Dairy-Free Recipe for Key Lime Pie Will Blow You Away
This dairy-free recipe for Key Lime Pie has no refined sugar and is made with a gluten-free pecan crust. It is so nutritious, you could seriously eat it for breakfast (and trust me, at our house, we do!)
But what about taste? After all, if you take a look at a traditional recipe for Key Lime Pie, you’ll see it does not appear to have been concocted with clean eating in mind.
So then, is my cleaned up recipe for Key Lime Pie even worth eating? When you compare the ingredients in my recipe below next to a conventional key lime pie, you are going to think most certainly not.
After all, my recipe has no refined sugar, no graham crust, no whipping cream, no condensed milk, no cream cheese and not a single naughty item added. I realize the thought of a healthy pie that actually tastes amazing sounds way too good to be true, but I promise you will not be disappointed.
Recipe For Key Lime Pie Calls for REAL Key Lime Juice
The recipe is really very easy to make. The one big thing to keep in mind is that you really do need to use real Key Lime juice for the best results. Standard lime juice simply will not give you the tart and tangy taste of a real deal Key Lime Pie. Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice is what you should look for. Nellie & Joe’s is as close as you will get to bringing a taste of the Keys to your dinner table. It is now a nationally recognized brand shipped throughout the United States and even overseas to Europe and Asia. The only other ingredient in the recipe that you may not be well acquainted with is the arrowroot. This is just a natural thickener and is relatively easy to find in any natural foods store. And finally, if you want to take this recipe for Key Lime Pie over the top, then add a dollop of freshly whipped coconut cream. It’s easy to make and it’s definitely worth the extra 5 minutes.
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Pecan Crust
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups raw pecans
- 6 medjool dates
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons organic extra virgin coconut oil (such as Barlean’s)
- ¼ teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons millet flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until well-blended. Use clean fingertips to press mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish.
- Pre-bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove crust from oven and set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes before pouring in the filling.
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Recipe for Key Lime Pie Filling
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 can (13.5 ounces organic coconut milk)
- 1 banana
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot
- 3 organic (pastured eggs (such as Vital Farms))
- 1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice (NO substitutions!)
- 10 medjool dates
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place all ingredients in a Vitamix and process until smooth and creamy. Pour filling into prepared crust and bake in middle of oven for 50 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered, at least 4 hours before serving. Serve cold
Last Step!If you loved our recipe, leave us a review below. This helps future recipe makers and ensures continued high-quality recipes for years to come!
I’m looking for a dairy free key lime filling for a sandwich cookie. Can I use your filling recipe and bake it in a dish by itself…allow it to cool, then put it in a ziplock bag to pipe onto the cookies?
Or do you have any other suggestions?
I am not sure the filling will work if piped, after it’s been baked. But, if you try it out, please send a photo, would love to see how it turned out!
Hi! Could I make this without the crust? Thanks!
Hi Gretta! Oh sure, I think that would work fine. I would think it would turn out like a custard. Maybe you might want to try making it in individual custard cups, put them in a water bath and bake for a little less time?
Thanks for the response, Ivy! No, it still is not working for me. The Pecan Crust recipe’s print button works beautifully, but the Key Lime Pie Filling Recipe still is giving the same error message.
Hi Nancy, Oh my gosh, I have no idea what in the world is wrong. I will check with our web guy and hopefully get a response Monday. One thing that might work in the meantime is to try a different browser. So sorry for the inconvenience!
the filling portion of this recipe’s print page gives an “error 404 page not found” message, 🙁
Hi Nancy, Thank you so much for letting me know. I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience. It is working for me now though. Can you please try again and let me know if it works for you? So sorry again for the hassle!
I saw where you recommended silken tofu in place of banana for those who can’t have banana. We can’t do soy products either, or avocado. My daughter’s 10th birthday is next week and I’m trying to find a key lime pie recipe that will work for alkyl of us. No dairy, soy, gluten, or latex fruits. Suggestions to replace banana?
Hi Nancy, I am just now seeing your comment. I am so sorry for the delay getting back to you. But as for what would substitute for the banana or tofu, gosh, I honestly don’t have a good recommendation that I know for certain would work. I would hate for you to spend a lot of time making the pie and then having it not turn out. Maybe you could just try adding one more egg and 1/4 cup more coconut milk and another 2 dates—that MIGHT work. I just don’t want to guarantee it since I haven’t tested it. I do sympathize greatly with the allergy issue though, I know that must be very difficult. Please do let me know if you try my suggestion. I hope your daughter has a wonderful birthday!
This was so yummy! Although mine came out darker in color than yours Ivy, it was still delicious. I’m not sure why it was darker. I’ll be making this again for sure. I’m thinking of adding some lime zest to the filling just to add a little more lime flavor. It was so good.
SO happy you liked it Angela! I’m not sure exactly why it came out darker? Was it a lot darker? I do often edit my photos to brighten them so I am sure that could be part of the problem. SO glad it was tasty though! I love the idea of adding the lime zest by the way. I’ll have to do that myself next time 😉
MINE ALSO CAME OUT MUCH DARKER THAN YOUR PHOTO. I haven’t tasted it yet it smells pretty good!
I sure hope you also liked the flavor Linda =) !!!
I have a family member that can’t eat any grains, so no millet flour. Do you know of a grainless substitute that could work?
Hi Jacob, hmmmm….I think you might be able to substitute the millet flour with almond flour. Please let me know if you try it how it turns out!
I see other recipes use a water bath so filling does not crack. Do i need to use the water bath and will filling crack without it? And what can i substitute for millet?
Hi Terri –It’s Ivy using my husband’s (Andy) email—You know, that might actually be a very good idea Teri! I can’t see any harm in doing it that way. I don’t do mine in a water bath and it always turns out fine, but I think for extra good measure you could definitely use one 😉
What can i substitute for the dates in both parts of recipe?
Hi Terri! It’s Ivy using my husband’s (Andy) email—Hmmm…that’s a great question Teri! I would say yellow raisins would probably be your best bet…
I have been looking for a dairy free, gluten free key lime pie recipe for so long. When you say it takes 1T of arrowroot, is that the flour, powder or something else? I have no clue what arrowroot is.
Hi Pam, Arrowroot is actually just a grain free starch powder that is used as a thickening agent. You can find it in the baking section of just any natural food store or online (Bob’s Red Mill makes a great one!) Hope this helps?
Hi Pam, I am so sorry, I thought I had answered this earlier but I just see it pop up again and so maybe my response did not go through? But arrowroot is a non-starch thickener that is in powder form and can be found in the baking section of any natural foods store. It basically has no taste, but it does a great job of thickening and is very unlikely to cause any allergic reaction. Hope this helps?
Re: thickening Almond milk, would it be possible to use extra arrowroot? I’m anxious to try this out!
Hi Deb, I am so sorry for the delay getting back to you, we have been traveling and took our son to college so all has been very hectic here, but as for the arrowroot, while I absolutely love arrowroot as a thickener for sauces (and great for stir fry!), I’m a little concerned you would need to use A LOT to really thicken almond milk effectively. However, I did find this article on how to thicken almond milk using oat flour so maybe you could try the same technique suggested in the article but use arrowroot instead? Please do let me know how it works if you give it a try!
This sounds worth a try as I’m lactose intolerant but I don’t care for coconut. Do you think almond milk would be good? Is a canned milk different from the unsweetened almond or coconut refrigerated milk?
Hi Sue, So sorry it took me so long to get back to you, we have been in Rome for the past week. As for substituting almond milk for the coconut milk, that definitely will not work if you are using store-bought because it is so thin. The coconut milk is very thick, rich and creamy and so if you want to replace it with a nut milk of some sort you would have to make it at home and make sure it is really thick—you might try buying cashew butter and adding water to it. I don’t know the exact ratio, but I am thinking maybe 1:1 might work—so, if you used 1/4 cup cashew butter and mixed in 1/4 cup water and pureed it all in a food processor that might work as a creamy substitute for the coconut milk. You could also try processing raw cashews soaked in water overnight with water to make the same thing. Either way, I think the cashew “cream” would definitely work! Hope this helps?
Is it correct to add 10 me drool dates to the custard part of the pie? Don’t they turn it an unsightly color?
Hi William, I know it might seem like the dates would totally mess the color up, but for some reason they don’t in this recipe (maybe because of the yellow from the egg yolks and all the coconut milk?) But yes, that is the correct amount!
I’m allergic to bananas:( is there something else I can use to substitute it, or can I completely omit the banana from the recipe? Thank you!
Hi Christina, Oh gosh, you are not the first person to be allergic to bananas. I keep hearing this allergy pop up more and more lately, not sure why? Anyway, as for a substitute, hmmmm…..I suppose you could substitute 1/2 cup organic silken tofu, but you will need to taste the filling and be sure to add more dates to make it sweet. I hope this helps? Please do let me know if you try the recipe with the tofu!
I spoke too soon. It looked so dry but it worked perfectly!
Oh GOOD! So so glad you liked it Ann =) Yes, it is crumbly at first, but you just press it into the dish. Glad to know you liked it!
I just mixed the crust ingredients in my food processor and it is not a dough consistency. It is crumbles. There is no way to make a crust from this. What is wrong? I filled it exactly.
I have a key lime tree. Can’t I just use juice from my own key limes?
hi Nancy, oh wow! Well yes, I am sure that your own fresh key limes would be amazing. I would definitely try it! Please do let me know how it turns out =)