This simple key lime pie recipe has a dreamy, creamy filling, home made graham cracker crust, and a cloud of whipped cream on high. It’s a keeper!

At any time when I make this home made key lime pie, my son goes loopy for it. It is likely to be his favourite dessert!
Conventional key lime pie requires key lime juice, which works very well in our recipe beneath. That stated, I often make this pie with common limes and really discover it seems simply as nicely, if no more flavorful in the long run. For extra pies like this one, see our lemon meringue pie, recent strawberry pie, banana cream pie, or my favourite coconut cream pie.
Key Components
- Graham Cracker Crust: Whereas a store-bought crust works simply tremendous, I actually love the graham cracker crust recipe beneath. Retailer-bought crusts are sometimes smaller, so that you might need a little bit of that scrumptious filling leftover.
- Limes: You should utilize both key limes or common limes right here. Whereas key limes are conventional within the Florida Keys, my household loves this pie when made with common limes. So should you can’t discover key limes, don’t fear. The common limes within the produce aisle work very well!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: That is the magic ingredient in basic key lime pie. It’s a thick, candy syrup that completely balances the tart lime juice and makes the filling wealthy and creamy.
- Heavy Cream: Many recipes skip this, nevertheless it’s the key to reaching a very silky, dreamy filling. I’m satisfied that cream is the explanation that is the perfect key lime pie I’ve ever made at residence.
- Egg Yolks: You’ll use 5 egg yolks to make the pie filling thick and assist it arrange completely.
- Whipped Topping: Nothing beats a giant mound of home made whipped cream towards the tangy lime filling. I make mine with a contact of powdered sugar and salt, which helps the cream keep secure for days.
Discover the total recipe with measurements beneath.
Suggestions for Making the Greatest Key Lime Pie
Key lime pie is without doubt one of the easiest pies you can also make at residence, and it’s additionally one of the crucial show-stopping pies on the market (it’s excessive on my listing of the perfect vacation recipes!). Listed here are a couple of ideas so you are feeling assured making our recipe beneath:
Tip 1: Purchase further limes. The variety of limes you want varies vastly. To get the ¾ cup of recent juice required for our pie recipe, you’ll want 6 to eight common limes. Key limes are much more unpredictable. I’ve wanted to juice 32 earlier than! It’s all the time a good suggestion to purchase extra limes than you assume you’ll want (particularly when utilizing smaller key limes). You may simply freeze any leftover juice to make use of in smoothies, cocktails, or curries later. Extra steerage is within the recipe beneath.

Tip 2: Know when your pie is completed baking. Understanding when key lime pie is finished baking may be tough. You need the sides to be set whereas the middle continues to be fairly jiggly. It won’t look proper at first, however don’t fear, the pie will end setting and agency up because it cools.
Tip 3: Cool the pie earlier than topping. You actually need your pie to be fully cool earlier than including the whipped topping. If it’s nonetheless heat, the whipped cream will soften and slide proper off. After taking the pie out of the oven, let it cool on the counter for about half-hour, then switch it to the fridge to sit back completely earlier than you add the topping. Then, retailer the completed pie within the fridge till you’re able to serve. It lasts as much as 4 days!


Excellent Key Lime Pie
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PREP
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Our household loves this recipe for key lime pie. We use our home made graham cracker crust for the bottom, and generously high the pie with whipped cream. The filling is tangy, completely candy, and creamy, due to the addition of heavy cream (my secret ingredient for the perfect pie!).
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie, 8 to 10 slices
You Will Want
Graham Cracker Crust
12 graham cracker sheets or 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (180g)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (24g)
6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (85g)
Pinch tremendous sea salt
Key Lime Pie
1 tablespoon lime zest, plus extra for garnish
¾ cup recent lime juice (177ml)
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 ⅓ cup heavy cream (315ml)
1 ½ tablespoons sugar (18g)
5 massive egg yolks
Whipped Topping
1 cup chilly heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (240ml)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Small pinch tremendous salt
Instructions
1Put together the oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place a 9-inch pie dish onto a big baking sheet.
2Make the graham cracker crumbs: Place the graham cracker sheets right into a meals processor. Pulse till they kind tremendous crumbs.
3Combine the crust: In a big bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Pour within the melted butter and stir till the combination resembles moist sand.
4Press the crust: Pour the crumb combination into your pie dish. Utilizing the underside of a glass or a measuring cup, firmly pack the combination into the underside and up the perimeters of the dish. For a easy edge, use the again of a spoon to form the nook the place the aspect and backside crust meet.
5Partially bake the crust: Bake within the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Take away from the oven and let cool on a wire rack till it’s heat to the contact.
6Make the filling: Whereas the crust cools, whisk collectively the lime zest, lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium bowl till easy. The combination will thicken barely. As an optionally available step, you’ll be able to style a really small quantity of the filling at this level to see should you want extra sugar. It ought to style fairly tart, however every-so-slightly candy.
7Bake the pie: Pour the filling into the nice and cozy crust and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The pie is finished when the sides are largely set, however the heart continues to be wobbly. The pie will look barely underdone, which is strictly what you need.
8Cool the pie: Take away the pie from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let it cool at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, then put it into the fridge to sit back earlier than including the whipped topping.
9Make the whipped topping: Use an electrical hand mixer or a stand mixer to beat the chilly heavy cream on low velocity till it begins to foam. Enhance the velocity to medium-high. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, and proceed to beat on excessive velocity till medium to agency peaks kind (if piping this onto the pie, you’ll need agency peaks).
10End the pie: Swirl or pipe the whipped cream on high of the cooled pie. Sprinkle lime zest over the cream (or beautify with skinny lime slices). Refrigerate till you’re able to serve.
Adam and Joanne’s Suggestions
- Storing: The pie with the whipped cream topping will final for as much as 4 days within the fridge. Maintain it chilled till you’re able to serve.
- Retailer-bought crust: Be at liberty to make use of one, however remember they’re often 8-inch spherical, so it’s smaller than the 9-inch pie in our pictures. You will have some filling leftover. You may skip making the crust, however nonetheless partially bake it for 10 minutes.
- Limes vs. key limes: You should utilize both key limes or common limes (additionally referred to as Persian limes) for this recipe. Nevertheless, after we examined this recipe, we discovered that common limes really tasted much more flavorful than the important thing limes. So, my household sticks with common limes.
- What number of limes to make use of: Should you’re utilizing common limes, you’ll want about 7 to eight limes to get ¾ cup of juice. For key limes, the quantity can fluctuate vastly relying on their dimension. In our checks, we wanted about 32 tiny key limes to get the identical quantity of juice.
- Bottled key lime juice: Use ¾ cup bottled key lime juice, resembling Nellie & Joe’s, and 1 tablespoon of recent grated lime zest (from common limes).
- Use totally different citrus fruits: Whereas this recipe is written as a lime pie, you’ll be able to substitute the limes for any tart/bitter citrus, like lemons, Meyer lemons, grapefruit, or bitter oranges, like Seville oranges. Calamansi limes are additionally pretty.
- Dietary information offered are estimates.
Diet Per Serving
Serving Measurement
1/10 of the pie, 1 of 10 slices
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Energy
507
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Complete Fats
30.6g
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Saturated Fats
18.1g
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Ldl cholesterol
178.1mg
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Sodium
229.5mg
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Carbohydrate
52.2g
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Dietary Fiber
1.2g
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Complete Sugars
40.8g
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Protein
8g
We’re Adam and Joanne, a pair enthusiastic about cooking and sharing scrumptious, dependable recipes since 2009. Our objective? To encourage you to get within the kitchen and confidently prepare dinner recent and flavorful meals.Extra About Us


