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Lemon Meringue Pie is one of my all-time favorites. Smooth, tart lemon filling with light and fluffy meringue that melts in your mouth. The best lemon pie you will ever taste!
A Treasured Family Recipe
This Lemon Meringue Pie is definitely one of our more treasured family recipes from our mom. We grew up on this dessert; it’s been a favorite in our family as far back as I can remember. Our dad always requests it to be one of the pies served at Thanksgiving dinner, many Sunday dinners and it has replaced his birthday cake on more than one occasion.
We recommend starting with our homemade pie crust. Then, fill it with our tangy lemon curd pie filling and the light and airy meringue on top. It’s lemon perfection in every bite!
💛 Emily
5-Star Reviews
This Lemon Meringue Pie is delicious!! It’s was everything I wanted in my favorite flavored pie and will be making on a regular basis. Thank you! – Kathryn
I hadn’t made a lemon meringue pie since high school, but wanted to give it a go. This recipe looked easy, thought I would try it. So very glad I did! It was easy to follow and the tips helped so much. Thank you, we will be enjoying this for years to come. – Jo
I just made this pie. I want to say WOW really it is good and beautiful with the tall meringue… Oh a thing of beauty. I will be proud to show it off this Thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing! – Frankie
Ingredients
Fresh lemon juice and lemon zest give the filling an irresistible tart lemon flavor. But, first you’ll need a baked pie crust, then filling ingredients, and finally the spongy meringue topping. I’ll break each one down for you:
Baked Pie Crust
- You can buy a frozen pie crust at the store (they usually come two to a package) or make your own! Our homemade pie crust is easy to make and tastes so delicious!
Lemon Custard Filling
- Sugar – regular, white granulated sugar.
- Cornstarch – this helps thicken the custard.
- Salt – to taste.
- Water – a little bit of water will help to get the right consistency for the filling.
- Grated lemon zest – use a zester or a grater to get about a tablespoon of lemon peel.
- Egg yolks – when you separate your eggs, save the whites for the meringue topping!
- Butter – salted or unsalted butter both work great.
- Lemon juice – about half a cup of juice, or the juice of one whole lemon.
Meringue Topping
- Egg whites – you’ll need about five to six large egg whites. Make sure they’re at room temperature.
- Cream of tartar – you’ll find this ingredient in the spices section of the grocery store.
- Sugar – this will give the topping the perfect sweetness and also help you achieve those perfectly golden peaks.
How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie
- Bring sugar, cornstarch, salt, water, and lemon peel to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly, this is the secret to a silky, smooth filling – stir, stir, stir!
- Remove from heat and whisk in 4 egg yolks. Return to heat and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove again from heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons of butter until melted, then lemon juice.
- Pour the lemon filling into a prepared pie crust and cool.
- For meringue topping, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with a stand or hand mixer on high speed until foamy.
- Add sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Top pie with meringue. With the back of a spoon, press lightly onto the top of the meringue and then pull up to form little peaks.
- Evenly form peaks over the top of the entire pie.
- Bake the pie at 325°F for 10 minutes or until the meringue peaks are lightly browned.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you put the pie in the refrigerator too soon after baking, it can cause weeping (or liquid under the meringue layer) so let the pie sit at room temperature just until it’s set and before serving. After a few hours, you will need to cover it. Place toothpicks in the pie and gently drape with plastic wrap or cover with aluminum foil. Store in the fridge.
Your meringue-topped pie will keep in the refrigerator, covered loosely, for up to 3 days before the meringue starts to weep or soften.
Yes! A pre-baked, store-bought crust is a convenient shortcut and works perfectly.
The crust of the pie can get watery if the crust has not been pre-baked. We recommend always using a pre-baked crust when making lemon meringue pie. The top of the pie can get watery (or weepy) by forming little beads of water when the meringue is overcooked, undercooked, or cools too quickly. We recommend letting the pie cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Dip a sharp knife in very hot water, dry it, then make the first cut. Wipe the knife and repeat between slices to get nice clean edges.
More Delicious Pie Recipes
Whether you’re baking up pies for the holidays, Sunday dinner, or a celebration, here are some traditional and unique pie recipes you will love!
- Key Lime Pie – A traditional southern pie in a graham cracker crust. It is creamy, sweet, and tart all at the same time.
- Easy Berry Pie – This pie is full of plump, juicy blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries and tastes delicious with vanilla ice cream. An easy pie recipe for any occasion!
- Island Pecan Pie – Loaded with coconut, pecans, and pineapple, this pie is creamy and full of flavor.
- Coconut Cream Pie – Coconut Cream Pie is a dreamy island dessert with a flaky crust, coconut filling that is made from scratch, and toasted coconut sprinkles.
- Creamy Lemon Pie – This Creamy Lemon Pie is packed full of tart, lemon flavor and creamy goodness. This recipe is super easy to make and is always a crowd-pleaser!
- German Chocolate Pie – This pie recipe comes straight from Amish country. The rich, gooey, chocolate filling is to die for!
🍋 This Lemon Meringue Pie recipe means so much to us—if you try it, we’d love your feedback! Please comment and rate the recipe below.
Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust, pre-baked
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cups cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups water
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup lemon juice
FOR THE MERINGUE:
- 5-6 egg whites, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepot, bring sugar, cornstarch, salt, water, and lemon peel to a boil, stirring constantly. The secret to a silky smooth pie is stir stir stir!
- Remove from heat and mix in with wire whip 4 egg yolks. Return to heat for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons butter, then ½ cup lemon juice.
- Pour into pie crust and cool.
Meringue Topping:
- In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in high speed until foamy. Gradually add ½ cup sugar beating until stiff peaks form.
- Top pie with meringue. Using the back of a spoon, press lightly into the meringue and pull up to form little peaks.
- Bake at 325 about 10 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned.
- Chill until set.
Notes
- Before baking the crust, use the tines of a fork to press down the edges or the pie around the edge or use your fingers to crimp the crust into a pretty design.
- Also using a fork, gently poke little holes in the bottom of the crust before baking to prevent the crust from bubbling up. You can also prevent the crust from bubbling up by using pie weights or even dried beans.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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On What shelf do you bake this pie? Can’t wait to try it
Usually on the middle rack just so it bakes evenly. Hope this helps!
Do you need to chill lemon filling in pie crust completely before adding meringue and putting back in oven?
Yes, that would be ideal so the meringue doesn’t get too liquidy! Hope this helps!
This is the exact recipe of my mother’s lemon meringue pie she’s been gone 30 years maybe I’ll make it and coconut and banana cream pies were he best and my dads fsvorite. !!! True about the meringue My mother always said it would weep if baked too far ahead ;)thanks for printing this memory for me
Thank you so much for sharing your memory with us! We love hearing stories like this 🙂
mine is never as yellow as that even though the flavor is stupendous. Do you put yellow food coloring in it
No, we never add food coloring to it. It could be the lighting in the picture as well that gave it a brighter color?
I just put mine in the fridge but I notice like some sugary watery stuff dripping as I put it in. Is that normal? Or what did I do wrong? Looks great lol
Yes, that is normal! Was there a TON of it? There should usually just be a little…
Directions were so easy to follow. I used real lemon for the juice and it was a tad thin. I hope it thickens up as it cools.
Best lemon meringue pie I have EVER made! Thank you for posting this!
So glad you liked it! My mom has been making this pie as long as I can remember!
Is the butter salt or unsalted?
This looks great, but was wondering if it could me made with half sugar and half Truvia. Lemon Meringue is my husband’s favorite, but he’s long to cut back on sugar.
Truvia claims to be a 1:1 substitute for sugar so if their claims are correct, you should be fine. Personally I don’t love the taste of Truvia so I think it alters the taste too much, but if you don’t mind, I would say “go for it”! Hope this helps!
I just made this pie. I want to say WOW really it is good and beautiful with the tall meringue… Oh a thing of beauty. I will be proud to show it off this Thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad this recipe was a success for you! Thank you!
What are the measurements in grams please
I’m sorry but we don’t have conversions to grams.. yet. It is something we are working on. Hopefully we will have it available soon!
/This is the recipe I used for over 50 yrs from the Betty Crocker Cook Book, 1957 edition. Always so good!! Your mom probably got the recipe from that book also.
ha! Crazy! I know she has a LOT of old cookbooks, so you are probably right!
How many days before Thanksgiving could I make and refrigerate this pie? I’m making 5 pies so I need to do some a few days ahead of time.
You could probably do it 2-3 days ahead of time but you will probably want to do the meringue fresh. Just be sure to cover the pies well so they don’t dry out and get gummy. Hope this helps!
How long do you cool the pie before adding the meringue? I find Meringue pies get weepy and then crust gets soggy. How do you prevent this?
Wait until the pie is completely set – I usually stick it in the fridge for at least an hour.
Looks good, gona try to put it togather NOW !!!
THANKS
Can this be made into coconut Mirangue pie ?
Hmmm I’m sure it could, you could search for “Coconut Cream Pie” on our site and use that filling and then this meringue topping. I am sure it would be delicious!
Would you share your pie crust recipe,, please?
You can find our pie crust recipe here: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/perfect-pie-crust-peach-pie/
Also fresh squeezed lemon juice work fine,thanks never made one before
Deep dish pie shell?
Mmmmm this Saturday I make this pie!
Good call 😉 This goes SO GOOD with Easter dinner!
Deep dish pie crust or regular
You just need regular but you could do deep dish if you would like.
How long do u cool begore adding meringue?
You want it to be completely cool before adding the meringue. You can put it in the refrigerator to help it cool faster. Hope this helps!
Hi what temperature please for a fan oven thanks
I’m not sure I am familiar with a “fan” oven..? Can you elaborate?
That would be a convection oven
Ah.. got it haha
This pie was wonderful! It was exactly what a lemon meringue should be. Thank you for sharing this recipe for us to enjoy!
So glad you enjoyed this Lemon Meringue Pie! 🙂 Thanks so much for the 5-stars!
Turned out fabulous. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Was the lemon filling like the canned lemon filling?
homemade is so much better than canned.
I just found out this is my husband’s favorite pie so thank you for posting this again! His birthday is coming up and I needed to find a good recipe.