Key Lime Pie
A custardy, tart-sweet pie made from the juice of tiny Key limes mixed with sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks, baked in a crumbly graham cracker crust, and topped with whipped cream or meringue — the official pie of Florida, born in the Florida Keys.
foodDetail.ingredients
foodDetail.mainIngredients
- Key lime juice (or regular lime juice as substitute)
- sweetened condensed milk
- egg yolks
- graham cracker crust
- butter
- whipped cream or meringue for topping
foodDetail.whereToEat
Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe, Key West
Joe's Stone Crab, Miami Beach
Keys Fisheries, Marathon, Florida Keys
Duval Street restaurants, Key West
Florida seafood restaurants statewide
foodDetail.priceRange
foodDetail.restaurant
$6-12 per slice
foodDetail.tips
- Authentic Key lime pie should be pale yellow, not bright green — food coloring is a tourist trap sign
- The pie is typically served cold, sometimes frozen on a stick at Key West specialty shops
- Key limes are smaller and more tart than Persian limes — the authentic juice makes a noticeable difference
foodDetail.culturalNotes
Key lime pie has been the official pie of Florida since 2006 when the state legislature designated it. The pie dates to the late 19th century in the Florida Keys, where Key limes grew abundantly and sweetened condensed milk (introduced in 1856) made it easy to create a creamy filling without refrigeration. Sponge fishermen and wreckers made the pie their own, and the simple recipe has remained essentially unchanged for over a century. There is ongoing debate about whether the original pie had a meringue or whipped cream topping — the meringue faction is historically correct.