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Easy Key Lime Pie (no bake, assembly only)

Easy key lime pie is a refreshing, no-bake summer dessert that is perfect for summer cookouts and pot lucks.

Easy key lime pie on white plate with fork and slice of lime

My easy key lime pie recipe is a summer treasure, internet friends. Minimal effort, maximum deliciousness and all the refreshing vibes make this one a hit, y’all.😎

Side note: This particular recipe reminds me of the days after I first gave birth to Canon almost 6 years ago! My mom came and stayed with us, and she made this a bunch of times. Sweet memories!

Mom has made this for us for many years prior to that too, and it is so easy and delicious!

And I love that it is sticking to me no-cook theme that I have been running with lately. 😆👌🏻This recipe is perfect to make on vacation at the lake or the beach.

And if you prefer lemons, you make want to make my no bake lemon cheesecake instead.

Tips for making easy key lime pie

Tip 1

You can make a homemade crust if you insist, but in the spirit of chill and easy I used a store-bough graham cracker crust. 💁🏼‍♀️

Tip 2

Also, I do not use true key limes, but just regular limes.🤷🏼‍♀️ To me, the difference in taste is minimal and doesn’t justify all the extra work of juicing all those key limes.

But feel free to use actual key limes if you prefer. You’ll need to zest 3 or 4 of them, instead of just 1.

Tip 3

You will want to let your cream cheese come to room temperature. Mine sat out for about 2 hours in a 75 degree house, and it was perfect.

This step is key for creamy consistency. If it is still chilled, your filling will be a little lumpy. It’ll still taste good, though, speaking from experience. 😉

How to make easy key lime pie

The filling is super simple to make, and it only has three ingredients: cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice + zest.  I just add the softened cream cheese to a mixing bowl and pour everything over top.

Pouring sweetened condensed milk over cream cheese for easy key lime pie

You want to use about 1/3 cup of lime juice. This was the juice of two large-ish limes for me. (👈🏻A citrus juicer is very helpful for this.)

Plus, you will want the zest of one of them. I added about 2/3 of that zest to the mixing bowl (eye-balling it), and I reserved a little to sprinkle on top later.

Once you have everything in there, you are going to beat it with a mixer.

Making easy key lime pie beating the filling

It’ll look lumpy at first. 😬Like this.

beating easy key lime pie filling

No worries, though! A few minutes with the mixer will make it creamy like this. This is where softened cream cheese is key!

Easy key lime pie filling in a green bowl with beaters

Then you pour your creamy filling into the shell, and spread it around to even things out.

spreading key lime pie filling into a graham cracker crust

And sprinkle the remaining lime zest on top.

Sprinkling lime zest on top of easy key lime pie

Then you refrigerate for a few hours to let everything firm back up. Mine took about 3 to 4 hours.

And you are left with the yummiest dessert. Nobody will suspect how little time and effort you put into it either. This is summer recipe jackpot, my friends. 😎🙌🏻

Easy key lime pie slice closeup on white plate

Garnish with lime slices if you want to fancy things up a bit. Honestly, I did this for the photos. We don’t have patience for that in real life.😜😆👌🏻

Easy key lime pie overhead

Enjoy the best easy key lime pie you will ever make!

Easy Key Lime Pie Recipe

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Easy key lime pie slice closeup on white plate
4.48 from 17 votes
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Easy Key Lime Pie (no bake)

Easy key lime pie is a refreshing, no-bake summer dessert that is perfect for summer cookouts and pot lucks.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword easy key lime pie recipe, no bake key lime pie
Prep Time 14 minutes
Refrigeration time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 14 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 462 kcal
Author Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces cream cheese (I used 2 8 ounce blocks, softened at room temperature)
  • 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
  • 1/3 cup lime juice (2 large limes was enough for me, but get some extras just in case)
  • zest of 1 lime divided (leave 1/3 for garnish)
  • graham cracker crust (10-inch, store bought)

Instructions

  1. Add softened cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and 2/3 of the lime zest to a  large mixing bowl, and beat on high until smooth and creamy (about 4 minutes).

  2. Transfer to a graham cracker crust.

  3. Sprinkle reserved lime zest in top, and refrigerate until filling is set, about 3 to 4 hours.

  4. Serve chilled, and garnish with extra lime slices, if desired.

Recipe Notes

I used a store-bought crust, but if you want to use homemade, that works too!

It may set quicker than what I recommend here, but this is how long until I checked mine.

You could use light (1/3 less fat) cream cheese, but for best taste use regular. I would not recommend fat free cream cheese.

I do not use true key limes, but just regular limes.🤷🏼‍♀️ To me, the difference in taste is minimal and doesn't justify all the extra work of juicing all those key limes. But feel free to use actual key limes if you prefer. You'll need to zest 3 or 4 of them, instead of just 1.

Nutrition Facts
Easy Key Lime Pie (no bake)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 462 Calories from Fat 261
% Daily Value*
Fat 29g45%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 79mg26%
Sodium 345mg15%
Potassium 298mg9%
Carbohydrates 44g15%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 33g37%
Protein 8g16%
Vitamin A 894IU18%
Vitamin C 4mg5%
Calcium 204mg20%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

 

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Comments

  2. Grace says

    For those that want something that tastes more like a true key lime pie and less like a cheesecake I strongly suggest using only one 8oz cream cheese bar and double the key lime juice. Otherwise all the cream cheese seems to overpower the lime flavour.

    Reply

    • Carol N.W. says

      4 stars
      It was certainly easy to make — easy as pie! But it was much more like cheesecake and not tangy enough for my family. I used the zest of an additional lime, but that didn’t make much of a difference. I think Grace is on to something. I’d have added more lime juice but I wasn’t sure if that would make it too watery.

      Thanks, Marjorie!

      Reply

  3. Tracy says

    5 stars
    On my Dads’ 80th Birthday, my Sister and I had a blow out birthday party for him. His
    friends included people from NASA who brought the space helmet from the first moon landing as a surprise for him. (He loves that stuff). But I digress. I was under so much pressure to make his request of KEY LIME PIE, his favorite, unbeknownst to us. Something I had never made in my life. I found your recipe and made eight (8) of them. My Sister bought the obligatory cake to cut and blow out the 80 candles. Let’s just say, by 1 am when everyone was gone, half the cake was gone (1/2 sheet) and all 8 pies were gone. This recipe was a hit, made exactly as You listed it, and with the key limes about the size of grapes at the time, I used limes. I had so many people ask for the recipe, I brought up your recipe on my phone, sent it to my Dads’ printer and made 50 copies. I put them by the door for everyone leaving, and not one copy was left. You are a Goddess of Pie in my Eye!

    Reply

  4. Diane says

    3 stars
    Filling was nice and creamy but could not taste any lime. Used fresh squeezed limes. Next time I will double the juice and zest.

    Reply

  5. Mrs. Kennie says

    5 stars
    This pie is delicious and my husband and friends like it better than the baked kind. BUT, I am at a loss for how you came up with 355 cal per serving with 8 servings. 1600 cal for 2-8oz blocks of cream cheese, 1300 cal for 14 oz sweetened condensed milk, and 1300 cal for 9 oz pie crust is total of 4200 cal which would be 525 cal for 8 servings. 420 cal for 10 servings, and 350 cal for 12 servings. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says

      Yay! Glad y’all enjoyed it. The nutrition calculator was not counting the graham cracker crust. Ah! Thanks for seeing that. The crust in the calculator was a little lower than yours, but I have updated the numbers.

      Reply

  6. Pat says

    2 stars
    I’ve made plenty of key lime pies in my day. My recipe is a baked pie with a merangue top. My husband loves that pie. I made this thinking he would enjoy it, but it got a thumbs down. In my opinion, it’s ‘ok’ but not what was expected. It falls short when compared to a baked key lime pie.

    Reply

  7. Cora Hart says

    My mother-in-law gave me an almost identical recipe almost35 years ago! Small changes-shortbread cookie crust (store bought), 8 ounces of cream cheese along with the sweetened condensed milk and Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice (we use 2/3 cup because we LOVE the tang!

    Reply

  9. Candace says

    5 stars
    This was absolutely delicious!! My quarantined fam loved it. I used more juice than recipe called for… key limes and juice of 1 regular lime until I reached desired tartness. This is easy, quick, and simple, yet genius recipe! Thank you🤗

    Reply

  11. Robert Allen Pepiton says

    5 stars
    Over all i really enjoyed this recipe. I felt it needed more lime, but I’m always that way. I need lime on my tacos, extra lime for my Pad thai, extra lime for my pho. I just love lime! I juiced 4 limes and used zest of one (wanted to use more but I used this as a teaching tool for my daughter to learn and i forgot until the last lime) it definitely needs a good couple hours in the fridge, we are impatient and after 1:45 it wasn’t nearly firm, but tasted amazing. given that my daughter and i love like, we’ll probably be making this much more often.

    Reply

  12. Trey says

    This is a great recipe, but it’s not a lime pie, it’s a key-lime pie. So save the energy & buy a bottle of key west key lime juice & make it taste 10x’s better. Also you should try a shortbread cookie crust, it’ll change you’re world!!!

    Reply

  13. lillian says

    5 stars
    I bought some of miyoko’s cream cheese–I’m vegan–from Grocery outlet for $2.99 a tub and knew that I had to make a cheesecake. I love that yours is a no-bake recipe. I didn’t want to buy condensed milk so I made some with coconut cream and also made the ginger snaps for the crust. And the result? It tasted like cheesecake that’s creamy, rich, and delicious!!

    Reply

  15. micky says

    5 stars
    i made this recipe this week for a luncheon. It was fabulous and really easy. I used plain limes not key limes but used key lime juice. I wouldn’t change a thing. The sweetened condensed milk adds the sweet taste and lime zest the tart. For the garnish I used a dab of whipped crean and cut strawberry.

    Reply

  16. Melissa says

    Mine was great….did you use sweetened condensed milk (in the recipe)? Evaporated milk wouldn’t work.

    Reply

  18. Denise says

    I followed this recipe to the letter and mine tastes terrible!! Did you use sugar and forget to put it on the recipe? I wasted all these ingredients!! 😢

    Reply

  19. Roseann Uzzo says

    5 stars
    Loved this recipe; it’s so easy! Key limes were so plentiful while living in Florida, but it is so hard to find key limes here in the northeast and this variation of a true key lime pie cheesecake is so refreshing…thank you!
    I have decided to try it out as key lime cheesecake cupcakes.
    I am going to mix up some gram cracker crumbs for the base and form them into the liners of a cupcake pan, add filling and refrigerate. I think when they are set, I will add some cheesecake frosting, some zest and a thin slice of lime for presentation. What do you think, @APinchofHealthy?

    Reply

  21. Heidi says

    5 stars
    I have tried so many different versions of Key lime pie.
    I got busy and tried it. My handmixer quit on me, so I finished it with a whisk. I did not have any limes on hand, so I did without.
    The pie still tastes great. I will be making it again in the future.
    I am already looking at some of your other yummy recipes.

    Reply

  22. Miguel says

    5 stars
    Thanks for sharing your beautiful recipe we used c chocolate oreo cookie crust for a different taste and it was delicious!!!

    Reply

  23. Lisa says

    Thank you for giving us a great recipe
    I lived in the South ..and I haD THE ORIGINAL recipe and fixed and ate it daily. this is a quick version for us busy moms that want a simple quick dessert!
    Thank you again!!

    Reply

  24. Jeffrey Mohler says

    Please,
    As a key lime pie officianado, I implore you, this is NOT KEY LIME PIE, please quit calling it such.

    Reply

    • Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says

      With all due respect, I stand by the recipe as it is, as well as what I call it.🙌🏻 The intention was to create an easy version of the more traditional recipe. I’m not trying to convince you of anything, though. And I am not attached to anyone approving of my recipes. If I like it, I share it. 💁🏼‍♀️✌🏻💖😎

      Reply

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