Easy key lime pie recipe with condensed milk

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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!

1. No Bake Blueberry Lemon Cream Pie
2. No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie
3. 31 Amazing Pies You Need To Try!
4. Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie
5. No Bake Pina Colada Cream Pie

How To Make the Best Key Lime Pie

4.98 from 254 votes

Best Key Lime Pie

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! 

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword key lime pie, pie

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 17 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Servings 10 servings

Calories 517kcal

Author Trish - Mom On Timeout

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.

  What happens when you add lime juice to condensed milk?

  The only other ingredients you need are sweetened condensed milk and a pie shell to pour the mixture into. Here's the science: The acid in the key lime juice reacts with the proteins in the milk to thicken the mixture. That's why you don't need to bake it.

  What ingredients are in a key lime pie?

  Key lime pie ingredients are simple: sweetened condensed milk, lots of lime zest and juice (preferably from key limes), and just enough egg to give it a good set. Pour the filling into a pre-baked graham cracker crust, bake briefly until the pie is set, and let it chill. Top the pie with whipped cream and serve.

  Can you use limes instead of key limes for key lime pie?

  Ordinary limes make an exceptional Key lime pie, and they are a much better alternative to bracingly tart bottled Key lime juice. This pie tastes every bit as authentic as the real deal — plus it's easier to make.

  Why is Publix key lime pie so good?

  The filling is a proprietary blend of Key lime and lime juice – this blend gives the Publix Bakery Key Lime pie a balanced taste that is not too sweet or too tart. The pie is made using real whipped cream.