Super fun to make, this easy key lime pie recipe is tangy, creamy, and feels like summer no matter what time of year you make it.
Key lime pie to me means Key West.
Living in South Florida we have been able to drive down to the keys when we have a couple days off and get on island time.
All the streets down there include blocks and blocks of different restaurants and bakery’s claiming they have the best key lime pie. Obviously we had to try them all. We even tried one that was dipped in chocolate and sold by the slice on a stick. I need to get on that.
After our trips there, we’re always left craving more and so instead of taking the 4 hour drive down to key west when the craving hits, I make my own!
If you love summery desserts than you have got to make this key lime pie! If your’e looking for something refreshing to drink check out London’s Mango Lassi!
Easy Key Lime Pie Recipe
This recipe is super refreshing, creamy, and has some serious southern tang to it. There is no shortage of flavor in this pie, plus the contrast between soft custard and crunchy graham cracker keeps you digging in.
Key limes vs regular limes
The thing about key lime pie though is that to be authentic you have to use key limes. They are smaller than regular sized limes and therefore don’t give you as much juice per piece. So to make your life easier you can either do one of two things:
- Buy key lime juice. This one is my favorite brand and you can generally find it in any grocery store or this link.
- Use regular limes! It’s totally fine to use regular limes, your secret is safe with me.
Or you can for sure get key limes, and squeeze out the juice of each one, but then we wouldn’t be able to call this easy key lime pie anymore lolllllll.
How to make this easy key lime pie recipe:
This recipe uses a graham cracker crust, so first you combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter and bake until ready about 8- 10 mins. Then comes the best part- mixing the rest of the ingredients in one bowl.
Ingredients:
- eggs
- lime juice and zest
- condensed milk
- half n half
- graham cracker crust
Eggs, lime juice, zest, condensed milk, and half and half all go in one bowl and get mixed up and poured into the graham cracker crust. Bake for just a few minutes. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool and chill.
How to decorate key lime pie:
If you are serving the pie right away- whipped cream and lime slices are a great option. You can decorate the border of the pie with the cream and arrange slices all around. Or you can just garnish with some more zest! Little flakes of green would be so pretty against the white whipped cream.
If you are making this in advance ( up to 2 days in advance is fine! ) – whipped cream is not a good idea because it can deflate or melt. For this recipe I drizzled some melted white chocolate, and lime zest and was super happy with how they looked even the next day.
Another option is to sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs on top for more texture and flavor.
How to store:
You gotta keep this pie in the fridge! Covered, with plastic wrap or stored in a large plastic bag, it will be fine for 3-4 days. You can freeze it too if you wrap it tightly in foil and plastic wrap. It’ll be fine for up to 2 months.
One last thing- you can totally play around with this recipe and make it into bars or mini individuals like I did here (this recipe makes about 6 mini tarts). I usually make it in a round pan but you can make it in a square 8×8 too. If you do play around with it, let me know how it goes!
Check out these other summer inspired recipes:
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Easy Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
For the graham cracker crust:
- 2.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup butter melted
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the Filling:
- 3 egg yolks large
- 1 14 ounce can condensed milk
- ⅓ cup half n half
- Zest of 1 lime
- ½ cup key lime or lime juice
- Whipped cream or zest for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 ° F.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until it resembles a mixture like wet sand. Press the crumbs into a 9" tart pan (see other options below) and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool.
- Meanwhile combine the egg yolks, condensed milk, half n half, zest, and lime juice and whisk until combined evenly. Pour the mixture into the cooled graham cracker crust, lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 8-10 mins, until heated through. Cool, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish and decorate!
Is there anything that can be substituted for condensed milk? Anything non dairy maybe?
Hi! you can try coconut condensed milk!