Best Easy No Bake Key Lime Pie

Just 4 ingredients for this easy key lime pie recipe. Condensed milk, key lime juice and whipped topping are combined, poured into a prepared pie crust. It doesn’t get any easier and any more delicious than this easy no bake key lime pie.

First, how about this  from Yogi Berra:

The waitress asked: “How many pieces do you want your pie cut?” Yogi responded: “Four. I don’t think I could eat eight.”

My husband’s side of the family recently gathered for their family reunion.  Bob’s sister and husband Vern hosted the event at their home in Woodland Park, Colorado.

To get to Woodland Park (the city above the clouds), we drive South from Highlands Ranch to Colorado Springs, passing the United States Air Force Academy, past Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, wind around beautiful Pikes Peak (America’s most visited mountain), and past the North Pole Santa’s Workshop. 

There, don’t you feel like a tourist?

Patricia and Vern were wonderful hosts and laid out a feast…and I mean a feast for lunch. Slow Cooker Pulled BBQ Pork and sliced ham for sandwiches, coleslaw, fresh corn on the cob, calico beans, mac and cheese,  fresh slices of watermelon…get the picture? (I hope so since I didn’t take any)  :-/

And amongst the array of desserts? Patricia’s Key Lime Pie. I haven’t had this in years and the first bite was every bit as delicious as I remembered…maybe even better than I remembered.

Key lime pie ingredients:

How can something this easy be this delicious? Let’s take a look:

• Sweetened Condensed Milk: You’ll find it on the baking aisle at the grocery store. What is sweetened condensed milk? It’s thick, it’s sticky and it’s not for drinking. Condensed milk is made by removing the water. It’s cooked down to remove moisture. Just like you would a balsamic glaze or red wine reduction. Then sugar is added to prolong shelf life. The sugar prevents microorganisms from growing and sugar thickens this milk even more. Unsweetened condensed milk is sold as evaporated milk.
• Cool Whip: Talk about a science project. Cool Whip is an imitation whipped cream sold as “whipped topping”. Cool whip has a long list of concerning ingredients and contains very little dairy. With that said, I love the stuff. I could (and have) eaten it by the spoonful from the container. It’s delicious. And this key lime pie with Cool Whip is extremely popular.
• Key Lime Juice: What are key limes? Key limes are known as Mexican or West Indian Limes. They’re more aromatic and more floral in flavor than regular limes. If you can’t find key limes, use regular limes. How many limes do you need to make a pie? 12 – ish if you’re using smaller key limes. You’ll need to squeeze enough juice to make 1/2 cup of lime juice. Can you substitute limes for key limes? Yes. If you’re using regular limes you’ll need 4 – 5 limes. Or use purchase Nellie and Joe’s Famous Key Lime Juice. I’ve been making this pie long before key limes were available for me to purchase. I like this lime juice product.
• Pie Crust: If you want to make this key lime pie easier than easy, purchase a pre-made graham cracker or chocolate pie crust from the baking aisle at the grocery store. You can also make your own graham cracker crust or chocolate crust. I’m thinking an Oreo pie crust might be fab here.

How to decorate a Key Lime Pie

Presentation Tip: If you use the chocolate crust, dress up the top of each slice of  pie with a bit of  shaved chocolate for chocolate curls. How do you make chocolate curls? Just take a bar of semisweet chocolate. I like to refrigerate the chocolate first. Then I simply use a box grater, the side with the slicer. Or you can use a very sharp paring knife to very thinly slice the chocolate.

Or slice a lime very very thin and twist it. Also, making this pie it a 9″ tart pan will give it an even snazzier look.

I think it takes longer to get the items out of the pantry than it does to throw this no bake key lime pie recipe together.

No Bake Key Lime Pie Recipe

This is such an easy key lime pie recipe, that I’ve made 2 – 3 at a time to serve at pot lucks or back yard bbq parties. It’s most certainly a crowd pleaser.

I hope you give this easy key lime pie recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating, and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.

And if you have a favorite no-bake easy pie, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.

More Summer Pie Recipes

• Peach Crumble Pie Made With Canned Peaches an easy peach pie recipe with a streusel topping.
• Easy Lemon Coconut Cream Pie No matter how hectic things get, there’s always time for this refrigerator pie made with pudding, Cool Whip, and sour cream.
• Fresh Peach Blueberry Pie: Fresh fruit, a little bit of spice and you’ve got a beautiful fresh peach pie.

Easy No Bake Key Lime Pie Recipe …It’s What’s For Dessert.