My vegan key lime pie is cool, creamy, and bursting with tangy lime flavor! This delicious dessert comes together with a quick-baked crust and a no-bake filling made from just a handful of ingredients. It’s the perfect refreshing treat for a hot day!
Limes are definitely an underappreciated ingredient when it comes to dessert recipes. I realized recently that I don’t have a single lime dessert on this site! Time for that to change. If you love lemon desserts, like my vegan lemon bars, vegan lemon curd, or vegan lemon mousse, you are going to LOVE this vegan key lime pie.
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This creamy, tangy pie is perfect for summer — not just because it’s cool and features tropical flavors, but also because it’s really, really easy to make. The only thing you need to bake is the crust. The filling is a simple blend of six ingredients that you just need to mix and chill.
It’s the perfect dessert for summer get-togethers… or anytime you’re craving a taste of sunshine.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Below you’ll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Graham cracker crumbs. Watch out for non-vegan ingredients like honey in your graham crackers. Check the label or read this guide to vegan graham crackers before buying.
- Vegan butter. Look for this in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, near the regular butter.
- Sugar. Conventional white sugar is often processed using animal products, so we’re using organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan.
- Spices. I like to season the crust with a little cinnamon and nutmeg. You can skip this if you don’t have them on hand.
- Raw cashews. You’ll be soaking these in water, then blending them up to create the creamy base for your vegan key lime pie. They need to be raw for this to work, so don’t buy roasted cashews.
- Key lime juice. You can juice your key limes yourself, but you’ll need about three pounds of them to get enough juice for this pie. See the photo above? That’s only one pound. So many little limes to juice! That’s why I use bottled key lime juice for this pie. Many stores carry this in the juice aisle or near the cocktail mixers.
- Coconut oil. No substitutions here. Coconut oil solidifies in the fridge, so it’s a crucial ingredient for getting your pie to set.
- Salt.
- Vegan sweetened condensed milk. Lots of grocery stores carry this in the baking or natural foods section. I used Nature’s Charm Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk. I’ve included a link in the recipe card, in case you can’t find it at the store.
- Lime zest. You can use the zest from your key limes, or regular limes, also known as Persian limes.
- Lime slices. These are optional, and just for garnish. I used Persian lime slices since my key limes were in short supply.
- Vegan whipped cream. I love to top my vegan key lime pie with some coconut or almond whip!
How It’s Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Get ready. Preheat your oven to 400°F. You’re going to need to bake the crust for a few minutes.
Mix up the crust ingredients. Stir your graham cracker crumbs, melted vegan butter, sugar, and spices together in a large bowl.
Shape the crust. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate, covering the bottom and all the way up the sides. Press firmly, but don’t pack it too much, or it will stick to the dish.
Tips: Use a dry measuring cup to press the crust mixture into the dish nice and evenly. And make sure you get it all the way up the sides of the dish — it will shrink down a bit when you bake it.
Bake and cool. Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes, then place it on a cooling rack to cool while you make the filling.
Blend the filling ingredients. Blend your cashews, key lime juice, melted coconut oil, and salt until the mixture is nice and smooth.
Finish the filling. Transfer your blended cashew mixture to a large bowl, then gently whisk in the sweetened condensed milk and lime zest.
Tip: It’s super important to be gentle when whisking during that last step. Being too vigorous will cause the mixture to get overly frothy (a little bubbling is normal). This is why we’re not just doing all the mixing in the blender. If you goof up and do end up with frothy batter, cover it and let it rest until it settles.
Fill and chill. Carefully transfer your filling to your baked crust, smoothing out the top. Pop the pie into the fridge and leave it there for at least four hours to set.
Finish and serve. I like to garnish my vegan key lime pie with some fresh lime slices and vegan whipped cream. Slice and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Wrap it tightly in plastic, or place it into an airtight pie keeper. It will keep for three to four days in the fridge, or up to three months in the freezer.
Just use vegan and gluten-free graham crackers, such as Kinnikinnick brand. If the crust mixture seems a bit crumbly, add an extra tablespoon or two of vegan butter.
You can, but the flavor will be different. Key limes are more tart and floral tasting than Persian limes. You could try replacing a small amount of the lime juice with lemon juice, but if you’re used to classic key lime pie you’ll probably still find the taste to be a bit off. It should still be delicious, though!
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
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Vegan Key Lime Pie
My vegan key lime pie is cool, creamy, and bursting with tangy lime flavor! This delicious dessert comes together with a quick-baked crust and a no-bake filling made from just a handful of ingredients. It’s the perfect refreshing treat for a hot day!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 ½ cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup vegan butter, melted
- ¼ cup organic granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the Filling
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 to 8 hours, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup key lime juice, room temperature
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 (11.25 ounce/320 gram) can vegan sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
For Serving
- Lime slices, for garnish
- Vegan whipped cream
Instructions
To Make the Crust
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Stir the graham cracker crumbs, melted vegan butter, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Pack it just firmly enough that the crust holds together, but not so hard that it sticks after baking.
Bake the crust until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
Place it on a cooling rack and let it cool while you prepare the filling.
To Make the Filling
Place the cashews, key lime juice, melted coconut oil, and salt into a high-powered blender. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the pitcher as needed.
Transfer the cashew mixture to a large mixing bowl, then add the sweetened condensed milk and lime zest. Very gently whisk the ingredients together until they’re fully combined. Don’t overdo it or the mixture will become frothy. A little bit of bubble formation is fine (Note 1).
Carefully transfer the cashew mixture to your crust, smoothing out the top.
Place the pie into the fridge and chill until fully set, about 4 hours.
Garnish with lime slices, and top with vegan whipped cream immediately before serving. Slice and serve.
Notes
- If you accidentally overmix the batter and it does become frothy, just cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature until the bubbles settle and the volume comes down enough that it will all fit into your crust, an hour or two.
Nutrition
Calories: 464kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 320mg | Potassium: 252mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 654IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 1mg
