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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Eleceia says
Trish I’m so excited to try this pie, I’ve been on a key lime pie kick lately, someone at work brought in half a bushel of key limes!! I’ve been looking for new recipes to use the limes in and came across yours. I notice there’s no eggs! Does that make a difference? I’ll find out later this week when I make it but I’ve never seen a key lime pie with no eggs in the recipe. Thanks for posting these delicious looking recipes i’m looking forward to trying them!
Szilvia says
Dear Trish,
I am from Hungary, this recipe looks nice, I wanna make it for a Summer bday. Which piping noze did you use for the decorating on the top? I saw many recipes doing the cheesecake with creamcheese instead of sour cream. What is the difference in taste? Or why do you use sour cream?
thank you for your reply in advance!
Patti says
This key lime pie is wonderful! The addition of sour cream makes it not so dang sweet from the sweetened condensed mil. The lime zest adds such freshness to the flavor. I used a fresh lime and the remaining juice was Nellie and Joes… Always the best juice! I was trying several recipes for a pies for a banquet and I found the perfect recipe here. Thank you!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I agree Patti! My favorite!
Sabrina B. says
thank you for this recipe, and even for the reminder, I forget about this key limes, so appreciate this recipe, love the “tartiness” that is not in your typical pie!
Marji says
I was wondering if you could use plain Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream? Would that work in this pie.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I think it would Marji!
Rebekah says
I’ve made this recipe for several office and church functions and ALWAYS get rave reviews and people wanting the recipe. It’s so easy to make. To me, it is worth getting the key limes, but if in a hurry I do use Nellies Key Lime Juice. This recipe is the best I’ve ever eaten. Absolutely love it. Thanks for sharing.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
You are so sweet! I’m so glad you love it as much as we do!
Linda Jones says
Rebekah, thank you for responding to my question above, about eggs vs sour cream. I also sent a reply to Trish including a thanks to you but wasn’t sure you would see it as well. I do appreciate the response. God Bless, Linda Jones
Linda Jones says
QUESTION: My son wants key lime pie for his birthday. I want to make this one if possible because of the great reviews and I have made other recipes from your site and they turned out great. But most key lime recipes use egg yorks(many of them) in the filling. So I was wondering does the use of sour cream in the filling do the same thing as the egg yolks? Do you get about the same taste and creaminess? I’ve made key lime before using egg. Would love a response if possible before I try. And I do enjoy your recipes. Thanks, Linda
Rebekah says
Linda, I’ve also made key lime pie using egg and was happy with that until I tried this recipe. After trying this one, there is NO going back to the recipe with eggs! : – )
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you Rebekah!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
No eggs needed here Linda. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how delicious this pie is. Let me know how it turns out!
Linda Jones says
Thanks so much for getting back to me before bake my pies this Friday. Thank you both Trish and Rebekah for your comments and help. I live in such a small town hours away from getting any kind of real key limes. So I will have to go with the above recommendation of bottled juice or regular limes which you think either will be ok? I guess you realize your son is grown up when he ask for Key lime pies instead of ice cream and cake on his birthday. God Bless, Linda Jones
Linda Jones says
Trish this is Linda Jones checking back in with the results of your key lime pie. It was very successful everyone loved it. Especially my son and husband. It turned out perfect and sliced so nice. I also made your whipped cream topping and topped that with lime curl. It looked very nice my oldest son opened the refrigerator door and said wow look at those pies. Thanks so much again and also to Rebekah for her response. Nothing speaks louder than another follower of your site that has made one of your delicious pies.
Beth says
The topping is made with powdered sugar not regular sugar?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
For the whipped cream? Yes. Powdered sugar dissolves nicely into the cream. If you don’t have any though, go for regular sugar 🙂
Carol says
Would fat free condensed milk work as well as the regular you use in your recipe?
Katie says
BEST KEY LIME PIE EVER. I’ve made this twice now and it has turned out perfect both times. My fiance raves about this pie all the time. Do yourself a favor and make this pie ASAP!
emily says
this truly is the best key lime pie ever! we have made it multiple times after trying it this winter, thank you!
Guada says
Hi , I’m from Argentina and I want to try your recipe, but here we don’t use Oz so I ‘m a little confused 2 14 oz is 2lb oz ? Thank you !!!
Regina says
Since we’re referring to a liquid, we’d use milliliters instead – 14 ounces = 414.029 ml, so you’d need 828.058 ml of sweetened condensed milk. I’m sure if you could find 425 ml cans, that would be close enough.
Anneke says
What do you refer to in your recipe as half and half? We are not accustomed with that term here in South Africa.
Regina says
The Difference Between Half-and-Half, Light Cream, Whipping Cream, and Heavy Cream
The difference between these four common cream varieties is really just the amount of fat they contain.
•Half-and-half contains 12 percent fat
•Light cream contains 20 percent fat
•Whipping cream contains 35 percent fat
•Heavy cream contains 38 percent fat
The higher the fat content, the thicker the cream, and the easier it is to whip into stable peaks (or whipped cream). Higher-fat creams are also more resistant to curdling, so they are a better choice in soups and sauces, when the cream is heated.
Linda says
Made this today for my husband for his birthday. Absolutely delicious! Moved recently and could not find a pie pan…….used a Spring Form pan and turned out perfectly with a nice looking edge 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Great idea Linda! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!
Nicole B. says
I’m def saving this recipe! World Market carries bottles of key lime juice for $2.99…just saying 😉
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Definitely! I say use the juice Nicole!
Leesa says
FYI you can by key lime juice in the supermarket. It is from Key West too. NO WAY would I squeeze all those key limes. I will follow the rest of the recipe except I’m going to use key lime juice from the bottle. I’m going to make it for my husband’s birthday Wednesday. Thanks for posting. Key like pie is my all time favorite and my husband hs fallen for it as well. 🙂