This Vegan Key Lime Pie is sweet and tangy, rich and creamy, gluten-free and refined sugar free. It's the perfect no-bake dessert for summer!
The recipe for this Vegan Key Lime Pie was inspired by both my Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake and my Vegan Peanut Butter Pie recipes.
Why you'll love this recipe
This Vegan Key Lime Pie is:
- luxuriously rich and creamy
- perfectly sweet
- fragrant and fruity
- gluten-free
- refined sugar free
- paleo
- grain-free
- oil-free
- no-bake
- made in just one food processor - no other bowls or equipment required!
- a perfect make-ahead dessert
- full of probiotics
- a good source of protein and fibre
- much healthier than the traditional version!
How to make this Vegan Key Lime Pie
The crust
The crust is made using 3 simple ingredients: dates, walnuts and salt, which get blitzed together in a food processor. The texture is pleasantly crunchy, and the taste is salty-sweet and buttery.
Once it’s done, you can just press it into a crust shape in a pie dish, and move onto the filling.
Tip: Instead of walnuts you can use almonds, pecans or Brazil nuts. The dates can be substituted with another similar dried fruit such as dried apricots or dried figs, though the flavour will differ slightly.
The filling
The filling can be made in the same food processor as the crust (no need to wash it out), and it’s made with a base of soaked cashew nuts and coconut yogurt. This creates a luxuriously creamy and velvety texture, and just the right amount of tanginess, whilst the fermented flavour of the yogurt is reminiscent of cream cheese.
Tip: If you don’t like coconut yogurt, you can use any other type of plant-based yogurt.
Lime zest and lime juice add extra tartness and a citrusy aroma, whilst maple syrup adds sweetness (you can use any other sweetener).
Tip: For a proper, authentic key lime pie you can use key lime juice and zest, but for those who can't get hold of key limes, normal limes are a good substitute, although the taste will differ slightly.
Finally, you can decorate the pie with lime slices and extra coconut yogurt if you like!
EQUIPMENT YOU'll NEED TO MAKE THIS Vegan Key Lime PIE:
- food processor – for making the crust and the filling (no need to wash it out in between!)
- pie dish – I used a 22.5 cm/9 inch pie dish
How long does this Key Lime Pie keep for?
This Vegan Key Lime Pie keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days. Both the taste and texture remains unchanged for a good few days, which means it’s great for preparing ahead if you’re entertaining.
More vegan no-bake desserts:
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Cashew Chocolate Truffles
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Healthy Snickers Ice Cream Bites
- Chocolate Pudding Pots
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Vegan Key Lime Pie (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 65 g (½ cup) walnuts (or sub almonds, pecan nuts, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or desiccated coconut)
- 90 g (½ cup) pitted dates
- Pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 150 g (1 cup) raw cashew nuts (soaked overnight in cold water or in boiling water for 10 minutes)
- 150 g (¾ cup) coconut yogurt (or any other plant-based yogurt)
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 8 tablespoons lime juice *(approximately 1 ½ limes)
- 1 tablespoon lime zest *(make sure to use an unwaxed lime)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate (optional):
- Lime slices
- More coconut yogurt (or any other plant-based yogurt)
Instructions
For the crust:
- Add all the ingredients for the crust to a food processor and blitz until you get a crust that easily sticks together but that still has some texture
- Use your fingers to carefully press the mixture across the bottom and up the sides of a pie dish (I used a 22.5 cm/9 inch pie dish) - press down with your fingers, the back of a spoon or the bottom of a small cup or glass to make it as compact as possible
- Place in the fridge while you make the rest
For the filling:
- Drain the soaked cashew nuts
- In the same food processor (no need to wash it out), add all the ingredients for the filling and whizz until completely smooth
- Taste and add extra maple syrup or lime juice if necessary
- Place the filling on top of the crust
- Decorate with lime slices and more coconut yogurt, if desired
- Place back in fridge until completely set (will take up to a few hours)
- Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of the products, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Madeline Gutierrez
Hi!
Can't wait to use the pie crust for a million things.
But one big issue - vegan to change out animal based products. Cool.
But you've made a vegan Lime Pie. Not a vegan Key Lime pie. And all those folks who say there's not a difference are very wrong. They aren't the same the way a grapefruit and a tangerine aren't the same - citrus yes but that's it.
Different history of where they come from.. the Spanish brought the ancestors of the Key Lime to the Florida Keys - hence it's American name of "Key Lime."
Key Limes and Limes do vary in PH levels by the way.
And most Floridians will tell you a good brand of Key Lime juice while not "fresh" still produces a distinctly Key Lime pie - vs using squeezed Lime juice.. which produces - Lime Pie.
It's worth reading up from Real sources like universities and agricultural departments.
Rhian Williams
Hi Madeleine, thank you so much for your feedback. I'm so sorry I did mean to add that for a proper authentic key lime pie you should use key lime and that for people who can't get hold of them normal limes work as a substitute, but I completely forgot to add this to the recipe notes, which I've now amended. So sorry again and thank you for letting me know. That's really interesting about the history behind it and I'll be doing some more research into key limes.
Jenny
Five stars!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
Gail
You do not say if the yogurt is sweetend or not. Obviously, it will make a difference. I make my own plain soy yogurt so do I need to add more sweetener? Looking forward to making this for Thanksgiving!
Rhian Williams
Thank you! The yogurt I used is unsweetened, so you shouldn't need to add any extra sweetener. But you can always taste it add some extra if necessary. Hope that helps!
Hayley
Is it right that it’s 12tablespoons of like juice? It took me 5 lines to get 12 tablespoons (where it says approximately 1 1/2) the texture was really really and it didn’t set at all
Rhian Williams
I'm so sorry to hear about that - for me it was fine with 12 tablespoons of lime juice (it can depend on how naturally juicy your limes are). Was it too sour for you? If so then less lime juice would have been ok, but the liquidity of the mixture can depend on how runny your yogurt is. If you're having trouble with the mixture firming up, adding a little melted coconut oil or cacao butter will help it firm up. Or you could put it in the freezer. So sorry again and thank you for your feedback!
Kati
We LOVE this recipe so much that I’m making it for a second time this week! Thank you for your hard work developing it!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!