A classic key lime pie recipe with a little cream cheese added and fresh squeezed juice from key limes and regular limes. It’s easy and refreshing!
Spring quietly slipped into summer yesterday, but I’m not sure anyone noticed.
Around here, it feels as though we are deep in the sweltering dog days of August and has for the last couple of weeks.
When it’s this hot outside, I long for refreshing treats like ice cream or popsicles, salads, and fruit—anything that doesn’t require the oven or me standing over a hot stove.
While I always love my Fudge Pie, sometimes having a creamy, fruit-flavored dessert is nice, like a Classic Lemon Icebox Pie or this yummy easy Key Lime Pie.
How to make key lime pie
Key lime pie is a delicious, refreshing dessert anytime of year, but especially when you’re longing for a beach and cool ocean water to dip into.
And this recipe is super easy, requires minimal baking time, and can be made a couple of days before you need it. I like to add a little cream cheese to the filling. You just mix it with a can of sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, and lime juice.
This makes a super creamy, delicious pie!
Did you know you can make your own sweetened condensed milk? It’s so easy, and you’ll never have to make a last-minute dash to the store!
I adore the flavor of lime and I like my citrus pies to have the full flavor of the fruit, so I typically add a little extra juice—and always use freshly squeezed juice!
Here I used 1/4 cup of real Key lime juice, so yes, I had to squeeze those tiny limes, and then I finished with fresh squeezed juice from regular limes. The difference in flavor is barely discernible if at all, and the regular limes are so much easier.
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Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup melted butter
Filling:
- 3 ounces regular cream cheese, not low-fat
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 14-ounce
- 4 large egg yolks
- ⅔ cup freshly squeezed lime juice, I use 1/4 cup freshly squeezed Key lime juice and finish with regular limes
- 1 tablespoon lime zest, optional
Whipped topping:
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Dash of vanilla
Garnish:
- Lime zest and slices
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 375. Stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar until well mixed. Stir in melted butter with a fork and mix well.
- Press evenly into 9-inch pie plate, covering bottom and sides. Bake crust for 10 minutes, then remove and cool in pie plate on a rack.
Filling:
- Turn oven down to 350. Place cream cheese in stand mixer or large bowl if using hand mixer, and mix for 2-3 minutes.
- Add condensed milk to cream cheese and turn mixer on medium-high to high for several minutes until cream cheese is completely mixed into the condensed milk. The mixture should be silky smooth with no visible chunks of cream cheese.
- Add egg yolks and mix until combined well. Add juice and zest if using and mix well. Pour filling into crust and bake on middle rack for 15 minutes. Remove pie from oven and cool completely on rack (at least 45 minutes.)
- Chill pie, lightly covered, at least 8 hours or overnight.
Whipped Topping:
- Place heavy cream in bowl of cold stand mixer (you can put the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes) and add sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium for about 2 minutes then turn mixer to high. Whip until soft peaks form, watching carefully not to over-mix.
