To make an easy no-bake Key lime pie, use a prepared pie crust. Instead of a graham cracker crust, which is classic for Key lime pie, I chose a pecan crust. Either type works well and, of course, you can bake your own crust. Make sure the crust has cooled down before putting in the filling.
Prepare this pie at least several hours or even the day before you serve it.
Ingredients
1 prepared pie crust
1 8-ounce package cream cheese at room temperature
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1/3 – 1/2 cup Key lime juice or other lime juice
Optional: whipped cream topping
Combine the softened cream cheese with the sweetened condensed milk, using an electric mixer. Start on a low speed and increase the speed, to blend the filling until it is smooth.
Reduce the mixer speed to the lowest setting and add the lime juice slowly. Taste the mixture periodically and adjust the amount of lime juice to suit your preferences. Adding a half cup of bottled Key lime juice results in a tart-sweet pie. You will need to adjust the amount of lime juice if you prefer a sweeter filling. Pour the lime mixture into the shell.
Refrigerate the pie for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. Add the berries so that the pie has a red, white, and blue design. Before serving, add a dollop of whipped cream if desired.
Store any leftover pie in the refrigerator.
Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manger Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Maya lives in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Before writing crime fiction, she taught American literature, writing, and detective fiction at Northern Virginia Community College and Georgetown University. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.
Visit my website for easy recipes, mystery history and trivia, and a free culinary mystery story.
Do you have a favorite summer dessert?
