Here is my simple recipe for thick and creamy Key Lime Pudding! Make a double batch if you’re serving true lime lovers 🙂
Happy Saturday, friends! Today I’m popping in to share a dessert that is cold, creamy, and outrageously refreshing. Key Lime Pudding! This easy dessert takes only a few minutes of prep time and can be made up to two days in advance. It’s so flavorful you don’t need to garnish it with anything, but if you really want to I think a dollop of whipped cream and some crushed graham crackers would be a lovely finish! Enjoy! xoxo
More Key Lime Recipes:
- Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
- Creamy Key Lime Pudding
- Key Lime Cupcakes
- Frozen Key Lime Pie on a Stick
- Key Lime Coconut Donuts
Here is the link to the bottled key lime juice I use!

Creamy Key Lime Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 3/4 cup fresh lime or key lime juice (I have included a link to the key lime juice I use inside the post)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 heavy cream
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Fit a medium sized bowl with a fine mesh sieve; set aside.
- Combine the lime zest, lime juice, sugar, and eggs in medium saucepan. Add butter and bring mixture to a very controlled simmer – stirring almost constantly – over medium-low heat. Once the mixture has thickened – it should be able to coat the back of a metal spoon – remove from heat and pour through the sieve. Place bowl in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Once the pudding has chilled, whip the cream and confectioners sugar together in a stand mixer until stiff peaks begin to form. Fold the cream into the cooled pudding, stirring until completely combined.
- Eat at once or refrigerate until needed. Pudding will last up to 48 hours.
I love the flavor of key lime, sounds so refreshing in a pudding!
Mmm that sounds scrumptious! nothing like making pudding from scratch 🙂
Thank you, June! I couldn’t agree more 🙂
Hi. This looks delicious but I cant find the link to the key lime juice. Thanks for posting. Patty
Hi Patty. I just checked and it’s at the bottom, right before the recipe. Please let me know if you still do not see it and I’ll send you the link manually 🙂
Please send me the link too – I can’t see it either.
Hi Heather, the link is right before the recipe.
Yummy! Must taste delicious!
This pudding looks perfect!!!
I would like to use this pudding to make key lime parfait for my daughters wedding shower. I don’t have a sieve.
Is the sieve to remove the lime zest? If it ‘coats the back of a spoon’ wouldn’t it be too thick to go through a sieve?
Is the lime zest critical to the taste or can I leave it out?
Hi Maggie. A sieve is important to ensure the pudding comes out silky smooth. The lime juice and zest are important for flavor, so I wouldn’t recommend skipping either of those steps. It won’t be too thick to go through a sieve as you stir and push the pudding through (into a bowl). The point of this is just to weed out any lumps that may be in the mixture. While I haven’t personally tried making this recipe without a sieve, I think it could work. An idea for you: instead of pushing the pudding through the sieve, run the pudding through a blender or food processor for a few seconds. This would help whip out any lumps. I hope your daughter has a lovely shower!
I love citrus in desserts! Would you say that this is a citrusy zingy pudding or more on the sweet side?
Love the recipe and planning on making it this week.
One question, you said 3/4 heavy cream. How much did you use?
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it is great! I use lime & lemon zest/juice both however. So good and easy to make!
Just made this and everyone loved it! I didn’t have a sieve so I used a thinly slotted spoon and it did the trick 🙂
I have mad early Key Lime pie before, but I like this pudding instead as it is a little lighter. I used Nelly and Joe’s Key Lime juice and it was fantastic! Will definitely make again to enjoy in the short Minnesota summers!
It says total 15 mins. But you have to chill it for 2 hours. I’m upset this isn’t factored in, now I can’t make it for my party.
This recipe reminds me very much of the dynamite one I use for my lemon curd. There are differences, but I can tell your recipe will make a lovely delicious pudding. Thank you for posting this.
Okay. Made this “pudding.” I love it, but then I really REALLY enjoy the taste of sour.
I think this recipe isn’t “pudding,” as such, because typically we all think of pudding as something a bit heavier and thicker in texture than the end result of this recipe.
Caution: it will be a bit sour and if you’re not a fan of sour, you will need to add more sugar to either the original cooked mix or perhaps to the whipped cream mixture.
My organic limes were purchased from a neighborhood corner “honor system” stand. The limes were each about 2.5″ x 3″ and weighed nearly 5 ounces apiece. Very juicy. Yellow, with thin skins, seedless and perfectly fine to use in this recipe——no straining or sieving needed. I used three limes for this recipe.
Having to sieve or strain the lime “pudding” mixture seems far too much work to me and I didn’t have any problem whatsoever with zest bits. In fact, they were not even noticeable. Just use an appropriate finely slotted grater, one made for removing the zest from citrus fruits. Your zest will be tiny and sort of melt into the mixture when cooked.
As for the finished product: It is delicious, but super tangy/sour. EXTREMELY delicate in its consistency and melts in your mouth.
I see this as a lime curd recipe wherein one uses less sugar, but then adds more sugar (powdered) with the cream. I highly recommend this recipe. *** If you use thinly skinned lime and a good zester tool, you truly don’t need to strain anything.***
A word of caution to novice cooks: Be careful not to whip the cream too much. You will end up with butter.
I
P.S. (Forgot to add that I only used 3 tablespoons of butter—-salted butter, as that’s all I had on hand.)
I am about to make this recipe, but was wondering about the eggs. Most other puddings i have done, i only use the yolks. But you have the whole egg in your recipe. The egg white is fine?
I wondered the same thing. Made it today with whole eggs, it worked fine but the sieve was critical since there were tiny bits of white that had a cooked a bit. Whisking well before heating and constantly while cooking is definitely key.
Hi I was wondering if I could use this recipe to fill some cream puffs?
I have all of the ingredients now and am making this. I use Nellie and Joe’s Key West Lime Juice. It is much less expensive and can get it at the grocery store with the other juices.
The flavor was nice. My only complaint was the recipe doesn’t temper eggs so the sieve has egg whites in it. Tempering eggs would avoid the need to sieve. Zest is edible and I enjoyed tart zest in a sweet dessert.
My brother wanted chocolate cake and I wanted to make this pudding, so we compromised and I made this pudding. 🙂 Waiting for it to cool before I whip the heavy cream with sugar. Someone mentioned it’s very tart. More sugar? Or is this good for most people?
Thanks…