This is the perfect lemon meringue pie! With a delicious homemade pie crust, tart and smooth lemon filling, and a fluffy toasted meringue topping, it’s impossible to resist.
Let’s welcome a fresh new season with a fresh new pie—the pie I’ve been taunting you with for weeks!! The beautiful, the timeless, the Classic Lemon Meringue Pie.
My lemon meringue pie recipe has a billowy and toasty meringue topping, a balanced sweet/tart lemon filling, and an extra thick and flaky pie crust. I worked on this recipe for a long time, making at least a dozen meringue pies in the past few months. Both my kitchen and head were exploding lemons. Whenever we had friends or family stop by, I’d force lemon meringue pie on them. “PLEASE TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS” I begged while barely blinking.
How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie
Over the years and especially the past few months, I learned that lemon meringue pie can be a daunting process but it doesn’t have to be. Let me make this recipe easy for you by giving you a tested (and praised!!!) recipe, lots of helpful recipe notes, and a video so you can watch it come to life. Perhaps you’re looking for Easter dessert recipes? Celebrating a birthday? Or just want to enjoy a beautiful lemon-y pie? No matter your reason, I’ve got you 🙂
- Blind bake pie crust
- Prepare lemon meringue pie filling
- Whip meringue topping
- Spread meringue on top of filling
- Bake pie until toasty brown on top
Now that you have a general idea of the process, let’s learn why this lemon meringue pie recipe works and what mistakes to avoid.
Here’s Why This Recipe Works
There are 3 main roadblocks when making lemon meringue pie: a soggy pie crust, a watery lemon filling, and/or a weeping meringue. Let’s work through each.
- Let’s avoid a soggy pie crust: Start by reviewing how we blind bake pie crust. You want to partially blind bake the crust because it will continue to bake when you bake the assembled lemon meringue pie. Watch me blind bake the crust I use for this lemon meringue pie in my separate post on how to blind bake pie crust. Lots of tips and tricks there. And to get those pretty decorative edges, see my how to crimp and flute pie crust tutorial.
- Let’s avoid a watery lemon filling: This is where I always had the most trouble. Lemon meringue pie filling is basically a thinner version of lemon curd. You’ll temper egg yolks. And before you run away screaming, watch me do this in the video below. Promise it’s not scary. While lemon meringue pie filling should be blissfully creamy, we also want it to be stable enough to slice somewhat neatly. (Think: a slightly firmer version of pudding, but not as firm as jello.) There was a lot of back and forth with the water vs lemon juice vs cornstarch vs sugar amounts. Follow my lemon meringue pie filling below. It’s not too tart, not too sweet, and has the silkiest, yet not-too-watery texture.
- Let’s avoid a weeping meringue: There are many different types of meringue topping, but let’s use a French meringue. Beat egg whites into soft peaks, add sugar, then beat into stiff peaks. Unless you want to waste a bunch of egg whites in failed meringue attempts, read these tips: Make sure you begin with just egg whites. Not even a drip of egg yolks. Make sure the bowl you’re using is completely wiped clean. No oil or water residue. Make sure you add cream of tartar. This will stabilize your meringue. Make sure you add the sugar *after* soft peaks are formed. If added before that, the egg whites could stretch too much which prevents a stiff peak altogether. (These tips apply for my chocolate swirled meringue cookies, too.) Make sure you spread the meringue topping so it touches the pie crust. This seals the lemon filling underneath and allows the crust to grip onto the meringue so the two do not separate. And, finally, don’t make lemon meringue pie on a humid day.
How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie Topping
The meringue toasts in the oven. A lot of recipes call for putting the whole pie under the broiler, but I prefer to bake it so that the egg whites have a chance to cook through. Also, see the end of step 6 in the recipe below. Make sure you spread the meringue topping on while the filling is still warm. The warm filling helps seal the two layers together, preventing separation.
- Did you know? (1) Room temperature egg whites whip faster than cold egg whites. And (2) room temperature egg whites whip into a greater volume than cold egg whites. So make sure your egg whites are at room temperature before starting the meringue.
- Time saving tip: You need 5 egg yolks for the lemon filling and 5 egg whites for the meringue topping. Separate the 5 eggs while they are cold. (Cold eggs separate easier! Remember NO egg yolks in the meringue, not even a smidge.) Leave the egg whites out on the counter. Blind bake the pie crust and prepare the lemon filling. By the time you’re ready to start the meringue, the egg whites will be room temperature.
Meringue can be tricky, but you’re a baker and you can absolutely handle this.
Craving something smaller? Here is my lemon bars recipe.
PrintClassic Lemon Meringue Pie
- Prep Time: 6 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: one 9-inch pie
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is the perfect lemon meringue pie! With a delicious homemade pie crust, tart and smooth lemon filling, and a fluffy toasted meringue topping, it’s impossible to resist.
Ingredients
- Homemade Pie Crust*
- 5 large egg yolks (use the whites in the meringue below)
- 1 and 1/3 cups (320ml) water
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (38g) cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Meringue
- 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pie crust: I like to make sure my pie dough is prepared before I begin making lemon meringue pie. I always make pie dough the night before because it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out and blind baking (next step).
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and adjust your oven rack to the lowest position. Partially blind bake pie crust in a 9-inch pie dish. (Follow blind baking instructions through step 9. Be sure to crimp or flute the pie crust edges, too.) Tip: You can get started on the lemon meringue pie filling steps while your crust is blind baking. But making the filling is time sensitive because you will temper the egg yolks, so if multi-tasking isn’t your thing, just wait until your crust is done blind baking before beginning the filling.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (177°C).
- Watch the video below to see how I work through each of the following steps.
- Make the filling: Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside. Whisk the water, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. The mixture will be thin and cloudy, then eventually begin thickening and bubbling after about 6 minutes. Once thickened, give it a whisk and reduce heat to low.
- Temper the egg yolks: Very slowly stream a few large spoonfuls of warm lemon mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Then, also in a very slow stream, whisk the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan. Turn heat back up to medium. Cook until the mixture is thick and big bubbles begin bursting at the surface. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the butter. Spread filling into the warm partially baked crust. Set aside as you prepare the meringue. (Don’t let the filling cool down too much as you want a warm filling when you top with the meringue in step 7. The warm filling helps seal the two layers together, preventing separation.)
- Make the meringue: With a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium speed for 1 minute, then increase to high speed until soft peaks form, about 4 more minutes. Add the sugar and salt, then continue beating on high speed until glossy stiff peaks form, about 2 more minutes. Spread meringue on top of filling. (I like to make decorative peaks with the back of a large spoon.) Make sure you spread the meringue all the way to the edges so that it touches the crust. This helps prevent the meringue from weeping.
- Bake pie on the lowest oven rack for 20-25 minutes. (If the meringue is browning too quickly, tent a piece of foil over it as best you can without the foil touching the meringue.) When pie is done, remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour before placing in the refrigerator to chill. Chill for 4 hours before slicing and serving.
- Cover any leftovers and store in the refrigerator. Lemon meringue pie tastes best on day 1 because it doesn’t keep very well. No matter how hard you try to prevent it, the meringue will wilt and separate over time. Best to enjoy right away.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: The pie crust can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also blind bake the crust ahead of time, see how to blind bake pie crust for details. Lemon meringue pie is not the best pie to freeze. The filling and meringue’s texture are never quite the same.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | 9-inch Pie Dish | Rolling Pin | Pie Weights | Glass Mixing Bowls | Citrus Zester | Saucepan | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Pie Crust: My homemade pie crust recipe makes 2 pie crusts. If you use my “dough strip” method explained in my how to blind bake pie crust tutorial, you will need 1 and 1/2 pie crusts. Or you can skip that little trick and just use 1 pie crust.
- Prepare Ahead of Time: Prep all of your ingredients before you begin, including grating the lemon zest and separating the eggs. Don’t multitask unless you’re confident! The filling is time sensitive and you want to make sure everything is ready when you need to add it. Prep all of the meringue ingredients as well. You want them on hand, especially the sugar and salt, the very moment you need them. Don’t walk away from the bowl of egg whites as they whip. Meringue can beat into stiff peaks quite quickly.
The pie was delicious, but my meringue was a uniform tan color and didn’t look as pretty as the variation of white and browned meringue. What did I do wrong? I did I smooth it out too much? Over bake it?
Hi Dblair, We are glad you enjoyed the pie! If you try it again, try to not smooth the meringue out – let it look a bit swirly and messy like the photos and then the higher peaks will get more brown than the rest 🙂
Found your recipe at the store get my ingredients for your lemon pie, thought I’d try making the pie crust, however, I couldn’t find how much time it takes to partial bake the crust. Please advise
Hi Selina! See step 2 – it directs you to our post on Blind Baking Pie Crust, follow those instructions through step 9, then return to this recipe. Happy baking!
I made 2 of these lemon pies to take to an old fashioned church Homecoming with “dinner on the grounds ” three years ago and friends and family Still talk about how good it was !! In fact it is now the most requested item for any pot luck or covered dish meal!!
Thank you for sharing your talent .
I tried twice before to make a lemon meringue pie and failed both times. I had a lovely looking pie but when I cut in, it was soup. Your clear directions made this a success. We absolutely loved it and I’m so happy I finally was successful!
Hello! My teen’s Birthday is coming up and they do not like crust but LOVE the filling for lemon meringue pie. I was going to prepare the filling and meringue in small ramekins for them. How would the oven temperature and length of baking time vary with no crust? What are your thoughts? Thanks so much!
Hi Shawna, we haven’t tried this but you probably could! They also might like these Lemon Pudding Cakes.
Lemon meringue pie has always been on my bucket list, but it seemed so intimidating. I’m so pleased to have found this great recipe with such detailed instructions. The one mistake I made was trying to cut the chilling time short by 45 minutes because I was too impatient to have a piece. It could have used the full four hours to firm up.
How “jiggly” should the merengue be out of the oven? I’m nervous mine didn’t cook enough!
Awesome lemon meringue!
It’s one of my favorites!
Made this yesterday and my dinner guests all had seconds and were licking their plates clean. They all told me how much they really enjoyed it.
The perfect balance, I made mine with a Graham crust. Delicious, thank you!
I forgot to temper the egg yolks before putting into the saucepan, but I did let it come to a boil for 4 minutes or so. Will this affect the consistency of the pie? It does feel a little loose when I took it out of the oven, but I’m praying it sets up. Will leave at room temp one hour and then put into fridge for 3 hours. Any thoughts on this?
Hi Brenda, When you cooked the mixture on the stovetop, did it thicken? If so it should be fine and will set as it cools. Let us know how it turns out!
Hello from Aus! This was a truly fantastic recipe. Made this for some friends, and it was a huge hit! So delicious! The recipe was easy to follow and the video was a good collation of information as well. To combat the humidity I put the aircon on, didn’t have any issues.
Hi! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Can I use a pre-made gram cracker crust instead? If so, would the cook time change?
Hi Ashley, You can use a graham cracker crust. We usually pre-bake graham cracker crusts for 10 minutes at 300°F (149°C) or 7-8 minutes at 350°F (177°C) and then follow the remaining directions with no changes.
Thank you for your speedy reply!
Hello Sally’s baking addiction,
I am about to make this lemon pie but without the meringue. Instead of blind baking the crust, should I cool it & cool the filling before putting into the crust? Thank you
Hi Kathee! You can skip the meringue and make this a plain lemon pie. The filling won’t be very thick. We would extend the bake time to about 35-40 minutes or until the filling appears set. Or, you might enjoy our Creamy Lemon Pie instead!
Hello Jennifer, Did you blind bake the crust since you did not make the meringue?I don’t like meringue either so don’t think I need to blind bake the crust. I was thinking I would fully bake the pie crust & cool it & cool the filling before putting it in the crust. Thank you ahead of time.
Is there no flour involved in making the pie crust for the lemon merguine pie ?
Yes, we use this homemade pie crust which uses all purpose flour.
I’m making this recipe as we speak… Lol! How do I know when the pie is done? Recipe calls for 20 to 24 minutes @350F. Am I going by the way the crust and meringue look OR is there another indicator?
Hi Michelle, You’ll want to bake the pie until it’s toasty brown on top. Hope you love it!
Hi. My pie looks great though haven’t tasted it yet. How can you tell when the meringue is cooked enough?
Hi Lynn, You’ll want to bake the pie until it’s toasty brown on top. Hope you love it!
I love using all your recipes – This pie was my first pie adventure last year and it started me on a pie quest that I have been enjoying all year long.
Question: my meringue beaded last time I made it and I am wondering how to prevent the beading – I have read that adding a cornstarch slurry to the beating of the egg whites will stabilize it – what do you think about that?
Hi Anna, The little amber color drops on the top of a meringue can be caused by condensation. It’s likely nothing you are doing wrong with the meringue, it may still be a little too warm when you move it to the refrigerator. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen it simply might need to sit at room temperature a little longer next time.
Thank you will do that – making the pie again tomorrow.
Your links don’t work to the pie crust recipe and blind baking instructions.
They should be working now– thank you!
This is the second lemon pie I have made. My first was with ATK recipe but I could taste the egg yolks. I used Sally’s recipe but added 1/4 cup more sugar. PERFECTION!!!!! It has the lemon flavor you want without the after taste of the yolks. We don’t like meringue so we put whipped cream on top when it is served.
Just made your lemon meringue pie exactly as written. It came out so perfect. It did take me a good 90 minutes start to finish but worth it!
For some reason, I could not print the recipe which made it more difficult using my IPad. How could I get a copy?
Thank you so much for a delicious pie.
Hi Elaine, We are so happy you enjoyed this recipe! You can print just the recipe by scrolling down to the recipe itself (in the light gray box) and using the print button (below where it says total time and yield) instead of printing the whole page. Hope that helps.
This was the best Lemon Meringue Pie recipe I’ve ever tried! Hit every spot Perfectly, and clearly explained, with tips and explanations. Thank you!!
This recipe is so good. I had some navel oranges that were on the verge, I scrolled Pinterest and found a recipe for an orange meringue pie. I read the recipe and it called for a bunch of stuff I didn’t have on hand. I figure why couldn’t I modify a lemon meringue pie. Your recipes have never let me down, so I dove in. Since I had a lot of OJ I used all OJ where this recipe called for water and lemon juice and followed the recipe as written. It turned out delish! I would make it again. I might cut back a bit on the sugar next time, when doing orange, it was a bit sweet, but not so sick-y sweet that we won’t eat it. I cant wait to try this recipe as written for lemon! Yum! Nice refreshing summertime treat on a cold winter day! Thanks for the great recipes!
That sounds super yummy! I would love to try and make that. How much sugar would you recommend?
My oranges were pretty sweet. I did the full 1 cup but 1/2 to 3/4c would be good. I would taste your juice mix and see if it sweet enough and adjust from there. Can always add more if you need to. If you don’t have quite enough fresh juice you could use store bought oj.
Mmmm…I bet a blood orange meringue pie would rock!
This is a really yummy pie! I’ve never made a meringue pie before and I always make a few boo boos my first attempt and this was no different. The video was very helpful but I goofed and added my sugar to my egg whites then beat them so I didn’t get the full fluff. But it tasted really good. My lemon “curd” for lack of better term, was a little thick but it was delicious! I know I just need to cook it for less time so it has a better consistency. I will make this again correcting for my mistakes. However, the lemon amount is perfect. I love any lemon dessert. The more pucker the better!
This recipe looks amazing, and I’ve always had very good success with record from this site.
If I wanted to make this in the form of 3.5″ lemon meringue tartlets, how should I adjust the bake time? Is there a specific internal temperature I should look for from the lemon filling or the meringue?
Would overcooking cause the lemon filling to split?
Hi Mike! We’re unsure of the exact bake time. You may need to make a few batches, depending on how many mini pies you’d like to make. Let us know if you give it a try!
Can I use myer lemons in this recipe instead and would I have to decrease the sugar
Hi Jessica, We used regular lemons in this lemon meringue pie, but you could substitute with Meyer lemons with no other changes to the recipe. Enjoy!
Thank you for this recipe and the instructions/tips! I can’t believe it turned out so good. Everyone loved!
Just took my beautiful pie out of the oven – looks amazing. Already “sampled” some of the filling and meringue- wow!! Thank you for the great recipe.
Hi, would I be able to make this with an 8 inch pan instead by just but not using all of the crust and filling? Thanks
I made this pie today ( New Year’s Day). It turned out perfect. Yum yum.
Well I can’t believe I made this pie! Absolutely amazing! I was under pressure because my son watched an episode of “Master Chef’s “ where they made lemon meringue pies, so his expectations where high and he was quite sure I couldn’t pull it off! Well I exceeded his expectations with your recipes! Your tips were the key! Thank you Sally!
A perfect meringue! Thank you Sally for find the right ratio of egg whites to cream of tartar and sugar. I used tapioca instead of cornstarch(I don’t like the graininess of cornstarch). I let sit in the water and sugar mixture for 15 min to soften the tapioca before starting to cook it. My daughter has a problem digesting dairy so I made a oil crust. It was perfect! Not oily at all. It wasn’t as flaky as I like but a very good substitute.
Your recipe and fabulous tips were great! I had never baked a pie in my life until Thanksgiving when I baked an apple pie (different recipe provider). That turned out ok, so for Christmas I decided to try my hand at a Lemon Meringue, which was my favorite as a child. That’s when I found your recipe. I made a trial pie 2 weeks before Christmas and got rave reviews from my wife, and so decided to go ahead and make a pie for Christmas. Having already made one earlier really helped with the actual Christmas pie as it came together much quicker, and the crust turned out even better than the first. I did make one variation on the crust that I got from the Apple pie recipe . Instead of quartering the butter I froze a stick and then grated it, which I think helped distribute it much better in the dough. Also, rather than use weights when pre-cooking the crust I simply used a large fork to make holes in the middle and that seemed to work great.
Your tip to make sure to put the meringue on HOT filling was perfect as there was NO separation, even on the 2nd day (we only ate half yesterday : ) .