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My childhood favorite Lemon Meringue Pie recipe has a delicious fresh lemon flavor with the perfect fluffy meringue topping.
Do you love pie recipes? Try this No-Bake Cheesecake, Banana Cream Pie, Key Lime Pie, or Chess Pie!
I should be sick of Lemon Meringue Pie.
I should be sick of Lemon Meringue Pie.It was one of your family's favorites when I was young and our home turned into a mini hunger games whenever mom made it. You literally had to get a piece and hide it or you'd be out of luck. It's one of my brother's all time favorite desserts, he he would even request it as his birthday “cake”. The tart, creamy pie filling mixed with a billowing meringue is just irresistible! And to make it a real star it needs our easy homemade pie crust! .
I have two other favorite Lemons pies you cant miss: Lemon Chiffon Pie, and Lemon Cream Pie.
How to make Lemon Meringue Pie:
Make Meringue: In a small saucepan, whisk together cornstarch and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickens. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, stir together cream of tartar and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with electric mixers until frothy. With the mixer running, add sugar mixture a spoonful at a time, until fully incorporated. Continue beating until soft peaks. Add thickened cornstarch mixture, beating in a spoonful at a time. Mix until stiff peaks form, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
Heat Mixture: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
Temper Eggs: In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Add a spoonful of the hot sugar mixture into bowl of beaten egg yolks and whisk. (This tempers the eggs slowly so the eggs don't scramble when added).
Finish Lemon Filling: Whisk the egg yolk mixture back into saucepan and bring to a low boil, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pie shell.
Bake: Spread meringue over hot lemon filling, spreading all the way to the edge, making sure there are no gaps between the pie crust and the meringue, so it doesn't shrink away while baking. Use the back of your spoon to create decorative peaks in the meringue. Bake for 10 minutes or until the meringue is lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before serving. This pie is best served the same day.
Tips for the Perfect Lemon Meringue Pie:
A Hot Pie: First, and most importantly, the pie filling should be hot when you spoon the meringue on top. The hot filling will help bake the meringue, instead of just stopping at the surface and “weeping”, causing your meringue to slide off when the pie is sliced. It also helps to avoid baking on super humid days.
Cornstarch and Cream of Tartar: My last tip for a fool-proof meringue is using a little bit of cornstarch and cream of tarter in the meringue to give it a stronger structure when baking.
My Favorite Lemon Recipes:
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Cake
- Lemon Poppyseed Bread
- Lemon Mousse
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Homemade Lemonade
- Lemon Chicken Pasta
Lemon Meringue Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch pre-baked pie crust
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest, (about 1 large lemon)
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large egg yolks, , separated
Meringue:
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg whites , , room temperature (fresh eggs work best)
Instructions
- Grab 4 eggs and separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and set aside.
Meringue:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together cornstarch and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together cream of tartar and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with electric mixers until frothy.
- With the mixers running, add the sugar mixture, a spoonful at a time, until fully incorporated. Continue beating until soft peaks. Add the thickened cornstarch mixture while beating, a spoonful at a time. Mix until stiff peaks form, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lemon Filling:
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
- Beat the egg yolks with a fork. Add a spoonful of the hot saucepan mixture into the egg yolk mixture and whisk together to temper the eggs (gradually warm them). Repeat, with a few more spoonfuls. Whisk the egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture in the pot.
- Bring to a gently boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat.
Assemble:
- Pour hot lemon filling into baked pie shell. Immediately add meringue on top, covering every surface, spreading it around all the way to the edge of the pie so there are not gaps between the pie crust and meringue. Use the back of your spoon to create decorative peaks in the meringue.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. This pie is best served the same day.
- Store leftover lemon meringue pie covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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*I originally shared this recipe March 2015. Updated February 2019 and November 2024.
Recipe originally adapted from All Recipes
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was excellent. The texture and taste was very good. Lots of compliments.
I’m 78 years old and I’ve made many quite good lemon pies. Had never hearsd of corn starch in the meringue. This is the best recipe ever, scrapping the others. Thank you.
This was my favorite comment on a recipe that i have ever read. thank you
Excellent recipe! Made it for my first ever and it was perfect!!!
Just finished baking my pie for Easter…Don’t remember making one from scratch, and I can’t wait to try it tomorrow..it looks so yummy and everything came together just right..Thank you for the recipe. Happy Easter everyone
Best lemon pie ever. I cut sugar in half.
So glad that I was out of the packaged lemon pie filling because I wouldn’t have searched for a recipe from scratch if I would have had one 😊I have never made a more delicious lemon meringue pie than this. I’ve never been able to get my. meringue this high and fluffy it’s like a bakery pie. I will definitely hang on to this recipe. Many thanks for posting this recipe.
Do I need to refrigerate the pie before serving. Or do I just cool on room temp and then serve. Other recipes I’ve read say to cool on room temp and the also refrigerate for at least five hours so I’m a little unsure.
No, you don’t need to refrigerate before serving (just allow it to come to room temperature). But I would store leftovers in the fridge.
Nevermind once I read the recipe again I realized I didn’t put enough cornstarch in
Great flavor I used squeezed lemon juice and lemon juice from the bottle they only like that happened is my lemon filling is soupy any tips. I followed the recipe
Mine too. I followed the recipe . Taste good but base is sloppy and runny lemon curd.
This was my most successful lemon meringue pie ever, and I’ve made them probably about 20 times. I followed everything exactly as you instructed, including the tips, and it was perfect. I was so happy to finally make a meringue that didn’t weep!
This pie was delicious! This recipe will definitely be the one I use from now on. Couple of things to note:
I used my own crust recipe because I have one I love that I have used for years. I forgot to put the butter in the filling!, but it didn’t taste like it was lacking anything at all. I only baked the pie for about 15 minutes because the meringue needs to come out. It was a big hit! Also appreciated the helpful tips.