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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Have a great day!
CARLA says
Amazing Pie! Rich and delicious. Everyone loved it. Is the calorie count of 517K is per slice?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you Carla! And yes – that is per slice… enjoy it!
Nicole says
I just made this over the weekend… it was by far one of the best desserts I’ve made. So delicious. I love the balance of sweet and tart and the homemade graham cracker crust is perfect. It was also super easy to make! I was craving key lime and this recipe nailed it. I’m making it again for Easter dessert.
Karen says
I just made this tonight and OMG HOLY DELICIOUS!!! The balance between sweet and tart are spot on!! Definitely my new go to for pie.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you so much Karen!
Regina says
I make my pie with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk 1/2 cup of lime or lemon juice and 4 Oz of cream cheese, but I don’t bake mine just refrigerate it a couple of hours. I also like to buy the chocolate graham crust she’ll once in awhile.
Barbara says
I plan to make this pie but have cinnamon graham crackers. Should I use them in the crust or go to the store for plain graham crackers? Thank you for this easy recipe.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I think those should be fine but you’ll definitely notice the cinnamon.
Patty says
I forgot to click the 5 stars. 😁😁😁
Patty says
I made this pie for my friends and WOW was it a hit!!!! It was my first time to make a key lime pie. I really like the thicker crust. The only thing I am changing is I’m using a deep dish pie pan next time. This recipe is easy, delicious and definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing and making it available to pin on pinterest. 😁😁😁
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you Patty! So glad you love the recipe!
Terri says
Very good except I found it a little too tart, next time I would cut down on the zest. I used fresh key limes for the recipe.
Isla OConnor says
I have tried many Key Lime pies but this is the best I have ever tried and made. My husband agreed. This one’s goes to the front on my dessert list.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
We love it too Isla! It’s so easy isn’t it? It’s my go to pie for parties – everyone raves about it. Thank you so much for the great review!
Kelly Jones says
I’m new at this but tried my first key lime pie at Red Rock Canyon Grill in Wichita KS and fell in love, so going to try your recipe this weekend. Question, there recipe seemed to have a nutty flavor also, maybe in the topping, any suggestions?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hmmm, I’m wondering if it was something they added to the crust? Any ground nut could be added to a crust to give it that flavor.
Danielle says
I add ground pecan to my crust and it’s amazing!