Key Lime Pie

My classic, easy key lime pie recipe is a refreshing treat! Start with a simple homemade graham cracker crust, fill it with a 3-ingredient key lime filling, and top everything off with a sweet, fluffy whipped cream.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Chilling Time 4

Total Time 4 40

Servings servings

Calories 434kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

Crust

1 ½ cups (170 g) graham cracker crumbs
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
7 Tablespoons (100 g) salted butter melted

Filling

2 cups (475 ml) sweetened condensed milk¹
6 large egg yolks
⅔ cups (160 ml) key lime juice²

Whipped Cream Topping

¾ cup (180 g) heavy whipping cream
¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare your graham cracker crust.

Graham Cracker Crust

In a medium-sized bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugars.
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
Add melted butter and stir ingredients together until well-combined and all crumbs are moistened.
7 Tablespoons salted butter
Press crumb mixture into bottom and up the sides of a 9.5" pie pan. Set pie crust in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the filling.

Filling

Combine condensed milk (note that you are using only 2 cups and not 2 full cans!) and egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
2 cups sweetened condensed milk¹, 6 large egg yolks
Add key lime juice and whisk well, until slightly thickened (about 2 minutes).
⅔ cups key lime juice²
Pour into pie crust and bake on 350F (175C) for 18-20 minutes. When finished baking, the crust may be turning a deeper golden brown, the edges of the pie will be firm/set and the center will still be slightly jiggly when jostled.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before transferring to refrigerator. Once cooled, transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 6 hours (preferably overnight) before serving.

Homemade Whipped Cream Topping

Before serving the pie, prepare the whipped cream.
In a large mixing bowl, combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Use an electric mixer and stir on medium-low speed for 20 seconds, then gradually increase speed to high and continue to beat on high speed until mixture is thick, fluffy, voluminous and billowing ("stiff peaks" stage).
¾ cup heavy whipping cream, ¼ cup powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pipe or spread whipped cream over chilled pie (I used an Ateco 848 tip for the piping in the photos). Slice and serve.

Video

Notes

¹Important condensed milk note

Please note that this recipe calls for 2 cups (473ml) and not 2 14-oz cans. You will need about 1 ½ 14-0z cans for this recipe. Please see the post for more information on why this amount was used, if you are curious.

²Key lime juice

You can use fresh or bottled key lime juice. If you wish to use fresh limes, you'll need about 20-24 key limes to do so. I've found that the easiest and most efficient way to squeeze key limes is to cut them in half and use a garlic press (see video). If you opt to use bottled juice, make sure that it is actually "key lime" juice, substituting regular lime juice isn't as good.

Using different sized pie plates

You can use an 8.5", 9", or 10" pie plate for this recipe. You will likely need to adjust the baking time slightly depending on the size (smaller pie plates would require a longer bake time, and larger would be shorter. See my notes in the recipe for judging that your pie is finished baking).

Storing and freezing

This pie will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator, cover with plastic wrap or foil.

To freeze, wrap tightly and thoroughly with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to one month. If thawing the whole pie, return to the refrigerator the night before serving and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator.

You can freeze with or without whipped cream, but the whipped cream will become firm in the freezer so I prefer to add it just before serving.

Nutrition