Can You Use Regular Limes In Key Lime Pie?
For many home cooks, recipes are a necessity and make time spent in the kitchen much easier. With a list of ingredients and a step-by-step process written out for us, we don't have to muddle along in the dark. Following a recipe to a T is great if you're inexperienced, but you can also feel free to use shortcuts or alternatives to tweak traditional dishes. For example, you might be craving key lime pie, but only have regular limes and lemons at home. What should you do?
Well, it turns out, you can just use regular limes or use a combination of lime and lemon juice to achieve a similar result. Key lime pie should be sweet, tart, and bursting with creamy, citrusy flavors. It's a great pie to serve on a hot summer's day. While key limes are usually the dish's star, regular limes mixed with lemon juice will give you a very similar flavor. The main difference will be a slight variation in the pie's tartness — key limes give you a more sour taste. But, if you're in a situation where you only have regular limes, don't worry — your pie will work just fine.
What's the difference between regular limes and key limes?
When it comes to the difference between limes and key limes, there are definitely some things to note. Limes are bigger than key limes and also grow in different climates. Key limes primarily come from Florida, but they can also grow in California and Mexico. On the other hand, regular limes are mainly grown in Mexico and Brazil but can also be found in the "Sunshine State."
Aside from the size variation, key limes are yellow and have delicate skin. On the other hand, regular limes have brilliant green skin and a thicker exterior. Key limes also contain substantially less juice compared with regular limes and have a sharper, more sour bite. This is why, when substituting regular limes for key limes in pie, it is a good idea to also mix in some lemon juice, just to get that nice, zesty-fresh key lime flavor. While the citrus flavor might not be quite as strong, however, most recipes that swap key limes for regular limes will closely resemble the original dish.