If you love Key Lime Pie as much as me, you are going to love how easy it is to make this recipe. It comes together with just a few simple ingredients and a couple easy steps. This pie is the perfect balance of tart and sweet and is fantastic to take to a party.
Tips and Tricks
Remove the pie from the oven as soon as bubbles start to form. Watch it closely so it doesn’t over cook. Make sure to use sweetened condensed milk and NOT evaporated milk. Usually, when someone says their recipe didn’t set up, it is because they used the wrong ingredient. Use key lime juice and not regular lime juice. Regular lime juice cannot replace the key lime juice here, it is too tart. Pre-bake your crust to prevent it from getting soggy. Wait to add the whipped cream. Let the pie chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before adding the whipped topping.
Storing and Freezing Key Lime Pie
Store your key lime pie in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can freeze the pie after it has set in the refrigerator. Store in the freezer for up to three months. When ready to eat, let thaw slightly in the refrigerator.
Sweetened condensed milk: See more on baking with this below. Key limes and limes: Key limes and limes are not the same, and you will need both key lime juice and regular lime zest for this recipe. Read more on the difference between them below. Sour cream: This pie partially gets its creamy texture from the sour cream. This recipe can be used with either regular sour cream or light sour cream. Graham crackers Sugar Butter
I do not recommend using lime juice in place of key lime juice. You will find that regular lime juice is much too tart for this recipe.
Make the crust. Combine crust ingredients, which should resemble a wet sand mixture. Press the crumb mixture into a pie pan and bake it. Make the filling. Whisk together the ingredients for the filling while the crust is baking. Build the pie and bake. Pour the filling into the warm crust and bake until bubbles start to form. Chill and serve. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then refrigerate before serving.
If you have never zested a lime, you want to zest just the green skin, moving on to a different part of the lime when you hit the white rind. Buy limes that are firm and not squishy. You will need about three limes for this recipe and can see my recommendation for a zester linked below. If you have baked with sweetened condensed milk before you may know that not all sweetened condensed milk is created equal. Some of the off brands produce unsatisfactory results. Because of that, I would recommend sticking with Eagle brand. I’ve only ever had good results using it.
