Lemon Meringue Pie

This is the best lemon meringue pie recipe you’ll come across! With a buttery, flaky pie crust, tangy lemon filling, and a toasted meringue topping on top! 

 

When it comes to making a homemade pie, there are just certain classic pie recipes you can’t go wrong with for any holiday. And if you’re a lemon lover like I am then you know lemon meringue pie is at the top of the list. 

This lemon meringue pie recipe is a from my cookbook. And it’s hands down one of my favorites! But there a few components to this pie and I’m going to walk you through them step by step so you get pie perfection. 

I’ve never seen someone pass up a slice of creamy lemon meringue pie. Present company included. This dessert might be a labor of love, but it can be done by a beginner baker. I’ll give you all my tips to pull of this pie with ease. 

See Also:

• Learn how to easily blind bake a crust to use in all your custard pies for the holidays!
• When it comes to making pies for Thanksgiving it can be stressful! So read my 20 best tips for making the best pies.
• This 100% butter pie crust results in a flaky and flavorful pie crust recipe.
• All you need is just a few ingredients for the flakiest pie crust ever! Try my 3 ingredient pie crust!

To make a perfect lemon meringue pie you need the following: 

• Homemade single flaky pie crust (or you can use a store-bought pie crust if you’re short on time)
• Blind bake the pie crust because the rest of the pie will not go back in the oven to bake 
• Warm lemon filling made on the stovetop
• Fluffy meringue that gets piled on top and baked at the end before serving.

It’s worth every single step and every single minute it takes to make this perfect lemon meringue pie. 

What Can Go Wrong

• Soggy Pie Crust – Nothing worse than a soggy bottom am I right? So to make sure we get a flaky, crispy bottom of the crust we need to partially bake the crust. Blind baking the crust is key because the pie won’t go back in the oven long enough later (just enough to cook the meringue and get it toasted). We need to partially bake the crust before adding the filling. I like to use a metal pie plate for best results, but a glass or ceramic dish will also work. 
• Runny filling – We want a smooth lemon filling in the end not a watery, runny one! So we need to make sure we temper the egg yolks. Tempering is simply adding some of the hot cornstarch mixture we cooked on the stovetop into the eggs to bring them up to temperature slowly so they don’t scramble. Then the whole egg yolk mixture will get heated on the stovetop until luscious, thick, and creamy. 
• Weepy Meringue – We are going to make a French meringue topping (instead of swiss meringue or an Italian meringue) so we will need to return the pie to the oven so the egg whites are cooked and the top gets toasted. To get a fluffy meringue make sure to start with only egg whites (no traces of egg yolks which can prevent them from whipping). And add the meringue to a warm filling all the way to the crust so it seals the edges together.  

Ingredients Needed

• Single Pie Crust – You can use a store-bought pie crust or make your own homemade single pie crust. 
• Eggs – You will need to separate your eggs. The egg yolks will be used in the lemon curd filling. And the egg whites will be used for the billowy meringue. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature so they whip up fast and to fullest volume.
• Granulated white sugar
• Cornstarch
• Salt
• Water
• Lemons – You will use both the lemon juice and lemon zest. Read more here about how to zest a lemon.
• Unsalted butter
• Cream of tartar – This helps to stabilize the egg whites. You can read more here about what is cream of tartar.

How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie

Assembling and blind baking the crust

To make a lemon meringue pie you need to blind bake the crust, which simply means you will be baking the pie crust without any filling. This pie will not go back in the oven to bake (except just to bake the meringue) so we need a partially baked pie crust before we proceed with filling. 

To blind bake a pie crust you will need to fill the pie crust with some sort of pie weights – either store-bought or you can use a pantry stable you may already have on hand such as dried rice, beans, or even just granulated sugar! You can read my full tutorial on how to blind bake a pie crust here.

Now let’s proceed. On a floured work surface, roll out the disc of chilled dough. Turn the dough a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9” pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Trim the excess, leaving about a 1 inch overhang. Fold the excess pie dough underneath, crimping the edges.  Optional: Refrigerate the pie crust for at least 30 minutes to firm it up before baking.  

Preheat the oven to 400^oF. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or rice. Make sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. 

Bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper/aluminum foil (with the weights) out of the pie. Prick holes all around the bottom crust with a fork. Return the pie crust to the oven.  

Bake until the bottom crust is golden brown, about 7 minutes longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack. Reduce oven temperature to 350^oF.

Make lemon filling.

Next we need to make the tart lemon filling. The lemon pie filling will get made on the stovetop is basically like making a thinner lemon curd. One important step is to make sure you temper the eggs, which simply means slowly heating the egg yolks so they don’t scramble and you get a smooth lemon filling.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Set aside. 

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, water, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, about 10 minutes until mixture is thick. 

Once bubbling, continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes more, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. 

Temper the eggs. 

Ok now time to temper those eggs! 

Stir a small quantity of the hot cornstarch mixture into the beaten egg yolks (this helps to prevent them from curdling), and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. 

Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep whisking. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and stir until combined and smooth in consistency.

Pour into prepared pie shell.

Make meringue.

Now all that’s left is the fluffy toasted meringue! The sweet swiss meringue pairs so well with the tart lemon filling but let’s make sure we nail it! Make sure before you start making the meringue that you start with a clean, dry bowl. I like to wipe down my mixing bowl with a bit of lemon juice or white vinegar to help remove any grease that could inhibit the meringue from whipping. 

And make sure you have separated those eggs cleanly (aka no yolks). Any egg yolk will inhibit the egg whites from whipping.  

In a clean, dry mixing bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on high speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. 

Add the sugar then continue beating on high speed until glossy stiff peaks form, about 2 more minutes. Spread meringue on top of the lemon filling. You want to spread the meringue on top while the lemon filling is still warm. 

Spread the meringue to the edges of the crust, making sure it touches the crust (to help prevent the meringue from weeping). 

Bake the pie. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes in preheated 350^oF or until the meringue is browned on top. 

Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour before serving. Lemon meringue pie is best enjoyed the day it is made. Store leftovers, covered in the refrigerator. The meringue will weep over time and begin to separate. 

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