The BEST Key Lime Pie

This is truly the BEST Key Lime Pie recipe – 6 simple ingredients and full of delicious flavor. Key Lime Pie is the perfect, light, and refreshing dessert.

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Key Lime Pie is one of those simple pleasures in life that I just love. It’s probably one of my most favorite pies. And to say that I’ve eaten a lot of Key Lime Pie is an understatement. I’ve eaten it in all forms and all over the place, but I can honestly say this recipe is my absolute favorite. I don’t take calling something “THE BEST” lightly… so this is truly The BEST Key Lime Pie.

You know, Key Lime Pie is one of those recipes that I feel like a lot of people are intimidated by, but I’ve made it SO easy for you here! In fact, you can get this one on the table with as few as 6 ingredients… seriously.

The BEST Key Lime Pie on a Table.

Do I have to use eggs in my Key Lime Pie?

A more authentic Key Lime Pie calls for egg yolks, but I find that leaving them out and adding sour cream produces a smoother and creamier pie that we just love. I actually made both versions and served them to the family and everyone picked this version with the sour cream as the best. Just try it and you’ll see what I mean!

What is a substitute for key lime juice in key lime pie?

What makes this a KEY Lime Pie are the Key Limes. They’re not your standard Persian lime. The flavor is a bit different, and they are much smaller. That means it will take a lot more to get the juice you’ll need for this pie. It took me about 20 Key Limes to get ¾ cup of juice, but could take a few more.

Now, you are welcome to use regular lime juice or even use bottled Key Lime juice, just know it will affect the flavor. This is also a case where fresh is best.

You may also substitute a combination of lemon and lime juice for a closer variation of key lime juice. Simply use ½ fresh lemon juice with ½ fresh lime juice for a key lime juice substitute.

Tips for your Key Lime Pie crust:

  • Store-bought is fine! If you’ve been around here any time at all, then you know I’m all about using shortcuts to make meal prep easy and less time-consuming, so using a pre-made graham cracker pie crust is perfectly fine here.
  • Deep dish is best! Try to get or make a deep dish pie crust, if possible. Otherwise, all the filling may not fit. And, no one wants to miss out on any of that creamy goodness.
  • You can make your own very easily! Making a homemade crust is easy! If you want to make one from scratch, you can follow my very simple recipe below on how to make a homemade graham cracker crust.

Learn how to make a Homemade Graham Cracker Crust!

Overhead view of graham cracker crust with measuring cup.

There’s something about a buttery, sweet, and salty graham cracker crust that makes for the perfect vessel for just about any pie. And while I am certainly no stranger to the convenience of a pre-made crust, sometimes I want to make a recipe a little special and make the crust, too.

How to make a Graham Cracker Crust

The BEST Key Lime Pie

4.77 from 38 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 28 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 648kcal
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Ingredients

  • 1 (9-inch) deep dish prepared graham cracker crust
  • 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ¾ cup key lime juice
  • 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, whisk together the condensed milk and sour cream. Once smooth, add the lime juice. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.* Cool on the counter, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  • Once ready to serve, beat the cream and powdered sugar together until you get stiff peaks. Top the pie with the whipped cream and serve.

Notes

This pie is much better using freshly squeezed key lime juice. However, regular limes or even bottled key lime juice will work.
*This step is optional. Heating the filling allows the bubbles in the filling to rise to the top and burst. The pie will set perfectly without baking. 

Nutrition

Calories: 648kcal · Carbohydrates: 80g · Protein: 11g · Fat: 33g · Saturated Fat: 18g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g · Monounsaturated Fat: 11g · Cholesterol: 93mg · Sodium: 251mg · Potassium: 481mg · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 68g · Vitamin A: 1022IU · Vitamin C: 10mg · Calcium: 336mg · Iron: 1mg

* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.

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174 Comments

  1. I used crushed vanilla wafers and didn’t bake them. let them refrigerate for one hour before adding the filling and I also didn’t bake the filling

  2. This sounds like it might be similar to the key lime pie at great southern cafe in seaside, Florida. They make a meringue for the top. I’m going to try this and see if it is close; I’ve been trying to duplicate their key lime pie! Thanks!

  3. 5 stars
    I have a granddaughter who loves key lime pie. Today is her 18th birthday and my 2nd time making this for her. It’d the best!!!

    1. How wonderful! I appreciate you trusting one of my recipes for such a special day! Please tell her I said Happy Birthday!

  4. 5 stars
    Best Key Pie – no eggs
    My favorite recipe. I have made it with Greek yogurt when I have been out of sour cream.

  5. I used fresh limes from my lime tree and added 1tbs of lime zest. My deep dish needed me to time and a half the recipe to fill up she pie dish. I cooked it for 10 minutes. Easy and delicious

  6. 5 stars
    Recipe was great would have been perfect pie if I didn’t mess up somehow. I used my juicer to produce my juice from the keylimes. Now it has a bitter after taste . I would hate to waste my extra juice …do you have any suggestions of a ingredient or ingredients I could add to the next one to combat the bitter after taste.

    1. That bitterness probably came from a little of the peel or pith sneaking in from the juicer. Hand-squeezing the limes is best since it keeps that from happening. You can also balance the flavor by adding a touch more sugar or sweetened condensed milk, and a tiny pinch of salt can help smooth out the bitterness.

      1. 5 stars
        Hello Stacey! I came across your site while searching for a Key Lime Pie recipe and your version came out perfect. Even though I used Persian limes and reduced fat sour cream, it made no difference in the taste and texture and I can’t wait to try the lemon version. I still struggle with the graham cracker crust as I pressed it into the pie plate too hard so it’s difficult to get the slices out cleanly. If I can’t master the pie shell technique, I’ll just layer the crumbs and filling in custard cups for an easy and delicious dessert. Thanks so much; I look forward to trying more of your recipes!

      2. I often do little cups like that. When it comes to the crust, you’d got to press it down enough to get it to stick together, but not so much that it gets hard. It can be balance for sure.

  7. I made the crust with ground ginger snaps and unsandwiched Oreo cookies (I removed cream in the middle). Was deLISH!

    1. I was looking for this comment! I absolutely love ginger snaps and was just dipping some into my key lime pie the other night and it was so delicious! Glad to see there’s someone else who enjoys the ginger-lime combo! 🙂

  8. 5 stars
    Can you say delicious! This is the best key lime pie, so silky, smooth, and taste great..my husband loves it and can eat the entire pie. Easy to make!

    1. I’m so glad to hear you loved the key lime pie! It’s always a win when a recipe is a hit with the family. Sounds like your husband has great taste! 🙂

  9. 5 stars
    This pie was so dang good !! I used a 10″ prepared pie crust instead of a deep dish and the filling fit. It took more time to squeeze the limes than it did to prepare. I wish I would have thought to take a picture, but the anticipation of eating it clouded my brain !! Thanks for sharing.

    1. I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the pie! Sometimes the excitement of tasting just takes over! No worries about the picture; it’s all about the experience.

  10. 5 stars
    I used a prepared graham cracker crust, stayed nice and crunchy. I used the bottled Key Lime juice, great tangy flavor. I did whip up the homemade whipped topping. The pie is sweet, tangy, creamy and DELICIOUS!!!! I will make this again and for sure when I have company !!!! Thanks for all the great recipes you share!!

    1. I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the pie! Using a prepared crust is a great time-saver, and the tangy Key Lime juice sounds perfect. Homemade whipped topping always adds that special touch. Hope your company loves it too! Appreciate your kind words!

  11. 5 stars
    I cannot tell you how many times I have made this delicious pie over the past two years. It is easy peasy and tastes as good, if not better, than any key lime pie I have ever had. I do use a regular size graham cracker crust, only one can of sweetened condensed milk, and just 1/2 cup regular bottled lime juice. I do keep the sour cream exactly the same as called for by the recipe. These are the ingredients I always have on hand for a last-minute dessert that never fails to get rave reviews. The 8-minute baking time is a game changer and goes by so fast! And, yes, I top it with Cool Whip when I serve it! I’m all about easy. Thank you, Stacey, for another outstanding recipe!!!

  12. 4 stars
    I had to make my own graham cracker crust, because the store by me didn’t have premade. I followed the recipe except I scaled it up a bit and added key lime zest. I have to say, it took a while to get a cup of juice from those little key limes! The scaled up recipe made a full deep dish pie plus a ramekin without crust for my gluten intolerant daughter-in-law. Very nice recipe.

    1. I love that you added key lime zest for extra flavor. And getting juice from those tiny limes can definitely be a labor of love. So glad y’all enjoyed it!

  13. 5 stars
    Love this recipe! It is simple but great ! Some recipes call for eggs & I didn’t want any raw eggs in it. Also some recipes call for yogurt & don’t really like the taste but I like the sour cream that it calls for. I only use 1 can of condensed milk & make a smaller pie. To me condensed milk is sickenly sweet. I make it once a week. Refreshing for the summer.

  14. 5 stars
    We love key lime pie but my husband is now on a low sodium diet and my recipe called for four egg yolks, along with a different crust. I found this and made a slight change by using a GF, low sodium crust instead of graham cracker. Based on this, the sodium is almost half per piece. Can’t find key limes in my area so I went with bottled key lime juice, which I usually use. Tastes great!

    1. I’m glad you found a way to adapt the recipe for your husband’s diet! Using a gluten-free, low-sodium crust sounds like a great choice. Bottled key lime juice can definitely work in a pinch, and I’m thrilled to hear it turned out tasty! Thanks for sharing your modifications!

  15. I just have a question. How does the filling set if it doesn’t have egg yolk in it? I have never made one without.🤷‍♀️

  16. 5 stars
    D E L I S H!!👌🏻👌🏻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ So many petty people with ugly comments who are SO unhappy😕🥴It’s just a PIE, people!

  17. 5 stars
    D E L I S H!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ So many petty people with ugly comments who are SO unhappy😕🥴It’s just a PIE, people!

    1. Hmmm… I’m honestly not sure. Theoretically it seems you could if you got the sides coated well enough with crust, but I wonder about how to get them out of the cupcake pan without them falling apart.

      1. 5 stars
        I’ve have seen on cooking shows that cooks put two strips of parchment paper, obviously cut into small strips, and put them in cupcake tins to lift when done. Comes out slick as a whistle. (do people even use this expression anymore?) Key lime is my all time favorite pie.

  18. 1 star
    1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 c. Key Lime juice, 3 egg yolks in a homemade (NEVER store-bought) graham-cracker crust. THAT is real Key Lime Pie.

    1. It’s always fascinating when folks rate a recipe one star without actually making it. I mean, imagine walking into someone’s kitchen, tossing your own pie on the counter, and declaring it the only “real” one.

      There are countless ways to make Key Lime Pie, and this happens to be the one my family and many others love. But hey, if your version is the gold standard, maybe you should post your recipe on your blog.

  19. 1 star
    I followed this recipe step by step, and I can tell you it is horrible. I made you call yourself a chef. I find it an insult to humanity. I have been a chef my whole life and never had anything this bad.

    1. To be a chef, this sure feels like a vague and hollow review. You can obviously see this recipe gets great reviews. What was it that you didn’t like or what didn’t work for you? And to be clear… I’ve never called myself a chef. Did you follow the recipe?

    1. 5 stars
      I have made this with Greek Yogurt and it turned out great. I used a cup of yogurt in place of the 1/2 cup sour cream. It will work if you do an equal amount of yogurt. It does have to be Greek.

      1. Thanks for letting me know, Kent! I’m glad to hear that it worked well for you as a substitute.

  20. 5 stars
    The key lime pie recipe was amazing! My husband said, a 9.5. And he is hard to please with desserts.
    I used the sour cream variation. Organic. AND I added one egg.

  21. 5 stars
    Pie came out beautifully!! I am from Michigan, we usually don’t get key limes this far North. I used key lime juice and it came out great. If I get the opportunity to get Key Limes I will make the pie with them for sure.

  22. 5 stars
    I never made key lime pie and I always assumed it was very complex! I made it for a cook out this weekend! My great aunt always had key lime pie on hand when we were little and eanytime I eat it I think of her ❤️

  23. 5 stars
    I’ve been making this recipe for years! It’s my husband’s absolute favorite. We use the store bought shortbread pie crust- he says this is his favorite combination ever.

  24. This is the recipe I have used for years. It is truly the best! I have actually won 1st place in a couple of recipe contests at church with this pie. Also brings a good price at our dessert auctions to help our teens pay for their camp costs. Such a yummy recipe!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!

  25. I’ve made this pie many times, and will be making it again this weekend for a friend’s birthday. My husband says it may be the best pie I’ve made – and I make a lot of pies. Thanks for sharing!

  26. I love this pie & crust I do add pecans to my crust and give them a rough chop reminiscent of Hillstones. Wonderful recipe …

  27. 5 stars
    2 Questions: 1. what brand of sweetened condensed milk do you use?
    2. If using a premade graham cracker crust, does it need to be baked and cooled? Can’t wait to try this recipe. I love Key Lime Pie.

    1. I typically use Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. And no, the store bought graham cracker pie crust doesn’t need to be baked before being used. Hope you enjoy it!

  28. 5 stars
    I recently made this for my family and everyone loved it. Easy recipe to make and very tasty! Also loved the homemade whipped cream on top. Thanks for sharing this!

  29. I’m not sure how you guys got it yellowish or greenish (not that it should be greenish). Mine turned out brownish which is the same color as the sweetened condensed milk. The sour cream slightly lightened the brownish color so I guess I would call it a tan color. I don’t really care though as long as it tastes good. We still have a couple of hours before we are going to chow down on this thing.

    1. The pie isn’t actually green, it’s just the way it looks in the photos. Different brands of sweetened condensed milk will have different colors.

  30. Oh Stacey, I made this pie for a dinner party I hosted last night, and it was absolutely the very best key lime pie I’ve ever made. (And believe me, I’ve made a few!) So creamy, so tasty, and so easy!! I can’t believe a reader could have slammed your recipe without reading the full blog first. At any rate, this pie is absolutely delicious. I used 10 key limes and it gave me just a tad under 3/4 cups of juice, which turned out to be just the right amount. This recipe is a keeper, for sure. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

  31. This pie is just yummy! My husband wanted a key lime pie and even though my local grocery didn’t have key limes, the Persian ones worked out just fine. We both just love your recipe. The sour cream sold me on trying it and I’m so glad I did. I may try the bottled key lime juice for the next one. Thanks for sharing.

  32. Pingback: The Greatest Key Lime Pie – The Sixth Floor Kitchen
  33. Made this for my uncles birthday tonight. Our family raved .. my born and raised in FL mom even said it was the best key lime pie she’d had. The creamy texture is amazing and it’s the perfect tart / sweet ratio. This is replacing a recipe that we’ve used for over 20 years.
    PS – the color is spot on.

    Thank you for another winner. Your recipes have been a bright spot for our family during this quarantine!

  34. 5 stars
    Loved it, very good. My husband and I don’t like whipped cream so we skipped it but actually may try it next time. This set perfectly and the homemade crust was solid as well. I halved both recipes and used a standard pie plate since I didn’t have a deep dish.

  35. 5 stars
    I made this for my husband’s Birthday, since Key Lime pie is his favorite ever since he visited Key West as a kid. We only could get regular limes and no juice (due to pandemic situation). I squeezed limes and one lemon to reach 3/4 cup. I followed everything else exactly. I also used a zip lock bag corner to pipe the whipped cream on the outside edge and a little in the center. I sprinkled lime zest over the top. He absolutely LOVED it, and I did too!!! We put his birthday candles in the pie and sang! I will definitely make this again. The flavor and texture were amazing!!!!

  36. Fuck all these haters about the color of the pie Stacey. Dont even worry about that shit. Thanks for sharing your pie recipe
    Cara

  37. Every year I make my nephew something key lime for Christmas, after he fell in love with key lime pie after visiting Key West. This year I tried your recipe. I got a late night text from him saying “this is the best key lime pie I’ve ever had” and that means a lot coming from him. He commented how smooth and balanced it was. I didn’t have the heart to admit how easy this recipe was!! This is the new go-to recipe for his Christmas key lime pie (which he eats the whole thing with a fork out of the plate, and doesn’t share with anyone). Thank you!

  38. My sister has a Key Lime tree in her back yard. We live in Florida. I baby the tree all year, watering and making sure it has everything it needs so when it is ready to give limes we are ready and willing to pick and make our pies. The lines are great in cocktails as well.

  39. This is a great recipe. First one that I have tried at home and this Will be my go to recipe for my key lime pie cravings. It is wonderfully sweet and tart. I used Nellie and Joe’s bottled key lime juice. Thanks so much for sharing.

  40. Hi Stacey,
    I had a recipe for Key Lime Pie that I had used for years but after trying your recipe, I threw my old recipe away. I love yours and everyone that has tried the pies I’ve made from your recipe seem to love it. As for Debbie and her complaints, I will say what my grandmother always said. “If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all”. She was a smart woman and a good cook too!

    Thanks for sharing your recipe and I’m happy I found it!
    Lynda

  41. I can’t believe the comments Debbie made, I cannot eat eggs so traditional key lime pie kills me. This pie tastes just like the ones we get when we are in Florida! However I have never been to Key West but if the people are mean and bitter, like Debbie, I may never visit that area. Who really cares what color the pie is? So petty, maybe you should focus on being grateful and not tear others down. I don’t see your blog!

  42. Stacy, the lady with the “REAL” key lime recipe is a bit persnickity to say the least, I have never wanted to try that recipe because of the raw egg, I don’t care if it’s technically cooked by the acid in the juice. I will give this a try, and I must say your graham crust recipe is better than most I’ve seen in the past year, a small amount of sugar not the 1 cup a lot call for. But I make mine without because I find it’s sweet enough. I love key limes, they do have a totally different taste, they are hard to find way up here in Northern Canada but they do occasionally show up.

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  44. Hi there! This looks wonderful! I have a couple questions:
    1. Can low-fat sour cream be used
    2. If using your recipe for the graham cracker crust, does it still need to be prebaked before filling? I wondered since the pie is baked after the filling is poured in the crust.

    Thank you!

    1. Hi Linda! I’ve not tried it with the low fat sour cream, so I can’t say for sure. I would still recommend baking the crust.

  45. That couldn’t possibly compare to the wonderful key lime pies that the legendary Captain Kutchie Pelaez bakes at his key lime pie factory.

  46. I make a LOT of Key lime pies using the recipe from Kermit’s Key Lime Pie Shop in Key West. People here seem to really like them. I am open to new recipes, so I plan to try yours. You can’t have too many good Key lime pie recipes!

    Bigred – Russellville, AR

  47. This is probably a really dumb question but why do you have to bake it if it doesn’t have eggs? What is changing when you bake it?

  48. I look forward to making this pie for our Friday lunch at work, with green food coloring added. I love key lime pie!

  49. This is EXACTLY the pie I have been looking for for YEARS. THANK YOU!!! Super delicious, creamy, perfect combo of tart and sweet. You have no idea that you made my YEAR with this pie.

  50. This pie is awesome. I had some reservations cause I am a key lime pie lover for years.
    So smoother and creamy and I used bottled keylime juice they have now. Lots easier then driving time to the keys and grabbing a few limes off the trees. Thank you and I am sure wirh a little dash of real key limes not one would know the difference. So happy with this now
    .

      1. I added a small can of crushed, drained pineapple to all and served it…..everyone flipped over it…….had this recipe for over 60+ years. Limelight Pie….

  51. Oh boy, I can’t wait to make this. And I live in Florida too. Very hard even here to get a good key lime. I planted one in my yard and everyone loved it for baking, drinks. Personally I don’t care if it’s purple, if it’s good go for it. Can’t wait to make this tonight.

  52. I see key lime juice listed in the recipe. I think it looks great! I assumed you added a dash of green food coloring just for looks, no biggy. Its your recipe and you can add what ever you want. : ) Some people just get up in the air at every little detail. It looks refreshing in this heat, so I’ll be trying it asap !

    1. You are SO right, Susan! I actually didn’t add any coloring to the pie. It is really more of a yellowish. It just appears slightly green in the photos. Regardless of what it’s made with or what color it is, I promise it tastes delicious! Have a great one, my friend!

  53. Please don’t call it a key lime pie if it DOESN’T have key lime juice in it! As a native Floridian I am offended when I go someplace and they advertise they have key lime pie and it doesn’t have a drop of key lime juice in it!! Key lime pie is NOT GREEN, it is a pale yellow!! If you use regular lime juice then you are making a lime pie! The traditional key lime pie consists of one can sweetened condensed milk, one egg yolk, 1/2 cup KEY LIME juice, and one egg white beaten. You pour this into a graham cracker crust and chill until firm. Then you can put whipped cream on top.

    1. Aren’t we fragile. If you don’t lie the recipe don’t make it, If that offends you I feel very sorry for you, I imagine life is pretty tough for you. If it tastes good I don’t care what it is called, is it that important. By the way instead of being offended maybe you should read the recipe, it does have key line juice in it.

      1. James, This is a deliciuos pie. All I can say to Debbie is, how rude!
        Absolutely delicious and so so easy.

    2. Hi Debbie! I would imagine you’re the type of person that gets offended easily, if that’s the case. That said, let me clarify… The recipe does use Key Lime juice. Simply reading the recipe will show that. I do mention that regular lime juice can be used if folks can’t find Key Limes in their grocery store, simply as a substitute. I also let them know the flavor will be different. I didn’t tell them they had to call it Key Lime pie, though. As I mentioned before, this pie is a pale yellow color, it just happens to appear greenish in the photos. I sure hope your day gets better from here on out! 🙂

    3. This recipe does use Key Lime Juice. 🙂 I squeezed a whole bag of Key Limes and it was the perfect amount- 3/4 cup. This pie was DELICIOUS! 🙂 And everyone I served it too voiced similar opinions. Thank you for the recipe, Stacey!

      1. *Sorry, just a hair under 3/4 cup, but I went with it and I was perfectly happy with the results! 🙂

  54. Key limes are yellow when they are ripe. And the juice is not green so I’m not sure why your pie is green. Real key lime pie is yellow.

    But I do love the idea of adding the sour cream and I will try it.

    1. While that is true, most commercially sold Key Limes are harvested when they are green. They don’t continue to ripe once picked. Being that I don’t have access to a Key Lime Tree, I have to rely on what’s available at my local grocery store – as will most of my readers. But to clarify, the pie is actually yellowish – it just looks slightly green in the photos because of the other colors.