• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Keeping It Simple Blog

  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Recipes
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • Γ—

    You are here Home Β» Recipes Β» food

    By: Melissa

    Authentic Key Lime Tart

    This authentic Key lime tart is made up of just 3 ingredients (plus the graham cracker crust) and is the traditional key lime pie recipe from Key West. This Key lime tart is one of my favorite desserts and I love sitting down to a slice with a nice warm cup of coffee. Having grown up in South Florida, I have definitely eaten my fair share of this dessert and I think you will become a fan once you try it.

    key lime tart
    The perfect key lime tart!
    Jump to Recipe
    Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

    About This Key Lime Tart

    As the names suggests, Key Lime pie comes from the Florida Keys. Key limes actually grow in Key lime groves which you can find all throughout the Florida Keys.

    I have eaten my fair share of this delicious tart lime dessert growing up in South Florida. This recipe is the one I love most.

    Key Lime Tart vs Key Lime Pie

    I really prefer making Key Lime tarts opposed to Key lime pies because the tart filling is not as deep as you would get when making a pie. The ratio of graham cracker crust to filling is more even with the tart in my opinion.

    I do love Key lime pie too but making it at home in a tart pan is always my preference πŸ™‚

    When making this Key lime Tart, the filling should not be too high in the pan because you want the right amount of crust and filling in each bite. I recommend that the filling not be thicker than about ΒΎ inch.

    Also, when making this key lime tart, you want to make sure you make your own crust because store bought graham cracker crust will be too deep of a pan. I like using my graham cracker crust recipe that I use for my cheesecake bites and I have added that below in the recipe.

    Pro-Tip:

    You can buy graham crackers crumbs at the store in the same area that they have graham crackers. This saves you that extra step of having to crush them your self.

    key lime tart
    Key Lime tart made in a rectangular tart pan.

    Ingredients Needed For this Key Lime Tart:

    • Graham Cracker Crust (Graham crackers, sugar, salt and butter) or a store bought graham cracker crust.
    • Sweetened Condensed Milk.
    • Key Lime Juice.
    • Egg Yolks.

    The great thing about this recipe is how few ingredients there are. Because you are using sweetened condensed milk, you do not need any additional sugar in the filling.

    I make so many recipes with sweetened condensed milk for this reason. From creamy lemon bars, baked French toast casserole with condensed milk, simple vanilla sauce or bread pudding with condensed milk sauce.

    You get the idea πŸ™‚

    Key lime tart top view

    Steps To Make This Recipe:

    graham cracker crumbs
    First: Prepare Graham Cracker Crust.
    graham crackers pressed in to pan
    Second: Press Graham Crackers into Pan and Pre-bake.
    custard for Key Lime tart
    Third: Mix egg yolks, condensed milk and Key Lime juice.
    custard in tart pan before baking
    Fourth: Pour custard into prepared crust and bake.

    The firsts thing you want to do is make your graham cracker crust. You can also use store bought crust if you decided to make and Key Lime pie instead of a tart.

    Once the crust is ready, it is just adding the condensed milk, Key lime juice and egg yolks into a bowl and mixing. This mixture gets poured into the crust and it is baked in the oven.

    Once it is done baking and has cooled, the Key lime tart will need time to chill in the fridge so make sure to plan for that!

    Making Sure To Use Real Key Lime Juice

    When gathering ingredients for this Key lime tart, you will want to make sure you are using real Key Lime juice and not lime juice. Key limes are not the same as limes. Key limes are lighter in color and more tart than regular limes.

    If you cannot find Key limes in the grocery store (they are usually out in the Spring and Summer) then you can find bottled Key Lime juice online.

    key lime tart slice
    Slice of Key lime tart.

    Where to Buy Bottled Key Lime Juice

    Nellie and Joe, the owners of Nellie and Joe's key lime juice, made a business out of juicing and bottling Key limes and it is a real life saver! Key limes are rather small so it takes a long time to juice those little Key limes to the amount that this recipe calls for.

    In addition to offering a great product, Nellie and Joe's key lime pie recipe is the only one I use. In my opinion it is simply the best and a traditional key lime pie recipe.

    If you can't find Nellie and Joe's Key lime juice in the store, you can order it online. Trust me, the extra work ordering online will make this recipe really easy.

    Sometimes we all want to try our hand at juicing our own Key limes. Maybe you just bought a big bag in the store.

    This will work fine too. Just juice enough limes to reach the amount of Key lime juice that the recipe calls for below.

    key lime tart angle view

    Making this Ahead of Time

    This Key lime tart can (and should) be made ahead of time up to 2 days. The recipe calls for it to set up in the refrigerator for a few hours so it should be made a little ahead of time.

    It will be just fine in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. After that, the graham cracker crust will not be as crisp.

    How to store the tart in the fridge

    When storing the key lime tart in the fridge, you want to cover it but also make sure plastic wrap does not touch the custard top or else it will stick to it. Here is what I like to do to prevent the cover from touching the top of the tart:

    1. Place the cooled tart pan on a dinner plate that is a little bigger than the pan.
    2. Take a second dinner plate and flip it over so it is upside down and place that over the top of the tart. Since the tart will sit just below the top of the tart pan, the top plate will be able to rest on top of the tart pan.
    3. Gently place in the fridge until you are ready to eat it.
    slice cut from key lime tart

    More delicious easy desserts for you:

    • Mini Cheesecake Bites
    • Easy Creamy Lemon Bars
    • Easy Classic Carrot Cake
    • Healthy Coconut Milk Fudge Bars
    • Cranberry Crumble Bars
    • Berry Shortbread Tart
    • Mixed Berry Crisp
    • Balsamic Strawberries
    • Panna Cotta
    • Simple Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding or Any Dessert That Needs Vanilla Sauce
    • Peach Cobbler with Pie Crust
    key lime tart
    Print Recipe
    5 from 10 votes

    Authentic Key Lime Tart

    A delicious, easy and authentic Key Lime tart that makes the perfect dessert any time of year.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time15 mins
    cooling3 hrs
    Total Time3 hrs 30 mins
    Servings: 8 slices

    Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!

    Author: Melissa

    Equipment

    • 1 9.5 inch round tart pan or 14x5 inch rectangular tart pan

    Ingredients

    Graham Cracker Crust

    • 1 Β½ cups Finely Ground graham crackers Add graham crackers to a food processor and pulse until it is like a fine sand.
    • 5 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
    • 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
    • ΒΌ teaspoon kosher salt

    Key Lime Filling

    • 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
    • 3 egg yolks
    • Β½ cup Nellie and Joe's Key Lime juice or similar You can also juice your own Key Limes just make sure to juice Β½ cup
    • Whipped cream for serving optional
    Follow Keeping It Simple Blog On Pinterest

    Instructions

    • Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees

    Graham Cracker Crust

    • In a large bowl add your finely ground graham crackers crumbs, melted butter, sugar and salt and mix well.
      1 Β½ cups Finely Ground graham crackers, 3 tablespoon granulated sugar, ΒΌ teaspoon kosher salt, 5 tablespoon unsalted butter
      graham cracker crumbs
    • Pour the mixture into your tart pan pressing it down with your fingers along the bottom and sides of the pan.
      graham crackers pressed in to pan
    • Now find a flat bottomed glass or something similar and begin to press down the graham cracker crumbs really well, making sure to get the edges.
    • Place in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.
    • Remove and let cool completely.

    Key Lime Filling

    • In a large bowl, add your sweetened condensed milk (making sure to scrape it all out of the can), Key lime juice and egg yolks and mix well until smooth.
      1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk, Β½ cup Nellie and Joe's Key Lime juice or similar, 3 egg yolks
      custard for Key Lime tart
    • Now, pour your mixture into your prepared tart crust.
      custard in tart pan before baking
    • Bake for 15 minutes or until the very center is just slightly jiggly when the pan is shaken.
    • Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Do not remove the sides from the tart pan while it is cooling or setting up in the fridge.
    • Once cooled, refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
    • When ready to serve, remove the tart from the fridge and gently remove the sides from the tart pan. The easiest way to do this is to place a medium bowl uoside down on the counter. Place the tart pan on top of the upside down bowl (the tart pan will sit on the bottom of the bowl). The sides of the tart pan should fall to the sides of the bowl.
    • Serve with whipped cream and coffee.
      Whipped cream for serving
    • Enjoy!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 251mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 432IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg

    Nutrition Values are estimates only.

    See full nutrition disclaimer here
    Course :Dessert

    More food

    • Mediterranean yellowfin tuna
      Mediterranean Grilled Tuna Steak
    • gin and lime gimlet
      Classic Gin Gimlet
    • elderflower gimlet
      French Gimlet
    • tuna ceviche
      Ahi Tuna Ceviche

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Steve the cook says

      January 23, 2023 at 12:08 am

      5 stars
      First of all, this cook and recipe are first-rate. As an experienced cook, I would NEVER put on a review unless I tried it first.
      Now the good part-Lower in calories than key lime pie (about 1/2) just as flavorful (I squeezed my own limes) and one might put in a slice of key lime is with the whipped cream ( I think the whipped cream absorbed a bit of juice from the fruit. Thank you for this- a new dinner favorite ( I can tell when everyone smiled).

      Reply
      • Melissa says

        January 23, 2023 at 12:43 pm

        Hi Steve. I am so glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for sharing πŸ™‚

        Reply
    2. Sammy says

      October 12, 2022 at 12:08 pm

      5 stars
      Very delicious!

      Reply
      • Melissa says

        October 12, 2022 at 12:14 pm

        I am so glad you enjoyed it!

        Reply
    3. Dan says

      July 15, 2022 at 12:23 pm

      5 stars
      Came out amazing!

      Reply
    4. Erin says

      April 09, 2022 at 3:19 pm

      5 stars
      This came out amazing. Reminds me of my visit to Key West πŸ™‚

      Reply
    5. Jill says

      October 14, 2021 at 10:21 pm

      Could I make this recipes in mini muffin pans with liners?

      Reply
      • Melissa says

        October 15, 2021 at 12:08 pm

        Hi Jill.

        I have not tried that before so I am not sure. If you do try it I would suggest making the granola base into little cups in the liners by pressing the granola up on the sides and pre-baking the crust (like how I pre-bake the crust in my mini cheesecake recipe) so the filling does not stick. The key lime filling is soft so that could happen.
        Let me know if you try it!

        Reply
    6. TJ says

      August 14, 2021 at 1:21 pm

      5 stars
      Loved it!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Easy Creamy Lemon Bars • Keeping It Simple Blog says:
      May 4, 2021 at 2:51 pm

      […] you have made key lime pie before, this is what inspired this recipe. It is the same simple ingredients but it’s made […]

      Reply
    2. Mini Cheesecake Bites • Keeping It Simple Blog says:
      November 6, 2020 at 4:01 pm

      […] Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Tart […]

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Keeping It Simple Blog!

    keeping it simple blog portrait

    I am so excited you are here. My name is Melissa and I started this recipe website a few years ago to share recipes that I have been cooking for family and friends for years.

    More about me β†’

    Our Favorite Spring Recipes

    • Mexican barbacoa
      Mexican Barbacoa
      Cook Time3 Hours 20 Minutes
    • truffle cream sauce angle
      Pasta with Broccoli and Truffle Cream Sauce
      Cook Time30 Minutes
    • cooked salmon angle shot
      Sheet Pan Salmon and Vegetables
      Cook Time30 Minutes
    • kale and carrot salad in bowl
      Kale, Carrot and Parmesan Salad
      Cook Time25 Minutes
    • asparagus with parmesan melted on top
      Roasted Parmesan Asparagus
      Cook Time20 Minutes
    • minestrone
      Italian Minestrone - Italian Vegetable Soup
      Cook Time35 Minutes
    • Italian Peas with garlic and parsley
      Italian Peas with Garlic and Parsley
      Cook Time15 Minutes
    • broken noodles closeup
      Broken Noodles with Sausage, Kale and Mushrooms
      Cook Time35 Minutes

    More recipes β†’

    Featured In:

    logos of publications that Keeping It Simple Blog has been featured in

    Footer

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Featured In

    logos of publications that Keeping It Simple Blog has been featured in

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Privacy Policy

    Accessibility

    Newsletter

    Contact

    Copyright Β© KeepingItSimpleBlog