What could be better than a slice of lemon meringue pie? The fresh, bright, lemony flavor of the creamy filling and billowy meringue is like tasting a sunny day with light, fluffy clouds.
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Our lemon meringue pie is the perfect dessert for every occasion. Piled high with light and fluffy meringue, this classic lemon dessert would be a great addition to any dinner table.
The silky, smooth lemon curd filling layered into a crisp pastry crust and topped with fluffy meringue makes this lemon meringue pie one of my all-time favorite lemon desserts. After one taste, you’ll understand why.
If you love lemon desserts, make sure to try our Classic Lemon Tart and Lemon Ricotta Cake recipes.
Ingredients to make a Lemon Meringue Pie
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our lemon meringue pie recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How to make a Lemon Meringue Pie
I like making homemade pie crusts, but you can use a store-bought pie crust if you prefer and skip this step of the recipe.
- Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
- Add the cubed cold butter to the flour mixture.
- Pulse until you have small pea-sized pieces.
- Drizzle in the ice water.
- Continue pulsing until the dough forms on the blade.
- Carefully remove the blade and dump the dough onto a pastry mat or lightly floured surface.
*Knead the dough a few times, then form it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the dough on a floured surface or pastry mat, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a circle at least 2 inches larger than the pie pan.
*Roll from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough as needed so it doesn’t stick to the surface. - Roll the dough onto the rolling pin, then unroll the dough into the pie pan without stretching. Press the dough into the pie pan and form a decorative edge on the crust.
*Refrigerate the prepared pie dough in the pan for 30 minutes. - Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights or dried beans.
*Push the weights up against the sides of the pie crust to help ensure the sides don’t shrink down. - Place the pie pan on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the dough from the oven, and carefully remove the pie weights.
- Make an egg wash by mixing one large egg with one tablespoon of cream.
- Dock the crust by using the tines of a fork to prick holes all over the bottom, then brush the crust with the egg wash.
- Add foil around the edges of the crust (or a pie shield). Bake for another 15 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the crust is golden brown.
- Add the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or a large bowl and electric mixer).
- Whip to combine.
- Slowly add ⅓ cup of sugar to the egg-white mixture.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whip until the whites are shiny and soft peaks form—1 to 3 minutes.
- Add the remaining one cup of sugar and ⅓ cup of water to a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring the sugar and water to a boil and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened and syrupy, about 3 to 4 minutes (235 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
- Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly drizzle the warm syrup (avoid the whisk attachment and sides of the bowl).
- Add vanilla, increase speed to medium-high, and whip until the mixture has cooled slightly and is very thick and shiny—3 to 6 minutes.
- Add the water, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine, removing any clumps.
- Place the saucepan on the stove on medium-high heat and whisk continuously until thickened (5-7 minutes). Then, remove the pan from the heat.
- Temper the eggs before adding to the lemon mixture by slowly adding one cup of the hot lemon mixture to the eggs while whisking vigorously.
- Add the egg mixture to the pot, whisking to combine. Place the pan back on the stovetop over medium-high heat and cook for 2 minutes, whisking continuously.
- Add the butter to the lemon filling.
- Whisk until the butter has melted and fully incorporated.
- Pour the hot lemon filling into the blind-baked pie shell.
- Spoon the meringue over the hot filling and use the back of a large spoon to make decorative peaks.
Place the dessert on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 3 – 5 minutes at 425 degrees F. – just long enough to gently brown the peaks.
Alternatively, you can place it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until the meringue is golden brown or use a kitchen torch to brown the top of the meringue.
When the pie has finished cooking, remove it from the oven, place it on a wire rack, and allow it to cool at room temperature for 1 hour before putting it in the refrigerator to chill. Chill for 4 – 6 hours before slicing and serving.
The refreshing, bold flavor of our lemon meringue pie is a taste you won’t soon forget.
To store the dessert, insert wooden toothpicks into the meringue halfway between the center and edge of the pie; loosely drape clear plastic wrap over the toothpicks to cover the entire dessert. Refrigerate for 2 – 3 days.
*It is not recommended to freeze the lemon meringue pie.
Recipe FAQ’s
It is crucial to spread the meringue over the filling while the filling is HOT. This will heat and seal the underside of the meringue so it cooks as thoroughly as the top (which is exposed to the heat of the oven).
Don’t overbake the meringue. Overbaking will cause water droplets to form as it shrinks.
Undissolved sugar in the egg whites can also cause weeping.
You can also try adding a mixture of thickened cornstarch and water to the egg whites to bind and stabilize the liquid in the meringue, which will keep it from seeping out.
Blind-baking the crust (partially baking the crust without the filling) and using an eggwash to seal the crust after the first bake of the crust will help keep the crust from getting soggy.
While bottled lemon juice is convenient, it lacks the fresh flavor of real lemons.
Fresh, ripe lemons are best. Look for thin-skinned lemons, as they usually have more juice.
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Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 4 tbs granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter very cold
- 4 tbs ice water
- 1 large egg for egg wash
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream for egg wash (or milk)
Pie Filling
- 5 large egg yolks save whites for meringue
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ cup corn starch Add an extra tablespoon for an extra firm filling.
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¾ cup lemon juice fresh
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into cubes.
Meringue
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar divided
- ⅓ cup water
- 5 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine..
- Add the cubed cold butter, to the flour mixture and pulse until you have small pea-sized pieces.
- Drizzle in the ice water while pulsing the dough, then carefully remove the blade and dump the dough onto a pastry mat or lightly floured surface.
- Knead a few times, then form it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the dough on a floured surface or pastry mat, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a circle at least 2 inches larger than the pie pan. *Roll from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough as needed, so it doesn't stick to the surface.
- Roll the dough onto the rolling pin.
- Unroll the dough into the pie pan without stretching. Then, press the dough into the pie pan.
- With a paring knife, trim the dough 1 inch larger than the outside of the pan. Fold the edges under and crimp the edges with your fingers to make a decorative border.
- Refrigerate the prepared pie dough in the pan for 30 minutes.
- Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper (crunching up the parchment paper will make it easier to shape it into the crust).
- Bake at 375 degrees F. for 15 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the oven, and carefully remove the pie weights.
- Make an egg wash by mixing one large egg with one tablespoon of cream, then brush the crust with an egg wash. Dock the pie crust.
- Dock the crust by using the tines of a fork to prick holes all over the bottom.
- Add foil around the edges of the crust (or a pie shield). Bake for another 15 minutes at 375, or until the crust is golden brown.
Filling
- Zest 2-3 lemons for at least two tablespoons of zest, then juice the lemons to make ¾ cup of fresh lemon juice.
- Add five egg yolks to a medium bowl, whisking to combine. Set aside until needed.
- Add the granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium saucepan. Whisk the ingredients to combine.
- Add the water, fresh lemon juice, and lemon zest to the saucepan and whisk enough to combine the ingredients so there are no clumps.
- Place the saucepan on the stove on medium-high heat and whisk continuously until thickened (5-7 minutes). Then, remove the pan from the heat.
- Temper the eggs before adding to the lemon mixture by slowly adding one cup of the hot lemon mixture to the eggs while whisking vigorously.
- Add the egg mixture to the pot, whisking to combine.
- Place the pan back on the stovetop over medium-high heat and cook for 2 minutes, whisking continuously.
- Add the butter to the lemon filling and stir until melted and fully incorporated.
Meringue
- Add the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or a large bowl and electric mixer).Whip to combine.
- Slowly add ⅓ cup of sugar to the egg-white mixture. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whip until the whites are shiny and soft peaks form—1 to 3 minutes.
- Add the remaining one cup of sugar and ⅓ cup of water to a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring the sugar and water to a boil and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened and syrupy, about 3 to 4 minutes (235 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
- Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly drizzle the warm syrup (avoid the whisk attachment and sides of the bowl).
- Add vanilla, increase speed to medium-high, and whip until the mixture has cooled slightly and is very thick and shiny—3 to 6 minutes.
Assembly
- Pour the lemon filling into the prepared pie shell and smooth with a spatula.
- Top the filling with the meringue, leaving a small border of the lemon filling exposed. Use a spoon or spatula to create swirls and peaks in the meringue.
- Place the pie under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.*Alternatively, you can use a kitchen torch to brown the top of the meringue.
- Place the pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
Henry T says
This was a great recipe! I had a hard time with making it look fancy but nobody cared. They all complimented it they loved the tasted of it, by the end of it I was wishing I made two. Next time I know to make two for the big dinners. Thanks!
Chef Dennis Littley says
It’s all about the taste! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the pie.