Recipes and Cooking Desserts & Baking Pies Key Lime Pie How to Make Key Lime Pie That's Expertly Creamy and Tangy Key lime pies may vary from cook to cook, but one thing is certain: It's one of the most refreshing and delightful desserts around. Here's how to make Key lime pie, including which ingredients are key and which you can skip. By Wini Moranville Wini Moranville Instagram Website Wini Moranville has written about food and wine for leading magazines and websites for more than 20 years—hundreds of those being for Better Homes & Gardens publications, including the iconic New Cook Book. She holds a bachelor's degree in French and English from the University of Iowa; she also studied French at the University Laval in Quebec, Canada. Moranville later studied creative writing at Iowa State University, where she received a master's degree in English and was the recipient of the Pearl Hogrefe Fellowship in Creative Writing.While she's covered just about every food topic imaginable—from bargain wines to fancy desserts—she's most passionate about the easy-yet-inspired everyday French cuisine she's discovered throughout more than twenty summers living and cooking in France. Moranville was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Award, Best Food & Cookbooks 2019, for The Little Women Cookbook. Her book, Everyday French Cooking: Modern French Cuisine Made Simple, will be published by Harvard Common Press in 2022. Back home in the Great Midwest, her local Aldi supermarket is her happy place. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on May 26, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email While there's a lot of lore surrounding Key lime pie, this classic American dessert couldn't be easier. No special equipment or hard-to-find ingredients are required; in fact, a Key lime pie filling requires just a handful of ingredients, all of which can be found at just about any supermarket in the country. And yes, you can go ahead and skip the hassle of sourcing those elusive Key limes (unless you really want to go that route). Here, you'll learn how to make Key lime pie the easy way; you'll also find all the answers to frequently asked questions, like how long to bake Key lime pie and how long you can store it. Jason Donnelly What Is Key Lime Pie? Get the Recipe Key lime pie is a custard-style pie that's flavored with limes and gets extra richness from sweetened condensed milk. It's made with either a graham cracker crust or pie pastry and can be topped with whipped cream or meringue. So, where did Key lime pie originate? The Florida Keys, of course! According to Jeanne A. Voltz, author of The Flavor of the South, Key lime pie's origin dates to the mid-19th century. During this time, there were few cows in the Florida Keys. In 1856, sweetened condensed milk—a new food invention—arrived on the scene, offering a ready source of milk for the area. It wasn't long before some genius cook paired the newfangled product with eggs and locally grown Key limes and made a wonderful filling for a pie. Scott Little Key Lime Pie Ingredients While cooks don't always agree on which kind of crust (pastry or graham cracker) to use or whether to top the pie with meringue or whipped cream, the ingredients in Key lime pie filling are generally quite straightforward: You'll need limes, egg yolks, heavy cream, and sweetened condensed milk. Food coloring is optional, but it adds an eye-catching light green color that hints at the burst of lime flavor to come. So, how many Key limes to make a pie? To get the ½ cup of lime juice needed to make our Traditional Key Lime Pie recipe, you'll need 36 of those little walnut- to golfball-size yellow-green limes. However, there's no need to chase all over town to find true Key limes for our easy Key lime pie filling. Regular (Persian) limes make a wonderful pie as well. The real secret is to use fresh lime juice, not bottled, for the best flavor. For the topper and crust, you'll need just a handful of other ingredients. To top your pie with meringue, use egg whites—you'll have some leftover when you separate the eggs for the egg yolks in the filling. You'll also need cornstarch, vanilla, and cream of tartar. For an easier topping, opt for sweetened whipped cream. All you'll need for that is heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. How to Make a Key Lime Pie Key lime pie is one of the easiest desserts you can make, especially if you start with a purchased crust and finish with whipped cream instead of meringue. The first step, of course, is finding a good recipe. Our tried-and-true recipe for Traditional Key Lime Pie, tested and perfected in our Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen, is as classic as it gets. Follow the recipe to make the crust, stir together the 5-ingredient filling, bake, cool, chill, and top with your chosen topper. If you're looking for a Key lime pie filling that goes a little easier on the fat and calories, try our Lightened Key Lime Pie. How Long to Bake Key Lime Pie You might find an old recipe for Key lime pie that uses raw egg yolks without baking the filling. Toss that recipe! For food safety's sake, a Key lime pie filling containing raw eggs must be baked to a safe internal temperature (160°F). How long to bake Key lime pie depends on the recipe. Our recipe specifies 35 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven. Wondering how to tell if Key lime pie is done? The best test is to use an instant-read food thermometer. The filling is done when it reaches 160°F. How Long Does Key Lime Pie Last? After baking, you should cool the pie on a wire rack for 1 hour; then, cover the pie and chill it in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours. After a day, the crust can start getting a little soggy, so enjoy it at its freshly made best—within a day of baking it. So, can you freeze Key lime pie? Sadly, because it's a custard-style pie, we don't recommend it. However, if you're looking for a Key lime pie that's great for freezing, try our wonderful Whipped Key Lime Pie. Now that you know how to make Key lime pie, you'll always have a tart, tingly, sweet, rich, and refreshing dessert to serve after a robust meal. But don't stop there. Enjoy the Key lime pie concept in a variety of other desserts. For example, try our Key Lime Cheesecake Bars—think of this recipe as an easy Key lime pie with cream cheese filling. For serving a crowd, bake some Key Lime Pie Cupcakes or Key Lime Pie Tassies. You can even start the morning in a Key Lime-luscious way with our Key Lime Danish Pastries. 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