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Easy Lemon Meringue Pie recipe

written by Ashley Fehr

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4.87 from 50 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 8 servings

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Last updated on May 14, 2024

This easy Lemon Meringue Pie is cool, creamy and tangy — the perfect dessert for any occasion! Go totally homemade or take some shortcuts if you’re out of time 😉

lemon meringue pie overhead with whole lemons on the side

Table of Contents

I shared this recipe first on Spend With Pennies.

Maybe I’ve said it 1 million times before, but let me say it again: I love lemon.

I love lemon in just about everything: sweet, savory, healthy baked goods or extravagant desserts.

It just goes. With everything.

Blueberry lemon bread, lemon monkey bread, lemon sour cream cookies, honey lemon chicken – you name it, we love it.

It’s no surprise that this easy Lemon Meringue Pie showed up here today, joining the family.

It’s the perfect dessert for spring and Easter — light and fresh and citrusy — but it’s also the perfect dessert for the dead of winter, when citrus is in season.

In fact, I think one of the best things about this Lemon Meringue Pie is how easy it is to enjoy throughout the year, without sacrificing flavor due to out of season, cardboard-tasting fruit.

lemon meringue pie slice on white plate with lemon slice on the edge

The lemons in January are just as juicy as they are inJuly!

 How to make Lemon Meringue Pie:

Start with the crust –you can do it homemade or purchase a store bought, refrigerated or frozen pie crust. If you need to take a shortcut but want it to still appear homemade, opt for the refrigerated, rolled crust and you can roll it right into your own pan 😉

Next is the filling: I like to keep mine as simple as possible, which means whisking everything together before cooking, rather than having to temper the eggs later. The only risk with doing this is a lumpy filling, but that is easily avoided if you whisk consistently during the cooking time.

If you like you can put it through a strainer to ensure it’s super smooth, but I’ve never had any issues with it.

Finish with the meringue: Make sure that there is no drop of egg yolk or other grease in your egg whites — this will prevent them from whipping.

Also be sure that you whip it until the sugar is completely dissolved, as undissolved sugar can lead to a weeping meringue.

After that, you’re nearly done! Just toss it in the oven for a few minutes to toast it up.

lemon meringue pie in glass pie plate with piece missing
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Tips for making this easy Lemon Meringue Pie recipe even easier:

  • Opt for a refrigerated carton of egg whites instead of separating them yourself if you’re unsure about getting perfectly clean whites separated from your eggs (you’ll still need the yolks though, so this might not be the best time saver)
  • You can use a refrigerated pie crust to make life simpler.
  • Choose a store bought lemon meringue pie filling, then top with homemade meringue and you can fool anyone into thinking it’s totally homemade 😉
  • Choose store bought frozen mini tart shells for a fun, easy, bite sized treat (that isn’t nearly as fussy!)

How to store Lemon Meringue Pie:

Lemon Meringue Pie is best eaten shortly after making, as the meringue tends to weep and get runny if refrigerated for a long period of time.

I like to make mine the night before, then refrigerate uncovered overnight. It will set perfectly, but still be fresh and not watery.

Any leftovers should be refrigerated after a few hours, and the crust may get a little soft but it will still be delicious.

More lemon recipes you might enjoy:

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Easy Lemon Meringue Pie

written by Ashley Fehr

4.87 from 50 votes
This easy Lemon Meringue Pie is cool, creamy and tangy — the perfect dessert for any occasion! Go totally homemade or take some shortcuts if you’re out of time 😉 
lemon meringue pie slice on white plate
Review
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Cuisine American
Course Dessert
Servings 8 servings
Calories 467cal

Ingredients

Pie crust:

  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 156g
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cold butter cut into cubes
  • 3-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling:

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar 300g
  • 1/2 cup corn starch 60g
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • zest from 2 lemons
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Meringue:

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch 8g
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar 100g
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Pie crust:

  • In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.
  • Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or fork until you see pea-sized chunks of butter remaining.
  • Gradually add in cold water, stirring each time until you can press it together.
  • Form it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes until chilled.
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Roll out to fit a 9″ pie plate.
  • Press into the pie plate and over the sides. Trim the edges and crimp or leave as desired. Poke the bottom and the sides with a fork all over to help prevent puffing (or use pie weights if you have them).
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. Set aside while you make the filling.

Filling:

  • In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, water, corn starch, egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest.
  • Cook over medium – medium-high high, whisking constantly, until thickened — it will be thick, slightly thicker than pudding when warm. This can take 10-15 minutes, but don’t rush it. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
  • Pour hot filling into the pie crust and make the meringue.

Meringue:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  • In a small saucepan, whisk together the water and corn starch. Cook over medium heat until thickened and clear. Set aside but keep warm.
  • In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites, vanilla and salt until soft peaks form.
  • Gradually add in the sugar, beating until stiff glossy peaks form.
  • Gradually add in the warm corn starch mixture, beating constantly, until completely incorporated and meringue is light and fluffy and holds stiff peaks.
  • Spread meringue onto hot pie filling (it’s important that the filling is still hot!) and spread right to the edge of the pie crust. The meringue must touch the edges all the way around.
  • Bake at 375 F just until the tops of the meringue are light golden brown — don’t overbake.
  • Let rest on the counter on a wire rack for 1-2 hours, then refrigerate for 5-6 hours until chilled, or overnight.
  • Slice and serve.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 467cal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 306mg | Potassium: 63mg | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1.2mg
Keywords easter dessert, lemon dessert, lemon pie

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Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

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Comments

  1. Sue says

    It was a complete disaster. It was so sweet, the crust was rock hard, the meringue didn’t stiffen to peaks. I made it for Easter dessert. It got tossed in the garbage. ☹️

    Reply

    • The Recipe Rebel says

      I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe Sue! Sounds like the crust might of been over a little. Also it sounds like the meringue need to be beat a little longer.

      Reply

  2. Brooke Phillips says

    I made this at 10pm for my grandmother who has been asking for it. I used a frozen pie crust and swapped out the vanilla extract in the meringue for lemon extract for a more lemony taste. Love the way it smelled but i thought it made too much meringue for my pie

    Reply

  3. Madison B. says

    Awesome Recipe….Easy to follow, Enjoyed making this Lemon Meringue Pie with my Grandson for Christmas morning.

    Reply

  4. Elise says

    I chose this recipe due to the easy of making the filling. Other recipes had extra steps for the filling. It was fairly easy even though I have been told several times how much of a pain lemon meringue is to make! Only comment I will make is I had a lot of meringue left over, the pie was already stacked pretty high. This is for Thanksgiving so we shall see how it goes over with the fam jam. It looks delicious and more importantly the ease of making it without tasting it earns it 5 stars. Thanks for sharing.
    Peace

    Reply

  5. brihanna says

    thank you sally i made the pie today at school and i am only in grade 8 i said to my teacher i would not be able to do it but i did it thank you

    Reply

  6. Maggy Najar says

    I just made it this evening, it tourned out just great. Thanks a lot!!! Wish I could send the pic.

    Reply

  7. Janice says

    Wonderful recipe I used the graham cracker crustJust follow the directions.read them all the way thru first and it will turn out delicious

    Reply

  8. Lillian Jean Smith says

    Easy recipe..first time I ever used cornstarch in meringue..kind of flat. Next time I will use the stand mixer where I can use a really slow speed and gradually add the slurry can’t add photo

    Reply

  9. Marie says

    I used a different pie crust recipe, but made the rest of the pie as directed. It was my first time ever making a lemon meringue pie, and it came out perfect! Beautiful and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  12. willow says

    just wondering if I could use corn flour instead of cornstarch? and if so, how much?

    MT…especially for including the grams as well as cups 😉

    Reply

  14. Rachel says

    I’ve never had success with merengue. I actually had a good one going until I added the cornstarch. Total flop and not useable 🙁

    Reply

  15. Ronee says

    If you could put use white sugar. I only use natural raw cane sugar in my house. So when it said use sugar i thought nothing of it until it started to mix and turn Carmel in color.

    Reply

  16. Sally Merryfield says

    The first time I tried this the lemon filling was amazing and the meringue was good but I’m definitely a total failure at making the pastry so the second time I cheated a little and made the base using digestive biscuits (cheesecake style) and the whole pie was fantastic, I also doubled up on the filling recipe so I could put some in jars for homemade lemon curd with my morning toast 👍😁🍋🍋🍋

    Reply

  17. A. Matulich says

    I made this last night; it was my first time ever making a lemon meringue pie. It took longer than I expected to make the meringue, and by the time I was ready to put it on the pie, the lemon filling was no longer hot (just warm). The recipe here didn’t explain why this is important (please add an explanation) but anyway mine still came out well in the end. To ensure the meringue got cooked through, I baked it until light brown all over.

    My only complaint is that this pie is too sweet compared to commercial pies I’ve had. I used the juice from 2 lemons (which came out to 1/3 cup), exactly 300g sugar as called for (which came out to less than 1 1/2 cups) and it was still too sweet. I recommend cutting the sugar 20-25%, like maybe 1 1/4 cups sugar for the filling and 3 oz sugar for the meringue. And it’s OK if the measurements aren’t exact. Two average-size lemons is a bit more than 1/4 cup, and that’s fine.

    Reply

    • Ashley Fehr says

      I’m glad the pie turned out well for you! Different people prefer different levels of sweetness — you can definitely adjust the sugar to your tastes 🙂

      Reply

      • Shanny says

        Made this lemon pie – its FANTASTIC! I usually don’t have luck with my meringue but adding the cornstarch mixture made its super light and fluffy thanks for the trick! Everyone loved the taste and now I have everyone asking how the meringue got so fluffy and beautiful going to have to share this cornstarch tip

  19. Amber says

    I am trying to make this pie right now, there are 2 tablespoons of butter in the filling, the directions DO NOT state where to put this butter…thanks!

    Reply
4.87 from 50 votes (32 ratings without comment)

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