This easy key lime pie recipe has a dreamy, creamy filling, homemade graham cracker crust, and a cloud of whipped cream on top. It’s a keeper!
Whenever I make this homemade key lime pie, my son goes crazy for it. It might be his favorite dessert!
Traditional key lime pie calls for key lime juice, which works really well in our recipe below. That said, I usually make this pie with regular limes and actually find it turns out just as well, if not more flavorful in the end. For more pies like this one, see our lemon meringue pie, fresh strawberry pie, banana cream pie, or my favorite coconut cream pie.
Key Ingredients
- Graham Cracker Crust: While a store-bought crust works just fine, I really love the graham cracker crust recipe below. Store-bought crusts are often smaller, so you might have a bit of that delicious filling leftover.
- Limes: You can use either key limes or regular limes here. While key limes are traditional in the Florida Keys, my family loves this pie when made with regular limes. So if you can’t find key limes, don’t worry. The regular limes in the produce aisle work really well!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: This is the magic ingredient in classic key lime pie. It’s a thick, sweet syrup that perfectly balances the tart lime juice and makes the filling rich and creamy.
- Heavy Cream: Many recipes skip this, but it’s the secret to achieving a truly silky, dreamy filling. I’m convinced that cream is the reason this is the best key lime pie I’ve ever made at home.
- Egg Yolks: You’ll use 5 egg yolks to make the pie filling thick and help it set up perfectly.
- Whipped Topping: Nothing beats a big mound of homemade whipped cream against the tangy lime filling. I make mine with a touch of powdered sugar and salt, which helps the cream stay stable for days.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Key Lime Pie
Tip 1: Buy extra limes. The number of limes you need varies greatly. To get the ¾ cup of fresh juice required for our pie recipe, you’ll need 6 to 8 regular limes. Key limes are even more unpredictable. I’ve needed to juice 32 before! It’s always a good idea to buy more limes than you think you’ll need (especially when using smaller key limes). You can easily freeze any leftover juice to use in smoothies, cocktails, or curries later.
Tip 2: Know when your pie is finished baking. Knowing when key lime pie is done baking can be tricky. You want the edges to be set while the center is still quite jiggly. It might not look right at first, but don’t worry, the pie will finish setting and firm up as it cools.
Tip 3: Cool the pie before topping. You really want your pie to be completely cool before adding the whipped topping. If it’s still warm, the whipped cream will melt and slide right off and you will not be able to get clean slices.
After taking the pie out of the oven, let it cool on the counter for about 30 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator to chill thoroughly before you add the topping. Leave it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. It continues to firm up as it chills, so longer really is better here.
Perfect Key Lime Pie
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- COOK
- TOTAL
Our family loves this recipe for key lime pie. We use our homemade graham cracker crust for the base, and generously top the pie with whipped cream. The filling is tangy, perfectly sweet, and creamy, thanks to the addition of heavy cream (my secret ingredient for the best pie!).
Before slicing, you need to thoroughly chill this pie (for at least 2 to 3 hours in the fridge, and preferably overnight). We prefer to let it cool for 30 to 40 minutes on the counter, then refrigerate it overnight. As it chills, the filling firms up, making it easier to get clean slices. Cutting this pie too early will give you more sloppy slices (although they still taste incredible!).
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
Graham Cracker Crust12 graham cracker sheets or 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (180g)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (24g)
6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (85g)
Pinch fine sea salt
Key Lime Pie1 tablespoon lime zest, plus more for garnish
¾ cup fresh lime juice (177ml)
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 ⅓ cup heavy cream (315ml)
1 ½ tablespoons sugar (18g)
5 large egg yolks
Whipped Topping1 cup cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (240ml)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Small pinch fine salt
Directions
1Prepare the oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place a 9-inch pie dish onto a large baking sheet.
2Make the graham cracker crumbs: Place the graham cracker sheets into a food processor. Pulse until they form fine crumbs.
3Mix the crust: In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and stir until the mixture resembles wet sand.
4Press the crust: Pour the crumb mixture into your pie dish. Using the bottom of a glass or a measuring cup, firmly pack the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the dish. For a smooth edge, use the back of a spoon to shape the corner where the side and bottom crust meet.
5Partially bake the crust: Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack until it’s warm to the touch.
6Make the filling: While the crust cools, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium bowl until smooth. The mixture will thicken slightly. As an optional step, you can taste a very small amount of the filling at this point to see if you need more sugar. It should taste pretty tart, but ever-so-slightly sweet.
7Bake the pie: Pour the filling into the warm crust and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The pie is done when the edges are mostly set, but the center is still a bit wobbly. The pie will look slightly underdone, which is exactly what you want. It firms up as it cools.
8Cool the pie: Remove the pie from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let it cool to room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled before adding the whipped topping. Leaving this pie in the fridge overnight is best, but 2 to 3 hours will do. As it chills, the filling firms even more.
9Make the whipped topping: Use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer to beat the cold heavy cream on low speed until it starts to foam. Increase the speed to medium-high. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, and continue to beat on high speed until medium to firm peaks form (if piping this onto the pie, you will need firm peaks).
10Finish the pie: Swirl or pipe the whipped cream on top of the cooled pie. Sprinkle lime zest over the cream (or decorate with thin lime slices). Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: The pie with the whipped cream topping will last for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Keep it chilled until you’re ready to serve.
- Store-bought crust: Feel free to use one, but keep in mind they are usually 8-inch round, so it’s smaller than the 9-inch pie in our photos. You may have some filling leftover. You can skip making the crust, but still partially bake it for 10 minutes.
- Limes vs. key limes: You can use either key limes or regular limes (also called Persian limes) for this recipe. However, when we tested this recipe, we found that regular limes actually tasted even more flavorful than the key limes. So, my family sticks with regular limes.
- How many limes to use: If you’re using regular limes, you’ll need about 7 to 8 limes to get ¾ cup of juice. For key limes, the number can vary greatly depending on their size. In our tests, we needed about 32 tiny key limes to get the same amount of juice.
- Bottled key lime juice: Use ¾ cup bottled key lime juice, such as Nellie & Joe’s, and 1 tablespoon of fresh grated lime zest (from regular limes).
- Use different citrus fruits: While this recipe is written as a lime pie, you can substitute the limes for any tart/sour citrus, like lemons, Meyer lemons, grapefruit, or sour oranges, like Seville oranges. Calamansi limes are also lovely.
- Nutritional facts provided are estimates.
Came here after seeing the interview on CNBC.
That’s wonderful, Bill. Thank you so much for your support!
My husband loves Key Lime Pie but I love Lemon Meringue Pie. You mention your LEMON Meringue Pie recipe in the recipe article for Key Lime. I didn’t find the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe Pie Recipe– can you share it? Thanks so much, Sheila
It is funny that you asked about our lemon meringue pie. We plan on publishing that recipe in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned 🙂
Hi there, I just want to let you know that you can’t make key lime pie unless you have key limes. They are sweeter than regular limes and specific to this recipe. Living in Canada, I order key lime juice from Amazon to make key lime pie.
Hi Ann, We make this recipe with regular limes all the time and love it. I thought key limes would be the game changer in flavor, but when we tested this recipe with them and then again with regular limes, we loved both versions. In fact, on that occasion, we all preferred the pie made with regular limes slightly more than the one with key lime juice.
Can you use digestive biscuits as we don’t have Graham cracker sheets /biscuits. Would I just use 180g crushed digestives for the base.
Yes! That’s an excellent substitute, Annabel.
Hi Joanne, This looks delicious! My husband loves key lime pie. I never even thought of switching it up. Won’t he be surprised when I make him his favorite ruby red grapefruit into a lucious pie! Thanks for the idea…I always look forward to receiving your newsletters.
You and your husband are going to love this pie 🙂
From Scotland and I’ve never in my life made this pie. However,it sounds and looks delicious. Will be trying it soon. Thanks.
You are so welcome! 🙂
What is a Graham cracker crust where do I get it. Never seen it in our supermarkets.
For this recipe we make one. They are really easy to make. Here is a link to our recipe for Graham cracker crust.
Can anything be substituted for diabetics as sugar content quite high?
Hi Gail, Unfortunately, the sweetened condensed milk is an essential ingredient for this pie and that’s where most of the sugar will be. I do not have a substitute for that. Sorry!