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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A says
I just tried this recipe and it turned out perfect! It was so easy! I wonder if you could substitute other citrus juices to make say, an orange version or a lemon version?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I haven’t tried yet but I know readers have and love it. It appears lemon is a favorite.
Madison says
I just made this tonight for my family and they absolutely loved it! It’s so flavorful and it has become our new favorite recipe!
MdAJ says
My son loves to bake and we have tried other famous Key Lime Pie recipes from South Carolina. This recipe was delicious and perfect! He also made his Graham crackers from scratch. This recipe does not disappoint. Its full of flavor and delicious!
shanaya says
I tried this recipe over the weekend. It is absolutely amazing! It was as good as my favorite made by My Husband. Thanks For sharing such a nice recipe.
Karen Hayes says
My very first pie I ever made. So easy, so good. Thank you
jullie says
Amazing post the lime pie recipe is so awesome. Its a Great Recipe to try at home Thanks !!
Dani says
I made this over the weekend. I don’t think I have ever tried key lime pie before so nothing to compare it with but this was AMAZING! Only thing I changed was to add at least a 1/4 cup more key lime juice to the filling. Just a personal taste preference – didn’t change the texture at all. So very easy and so good! Thank you 😊
Adelaide Wiggins says
Was very good! My daughter who is literally a person who can’t make toast made this and it tasted amazing!! The only downside it it took her 5 hours instead of 30 minutes like it said. But then again it might have been because of her inability to cook/bake🤪
Cassandra says
Delicious recipe either right amount of tartness. Added a little gelatin to the whipped cream when I made it so that it would hold longer. Just wondering if I can half the ingredients and get the same results.
Alicia Rasley says
I have made this twice. First time was perfect as I followed the instructions. Second time, I hot distracted and let it bake for 15 minutes. Ot was still great, but more like a cheesecake in texture. Moral of the story… follow the recipe
Toni Perez says
Total Deliciousness!
I noticed every time my husband and I go out to eat lately if Key Lime Pie is on the menu, he orders dessert. Today is his birthday and I’m going to surprise him with this easy to make recipe. I used freshly squeezed Key Lime juice. I have a feeling somebody’s going to be licking his plate. Thank You so much for sharing the recipe.
Sheetal kapoor says
I tried this recipe over the weekend. It is absolutely amazing! Thanks For Sharing!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed it, it’s my favorite!
Laurie Thomas says
I substituted lemon off of the tree. Did the recipe the same otherwise. Quite delicious and a big hit! Everyone wants tour recipe!! Thank you so much.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Mmmmm! Lemon pie! I’m down for that too!
Tammie says
Thanks for leaving this comment. Everyone really enjoyed the lime pie but I’ve been wanting to make a lemon pie of some type. It’s been yrs since I’ve made a lemon meringue pie which I love but I want to make something a bit easier. After reading your comment I knew this was going to be the one. Enjoy that lemon tree. I have one too but it’s still a youngin, lol. Happy baking…
Dusti richards says
Are you kidding me!! Easiest pie I have ever made…and one of the best! I even juiced real key limes, still easy.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That’s my favorite thing about this pie, besides the flavor of course, SO darn easy! Glad you enjoyed it!
Kellie says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! My father in law requested Key Lime Pie for dessert & since I had never made one from scratch before I told him I’d give it a go! My FIL is a pie connoisseur of sorts, lol so I crossed my fingers that he’d like it…well he didn’t just like it, he loved it! The rest of my family are not big pie people but this got the overwhelming request to make it again & soon from everyone at the table! This will surely become a recipe I use for many family functions to come!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I love this so much Kellie! So happy you stopped by!