My best key lime pie recipe features a rich macadamia nut crust and a creamy, tangy filling that sets perfectly. Made from just 7 ingredients, this classic and refreshing pie is both simple to prepare and tastes elevated with fresh whipped cream on top!
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.
Key lime pie will forever be one of my favorite desserts, and I know I’m not alone! This Florida specialty has been winning over millions for years. Between the buttery crunchy crust, fresh and tangy custard filling, and the essential creamy topping—no dessert can rival this one!
Here’s Why This Key Lime Pie Recipe Works
- Salted macadamias in the crust add flavor (they’re optional)
- Pre-bake the crust so it holds shape
- Sweetened condensed milk thickens the filling without the need for starch or gelatin
- A short bake time sets the custard filling, while still keeping it silky smooth
- Refrigerate the pie so it’s cool, creamy, and sliceable
One reader, Valerie, commented: “I have made this recipe multiple times and it is always a huge hit! The macadamia nuts in the crust really give it that extra ‘something’ that people love but can’t quite pinpoint. One of my favorite recipes from your site… ★★★★★“
One reader, Ellen, commented: “My son and I made this pie together for Thanksgiving. It is the first time we have ever made a key lime pie before. We followed the recipe exactly! Sally, it was the BEST PIE EVER! Absolutely delicious. Everybody loved it and we will without a doubt make this again. Today I am thankful for leftovers! ★★★★★“
Here’s How You Make This Key Lime Pie
This pie requires a few simple steps. Most of the “work” is hands-off as the key lime pie sets up in the refrigerator, so it’s perfect in the summertime. (A lot of readers make this easy pie for Memorial Day weekend, Father’s Day, 4th of July, summer birthday parties, and Labor Day gatherings.)
The instructions are very similar to making this creamy lemon pie (also only 7 ingredients).
- Make the Crust: Use a food processor to combine the macadamia nuts and graham cracker crumbs. Combine with melted butter and sugar, then press tightly into a pie dish.
- Pre-Bake the Crust: Pre-bake the crust before pouring in the key lime filling. Pre-baking solidifies the crust and allows for easy slicing once the pie is ready to serve.
- Make the Filling: Whisk together the 3 filling ingredients—it will be thick! Pour into the warm crust.
- Bake the Pie: It usually only takes about 18–20 minutes. Let it cool completely, then cover and refrigerate the pie prior to serving.
- Garnish and Serve: This is extra delicious with fresh whipped cream on top. If you’re looking for an alternative way to make it, try these individual upside down key lime pies. Basically the same filling as this pie!
Graham Cracker Macadamia Nut Crust
Key lime pie is traditionally made with graham cracker crust. It’s the most wonderful crunchy, sweet, and buttery bed for the fresh key lime filling. But you won’t believe the difference macadamia nuts make. I use about 1/2 cup of macadamia nuts in place of some of the graham cracker crumbs and the result is pure pie bliss.
You need 4 ingredients for this crust:
- Macadamia Nuts (I recommend salted)
- Graham Crackers
- Melted Butter
- Sugar
Pulse the macadamia nuts with graham crackers, then mix with melted butter and sugar. Because key limes are a little sweeter than regular limes, you will love the sweet/tangy key lime filling with the salty graham cracker macadamia nut crust.
Or you could use a Biscoff pie crust instead if you’d like.
3-Ingredient Filling
You just need egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and key limes. These 3 ingredients are equally important. Why? The filling works because the acidity of key lime juice naturally thickens sweetened condensed milk, while egg yolks help set the filling into a smooth, sliceable custard as it bakes and chills.
If you’ve tried my key lime pie bars or mini key lime pies, you’ll notice that today’s filling is a little different. I typically add a little cream cheese to those recipes for stability and structure. However, for a smooth and sliceable custard pie, we’ll skip it.
My success tip: Do yourself a favor and buy a bottle of key lime juice from the store. There’s a brand of bottled key lime juice that I love called Nellie & Joe’s in most major grocery stores next to the bottled lemon juice. Otherwise you will spend 100 years juicing 500 tiny key limes yourself. LOL. You need 1 cup (240ml) of key lime juice. (Fresh lime zest is optional for this pie.)
How to Tell Key Lime Pie Is Done
One of the most common and easily remedied key lime pie problems is over-baked pie. It’s tricky to know when the pie is done, but here’s my secret: bake the pie until the filling is only slightly jiggly in the center (about 18–20 minutes). It should be firm to the touch, but not totally solid. The pie will continue to set as it cools.
Cool the pie completely on a cooling rack, then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before garnishing, slicing, and serving.
How to Decorate Key Lime Pie
Let the refreshing citrus flavor stand out, and keep the garnishes simple.
- Homemade whipped cream; in the pictured pie, I used Ateco 826 which is a large piping tip. I piped large swirls around the pie.
- Since you’ll have leftover egg whites, make a meringue topping like the one on this bourbon sweet potato pie—you’ll have time to kill while the pie chills anyway 🙂
- Quartered lime slices or lime zest
- Whole macadamia nuts
- Graham cracker crumbs
I’ve sampled many key lime pies and I can confidently say this is the best one I’ve ever had.
Yes, absolutely. There’s a brand of bottled key lime juice that I love called Nellie & Joe’s, and it’s available in most major grocery stores next to the bottled lemon juice.
The acidity of key lime juice naturally thickens sweetened condensed milk without the need for starch or gelatin, which could change the texture into a pudding pie. Instead, we want smooth custard that sets *just* until sliceable.
7-Ingredient Key Lime Pie
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This tangy-sweet key lime pie is deliciously simple with an extra thick and nutty crust. You need just 3 ingredients for the filling, and be sure to refrigerate the pie for at least an hour before slicing and serving.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Macadamia Crust
- 11 (about 160g) full-sheet graham crackers
- 1/2 cup (62g) salted macadamia nuts (I use roasted)
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling + Topping
- 28 ounces (two 14-ounce cans/793g) full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup (240ml) key lime juice
- 4 large egg yolks*
- 1 teaspoon key lime zest
- garnish: lime zest, quartered lime slices, macadamia nuts, whipped cream, or meringue topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Make the crust: Using a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and macadamia nuts together into coarse crumbs. A few larger pieces of nuts is OK. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie dish. Use your hand to pat down the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides to make a crust. Use medium pressure—simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumbly. Tips: You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. And run a spoon around the bottom “corner” where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust—this helps prevent the crust from falling apart when you slice into the pie. For more shaping technique tips, see the graham cracker crust recipe page.
- Pre-bake crust for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
- Make the filling: Whisk the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks together (or use an electric mixer). Whisk in the lime zest. Pour into warm crust.
- Bake the pie for 18–20 minutes or until only *slightly* jiggly in the center. You want it mostly set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and chill for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before serving.
- Garnish as desired.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can prepare and pre-bake the crust up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and store at room temperature. Likewise, you can mix up the filling up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then assemble and bake. Baked and cooled pie freezes well up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor or Chopper | Glass Mixing Bowl | 9-inch Pie Dish | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Whisk
- Graham Cracker Crust: If you purchase graham cracker crumbs, you need 1 and 1/3 cups (160g) for this recipe. Even though they are already crumbs, you can still pulse with the nuts. If you want to skip the nuts, use this graham cracker crust recipe instead and pre-bake for 8 minutes.
- Can I Use Regular Limes Instead? Yes, you can make this pie with regular lime juice and lime zest.
- Store-bought Key Lime Juice: If you don’t want to juice dozens of small key limes to yield 1 cup (240ml) juice, store-bought key lime juice works too. I really like a brand called Nellie & Joe’s, and you can find it at the grocery store near the bottled lemon juice.
- Leftover Egg Whites: Here are all my recipes using just egg whites, or you can make a meringue topping for the pie.
- Key Lime Bars: Here is my recipe for key lime pie bars. I add some cream cheese to that filling so the bars hold their shape well.
- Non-US Readers: Don’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 180g ground digestive biscuits instead (about 12 biscuits), with the same amount of nuts and butter, and add an extra Tablespoon (12g) of sugar. Pre-bake for 10 minutes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This is delicious!! I made it for the first time and my partner thinks I bought it.. he described it as a party in your mouth. I used ginger snap biscuit base and normal limes as keylimes are not readily available and it was sublime!! Will definitely be a staple from now on. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Quick question, in using regular limes did you add any sugar? Sally mentioned that key limes are sweeter than regular limes. Thx!
Hi Sara, I did not add sugar in the base or the filling. Thanks
Outstanding recipe. Rave reviews from the family tonight. (We all loved the crust especially).
*Side note* I always choose your recipes when I want to make something special (and delicious) for my family. Thank you for the GREAT recipes, keep it going!!!
I am wanting to use this recipe to sub the lime juice for equal parts pineapple and orange juice – do you think that would work? I’m not sure about the acids and everything setting up properly.
Hi Stephanie, I fear the pie won’t set up AND it will taste overly sweet since both pineapple and orange juices are much sweeter than lime. I don’t recommend those swaps for this recipe.
I love your recipes, Sally! How should I adjust, if at all, for a 10″ pie plate?
Hi Amy, thank you! A 10-inch pie dish is too large. The pie will be very thin. Stick with 9-inch.
Sally,
I love all your recipes but this one was a huge early Father’s Day hit! Unfortunately key lime is very difficult to find in Ontario but a lime/orange substitute turned out very close to perfect! Thank you so much!
I’ve made this recipe atleast 5 times already. And I’ve sold two of my big key lime pies to a co worker. Everyone has loved it. I enjoy making it. Especially since its so easy and delicious. I also add more nuts on the crust. Lol!
I made this for my MIL last year, and after year one it has already become a tradition. It’s so delicious! I’ve never made a key like before, so I had no idea what I was doing, but this recipe was easy to follow!
Hi Sally. I have an 11 inch pie dish. Could I double the recipe and adjust baking time do you think? Thanks!
Hi Natasha! Doubling the recipe would overfill your pan – 1.5x should be just about the right amount. Let us know how it goes!
If I don’t have macadamia nuts, can I use salted peanuts instead?
Hi Von, you can certainly use peanuts in place of the macadamia nuts here. Or, you might also be interested in our all graham cracker crust instead. Enjoy!
I wish I had of read the comments before I placed this in the oven. The pie took 70 minutes to bake. I’m still not sure it is cooked properly as I needed to go to work. I feel the recipe would work better if the filling was cooked on the stove top and then added to the base and placed in the fridge. I also feel it needs more than four egg yolks. I feel very disappointed with this recipe, it had so much potential.
So, I want to try this, but I hate crust. I hate making it, I hate eating it. I’m going to try just skipping it and see what happens.
Hi Abi, you might like our upside down key lime pies instead — and you can skip the topping!
Thanks for this recipe. I made it exactly as directed. However, it took almost 45 minutes at 350 degrees to get the pie slightly jiggly in the middle. I think the 15-20 baking guideline is too short for some ovens. Thankfully the crust stood up to that extra baking just fine.
Here we go again. THANK YOU SALLY. This Key Lime Pie is so, so easy. I just took it out of the oven but tried the pie filling before I put it in the crust, delicious. Keep up the great recipes. Could not wait for the Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice but found Lakewood Organic Pure Lime, not from concentrate, fresh pressed, from Florida. This may not be Key Lime (will use N & J next time) but it tastes great. Thank you again.
Hi, Sally! I have made this once before and agree that it is the. best. recipe. ever.
Can I use this same recipe for mini key lime pies? What would be the baking time changes? Thanks, a fellow baking enthusiast
Hi Mary, yes, you can use this recipe for mini key lime pies — the same way you use it for these mini key lime pies. This filling will work just as well as that one!
This is SO easy and tastes great however I every time I make it it seems better as I add another egg yolk… I’m up past 8 yolks and it is SO creamy and delightful I’m gonna keep going until it stops getting so delicious. I have all these yolks as that darn Angel Food cake recipe of yours is in CONSTANT demand!!
I just made this yesterday and it was a true flop! The filling did not set and it was soup!
Hi Caroline, thank you for giving this key lime pie a try! Did you make any ingredient substitutions? Make sure you are using sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated milk. Otherwise, your pie may have simply needed to bake for longer, an easy fix for next time! Just bake until only *slightly* jiggly in the center, you want it mostly set.
I doubled the egg yolks to 8 and it came out perfect!
“Stellar” was the description my sis gave me. “Perfect crust”. I made it for her birthday and she loved it as much your creamy lemon pie! Your recipes are fantastic! I made the yellow cake for my birthday—it’s the best—probably due to the folded egg whites.
I used 20 key limes—they’re very small. I used my orange juice juicer—wasn’t so hard. Didn’t take that long. Yum! (Got the key limes at Publix in Florida).
By any chance did either of you who had the soupy pie used fat free sweetened condensed milk? I’ve messed up other recipes in the past using fat free instead of full fat sweetened condensed. Just a thought!
Absolutely amazing pie!!! I always trust your recipes to be accurate and delicious!
Sally could you sub the key lime juice for grapefruit juice? If not, the next you get bored can you test and publish a grapefruit custard pie recipe? Lol/smiles. I’ve recently heard of this and it sounds potentially phenomenal but I don’t trust anyones recipes except yours.
Hi Tianna! We haven’t tested it, but you could use our recipe for Creamy Lemon Pie with grapefruit instead – let us know how it turns out!
Hi Sally!
For some reason my mixture has slightly curled. I mixed the condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice all at the same time. Should I have mixed the condensed milk and egg yolks first before adding the lime juice?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Lisette, were your egg yolks or lime juice particularly cold? Curdling usually happens when there are varying temperatures among the ingredients being mixed — but if you keep vigorously whisking, they should come together!
Delicious!!!
I have just started baking within the past year and this was my first pie. Super easy and everyone loved it. Sally your my go to for my new baking hobby. I say your my mentor
hi sally! could I use a springform pan for the recipe?
Yes, that should be fine, Alyssa. Enjoy!
This recipe is perfection!!! Not only is it soooo easy to make but it tastes so delicious. I’m still eating the leftovers 5 days later and it tastes just as good!
Hi, Sally,
Love your recipes!! I would like to try this key lime pie recipe but I have one question. I’m extremely careful about baking with eggs and ensuring that the eggs reach 165 to avoid any possibility of salmonella. If you bake the pie for only 15-20 minutes, does the custard get up that high?
Thanks!
Jane
Hi Jane! Yes, the pie will cook through in the stated baking time. You can always check with a thermometer for peace of mind as well!
For some reason I had to add a lot more graham crumbs – I tried to convert measurement since crumbs not cookies and was 2/3 a cup. Mixture was way too wet for crust. Also could be my oven but it’s been 20 mins on convection bake at 350 and it’s nowhere near done… any advice on timing ? How to know when to take it out. I have made key Lime pies A few time’s wondering if this recipe has a thicker filling. Thanks !
Hi Vanessa, Thank you for trying this recipe. We use conventional oven settings. If you have to use convection settings the general rule of thumb is to lower your oven temperature by 25 degrees F and your bake times will be different. You can tell when this pie is finished baking when it’s only *slightly* jiggly in the center. You want it mostly set. I hope this helps!
Hi Sally,
Just a few questions- I couldn’t get key-limes could I use regular? Also the condensed milk is in ounces- approximately how many cups would that be? Last are pecans ok to use instead of macadamia?
Hi Chloe, Yes, regular lime juice works. Same amount. The 28 oz. (or 2, 14 oz. cans) of sweetened condensed milk is about 3.5 cups. And you can absolutely use pecans or any other nut in place of the macadamia nuts. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Thank you!! Sorry one more question!! I’m not sure my graham crackers are considered full sheet- after food processing how many cups are needed for the crust?
Can you use condensed coconut milk for a non diary option?
Hi Chase! We haven’t tested it, but other readers have reported success using condensed coconut milk. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hi Sally, I was wondering if I could use the crust in a tart? Would it fall apart? Thanks! My family and I absolutely love your recipes by the way! 🙂
Hi Zana, Yes it should work well as a tart crust. Enjoy!
This key lime pie recipe is amazing!!! I love that it is simple but tastes great! I have made it for many birthdays and everyone loves it!! Thank you for the great recipe, Sally!
The secret for the crust to hold together is to give up your New Year’s resolution about eating healthy! I doubled the recipe for a 9×13 and, for the 4 C of gingersnaps, I used 1 stick of salted, melted butter. It worked like a charm.
I made 6 dozen gingersnaps and for some inexplicable reason (not overtaking) they came out hard. This crust was the perfect use for at least SOME of them.
The filling was tart, but smooth, creamy and delicious. (I did use low fat cream cheese with no problems.) It never browned, even after 29 min of baking, which made them “set” but with the tiniest bit of the IDEA of a jiggle to the filling. After a few hours and a chill, they cut beautifully. For a clean cut, blast your knife under your Insta-hot water dispenser.
These were lovely and I’ll happily make them again. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
This may be a silly question but are you measuring 1/2 cup of the macadamia nuts AFTER it is put in the food processor or before? The measurements will be very different depending on which way you do it. Thank you!
Hi Jenn, measure the macadamia nuts before you put them in the food processor. There’s not many; the bulk of the crust is graham cracker.