Key Lime Pie

Name: Key Lime Pie
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 24 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 300g Digestive Biscuits; 150g Butter; 400g Condensed Milk; 3 Egg Yolks; 4 Lime; 300ml Double Cream; 1 tbls Icing Sugar; to serve Lime

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Dessert recipe with United States flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 36 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Step-by-step instructions

Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor (or put in a strong plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix with the melted butter and press into the base and up the sides of a 22cm loose-based tart tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.
Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk for a minute with electric beaters. Add the condensed milk and whisk for 3 minutes then add the zest and juice and whisk again for 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled base then put back in the oven for 15 minutes. Cool then chill for at least 3 hours or overnight if you like.
When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the pie from the tin and put on a serving plate. To decorate, softly whip together the cream and icing sugar. Dollop or pipe the cream onto the top of the pie and finish with extra lime zest.

Why this works on a weeknight

Key Lime Pie genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Sweet Finishes collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Key Lime Pie actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍮 Sweet Finishes Dessert United States ⚡ 30-Min Dinner Cake Pie Desert Fruity Sour