Name: Vegan Key Lime Pie
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 3 h 17 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 18 gluten free graham crackers (180g); 1/3 cup vegan butter, melted; 3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar; 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked; 1 1/2 cups canned coconut cream; 1/3 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice; 1 heaping tablespoon key lime zest; 1/2 cup pure maple syrup; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Jump to Recipe

These healthy vegan key lime pie is light, citrusy, sweet, and creamy on top with a perfect graham crust! It is made with whole-food ingredients and is dairy free, gluten free, and totally plant-based

This post has been made in partnership with iHerb

Delicious and Healthy Vegan Key Lime Pie

Spring and summer always shift me to light, fresh, and bright meals and treats (in contrast to delicious winter comfort food). This vegan key lime pie is bursting with flavour that’s light, bright, and perfect for any celebration that the spring (or summer) season brings.

Whether you are craving a sweet treat, or want to wow a small crowd, this vegan key lime pie is a must try!

Is Key Lime Pie Vegan?

Most often, no.

Traditionally this tasty pie features a buttery graham crust with a key lime curd filling that’s made with condensed milk and baked in the oven to create a soft, velvety texture. The pie is then typically topped with whipping cream made from heavy cream and sugar.

This classic pie contains a lot of dairy and therefore is not vegan or plant-based. But, like I’ll show you here, it’s super easy to make a healthier vegan alternative to this much loved classic.

Ingredients for Vegan Key Lime Pie

To make this tangy and sweet pie I partnered with iHerb, one of my favourite online natural health foods retailers to get the ingredients I needed. Many of these ingredients are pantry staples, and I offer some extra tips below on finding key limes!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Crust:

Gluten-free (or regular) graham crackers (I used Nairn’s Gluten Free Oat Grahams, with 40% less sugar from iHerb)
Coconut palm sugar
Vegan butter

Key Lime Filling:

Raw cashews (I used Now Foods Organic Raw Cashews from iHerb)
Coconut cream (canned, (***do not use canned coconut milk***))
Key limes
Pure maple syrup (I used Now Foods Organic Maple Syrup from iHerb)
Cornstarch (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cornstarch from iHerb)
Vanilla extract (I used Simply Organic Pure Vanilla Extract from iHerb)

The graham crackers mixed with the vegan butter and coconut sugar makes a sweet and crumbly crust reminiscent of traditional graham crust, and the coconut cream blends perfectly with the cashews, key lime juice, and maple syrup to create a creamy and perfectly sweet key lime filling.

Can you substitute limes for key limes in key lime pie?

Key limes (also known as Mexican limes or West Indian Limes) are found more commonly in tropical areas of the world but can be sourced in North America at many grocery stores or specialty grocery stores. While they are a little harder to find in my city I actually found them at our local Italian market!

If you are unable to hunt down key limes for this dessert you can definitely swap in regular limes and lime juice. Key limes have a slightly more floral and tart flavour, but regular limes will still create a delicious citrusy flavour in this pie.

How To Make Vegan Key Lime Pie

Making this delicious pie is a relatively simple process. While the pie does need a few hours to set, the actual time to prepare the it is less than 30 minutes.

Here’s what you’ll do:

1. Soak the cashews in hot water for 10 minutes and preheat the oven to 375F.

vegan key lime pie graham cracker crust ingredients in a food processor

2. Process the grahams, sugar, and melted vegan butter in a food processor until you get a crumbly mixture.

3. Press the mixture into a pie pan firmly then bake in the oven for 7 minutes, then let cool.

Vegan Key Lime Pie ingredients in a blender with maple syrup being poured in

Ingredients for Vegan Key Lime Pie in a blender

4. Make the key lime filling by adding the soaked cashews and remaining filling ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth.

5. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat and stir continuously until the filling starts to thicken.

6. Whisk until smooth and when the curd is thickened, pour into the baked graham crust and smooth the top with a spatula.

7. Set the pie in the fridge for 3 hours then top with vegan whipped cream, cut into slices, and enjoy!

Let’s Talk iHerb & A Mini Spring/Summer Grocery Haul:

I’ve teamed up with iHerb many times and I love their fantastic selection and variety of products including tons of natural grocery items that are shipped from climate-controlled distribution centers to ensure the best quality. iHerb carries more than 30,000 natural products that ship to over 180 countries so there is literally something for everybody!

iHerb also provides very convenient ordering methods and their customer service is available 7 days a week (in 10 different languages). When I’m ordering to Canada it is fast and affordable, with several carrier options (DHL, UPS, and Landmark).

For my mini grocery haul I picked a selection of healthy snacks that are great for a picnic, road trip, or beach day!

If you haven’t yet tried iHerb you definitely need to… and what’s more enticing than a discount! Click here to get a discount on your very own iHerb order and give this delicious Vegan Key Lime Pie (or any of the snacks in my mini grocery haul) a try!

Have you ever made key lime pie, traditional or vegan? Tell me about it in the comments and be sure to pin the photo below the recipe to save it for later!