The Best Key Lime Pie has the most amazing homemade graham cracker shortbread crust, with a perfectly creamy and tart filling, and homemade whipped cream on top. It is simple to prepare and so good, you will want to eat the whole pie in one sitting!

Overhead view of a key lime pie.

If you have had a difficult experience with key lime pie in the past, stay with us here, because this is truly the easiest key lime pie recipe. We know a lot of recipes are no-bake, and while that gives the illusion of an easy recipe, it’s actually so much more difficult! We have had so many issues with no-bake pie recipes setting, so we are bringing you a key lime pie that is meant to be baked in the oven to make this the easiest and most delicious key lime pie ever! We love to bring this to family parties, but this is also just an amazing dessert to make at home to treat yourself. Go ahead and serve yourself that extra slice, we won’t judge.

Lime Juice:

While we know that freshly squeezed juice is always best, it is near impossible to find key limes outside of Florida! You have the option to freshly squeeze key limes if they are available in your area, use regular limes, or use store-bought key lime juice. You can find it in the produce section of your local grocery store.

Graham Cracker Crust Options:

This recipe uses a graham cracker flavored shortbread crust that is game-changing delicious. There is truly no contest between this crust and a store-bought graham crakcer crust. Homemade is always going to taste so much better! However, life happens and sometimes you need a shortcut. You can always substitute with a store-bought graham cracker crust if needed.

Pro Tip: Not all butter is created equal – fat contents vary – so it is important that the the final uncooked product for the crust is dry and somewhat crumbly. If it is too sticky add in 1 tablespoon of flour until it resembles wet sand.

A slice of key lime pie on a green plate garnished with a lime slice and graham cracker crumbs.

Make Ahead Instructions: 

You can make the crust for this recipe up to 3 days ahead of time, stored at room temperature. However, you will want to wait to make the filling until the day of serving to keep the crust from getting too soft.

Storage Instructions: 

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The longer this pie sits, the crust will start to turn soft.

If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious pie recipes:

Watch the video below where Caytlin will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.