May 28, 2016

Key Lime Pie Recipe by a South Florida Native (aka it’s authentic!)

Guys and gals, it’s key lime season and that means this South Florida native is getting her key lime pie fix! It’s time to introduce you all to my Labor of Love Key Lime Pie Recipe, but first, things first. There are a few guidelines to go over before you get started:

Rules of the Key Lime Pie Recipe

The #1 rule of key lime pie is that it is never green. It should be a lovely, creamy shade of yellow. Green “key lime” pie is pretty much sacrilege! If it’s green it’s lime pie, not key lime pie. Key West residents take the business of the key lime pie recipe very seriously and you could spend a week there tasting key lime pie at each meal and still not get through all of the places that serve it. Of course they all think their key lime pie recipe is the best.

#2 – You can’t really mess up a key lime pie recipe. Okay, you can, BUT it doesn’t need to be perfect. Key lime pie is a chillaxed entity, just like the people of the Conch Republic so don’t worry about making it look perfect. #2.5 Conch is pronounced Conk (as in I “conked” him on the head).

#3 – Last, but not least put on some Jimmy Buffett. I prefer the Fruitcakes album, but any will do. Okay, just kidding. You don’t have to play Jimmy, but you totally should. 😉

Let’s get started

So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, you’ll find there are many variations to the key lime recipe. Making mine is a bit cathartic and it reminds me of home, bringing back some great memories. Plus my kitchen smells amazing from pie crust and key limes! I’ve changed up my key lime pie recipe over the years to make it “mine”. It isn’t exactly fast so give yourself some time. That’s why I call it a labor of love. The end result is so worth it!

I am not big on graham cracker pie crust, so I use Nilla Wafers to create the crust instead. I also use a touch of Mexican Vanilla to balance flavors and give the whipped topping a kick. Of course, there’s a lot of Florida love that goes into it, too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Be sure to grab the clickable recipe card below.