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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Jessica says
Made this lastnight and it was so good. Everyone loved it and it’s all gone. Thanks for the recipe:)
Melinda says
This recipe has descended itself from the heavens and I feel like I know what my purpose in life is after making this.
I’ve made this about 3-4 times now and every time I make it I have a mini stroke from how good it is. I once made it with a ginger snap crust and…. omg I don’t even have words for it.
Thank you for sharing this heavenly recipe 🙂
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Oh my goodness you are so sweet! The ginger snap crust is something I definitely need to try!
Jaci says
My husband was commenting that we don’t have dessert very often. I found this recipe on Pinterest and I had most of the ingredients at home and thought it sounded like an easy surprise. It was!! If I can do this anyone can. He loved it and had to share it with friends almost immediately after tasting it. Thanks for the recipe! We loved it!!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I am so glad you gave it a try Jaci! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Molly says
I was torn between recipes that call for eggs and those that don’t, so I compromised by using this recipe and adding one egg and only using 1/4 cup of sour cream. I don’t know if it made much of a difference but it was the best key lime pie ever (maybe the best pie ever)! I used a granola crust and made coconut whipped cream to go on top.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Sounds perfect Molly! The coconut whipped cream is genius!
Gus says
I grew up on key lime pies in Miami and my question is when did it become acceptable to replace meringue with whipped cream? A real key lime pie has meringue and isn’t green
Héléna says
Hi ! Thank you very much this recipe !!! Looks delicious ! I had just one question before making the pie : how can the filling be so ferm without eggs ?
Thank you !
Greetings from France,
Héléna
Sarah Elizabeth Graves says
Just tried this pie – OMG – Soooo goood!!! Exactly as you promised – easy & delicious. Can’t wait to make another one. 🙂
Jana says
Hi…
I am from Croatia and would like to make this pie for my birthday on saturday. Could you tell me how much condensed milk I need in milliliters? Thank you for your answer
Regina says
14 ounces = 414.029 ml.
Jenni says
I love a traditional key lime pie–and I really like the extra zest you added on top! If you don’t want to squeeze 80 billion key limes (and who does?), I use Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice. Just open and measure, and gives that extra tart, tangy key lime punch to this pie. It’s even what I used at the restaurants I worked in, so it’s not even cheating. =)
Melissa says
How far in advance can I make this? I was considering making it Wednesday for a dinner on Saturday, will it keep okay?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I think you will be fine Melissa. If you could wait until Thursday to make it it might be better though. I know it’s good for at least 2-3 days. Enjoy! This pie is really amazing!
Jack says
Man, every time I see pictures of Key lime pie my mouth waters
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Same here Jack 🙂
Chrissy says
i made this for tomorrow’s Easter celebration, and I am totally calling a key lime pie. I like the rubber spatula…the filling is do delicious!
Amy@Little Dairy on the Prairie says
This is basically the same recipe I use to make lemon pie! If it has sweetened condensed milk and no fuss decorations, I’m in!
OhmydIsh says
You can never have too much key lime pie, absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Mariet - Practicingnormal says
This pie looks so refreshing and pretty. I’m pinning the recipe. Thank you for sharing.