No Bake Key Lime Pie

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Key lime pie is one of those incredibly classic pies that citrus lovers adore! Originating in Key West, Florida the pie is tart, tangy, and yet still super sweet – the perfect dessert after a nice big meal.

If you love a good citrus dessert, why not make this Lemon Meringue Pie or easy lemon bars!

No Bake Key Lime Pie

Nothing beats a fast and easy no bake dessert, and this tangy pie is one of my favorite recipes. It was brought to my house by friends many, many years ago for a pie party that I had and the recipe has remained one of my quick and easy favorites. You don’t even bake the crust!

You can use a premade grahama cracker crust to make things even easier.

No Bake Key Lime Pie Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

Graham Cracker Crust

• Graham cracker crumbs

• White sugar

• Salted butter, melted

Key Lime Filling

• Cream cheese softened to room temperature

• Sweetened condensed milk

• Key lime juice (or normal limes, if you have to)

• Vanilla

Whipped Topping

• Whipping cream

• Vanilla

• White sugar

• Lime zest  

How To Make No Bake Key Lime Pie

• Combine the crust ingredients in a medium bowl, and then press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate

• Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until fluffy and soft

• Slowly add in the condensed milk, beating until smooth, and then add the rest of the ingredients

• Add some optional green food coloring if desired

• Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell and refrigerate for 4 hours, though overnight is best

• Top the pie with the whipped cream in your desired pattern and sprinkle with grated lime zest • Slice and serve cold

Do I Have to Use Key Limes?

When I made this there wasn’t a key lime in sight to be found in the stores! I prefer to use them when I can, however, they can certainly be a bit tricky to find, depending on the season!

Key limes are different from regular limes, they are slightly less tart and acidic than Persian limes, the regular type of limes you’d find at a store.

It also takes a lot more key limes to be able to get the same amount of juice that you would get from a regular lime!

Keep in mind that when key limes become fully ripe, they turn a sort of greeny-yellow rather than the true lime green you might expect. This shouldn’t affect the true color of the pie itself but may change how pretty the zest topping ends up being.

Do I Have to Use Food Coloring?

For this recipe, we leave the choice of using food coloring up to you, but the only way to get a really true, deep lime green is to use food coloring. I prefer the retro lime look for sure!

Keep in mind, however, that how something looks absolutely does affect how we perceive its taste. If you take two of the exact same recipes of key lime pie but dye one a really nice green, you will almost certainly prefer the taste of the greener one because it looks how you expect it to.

If you are using regular Persian limes, you might want to add at least a drop of food coloring, as normal limes don’t really have that dark green coloration.

But if you are lucky enough to get your hands on some good key limes, you might be able to skip the food dye – the limes themselves can be plenty green enough to give you a beautiful light green color.

Looking for more delicious Pie recipes? Try these out:

• Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

• Cream Cheese Pineapple Pie

• Blueberry Pie

Enjoy!

Love,

Karlynn

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