7 Store-Bought Frozen Key Lime Pies, Ranked

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If you find that the early evening sun is toasting your face and you're being surrounded by sweltering summer air, at least you can take a bite of a refreshing key lime pie to cut through the heat and make the moment bearable. You've been gossiping with a friend while indulging in the mouth-puckering, sour-sweet dessert and you've discovered that when the pie is tastier, so is the tea. That's why you only serve the best, but lazy summer afternoons definitely aren't for slaving away in the kitchen, so you prefer to stock your freezer with the highest-quality store-bought key lime pie. The best key lime pies have pale, smooth fillings that taste more tangy-sour than sweet. The graham cracker crust should be crumbly, never dense or tough. And if the topping is authentic whipped cream, even better.

You may not be up to trying all the brands available at your grocery store just to find the best one, though, and that's okay — because I already did. I tried all of these pies and ranked them from worst to best. I gave the highest rankings to pies that tasted the most like sharp, sour key limes. The lowest pies on the list tasted artificial, starchy, or blandly sweet. I preferred pies where the crust and topping complemented the flavor of the filling.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of products provided by the manufacturer. Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

I would not buy the Great Value Key Lime Pie again. I would be embarrassed to offer it to guests, and it's too gross to eat on its own. The filling has astringent citrus and eggy flavors that don't go together well. The crust is too dense, hard, and bland, while the topping tastes artificial. Every component of this pie is off-putting.

This pie is a warm yellow color that tends toward orange. The other pies I tried had paler, cooler colors. The topping and filling are shiny and almost plastic-looking. It was easy to cut a piece that sticks together well, but it came at the expense of its taste and texture. One bite of this pie revealed that while it had a distinct lime flavor, it was far too stiff and tasted like Egg Beaters. It felt starchy in my mouth. Biting into the crust was like chewing shortening-flavored cardboard. At the same time, it was bland, with only the slightest hint of sweetness. The topping tasted more like grocery store sheet cake frosting than whipped cream or Cool Whip.

If I had my heart set on a key lime pie but only this pie was available, I would choose to buy a different dessert entirely. Great Value has a reputation for poor-quality frozen pies, and even with a price tag of around $6, this pie is not worth the money.

Sara Lee's Key Lime Crème Pie sits low in the ranking because it looked and tasted artificial. It was an unnatural green color and the filling was like lime-flavored Cool Whip. The traditional recipe for key lime pie usually has a more custard-like texture. It was still better than Great Value's pie because the graham cracker crust was crumbly, sweet, and had just the right amount of salt.

It was the greenest of all the products I reviewed and boasted an almost minty hue. Most key lime pies are pale. As suspected, this product's ingredient label includes colorings like turmeric and Blue 1.  Key lime juice from concentrate is listed, but so is artificial flavor. The texture is lighter and mousse-like, unlike the custard-like filling of other pies. The pie's texture was pleasant and smooth but not what I think of as key lime pie.

In a pinch, I would buy this pie again. At around $7, its price is accessible, and it would also look good on a dessert table. I also appreciated that it was easy to slice cleanly. That being said, guests might not ask for seconds, as the dessert doesn't really wow the taste buds. They might like one of the Sara Lee's other products better.

Edwards Key Lime Pie got a middle ranking because it was everything I expected from a key lime pie and was still underwhelming. While the crust is made from graham crackers, it's not the best, as its taste was too subtle. The custardy filling is thicker and not as smooth as the top-rated pies and it tastes more sweet than tangy. This pie was better than Sara Lee Key Lime Crème Pie because it was more like the traditional recipe and didn't taste as artificial.

This pie would have been one of the prettiest, but it came out of the box with some pieces of crust loose and the whipped topping was smudged. It had just the right pale yellow color. I appreciated the amount of whipped topping on this dessert since it didn't overwhelm the taste of the filling or crust. The most forward flavor was sweet with the slightest hint of tangy lime, but it was overall hard to notice. Of all the pies, this one had the least lime flavor. 

Edwards has everything a key lime should have, yet lacks conviction. Yet, with a low price of around $7, I might buy it again for a cool summer treat.

Marie Callender's Key Lime Pie has the best quality and taste for its price. It has all of the characteristics of key lime pie — a crumbly graham cracker crust, bright lime flavor, and a smooth, thick texture. This pie is better than Edwards because the flavor is tangier, limier, and generally more intense.

This pie has a natural-looking pale yellow color, and the filling is soft. On a scale of pudding to custard, it's more pudding-like. That makes this pie slightly harder to cut and serve after it's thawed, as the tip comes out droopy. If you're serving this pie to guests, be sure to read up on these pie slicing hacks and slice it while it's frozen, then allow it to thaw on individual plates for a cleaner presentation. The flavor of the filling is simple; it tastes tangy like lime and has just the right level of sweetness. The crust is soft and slightly grainy, tending toward salty rather than sweet. The topping is a drawback for this pie because it tastes like Cool Whip. I would have liked this pie more without it.

I plan to buy several more of Marie Callender's key lime pies to share with my friends and family this summer. At around $7, it's the perfect dessert to take to a potluck picnic.

The Village PieMaker Key Lime Pie combines the taste of tangy limes and authentic whipped cream. The simplicity of the ingredients elevates this pie. I liked it better than Marie Callender's because its topping was real whipped cream and because the graham cracker crust tasted like molasses and honey.

This is a mousse key lime pie, similar to Sara Lee, but it looks and tastes much better, though. This pie is also pale green, but a touch lighter. The ingredient list doesn't include any coloring, so the more natural shade of green likely comes from lime juice concentrate. Cream is the first ingredient for both filling and topping. That makes this product smooth and sweet, but also rich. A thin slice was enough for me, whereas I really wanted a huge slice of the pies with more custard-like texture. This product feels heavier, and the top two pies I tried were lighter and more refreshing. The lime flavor in this pie tastes fresh and bright rather than artificial. My biggest complaint is that cutting and serving a neat piece was challenging. I recommend doing this while the pie is still frozen.

This was the most expensive frozen key lime pie I tried. Some grocery stores sell it for around $17. That price is more than fair, though, considering the quality of the ingredients The Village PieMaker uses. If you've got the budget, this pie is splurge-worthy.

Chef Pierre got second place in this ranking because its filling had the most biting lime taste of all the pies I tried. It was surprisingly tangy, bright, and bold. That intensely flavorful filling made this pie more refreshing than The Village PieMaker. Chef Pierre's sweet, fluffy meringue topping was lighter and fluffier than whipped cream and expertly balanced the sharp, sour filling.

The amount of meringue topping on this pie makes it look huge, but when I cut into it, I was surprised to find a slightly thinner layer of filling than in some of the other pies. The filling was light yellow and sharply tart like key lime. It wasn't quite as smooth as the top-rated pie, and the texture was softer. The light-colored crust was the grainiest of all the pies I sampled, and it crumbled when I cut a piece of it. Yet, it added an interesting texture to this dessert, which, from top to bottom, went from cloud-like to smooth to crumbly. I liked this diverse mix of textures. Lastly, the meringue topping was light and airy. It was sweet and cut through the acidity of the lime.

This pie costs about $13 and nearly double what the cheapest pies cost. Its unique bitter-sour lime bite makes it worth the price, though.

Of all the pies in this article, Kenny's looks most unassuming and plainest, but the flavor blew me out of the water. The filling is perfectly balanced; it's sour, sweet, and smooth. It still tasted intensely limey, but was more pleasant than Chef Pierre's version. It also had a superior crust.

There is nothing that could make the filling and crust of this pie better. The filling is just thick enough that it sticks together when cut, but it's still silkier than all the other pies. The crust didn't crumble when I cut it, either. I thought it tasted vaguely of gingerbread, which was surprising. The ingredient list revealed why; it includes molasses, which is a fundamental flavor in gingerbread cookies. The woody, smoky undertones of the molasses contrast with the sharp brightness of the key lime filling. I appreciated the simple ingredient list and that it did not contain additives or preservatives. This pie also doesn't have a topping on it — and doesn't need one. It tastes amazing just the way it is.

At nearly $14, this pie isn't cheap. It's worth every penny, though. I would much rather have one of Kenny's than two of the others.

I ranked these key lime pies based on the taste and texture of the filling, crust, and toppings. I tested each pie thawed to assess its texture. I also tested frozen samples, and it was amazing how temperature impacted the flavor. I mention both the appearance of the pies and their prices in the description for reference, but neither of these aspects affected the ranking.

The filling was the part I considered most carefully. I compared each filling to that of a traditional recipe. More specifically, I preferred filling with a thick, smooth, creamy texture like pudding or custard. Pies with stiff, starchy, or light chiffon textures ranked lower. The filling should also taste slightly floral, sharp, and sour, with just the right amount of sweetness. Pies that tasted artificial, too sweet, or not sour enough did not fare as well. 

The crust and topping were two additional factors that affected the ranking of these pies. The taste of the crust should balance out the filling and offer both a crumbly texture and a classic, buttery graham cracker flavor. I didn't mind a little graininess because that contrasted with the texture of the filling. Pies with dense or bland crusts got lower rankings, though. For the topping, I was hoping for a sweet, smooth flavor that would balance out the harshness of the lime. I gave lower rankings to pies with toppings that tasted artificial, like frosting or Cool Whip.