The Best Key Lime Pie | A Traditional Key Lime Pie Recipe

Describe your BEST Key Lime Pie…is it citrusy, sweet-tart, creamy — with the perfect sweet to-pucker ratio; light and easy with a crisp not-to-sweet graham cracker crust? Look no further…you found it! This traditional key lime pie recipe is easy and so simple to make and the most popular year round dessert on the blog!

I am a sucker for a good sweet-tart key lime pie! Creamy, plenty of pucker power and the best part is you make it ahead of time! A year round dessert delight!

If you dig make ahead desserts, try these other reader favorites; Easy Lemon Cream Pie, Traditional Italian Tiramisu or Old Fashioned Chocolate Ice Cream!

Last weekend after a long, hot day at a swim meet, we invited dear friends, for dinner to celebrate a birthday! I was a bit late asking what his favorite dessert was, but was able to whip this up just in time for dinner that night.

Plan Ahead for Easy Key Lime Pie – It needs to CHILL!

It does take a bit of pre-planning as it needs to cool and then chilled a couple of hours before being eaten, but WOW! If you are a key lime anything lover you will L O V E this crazy good Key Lime Pie!

The original recipe is a prize winning, no an Award winning Key lime Pie recipe! So if you are looking for the best, perfect Traditional Key Lime Pie recipe you have found it!

Ingredients & Substitutions

The ingredient list is small, simple and over the top delicious! Get the measurements in the recipe card below.

• Sweetened Condensed Milk | provides a silky, creamy, sweet texture, I use organic
• Sour Cream | I use full fat, but you may replace with full fat thick plain Greek yogurt too!
• Zest from Key Limes | or Persian limes if that is easier
• Key Lime Juice | If you can find real key limes, they make a difference, if you cannot, Persian limes will work and taste delicious!
• Egg Yolks | these help to thicken the cream pie filling, you may omit them for an egg free key lime pie, it will be a bit looser but the pie will still set up.

Graham Cracker Crust Ingredients

• Graham Crackers | finely crushed, I use organic graham crackers, may also replace with gluten free grahams.
• All Natural Cane Sugar | Just a little, to lightly sweeten the graham cracker crust.
• Butter | use the real thing, salted or unsalted, it’s so worth it!

How to Make an Easy Graham Cracker Crust

• Start by making the crust as it will need to bake and cool prior to placing your filling in it.
• Preheat oven to 350° and gather your ingredients.
• Melt the butter and set aside, I love my butter melter, I still do it on the stovetop, so my microwave doesn’t get splattered.

• In a food processor or blender (I used my Ninja – love it!) whir your crackers into fine crumbs. Or place crackers in a gallon sized freezer baggie, crush your graham crackers; if using a baggie, I like to hand break them, then using a rolling pin, roll back and forth until the crumbs are about the same size.
• 1 1/2 – 2 sleeves of graham cracker equals about 2 cups. You can use store bought Graham Cracker Crumbs, but honestly it’s so easy and fresh to make your own.

• Pour in sugar, pulse a few times, then pour in butter and pulse, or just mix with a fork as I’ve done here.
• Reserve about 1/8 cup of graham cracker crumbs for topping, if desired.

• Press the graham mixture into your pie plate. I chose a 9″ rimmed deep dish pie plate, so I could easily press the crumbs all of the way up the edges.
• Using my knuckles, I gently pressed into the sides and smoothed the edges/tops creating a pretty fluted edge.

• Carefully place the crust in the preheated oven and bake for 6-8 minutes. You want it golden, not brown.

TIPS for Cooling Graham Cracker Crust Quickly

• Allow to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then place in freezer for 20 minutes until pie plate is cool to the touch.
• Careful you don’t put it somewhere it will get scraped or bumped, the crust is still rather fragile. While the crust cools, make your key lime filling. 

Easy Instructions

This traditional key lime pie recipe takes a bit of planning, but it’s so easy and so worth it, every sweet-tart pucker powered bite.

• Wash and dry the limes and get out your zester, zesting just the green part of the lime, not into the bitter white “pith.”

PRO TIP | This microplane is my favorite zester, I use it for everything from zesting citrus, to grating chocolate, nutmeg and nuts, and I love it’s small profile.

• Juice the limes, this hand juicer works like a charm and is probably the MOST used tool in my kitchen, besides my favorite knife and mini measuring cup, is that weird?
• It took 24 Key Limes to get a little over 2/3 of a cup of juice, plus 1 Persian lime to get it up to 3/4 cup lime juice. I reserved one key lime to use as garnish.

I do much prefer fresh lime juice over bottled juice, but if you must, I like this brand of Key Lime Juice.

How to Thicken Key Lime Filling

• Now that you’ve done the hardest part, pour the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, key lime juice, egg* yolks and lime zest into the bowl of a mixer (I love this type of recipe, where you just dump and mix).
• Beat on low until combined, then increase speed and beat medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scraping down the sides every now and then. It should be thick and creamy, nice and thick, whip longer if it’s still a bit runny.

TFC PRO TIP | Some have complained that their key lime filling is too loose and doesn’t set up, the only trick here is to make sure you spend the full 2-3 minutes beating on medium-high speed of your mixer, or get an arm workout and use a whisk, it will thicken as you beat it. And make sure you bake at the correct temp until it is set. It will firm up as it cools and chills.

• Pour mixture into cooled graham cracker crust.
• Bake for 350°,  15-20 minutes, just until filling wiggles a bit in the center when gently shaken back and forth, careful you don’t allow it brown.
• Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes, then place in fridge for at least 3 hours before serving (you can still serve earlier, it just won’t be quite as set as it will a bit later. I personally recommend you bake it the day before you need it.

A beauty isn’t it! While the pie is cooling, make your whipped cream, it’s optional, but does add a beautiful touch.

How to use Leftover Sweetened Condensed Milk

• Leftover sweetened condensed milk? Check out this post from Bon Appétit and this one from Serious Eats for some great ideas.
• My personal favorite is drizzling over hot cinnamon rolls.
• I could see using it in place of Creme Anglaise in this Chocolate Bread Pudding.
• Drizzle a little in your coffee, yum!
• Be sure transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recipe adapted from Souffle Bombay.

HOW TO MAKE STABLE, PIPEABLE REAL WHIPPED CREAM 

1. In a cool mixing bowl (sometimes I’ll put mine in the freezer for a few minutes if it’s a hot day) pour your cold whipping cream (heavy cream) into the mixing bowl and using a hand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
2. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to whip until firm, more firm than you are used to, you want it nice and thick, almost to butter!
3. Scoop whipped cream into a piping bag with a tip (this is a good starter set), and keep in the coldest part of your fridge until the pie is completely cooled and ready to serve.

How to pipe whipped cream without a pastry bag

Simply scoop whipped cream into a sandwich baggie and once ready to pipe, snip off a corner to desired size — about 1/2 inch), pipe as desired.

Garnish, if desired with a whipped cream, slices of lime, reserved graham cracker crumbs, and grated lime zest.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

VARIATIONS

• While a homemade graham cracker crust is not only easy, but delicious, you may OF COURSE substitute for your favorite store bought graham cracker crust.
• Swap Persian Limes for Key Limes, not quite as limey, but still delicious.
• Use plain Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream.

How to make Mini Key Lime Pies

I love when my readers get creative, make it their own! A reader reached out to me to see if she split it into mini pie pans how long she should bake them and here’s her response.

Eight minutes worked perfectly for the mini pies! This recipe made 12 mini pies and they were delicious!

~ Jennifer

Let me know if you enjoyed making this award winning key lime pie recipe! Pop down below the recipe to the comments!

Recipes that compliment Key Lime Pie!

• Start with a light and vibrant Mediterranean Dip
• Maybe a flavorful Shawarma Chicken for the main dish
• Wash it all down with this crisp Colorado Mule

More Fantastic Cool Desserts:

• Fried Ice Cream Cake | Yum and Yum!
• Easy Dirt Cake | I make this at Easter, but no reason you can’t make all year long!
• Mile High Mud Pie | an outstanding dessert, requiring no baking!
• Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream | amazingly easy, creamy and delicious!
• Strawberry Shortcake — the old fashioned kind with a chewy cookie cake.
• Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake | a must try for chocolate lovers
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream | I think I’ve died and gone to heaven!
• Patriotic No Churn Ice Cream | the base is a basic vanilla ice cream, you will love!

Don’t forget that while we think of Key Lime Pie as a summertime dessert, it’s a delicious, tasty and beautiful non-chocolate, non-pumpkin holiday dessert as well! The most popular recipe on the blog, year round!

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