Pies and Tarts

June 14, 2022

Creamy Citrus Pie

This creamy citrus pie has a buttery crust and a silky smooth filling that is both sweet and tart like Key Lime Pie, but with a subtle orange flavor. The first bite will remind you of summer!

Recipe source: Original recipe. Adapted from my family's Key Lime Pie recipe.

Creamy Citrus Pie

Smooth and refreshing pie with subtle citrus flavor. Great for a summer day!

Prep:
25
min
cook:
32
min
total:
57
min
Author:

Anne Voss

Ingredients
  • 1 refrigerated pie crust
  • 2 cans (14 ounces each) sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes depending on size)
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest
Instructions
  1. Make pie crust according to directions. Usually, two pie crusts come in one box of refrigerated dough. You will only need one crust for this pie. Follow the directions to thaw the dough, place it in the pie plate, and bake according to the “bake shell” or “empty shell” directions. Typically bake time is around 10-12 minutes until light golden brown.
  2. Set pie crust aside until ready to use. Set oven temperature to 350°F.  
  3. In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks with a whisk until light lemon color.
  4. Add in both cans of milk and blend until combined.
  5. Gradually add in lime juice, orange juice concentrate, and zest until well mixed.
  6. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
  7. Cool pie at room temperature and then chill for at least 4 hours. Chilling overnight is best.
  8. Top pie with whipped cream, meringue, or whipped topping and serve.

Makes one 9-inch pie

This website contains affiliate links to Amazon. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using these links. This is no way affects my opinion of these products. Links are provided to share products I have used when making this recipe.

Recipe Notes

Below you will find tips and tricks to help achieve the best results possible!

side view photo of a whole creamy citrus pie. There is a stack of plates and sliced oranges in the background

Ingredients

Pie Crust – I use traditional pastry pie crust for this recipe. Refrigerated pie crust dough is easy to work with and provides a nice flakey base for this pie.

Orange juice - use concentrated orange juice found in the frozen section of the grocery store. Thaw concentrate, measure, and add to the filling. Do not use fresh orange juice in this case as the filling will be too runny and the pie will not set.

Limes – the lime juice helps to thicken the filling and give the pie an extra punch of flavor. The tart lime juice compliments the sweet orange flavor. Freshly squeezed lime juice is recommended.

Zest – zest is the orange outside portion of the fruit. You just want to grate the orange peel and not the bitter white pith underneath.

Topping – I topped this pie with  meringue around the edge of the crust. You could also top with whipped cream or whipped topping (such as Cool Whip).

Supplies Needed

9-inch pie plate

Mixing bowl and whisk

Grater or microplane

Citrus juicer (optional)

close up of pie where orange filling is visible and orange zest decoration

Tips and Tricks

Blind bake your pie crust. This means partially baking your pie crust before adding the filling. That is because the bake time on this pie is fairly short and you want to make sure your crust is completely cooked. Therefore, you bake it empty (also called blind baking) and then add your filling and bake further.

Juice limes with a juicer or by hand. Make sure to remove any seeds.  

One of the most important tips is to chill the pie. The pie needs to be cooled and then chilled for a least 4 hours. Refrigerating overnight is better. Loosely cover the pie in foil or plastic wrap to avoid sticking and ruining the top of the pie.

I like to chill the pie without the topping. Add topping when getting ready to serve. It also makes for easier transport when sharing the pie at a BBQ or party when you add the topping after it has chilled. You can also serve the topping on the side.

For decoration garnish the pie with extra orange zest, slices of orange, or candied orange peels.

Variations

You can use frozen pie crusts or your favorite from-scratch pie crust recipe. Experiment by using a cookie crust or graham cracker crust, if you prefer. A chocolate cookie crust would go well with the orange filling.

Top pie with whipped cream, meringue, or a tub of whipped topping. You can decorate the edge of the pie only and leave some of the filling visible or you can cover the entire pie with topping.

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