Frozen Key Lime Pie Recipe (2024)

I tried this recipe three ways. Frozen, refrigerated and baked. Flavor is wonderful all ways, but texture is best if you bake it for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, cool and refrigerate. If you just refrigerate it, it is kind of soft and soupy. If you freeze it, it is just not quite the right texture either, icy, not custard-like, plus the frozen crust then sticks to the pan and it is hard to remove a nice slice neatly. I used regular limes. Makes two 8-inch pies.

Homemade graham cracker crusts: butterier, crunchier, fresher: use fresh graham crackers, roll 10 rectangles out in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin for texture, or blender/food processor for tinier tooth. (Brits can use 1.5 cups digestive biscuits) + 6 Tbs unsalted butter, 1/3 C sugar, smash it down with a cup/fingers in the pie pan, cook 300 degrees 10 min.
Also, a thin layer of sour cream on top of the cooled custard with a sprinkle of sugar -powdered best - before the whipped cream = dynamo.

The high acidity of the key lime juice thoroughly cooks the egg yolks so there is no need for heat. Not to worry, it is perfectly safe.

You don't cook this with 6 raw egg yokes?

Cooks Illustrated advocates beating the yolks with the lime zest until the yolks acquire a lovely green color then baking the pie for twenty minutes to allowing it to set in the oven and then freezing or refrigerating it. Has a much better flavor then "raw" pie in my opinion

I like to make a crust from ginger snaps. It got really well with the key lime flavor.

I like to add some lime zest to my graham cracker crust

A little toasted coconut in the crust is good too!

Homemade graham cracker crusts: butterier, crunchier, fresher: use fresh graham crackers, roll 10 rectangles out in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin for texture, or blender/food processor for tinier tooth. (Brits can use 1.5 cups digestive biscuits) + 6 Tbs unsalted butter, 1/3 C sugar, smash it down with a cup/fingers in the pie pan, cook 300 degrees 10 min.
Also, a thin layer of sour cream on top of the cooled custard with a sprinkle of sugar -powdered best - before the whipped cream = dynamo.

The acid in the lime juice changes the egg yolks. But I usually do cook my key lime pies 15 minutes at 350

Key limes are not ripe until they’ve turned from green to yellow! Learned this the hard way, after squeezing many of these small round green limes and using them in my first key lime pie. It tastes, well, a little ‘off.’ Learned this by chance afterwards - shouldn’t every recipe for key lime pie include this note???

I'm sure many people have made this and lived to tell the tale, but I'm with you -- I survived (barely) salmonella and would not risk going through that again for anything, and I certainly would not want to risk giving that experience to a guest. I use a key lime pie recipe that involves baking. If you have hens in your backyard laying fresh eggs every morning, you may feel confident, but I would not feel confident about grocery store eggs.

I make the homemade graham cracker crust. Cook that for about 12 minutes on 350 until lightly browned. Poor in lime mixture and pop back in the oven for another 12 mins. Refrigerate. It's always smooth, creamy but not runny. I often make "bars" in a 9 x 13 ban, doubling the crust recipe but with this same amount of lime filling. Easier to serve to larger groups.

I don’t know if I messed up by making the whipped cream with sugar or the crust with sugar but overall this came out way, way too sweet

In Germany? Grind 200g packet of Leibniz Original Butterkeks in food processor.blend with 50g softened fresh butter (Lindner is best) and a wee bit of some coconut oil).Shop two cans of Gezuckerte Condens Milch. Do NOT use unsweetened condensed milk. You will have to smuggle key lime juice from Florida to get the real article. do not use lime juice. Persian limes are not key limes.

I followed Kathy's note and it was perfect:"... bake it for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, cool and refrigerate."

Hello. Im curious if anyone has tried a whipping cream /mascarpone topping?

You'll stun your friends and surprise yourself with this key lime pie. I followed the top recommendations from the comments section, and these small tweaks made my (first-ever) key lime pie perfect. 1) make your graham cracker crust from scratch, and mix in a sprinkling of extra key lime zest; 2) beat the egg yolks with the lime zest; 3) bake the pie for 15 mins at 350 degrees, let cool, then refrigerate. The texture is rich and creamy; the pie tart, sweet and refreshing. What a delight!

Finally! A real key lime pie recipe! No baking and no green food coloring.

This is a great recipe. It is better with a homemade graham cracker crust. The store bought ones freeze too solidly. Homemade crusts freeze only softly frozen.

This was soupy if not eaten frozen. Next time I will try baking it for 15 mins, as others have done. I made this in a large tart pan and there was plenty of filling. This could be a great, easy dessert if cooking it keeps the flavor. Small portions are best since it is very rich!

This was good, but runny. Next time I wiil try baking it for 15 minutes, or until just set. As written, the recipe makes a pie that was a nightmare to slice. No need to sweeten the whipped cream either. Flavor was good enough I will try it again.

Made this recipe using two suggestions from other commenters: homemade graham cracker crust with lime zest and baked at 350 for 15 minutes (I couldn't get past the idea of raw egg yolks!). Texture was perfect and it was a huge hit with the family!

I find this recipe just too sweet. Any ideas for what to substitute for some of the condensed milk? Evaporated milk is too liquid.

I beat the eggs till fluffy, added the lime juice and cooked the mixture over a water bath, stirring constantly till cooked.Cool mixture, add the sweetened condensed milk and zest.

Excellent texture and flavor. I made this in a 9-in ceramic pie dish (larger than most) with a homemade Graham cracker crust. I made 1/3 more filling. Because my 8-year old grandson is a key lime pie purist, I didn’t freeze but baked it for 15 min. Next time I will add a little more lime zest.

Wow, so delicious. I followed a previous opinion to bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes prior to freezing, and the consistency was divine!

A scant 2 lbs of key limes yielded 1c juice for me. I found it easiest to get as much juice as possible out with the lime press and then squeeze the remaining out by hand (due to the size of the key limes, some juice remained after pressing)