest, sour cream and a couple cans of sweetened condensed milk (a.k.a. nectar of the gods). You just whisk it all together, pour it into your pie shell, bake for 10 minutes and voila – you’ve got a key lime pie that will blow your family and friends away.
- Key Lime Juice
- Lime Zest
- Sour Cream
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
What You Need To Make this Key Lime Pie
- Pie Plate – I made this pie in my 9.5 inch Pyrex pie plate. You can use a smaller pie plate no problem. You’ll either have a little extra crust or just make it extra thick. The filling does not expand when baking so go ahead and pour as much of it into your crust as you can.
- Key Lime Juice or Key Limes – I used key lime juice. I actually order mine on Amazon. I’m a big fan of reading reviews to make sure I get the very best product. This is the one I’m currently crushing on. Truth time. This pie can be made with regular limes if you can’t find key lime or key lime juice. Just sayin’.
- You’re going to need a zester for this pie. The key lime zest adds SO much flavor to this key lime pie and looks so pretty on top!
The truth is, I’m not much of a decorator when it comes to pies and cakes. I’m all about simple, easy, get-it-in-my-mouth-as-quick-as-possible. You too? Good. Then you’ll like my no-nonsense whipped cream topping.
If you are in a hurry, and I mean, a BIG HURRY, I would perhaps allow you to use a store bought pie crust and a can of whipped cream. This pie would still be heavenly. No doubt. (Edited to add: I made the crust in the video but as we were running out of time, I used a can of whipped cream in the video below. Works in a pinch!)
More amazing pie recipes to try!
- No Bake Blueberry Lemon Cream Pie
- No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie
- 31 Amazing Pies You Need To Try!
- Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie
- No Bake Pina Colada Cream Pie
How To Make the Best Key Lime Pie
Best Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
Graham cracker crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp butter melted
Key Lime Filling
- 28 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup light sour cream
- 3/4 cup key lime juice
- zest from 2 regular limes or 4 key limes
Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Graham cracker crust
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Press the crumb mixture into an 8" - 9.5" pie pan. Bake for 7 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes.
Key Lime Filling
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Whisk together sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest in a medium bowl. Pour into prepared graham cracker crust and bake for 10 minutes.
- Let pie cool slightly before chilling. Chill for at least 3 hours.
Whipped Cream Topping
- Beat heavy cream and sugar together in a mixer until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Spread or pipe the whipped cream on top of the cooled pie. Top with additional lime zest if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Originally published March 14, 2015.
And now that we’re all thinking pie… Check out these pies from my friends:
Krispy Kreme Pie | Cinnamon Pie | Peach Hand Pies
And more pies, just for fun!
For all cake recipes, go HERE.
For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
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Mimi says
Easy and delicious! The texture is so smooth. My husband kept asking for more. That said, I wish there were some way to make it slightly tangier without messing with the lovely texture. I like STRONG tang. Maybe I just need to find tangier limes?
Barb Pace says
I don’t have easy access to key limes where I live. So I used TrueLime. It is real lime that is powdered. I like the extra tang, too. I reconstituted it (2tbsp of TrueLime powder to 3/4 c water), then I added extra powder to taste. Turned out so beautiful, and nice and tangy, just the way I like it! I buy it in bottles from the grocery store and found it in the baking aisle, but I believe Amazon has it too.
David Price says
HI,
Thank you for your recipes!
This is my first try at a key lime pie.
I was looking over the ingredients.
You list 28 ounces of sweet condensed milk.
Is 28 ounces correct?
Thanks
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yes, that’s correct. You’ll need two 14 ounce cans.
Lin says
If I could give this recipe more than 5 stars I would. I was skeptical that so few ingredients could be this good. Followed recipe exactly.
Hubby and grandkids have already requested another one. Family thought I was a professional chef. 😂
Leigh says
This pie is a hit every time I make it and everyone always asks for the recipe. An easy, delicious crowdpleaser for sure!
Dana says
Okay – even my super selective (picky1) granddaughter fell in love with this pie! She already has dibs on the next one!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Haha! That’s amazing! Thanks Dana!
Lauren says
Can you use full fat sour cream instead of light?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Absolutely Lauren!
lauren Hanna says
Why light sour cream and not full fat? Can full fat be used? I have never been a fan of light. Thanks!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
You can use full fat sour cream with no issues.
Esther says
I Love this pie, super easy to make and it’s delicious, whole family asks for it all the time. Thank you
Meredith Tawney says
This was delicious. My picky husband requested key lime pie for his birthday. He couldn’t stop raving about it. Thank you!
Emily says
Loved it! Tasted even better after chilling overnight. A great summer treat!
Jamie says
Of course I started this recipe without realizing I don’t have a pie tin on me 🤦♀️ would it be fine to do Key lime pie bars in a 8×8 glass square pan? Or will it just fall apart and be a big mess after the 1st piece is cut? Any suggestions?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That should be fine! This sets up very firm.
Melissa says
This sounds like a great dessert! I like that it’s eggless. Some key lime pies can definitely taste eggy. Has anyone made this in advance & frozen it? How was it after it thawed?
Kathy Thompson says
So easy and it freezes wonderfully. In fact, we prefer it barely thawed, it’s even more refreshing. I wanted to judge this easy recipe with more fussy ones using eggs and other ingredients. Obviously eggs make a slightly more custard-like filling but taste wise, I didn’t see the benefits and neither did my family of tasters:).
Corinne says
Has anyone tried freezing it with the whipped cream topping? Trying to decide whether to just freeze the pie or go ahead and put the whipped cream on top too?
Barbara T says
Not sure about freezing with the cream but I made the whipped cream with 1 cup whipping cream (no sugar but I never put sugar in whipped cream). I spread it over the top but I found it too much cream which detracted a bit from the lime base. I would definitely freeze for a bit at least next time as I found the base a bit too soft even if delicious.
Ivette Garcia says
I’ve made this pie many times for family and friends. The last time I made it I switched out the sour cream for whipped cream cheese and everyone said I finally got the pie right loll. Go figure.
Great recipe!!
Melissa says
I’ve followed this recipe a few times and get nothing but amazing compliments every time. People say “it’s the best key lime pie I’ve ever had” thanks for a great easy recipe!
Janet Enns Conner says
I made this pie for my boss for her birthday. She asked if this was a old family secret recipe. I have also made them into tarts in a small muffin tin. I reduced the cooking time a bit due to them being small.People could grab and go. Had raving reviews.