Easy Key Lime Pie Recipe

This easy key lime pie recipe tastes so fresh and tangy, bursting with flavor and just sweet enough! Keep it simple with 4 ingredients for a delicious summertime treat!

What are your top three favorite fruits of spring and summer?

I’m going to take a wild guess and say most of you chose some kind of berries, cherries, or grapes. Maybe you picked peaches or apricots.

There is another fruit that makes a very short appearance during the spring and summer months that deserves some love and attention.

Introducing the key lime – the “key” ingredient in my delicious easy key lime pie recipe!

BEST KEY LIME PIE RECIPE

Aside from the fact that this key lime pie recipe is incredibly easy to make, it is also:

• Simple. Made using only 4 ingredients.
• Homemade. You get to decide how homemade it is – there are options to make both the crust and the sweetened condensed milk from scratch or grab them from the store for a quick shortcut.
• Versatile. For a more tropical flair, use coconut oil instead of melted butter in the pie crust.
• Dairy-free optional. Use full-fat coconut milk instead of sweetened condensed milk for a dairy free key lime pie instead.
• Perfect summertime treat! The combination of the tangy, fresh citrus flavor in the creamy filling with the buttery crust? I’ll take a second slice of that!

INGREDIENTS FOR KEY LIME PIE:

Here’s what you’ll need to make this authentic key lime pie recipe:

• Fresh Key West lime juice with lots of fresh key lime zest. This is the best way to go vs. using bottled regular lime juice. Regular limes will work fine, although key limes have an extra tangy flavor.
• Egg yolks. Save the leftover egg whites to brush the top of your Shepherd’s Pie or add to Tex-Mex Migas for breakfast.
• One 15oz can of sweetened condensed milk. Or use my homemade version.
• Plus 1 batch of my homemade pie crust. Some key lime pie recipes call for homemade Graham Cracker Crusts, but I think a buttery Homemade Pie Crust tastes much better combined with the sweet tartness of the key limes. Make either crust from scratch or grab one from the store.

LIMES FOR KEY LIME PIE

Key limes are small, yellow citrus fruits that are extremely tart, and “extremely” is putting it mildly. Lemons and limes have got nothing on these babies!

The key limes you see in grocery stores are usually green and tend to be sold in 2-pound bags or so… but unfortunately, those aren’t really key limes. They’re a different breed called Persian limes, and they’re tart too, just to a lesser degree.

For all intents and (most recipe) purposes, Persian limes will work just fine unless you’re baking for someone who is a key lime fanatic. Then you may want to seek out the real ones.

Since Persian lime just isn’t as catchy as key lime, I’m calling the green ones key limes anyway (plus the bag says so 😉).

HOW TO MAKE KEY LIME PIE

This is such an easy key lime recipe that you’ll never eat another grocery store key lime pie again!

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 325F. (If you are making a homemade pie crust, bake that first in a 9-inch pie pan, and then lower the oven temperature to 325F – you want to start this recipe with a baked pie crust.)

Step 2. In a large bowl, combine the lime juice, zest, egg yolks, and milk and whisk well. The mixture will thicken as the citrus reacts with the milk.

Step 3. Pour the key lime filling into a baked pie crust and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the center is set but still jiggly (think thick Jell-o).

Step 4. Allow the pie to cool on a rack for 1-2 hours to room temperature, then serve or store covered in the refrigerator. You can also chill before serving if you make it ahead.

Top your key lime pie with Homemade Whipped Cream! Yum!

KEY LIME PIE RECIPE TIPS

Use a citrus squeezer. The first time we made this easy lime pie, we quartered the limes and tried squeezing the juice out of 5 limes with our bare hands.

Big mistake. HUGE!

We’ve since splurged on a citrus squeezer, which we found at a local Hispanic supermarket for about $5 (you can find a similar one here). Hands down, the absolute coolest little gadget we’ve ever randomly purchased. Instead of investing two hours into squeezing key limes, we now have all the juice needed in 5 minutes.

If you have extra limes, go ahead and zest them and squeeze the juice out of them. Freeze the juice and zest in ice cube trays. Store in a resealable bag for a super-fast pie later on.

The more zest the better, in my opinion. Zest 4-5 limes at a time and then squeeze for juice. Continue until you reach ½ cup and toss in all the zest! (FYI this zester is amazing!)

Use a glass pie plate. The acid in the lime juice can react with metal, like disposable aluminum pie plates, giving the pie an unpleasant metallic flavor. If you’re using a storebought crust, keep this in mind for making key lime pie recipes.

FAQS FOR KEY LIME PIE RECIPES

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