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You are here: Home / Recipes / Dessert / Best Key Lime Pie

Best Key Lime Pie

February 1, 2019

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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-recipe

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.

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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.

best-key-lime-pie-recipe

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.)

key-lime-pie-recipe-slice

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

key-lime-pie-whipped-cream

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.

best-lime-pie-recipe-graham-cracker-crust

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!

  1. No Bake Blueberry Lemon Cream Pie
  2. No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie
  3. 31 Amazing Pies You Need To Try!
  4. Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie
  5. No Bake Pina Colada Cream Pie

How To Make the Best Key Lime Pie

Print Pin
4.99 from 456 votes

Best Key Lime Pie

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! 
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword key lime pie, pie
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes minutes
Total Time 27 minutes minutes
Servings 10 servings
Calories 517kcal
Author Trish - Mom On Timeout

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

Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 262mg | Potassium: 359mg | Sugar: 58g | Vitamin A: 810IU | Vitamin C: 2.3mg | Calcium: 269mg | Iron: 0.7mg

Originally published March 14, 2015.

key-lime-pie-collage

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!

easy-mini-chocolate-pecan-pies-recipe

Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies

best-coconut-cream-pie-recipe-easy

Best Coconut Cream Pie

turtle-pecan-pie-bars-recipe

Turtle Pecan Pie Bars

brownie-sundae-pie-pudding-recipe

Brownie Sundae Pie

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For all cake recipes, go HERE.
For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
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Have a great day!

  • 29304

By Trish - Mom On Timeout February 1, 2019 Dessert, Favorites, Pies, Popular Post, Recipes

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Comments

  1. Laurie says

    March 27, 2026 at 6:30 AM

    This IS the best key lime pie recipe I’ve made. The pie is in demand at the place that we spend the winter.

    Reply
  2. Avery says

    March 26, 2026 at 1:10 PM

    This is my favorite!! I recently won an office contest with this recipe!

    Its the perfect amount of a little sweet and tart key lime!

    Reply
  3. Alicia Ferry says

    March 19, 2026 at 7:26 AM

    Sounds like the perfect recipe for me.

    Reply
  4. Tricia Graham says

    March 13, 2026 at 1:09 PM

    This is the GOAT key lime pie I’ve ever made or eaten! The only thing I changed was a brown butter graham cracker crust! The sour cream in the filling is the secret, I think! Perfectly tangy and sweet!

    Reply
  5. sophia s says

    January 9, 2026 at 3:54 PM

    this pie is AMAZING. you wont ever need another recipe. made it for the family and everyone raved about it for days

    Reply
  6. Cheryl says

    December 23, 2025 at 9:02 AM

    I’ve made this pie 3 times. It’s del

    Reply
  7. Judy says

    December 21, 2025 at 11:35 AM

    Just put this Key Lime Pie in the oven and it seems great – but no eg yolks?? Every other recipe for Key Lime Pie has egg yolks?? Just curious!

    Reply
    • Trish - Mom On Timeout says

      May 31, 2026 at 2:38 PM

      The recipe is correct, thanks Judy!

      Reply
  8. Tabatha Brightwell says

    December 7, 2025 at 11:13 AM

    Family loved this pie!

    Reply
  9. Sarah Z says

    December 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM

    This was the hit of Thanksgiving! I challenged (forced) everyone (including all the kids) to cook something this year for the meal – no freeloaders allowed. My 19yo chose to make key lime pie (a family favorite). We settled on this recipe, and I can say this is by far the BEST Key Lime pie we can remember having! We used the Partake brand graham crackers (the whole box) for the crust to make it Gluten Free.
    Thanks for your awesome recipe – my child’s first holiday dessert will forever be a hit!

    Reply
  10. Debra says

    November 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM

    It’s great

    Reply
  11. Georgette says

    October 7, 2025 at 11:13 AM

    This is my go to key lime pie recipe. I always get requests for the recipe when I make this, even when I use a premade crust and whipped cream from a can. We are known for this recipe at our kids’ school’s dessert fundraiser auction, where it sparks a bidding war every year.

    Reply
  12. Carole says

    September 30, 2025 at 10:28 AM

    je fais cela en fin de semaine merci

    Reply
  13. Cheryl says

    September 3, 2025 at 8:09 PM

    Fabulous

    Reply
    • Kelly hunt says

      March 30, 2026 at 4:33 PM

      Very easy recipe and was very delicious people thought I ordered it. lol from a bakery

      Reply
  14. Steve says

    August 20, 2025 at 3:57 AM

    I have made this recipe a couple times to raves! It’s easy and delicious. I changed up the whipped cream a bit. I added either white chocolate or vanilla instant pudding, your choice, when the cream reached soft peaks. I also added lime juice and zest to carry over the lime flavor.

    Reply
  15. Liz says

    August 9, 2025 at 8:11 PM

    I’ll never look elsewhere! So delicious and easy. I love how well it sets up and the balance of sweet and tart. I cut it into 12 pieces for a large family gathering. After having a slice, I was glad I went small. They are super rich and full of flavor.

    (I also added a scant tbsp of white chocolate instant pie mix to my whipped cream to help stabilize it and it turned out great)

    Reply
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Hi, I’m Trish!

Welcome to Mom On Timeout where I’m serving up real food for real families! Dinners, desserts, and everything in between!
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