Inspired by the Atlantic Beach Pie, this tart key lime pie features a salty potato chip crust filled with a tangy key lime and sweetened condensed milk custard.

Ah, key lime pie. When I was a kid, there was a period of about two years where we regularly dined at a fish house called Catfish Dewey’s. At least once a month, on a Friday night, we would make the 20 minute trek all the way out to Oakland Park and sit on a bench outside of a rickety wooden trailer for 40 minutes while we waited for a table in a dimly lit dining room with creaky floorboards. We sat at tables covered in plastic checkered table cloths with little packages of salad crackers, aka appetizers, eating our weight in crab legs (which now as an adult I realized are not cheap at all and I see that my parents were saints for letting their children eat so many). And finally, the meal always ended with key lime pie. My dad isn’t much of an “order dessert at a restaurant” kind of guy, but he always made an exception for the key lime pie at Catfish Dewey’s. It was very basic, tart and creamy, topped with whipped cream and exactly how a true Florida key lime pie should be.

key limes vs limes: what is the difference?

Does it matter which one you use? Can you make key lime pie without key limes? Let’s dive in.

Key limes, also known as Mexican limes or West Indian limes, are small, vibrant limes and their juices are slightly tart and very floral. Back in the early 1900s, they were grown all over Florida, especially in the Key’s (hence the name Key Limes) and because of the alkaline soil and hearty rains, these little flavorful limes flourished in Florida. They were bright and juicy and well-rounded. In the 1920s, hurricanes wiped out a lot of the key lime groves around Florida and farmers replaced them with Persian lime trees, which are those big, dark green limes we find in the grocery store. Because Persian limes are now more widely grown, they are much more accessible and a lot of the key limes found in the United States are grown in Mexico and don’t necessarily have that je ne sais quoi that the original Florida key limes possessed.

Lucky for me, living in the Sunshine State, it’s a little easier to get your hands on key limes grown in Florida. They are more expensive than their more accessible Persian counterparts and because of their petit size, they yield less juice, but if you are able to get your hands on some, I recommend using them. Even using real key lime juice for half of the amount of lime juice called for will give your key lime pie that traditional balanced tartness that a true key lime pie is known for. That being said, if you aren’t able to find key limes from Florida and don’t want to spend a billion dollars for that bottle of key lime juice you found on Amazon, big green Persian limes will do the trick and save a couple of dollars.

how to make swiss meringue: 

You can use the leftover egg whites to make an easy peasy Swiss meringue for topping your pie. All you need is egg whites and sugar. Culinary school says that Swiss meringue ratios are usually one part egg whites to two parts sugar, but I sometimes go for a 1:1.5 ratio. I usually start with about 60 grams egg whites (from about 2 eggs) and about 100 grams granulated sugar. Combine whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl and set over a double-boiler. Cook, whisking frequently until the mixture is hot to the touch and sugar has completely dissolved. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and whip on medium-high speed until cooled, thick, and glossy. Pipe or swirl it on top of your pie and use a blow torch (carefully) to get those pretty toasted edges.