Nellie & Joe's Famous Key Lime Pie Recipe (Just 3 Ingredients)

Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Pie, using three ingredients plus a pie crust is the perfect dessert for a party or a potluck or a random Tuesday. You cannot fail with this pie but I will give you a few tips to guarantee success anyway.

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• What You Need for This Recipe
• How to Make This Pie
• Ingredient Notes
• 3 Ingredient Key Lime Pie Recipe Notes
• Recipe
• Comments

This is our family favorite, go-to, easy, no-fuss, always turns out perfectly dessert.

Make a graham cracker pie crust from scratch and it will be really amazing! I've got you covered if you'd rather make a key lime pie without eggs.

You should definitely make it this season, even if you're just hosting a party of two 😉.

If you're a fan of easy desserts, try St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake (aka The Cake You Won't Stop Eating) or learn how to make Gooey Butter Cake From Scratch.

Or try this highly rated honey cake, which is also dairy-free.

What You Need for This Recipe

• ½ cup Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Juice
• 3 egg yolks
• 12-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• graham cracker pie crust or Keebler pie crust
• zest from a fresh lime (optional)
• whipped cream (for garnish, optional)

How to Make This Pie

1. You're going to stir or beat using an electric mixer on low all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Pour the mixture into a graham cracker crust.
3. Bake at 350F° for 20 minutes.
4. Let cool then put in the fridge to chill.
5. Slice and serve with whipped cream.

"My key lime pie recipe," which is printed on the back of Nellie and Joe's Key West Lime Juice calls for a 9-inch graham cracker pie crust and just three ingredients: a 14-ounce can of condensed milk, three egg yolks and a half cup of key lime juice. 

I gild the lily by using a Microplane zester to incorporate fresh lime zest from Persian limes into the pie filling but it's not necessary. 

Ingredient Notes

There’s no need to squeeze a zillion tiny, fresh key limes when you can buy a bottle of Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice at the grocery. 

Despite the name, key lime juice, you’re not going to find Nellie & Joe’s in the juice aisle. It will usually be in the mixer section of your grocery store liquor aisle. 

You could substitute key lime juice by juicing regular persian limes but your pie won’t turn out as delicious.

Whatever you do, don’t buy a bottle of plain, old imitation lime juice in the produce section of your grocery for this pie. Your pie won't turn out that delicious.

If you’re not going to use Nellie & Joe’s, then juice persian limes, those are the limes available in most produce sections at grocery stores.

But do add regular limes to your shopping list along with the Joe’s lime juice because I recommend grating a bit of fresh lime zest into the pie mixture.

And, you’ll need to slice a few limes for garnish. 

You’ll also want whipped cream for garnish along with the lime slices. I think a traditional key lime pie is best served with whipped cream.

Be sure to use sweetened condensed milk. This is a thick, sweet liquid, which will help your pie set up.

Cooks get confused while shopping some times and buy cans of evaporated milk instead. Your pie will not turn out if you use evaporated milk.

3 Ingredient Key Lime Pie Recipe Notes

Is a homemade graham cracker crust necessary for key lime pie? 

No. While I adore a homemade graham cracker crust probably even more than the next person, 9 times out of ten I use a store-bought graham cracker crust.

But here's a recipe for homemade graham cracker pie crust just in case.

You can't go wrong with a Keebler graham cracker crust.

When you make the filling, it's important to first blend the egg yolks and the condensed milk together until thick.

This will take at least two minutes. 

Once the egg yolk and condensed milk has thickened, then add the key lime juice and stir to combine.

After you bake the pie, you'll want to let it cool to room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

A perfect key lime pie is served chilled.

Need more sweet recipes? Check out my favorite Easy Lemon Dessert or Easy Lemon Icebox Pie or Lemon Blackberry Cake (Easy) or Butterscotch Cake.

If you're out of sweetened condensed milk, see this Condensed Milk Substitute.

Did you know that Key Lime Pie is a food that starts with K