With its outstanding macadamia nut crust, creamy yet thick key lime filling, and sweet whipped cream on top, this is truly the best key lime pie I’ve ever had. And after 1 bite, I think you will agree. You need 4 ingredients for the crust, and only 3 ingredients for the filling.
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!
But can we make a good thing even better? Yes.
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… ★★★★★“
What Makes This the Best Key Lime Pie?
- Extra thick and nutty crust
- 3-ingredient filling
- Easy to make
- Totally refreshing
- Major key lime flavor
- Topped with homemade whipped cream
- Sweet, salty, citrus-y, buttery, creamy, and tangy all in one
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.)
- 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 for about 8 minutes 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 in the oven. Let it cool completely, then cover and refrigerate the pie for at least 1 hour prior to serving.
- Garnish and Serve: This is extra delicious with fresh whipped cream on top. By the way, if you’re looking for an alternative way to serve it, try my 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. Macadamia nuts are often overlooked in the baking world, in favor of other nuts. Why, though? They’re so good!
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
Yes, you need just 3 ingredients. (!!!) 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 classic and custard-y pie, we’ll skip it. You just need egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and key limes.
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 wire rack, then cover and chill 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
- 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
- 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.
Refreshing Dessert Ideas
When the temperatures rise, the last thing you want to do is spend time in a hot kitchen. You’ll appreciate these simple, delicious, and totally refreshing desserts:
- Creamy Lemon Pie
- No-Bake Cheesecake
- Lemon Berry Trifle
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Dirt Pudding Dessert (so fun for kids!)
- Strawberry Shortcake
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 | 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.
I just made it with gluten free graham crackers and macadamia nuts. I used an entire package of pamela’s GF graham crackers. No one would know it was GF
Not my 1st attempt at pie, but this was my 1st attempt at Key-lime pie and it was a grand success. Thank you for coming up with such an easy recipe for 1st timers. I did adjust slightly as I did not use the nuts in the crust because I feared there were a few eaters who might be allergic. I also used only 3/4 cup of lime juice. It was tart enough and firm enough without using the full 1 cup. Thank you for this. I am making again for a Christmas party on Friday.
Hi-can you suggest a gluten free substitute for the graham crackers??
Hi Jen, we haven’t tested any gluten-free graham crackers with this recipe, but perhaps another reader who has can chime in. And if you do give it a try, please report back and let us know how it worked!
This got fought over! My kids are still raving about it, even the super duper picky eater who usually refuses to try things.
This was super simple to make. I have a family member who is allergic to macadamia nuts, so I changed those to toasted pecans. I will most likely make it for myself as written, as I LOVE macadamia nuts and key lime pie. I may try it with a little unsweetened coconut in the crust, too as that adds and extra dimension to key lime pie.
I ended up taking the internal temperature of the filling with an instant read thermometer, as I didn’t believe it would set that fast. I baked it a few minutes longer than the listed time first and it was 140 F inside. It set very well, but did crack on transit. Next time, I’ll trust your times and bake according to those!
Sally, thank you for a fantastic pie that was loved by all 10 people who fought over it!
Great recipe, easy, and delicious! I used a little extra lime zest in the filling to make it extra tart. The pie was so smooth and rich, everyone loved it!
Excellent recipe turned out great!
As a fellow professional in the baking industry myself: and for the people getting “soupy” non setting pies : I don’t suggest using an electric mixer! Maybe a suggestion in instructions say using the slowest setting because you just want to incorporate! Overmixing causes the filling to turn liquid. Also I suggest mixing the yolks with condense milk first and then mixing the lime. I find the pie filling stays thicker when mixed in stages.
I hope this recipes continues to put smiles on peoples faces as it did with my family!
Stay sweet!
I’m commenting on the creamy lemon pie for I was unable to comment there. Something strange happened – when I combined the lemon juice, yolks, and condensed milk it began to foam up as you would expect vinegar and baking soda to react together. I still baked it and exercised little hope of it turning out. It required approx 30 min. baking after the crust was filled and was still very unset. As it cooled it firmed up a little and is now in the fridge. The only possibility I can think of for why it foamed up could be the condensed milk because in seeking to avoid dairy as often as I can I used oatmilk condensed milk: ingredients – water, 20% oats, virgin coconut oil, guar gum, calcium carbonate, & sea salt. Perhaps the lemon juice reacted to the calcium carbonate? I’d appreciate if you could share your thoughts. Thank you.
Hi Pam! Regular sweetened condensed milk is key to this and the lemon pie recipe’s success. We would assume the issue would be the oatmilk condensed milk as we’ve never heard of a chemical reaction happening like that.
Ooh I can answer this one! It’s definitely the oat milk. I’m a chemist and citric acid (in lemon juice) will react with calcium carbonate to make CO2 (gas! Bubbles!), water, and some salts.
Thank you for clarifying with certainty. That was my strong suspicion but wasn’t sure. Thanks☺️. Only regular condensed milk from now on!
I made my egg whites in to meringue and subbed half of the vanilla extract for coconut extract, it has a really nice tropical flavor that plays well with the lime on my palate at least.
Can I make the filling in advance?
Hi Emily, yes, you can mix up the filling up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then assemble and bake. See recipe Notes for more make ahead options.
This recipe was a disaster. Never set up. Used dairy free condensed milk. A real shame.
Hi Amy, I’ve never tested this with dairy-free sweetened condensed milk, but thank you for reporting back that it did not work out for you when making this change.
For a flavor blast, make the pie crust with ginger snap crumbs
We live up on the North Coast of California in a lovely coastal town. But if you happen to forget something at the grocery store you end up making due. We only have two stores and they are about 30 mins away from home! Yes I forgot the Macadamia Nuts! I had a bag of pistachios and decided why not! It was a hit! Everyone loved it! I especially love the added lime zest to the filling! This is probably my favorite Key Lime pie recipe! Thank you!
It’s an awesome recipe!
I had some trouble with the pie setting and slightly over cooked it, but it was AMAZING. Thank you sally.
I usually love your recipes but this one failed 🙁 I tired baking this, but it wouldn’t set. I must have baked it for 50 minutes or so, and it is still jiggly. I used a gluten free pre made pie crust and half the key lime juice was regular lime juice because I ran out. I’m nit sure if that’s the problem. I’m not sure what I did wrong.
Hi Jane! Using regular lime juice should be just fine. Did you use sweetened condensed milk (not a lower sugar or fat version)? Using anything else will prevent the filling from setting properly.
No, I used regular, but after I took it out of the oven it set more.. now its overcooked 🙁 I’m sure it will be tasty though.
Can I sub gluten free graham crackers for the regular ones for the crust?
Hi Savannah, that should work just fine!
I love this recipe!! I make it all the time for my key lime loving fiancée, and a pie is just right for us at home. I want to make this for my staff though, and need to feed a crowd of 20ish. I think the key lime pie bar recipe may be a miss with the cream cheese…can I convert this recipe to make in a 9×13 dish? I love this filling so much and I know they will too! Any suggestions would be so appreciated.
Hi Megan, We haven’t tried converting this recipe to that exact pan size before but you can use our Cake Pan Sizes and Conversions page to help if desired. We fear the bars won’t really “set” as nicely, making cutting into neat squares difficult. It may be better to make 2 pies if you want to stick to this recipe.
Thank you for your reply! Do you think this filling could be used for mini pies, since the setting may be an issue for a bar?
Yes, you can use this recipe for smaller 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! We’re unsure of the exact bake time.
filling was delicious but did not fill the 9″ pie plate (William Sonoma pie plate) so I was disappoint there was not enough filling.With that said, I see now the recipe I had originally from Sally’s B.A. only called for 1-14 oz s.c. milk, 4 yolks & 1/2 c. lime juice.
This recipe calls for 2 cans….makes more sense
I had the same issue as Betsy. Far too much filling for a 9 inch pie plate. So now I am confused is the recipe for 2 or 1 tin of sweetened condensed milk?
Hi Janet, This recipe is for two 14-ounce cans.
Great recipe! Highly suggest using Nellie and Joe’s key lime juice. I’ve tried so many and this is by far the best!
Could you make 1 1/2 times the recipe and make it in a 10” springform pan?
Hi Donna, we haven’t tested that but let us know if you do!
The best I have ever eaten! My son loved it too. Wait till I share with family & friends. ⭐️
This was, hands down, the best thing I’ve ever made! Thank you so much!!
Hi Sally,
Could I use this crust for the key lime pie bars? Can you swap that filling with this crust so I can try the macadamia nut version? I’m torn between the two recipes and was looking for a way to get the best of both worlds. Thank you!
Hi Gabrielle, yes, you can absolutely use this crust for key lime pie bars!
Swing and a miss–I substituted key lime juice for “regular” lime juice, but followed the recipe as written. The filing was soupy when it should have been jiggly. I baked for an additional 15 minutes and the result was a slightly less soupy pie with a nearly burnt crust and a not-terribly-attractive bubbled top after refrigeration. UGH. The flavor, however, was divine. With so many success stories, I assume operator error. Luckily, I was able to find an alternative recipe and whipped up another gorgeous and tasty pie just in time!
Excellent recipe! Turned out beautifully..thanks!
I made this for Father’s Day and it’s my husband’s favorite dessert. I also made it with my kids (2 & 4) since it’s so easy and they enjoyed the process. 🙂
First time making a key lime pie and this recipe was amazing! No need to look for others! Perfect consistency, great flavor and the crust is FANTASTIC!
This is a delicious recipe. Followed the directions perfectly as this was my first time making Key lime pie. My family loved it. Great taste, smooth texture, perfect zest! Delicious!
I made this with thr Graham cracker crust (due to nut allergies). I also used the bottled juice Sally recommended. It was so easy and just amazing!!! I received so many compliments.
I have a question regarding substituting condensed milk with coconut condensed milk. I’ve tried this receipt with both oat and coconut condensed milk – it NEVER works. It’s super foamy, and burns. Do you have any solutions to making this dairy (milk) free??
Hi Tristan, we’re so sorry we can’t be of more help here, but we haven’t tested a dairy-free version of this key lime pie. However, a few readers have reported success using coconut condensed milk (although they did mention it took a bit longer to set). Thank you so much for giving this one a try!