Name: Vegan Key Lime Pie
Prep time: 40 min
Total time: PT90M + 4HCHILL TIME
Ingredients: 1¼ cups spelt flour, whole wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour; ⅛ teaspoon sea salt; 3 tablespoons almond butter or sunflower butter; 1¾ cups unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk; 1½ teaspoons agar powder; ½ to ⅔ cup pure maple syrup; ¾ cup lime juice (from 4 to 6 regular limes or 10 to 12 Key limes); 1 tablespoon lime zest; Lime slices, for garnish

Prep-time: 40 minutes / Ready In: 90 minutes + 4 hours chill time
Makes one 9-inch pie
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Beautifully tart and lusciously creamy, this vegan pie takes your taste buds on a tropical vacation. The tangy filling has a rich, custardy texture thanks to agar powder, a gelatin-like thickener made from seaweed. A lightly salted crust perfectly complements the fresh citrus that shines through in this show-stopping dessert. Garnish with fresh lime slices for extra presentation points!

This recipe was originally published on Aug 6, 2021, and has been updated.

By Mary Margaret Chappell, Nov 7, 2022

Ingredients

1¼ cups spelt flour, whole wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour
⅛ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons almond butter or sunflower butter
1¾ cups unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
1½ teaspoons agar powder
½ to ⅔ cup pure maple syrup
¾ cup lime juice (from 4 to 6 regular limes or 10 to 12 Key limes)
1 tablespoon lime zest
Lime slices, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Using your fingers, rub almond butter into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse sand. Stir in ½ to ⅔ cup very hot water until a smooth, firm dough forms.
On a well-floured work surface, roll out dough to an 11-inch round. Press dough into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate; prick the bottom all over with a fork. Bake about 20 minutes or until crust is dry and lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
For filling, measure milk in a measuring cup; remove 2 tablespoons milk to a small bowl. Add agar to the small bowl and stir to make a paste.
In a large saucepan, heat the remaining milk until just boiling. Whisk in the agar mixture and cook on a low boil for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and cool 30 minutes.
When the milk mixture is just warm to the touch, stir in maple syrup, lime juice, and zest. Pour the filling into the crust. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with lime slices.

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12 Comments

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(3.14 from 7 votes)

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Robert5 days ago

Ok, I’ve made this recipe under the old version – which as everyone in the comments has noted turned out soupy and not what was intended. I found this recipe again under the new version and successfully made it. However here is what I did differently that the new recipe version: After low boiling the milk/agar mixture I put it in a glass bowl. I stirred it in the glass bowl for about 5 minutes noting that the agar was starting to form small discs as it started to cool. After 6 minutes (the mixture was warm to the touch) I dumped in the room temperature lime juice and maple syrup (I used 1/2 cup). After stirring it together I then poured it into the crust and put into the refrigerator. It came out correctly as shown. I don’t know why the time 30 minutes exists in the recipe still – as soon as you include the other ingredients the whole mixture is barely above room temperature.

Cathy C12 months ago

If you let the agar mixture cool for 30 minutes, it is completely solidified. I cooled it for 10 minutes and it worked, but I had to do it twice before I figured that out.

Karen Hansberger1 year ago

Does not set. I doubled the amount of agar since other reviews said it was runny. It did not set at all. Runny as milk after 4 1/2 hours in the refrigerator. So disgusted that I wasted ingredients on this recipe:/

Courtney Davison2 months ago

Hi Karen,

Forks Over Knives sent this recipe back to the test kitchen and confirmed the liquid does need to (lightly) boil for 5 minutes to properly set up. We have changed the instructions accordingly. Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

Courtney
Editor, Forks Over Knives

Sherry11 months ago

It turns out you DO have to BOIL the milk and keep it boiling as you add and stir agar agar mixture. My first attempt at the recipe, I also experienced the runny outcome, but I tasted it and it was so delicious that I made the recipe again and used boil instructions from a pumpkin pie recipe I make with agar agar.

Karen Hansberger1 year ago

& it tastes like milky lime juice

DG2 years ago

Mine didn’t set up at all. I’m not sure what went wrong.

Liz Turner11 months ago

CW2 years ago

How many servings?

Lori2 years ago

I was disappointed in the pie. I was expecting something with a creamy texture. This is more like a gelatin.

MJ2 years ago

Does all that maple syrup overpower the lime flavor?

Leslie2 years ago

No the lime was definitely the main flavor.
Next time I will use a little more agar because I would like it to be a little firmer.

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about the author

Mary Margaret Chappell

When Mary Margaret Chappell first started out in the plant-based food world as a writer, editor, and recipe developer, she was a bacon-loving former pastry chef who didn’t think she could ever cook without butter. Fourteen years, four cookbooks, dozens of cooking classes, and hundreds of recipes later, her favorite thing in the world is sharing the tips, techniques, and recipes that show just how easy and delicious whole-food, plant-based cooking can be. The former food editor of Vegetarian Times magazine has done away with her dependency on butter and is honing her skills at baking with natural sweeteners. Chappell lives in France, where plant-based eating can often be a challenge, but the fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes available are simply amazing. Find her on Instagram and Facebook.

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