Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust

Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust is made with a thick, buttery graham cracker crust with a sweet and tart creamy filling that comes together with not much effort in a little over 30 minutes with only 5 ingredients.

The unique tartness of the lime juice in this recipe pairs really well with the sweetened condensed milk. I loved the combination so much that I tried making it with lemon juice as well (I love key lime pie, and I love lemon desserts... so why not give it a shot?). However, the lemon juice does not pair as well with the sweetened condensed milk. The pie was good, but it was still not the right combination of flavors.

If you're looking for a lemon pie dessert, try this Lemon Pie Without Meringue rather than trying to substitute lemon juice for the lime juice in this recipe.

Jump to:

• 🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Key Limes vs. Limes
• 💡 Recipe Inspiration
• 📝 Ingredients
• 🍋‍🟩 Skip the Lime Zest
• Graham Cracker Crust
• ⏲️ Key Lime Pie Baking Time
• ✏️ How to Make Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust
• 🧊 How To Serve, Store, and Freeze
• If You're Looking For More Dessert Recipes, You May Love These:
• Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust

Key Limes vs. Limes

Key Lime Pie can be made with either key limes or regular limes (also called Persian limes) that you find at the grocery store. Key limes are much smaller than regular limes and can only be found at some grocery stores at certain times of the year.

💡 Recipe Inspiration

The first time I had Key Lime Pie was in Hawaii when I was in high school. My parents had saved up for a big vacation and one of the first nights when we were jet lagged, we ordered room service. I begged my parents to let me order a slice of key lime pie for dessert. I had never had Key Lime Pie before and it sounded exotic to me. It was one of the best desserts I had ever had, and I still associate it with Hawaii.

Not too long after coming home, I tried making it myself. I was put off by how much effort it took to squeeze all the limes (I did not have any sort of citrus reamer or juicer and my high school arm muscles were not accustomed to juicing fruit).

I didn’t have Key Lime Pie much until more recently I ordered the Key Lime Pie at A Lowcountry Backyard Restaurant at Hilton Head, SC. If you're interested in visiting, check out our Hilton Head Trip Overview from a few years ago. The pie was so good that it inspired me to work on this recipe below.

📝 Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make Key Lime Pie With A Graham Cracker Crust.

• Butter: I use salted butter, melted.
• Graham Crackers: I use HoneyMaid, but any brand is fine.
• Egg Yolks: Use yolks from large eggs.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: Note that this is not the same thing as evaporated milk, which is often sold in the same section of the grocery store.
• Limes: Use ½ cup of lime juice which is the juice of 3-4 limes. I recommend not using bottled lime juice, but juicing the limes yourself. It tasted better.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

🍋‍🟩 Skip the Lime Zest

After making several variations of this pie I learned a few things. The first is that lime zest seems to make absolutely no difference to the flavor of the pie. To me, it is just not worth it to go through the effort of zesting any limes, unless you want to add some lime zest on top just prior to serving for decoration. Keep in mind that the zest itself on top of the pie will start to turn brown and won’t be a pretty green color for too long, so only add it just before serving.

Graham Cracker Crust

Second, graham crackers tend to come in packs of 9, but 9 isn’t enough to make a pie crust. There aren't many components to this pie, so to me, it was important to have a decent crust, not one that was patchy in places. Also, to make things simpler it’s nice to be able to just use one stick of butter (8 tbsp). That way you're not only using 7 tablespoon and having 1 tablespoon leftover to wrap up in the fridge. Or using 9 tablespoon and needing to pull out an extra stick of butter. 8 tablespoon butter to 12 graham crackers is the right proportion.

If you're looking for a slightly different take on a Key Lime Pie crust, try this Biscoff Pie Crust.

⏲️ Key Lime Pie Baking Time

Lastly, some recipes call for shorter baking time but then I find that the filling is too soft, and I prefer the filling to be somewhat firmer, but still nice and creamy. With my oven, the best timing is 14 minutes, before browning, but enough time to let the filling firm up. However, this can depend on how hot your oven runs.

✏️ How to Make Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust

Below are the step-by-step instructions for how to make Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust.

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2. Crush the graham crackers. Add the graham crackers to a quart or gallon-sized bag and crush with a rolling pin into fine crumbs. You can also use a food processor.

Step 3. Make the Pie Crust: Add the graham cracker crumbs to the bowl with the melted butter and combine. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Press firmly with the back of a spoon or your fingers. Bake at 375°F for 8 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F.

Step 4. Beat the eggs: Add the egg yolks to a medium-large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes (on a 3-speed hand-held beater, set at #2).

Step 5. Add the sweetened condensed milk and beat at medium speed for another 4 minutes.

Step 6. Add the lime juice and stir with a spoon to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust.

Bake at 350°F for 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Cooling at room temperature rather than placing it directly in the fridge prevents the top from cracking and limits any condensation forming on the underside of the plastic wrap or aluminum foil used to cover the pie (i.e. no water drips on the top of your pie).

Cover and place in the fridge overnight if possible, but at least two hours.

The pie can be served with whipped cream and sprinkled with lime zest (optional).

🧊 How To Serve, Store, and Freeze

• To Serve: Serve cold, straight from the fridge if possible. If desired, serve with whipped cream and decorate with thin slices of lime or sprinkle with lime zest if you have extra limes. Only add lime zest right before serving because the lime zest will brown quickly.
• To Store: Cover tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Prevent the plastic or aluminum foil from touching the pie filling itself. Store for up to 3 days. It will last longer, however it starts to take on some of the other flavors from the fridge. If you'd like to store it for longer, consider freezing slices.
• To Freeze: Place slices of the pie in a plastic container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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If you tried this Key Lime Pie With Graham Cracker Crust Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!