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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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My all time favorite pie. Lemony and sweet but not too sweet. This recipe is a keeper
We had an early thanksgiving day because that’s what worked for all of our family. I made this and the coconut pie also. Everybody loved it! I had to make 3 extras for everybody to be satisfied. This was so good!
How fun! It’s definitely a good idea to be flexible so everyone can be there. I’m so happy your family enjoyed the pies – thank you so much for letting us know! Happy Thanksgiving!
Awesome and so easy
Plenty of lemon flavor .
Why is mine soupy
The lemon filling is thickened with cornstarch. If you over work or over mix the filling, the cornstarch will weaken and it won’t work as well.
This is one of my all-time favorites! My mouth is watering just looking at this dessert.
This is the perfect spring dessert!! So tasty. I love anything with lemon!
This is such a classic dessert. It was so simple to make – we really enjoyed it.
This is one of my favorite pies! I’m so excited to make this soon! Can’t wait!
This was so good!! Everyone at my house loved it!
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!
I hadnt 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
I love lemon desserts so much so this pie is right up my street! Can’t wait to try the recipe 🙂
Can this pie be made in an 8 x 12 baking dish?
We haven’t tried it that way before, so I’m not sure how that would turn out. Let us know if you do try it!
I hadn’t made a pie like this and was a little intimidated by the thought. But y daughter loves lemon and I followed your instructions and it was fantastic! Thank you!!
my husband is diabetic. this is his favorite pie. my question is: can this lemon meringue pie be made with sugar substitute?
Unfortunately we have never made this with a sugar substitute so we can’t say how it will turn out. Many sugar substitutes say that you can substitute at a 1:1 ratio but I don’t know how it will affect the consistency. Sorry I’m not much of a help here! If you decide to try it let us know how it turns out!
I’m gonna try this recipe buy I’m gonna use brown sugar meringue it’s so good!!
Oh yum! A brown sugar meringue sounds delicious!
The favor was great. The meringue turned out without a hitch. The pie, however, did not set up for us. This was our first time making it and after doing a little research we found that after adding the eggs the time you cook for of one minute may not be as important as knowing to look for the mixture to be very thick. In a trouble shooting article it recommended to thicken it to almost sliceable because when you add the juice it will thin a great deal.
Haven’t tasted yet, but did lick the spoon and the lemon filling is fantastic. Used fresh squeezed lemon and zest. Hauled out the stand mixer for the meringue and it looks just as it should, although I could have made the meringue design a little prettier. Great recipe and thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks so much for the comment! It’s definitely tough getting the meringue just right. I have been making this recipe for years and I still can’t make it as pretty as when our mom does it!
Excellent pie! This is the best lemon meringue pie I’ve made yet! Saving this one!
Creamy and not too sweet – did increase the lemon zest a bit.
WOW! What a compliment! Thank you, Leigh Anne, for leaving such a kind comment!
Mom always made this for Dad on his birthday. It was his favorite!
Thanks for sharing! Love hearing these types of things 🙂
Ok so if your like me and not a real cook or baker of any kind. Here is a tip pre-bake pie crust and cool before you start. And,..I think Out of the 1 1/2 cup of sugar I was sopost to set 1/2cup To the side for the egg white topping
Lucy — you absolutely must pre-bake your crust, it is not optional. If not, your dough will be raw.
Also, the filling recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups sugar and then another 1/2 cup sugar for the meringue.