This gorgeous classic Lemon Meringue Pie is simply irresistible! A buttery, homemade flaky pie crust holds a delicious tart, yet sweet Lemon filling with a wispy, almost cloud-like meringue top completes this classic lemon dessert recipe. Wow all your guests with this show stopping homemade Lemon Meringue Pie. The filling is just the perfect balance of lemon tart and slightly sweet.
Lemon Meringue Pie
Making a Lemon Meringue Pie can feel like a daunting task. You can hear so many people with horrible stories about how hard it is to make the meringue or about how they just couldn’t get the meringue to set right or taste properly.Â
Well, fear no longer because this recipe is absolutely delicious, and we will cover various tips to help you get that perfect meringue on top of your tart lemon filling every time. This is such a great recipe!
Baking in the kitchen is always fun, and you are rewarded with a delicious treat! Here’s a few other fantastic dessert recipes I think you will love! Try this Lemon Bundt Cake, Brown Butter Bundt Cake, Pina Colada Cupcakes, or our family favorite Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake.
Can I Use a Premade Pie Crust?
Yes you can. You can find them frozen already in a pie pan, or in a box (rolled up) in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, by the biscuits. If you use a frozen pie crust, let it thaw first.
How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe
• Gather the ingredients together.
Meringue – Part 1
• In a small saucepan, mix together sugar and cornstarch. Add water and place onto stove on medium heat. Whisking constantly, bring mixture to a boil.
• Mix for one more minute until thick. Set aside to cool completely.
Prepare Crust – Pie Dough
• Add flour and salt to a food processor. Add half of the butter and pulse a few times to break it up.
• Add the other half of butter and pulse another few times until mixture is coarse.
• Add 3 Tablespoons of the ice cold water and pulse another few times. Add as much water as needed, a Tablespoon at a time, until dough stays together when pressed between your fingers. It will still be crumbly. You don’t want it formed into a ball.
• Pour crumb mixture out onto a clean surface. Form into a ball and gently knead 2-3 times (you don’t want to overwork the dough).
• Press down to form a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes.
Form the Pie Crust
• Remove dough from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough gently, from center out, until you have a circle large enough to fit in the pie dish with some hanging over the edge. Fold in half or into fourths and place into pie dish.
• There are a number of ways you can form the edge of the crust. Cutting off excess and pressing edges with a fork is the easiest. You can also flute by folding edges over, forming a short wall of dough all the way around, and then pressing with finger and thumb all the way around.
Bake the Pie Crust (Blind Bake)
• Place aluminum foil or parchment paper on bottom of pie shell. Add pie weights or beans and bake 20-25 minutes until edge of crust is golden and bottom of the crust is no longer translucent.
While baking pie crust, prepare filling.
• In a medium saucepan, mix together filling sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in water. Bring to a light boil on medium heat. Immediately remove from heat.
• Add half of the mixture to the egg yolks by adding a very small amount at a time and whisking constantly (this will prevent eggs from cooking).
• Add egg yolk mixture back to saucepan. Bring egg mixture back to a boil and stir for 2 minutes, until very thick. (Important to stir for two minutes. If you don’t, the filling will be too thin and won’t hold).
• Once lemon curd filling is very thick, remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter.
• Place a piece of plastic Wrap directly on top of the filling in order to prevent a film from forming. Set aside until ready to use.
Meringue – Part 2
• Make meringue by beating egg whites using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. While continuing to beat, slowly pour in cooled meringue mixture from Step 1. Beat until stiff peaks are formed.
• Pour hot filling into baked pie shell. Immediately spoon meringue on top of the lemon filling, which is still hot. Gently spread, being sure to seal the meringue to the crust edges.
Bake Pie
• Bake 20-25 minutes, until meringue is browned on the top. Place on wire rack and let cool completely before serving.
Why Does My Lemon Meringue Pie Get Watery?
- We want a fluffy meringue, but sometimes they release a little water. Wondering why you ended up with a watery meringue? Well, let’s start off with what a watery meringue is- it’s when water starts to pool between the lemon pie filling and the homemade meringue topping.
- To help prevent this, make sure that the lemon filling is still piping hot from the stovetop when you go to spread the meringue over top. This is crucial to ensure that the meringue works together with the warm filling and sticks together properly. This is the best way to add this dessert topping.
What Are The 3 Types of Meringue?
Meringue has been around for several HUNDRED years! It was invented in 1720, over 300 years ago, by a Swiss pastry chef named Gasparini and has been perfected over the years by many all over the world.
There are 3 types of meringue you can use. The 3 kinds of meringue are: French, Swiss, and Italian.Â
• The most common, classic, and simplest one to make is a French Meringue. It’s the least stable of the 3 and is the lightest of them all.Â
• The Swiss Meringue is denser and softer than a French Meringue.Â
• An Italian Meringue is the sturdiest of the three types and is usually considered the hardest to make as it involves making a sugar syrup.
Why Does My Meringue Feel Gritty?
If you find that your meringue has a gritty texture, it means the sugar didn’t dissolve all the way. To avoid this in the future, grab a little meringue in between your fingers to feel the texture. It should feel smooth to the touch, if it has any grit texture to it, the sugar didn’t finish dissolving yet.
Why Is My Pie Crust Hard?
Sometimes you could end up with a tough pie crust if you overwork the pie crust dough. It’s imperative to not overwork the homemade pie crust dough or too much gluten will start to form and you will lose your flaky crust and end up with a tough hard pie crust.
What to Serve With Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon desserts are absolutely delicious. Here are a few other lemon desserts to serve on your dessert table alongside this wonderful meringue pie:
Lemon Yogurt Muffins
Lemon Strawberry Poke Cake
Easy Lemon Snack Cake
Lemon Pudding Cookies
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Piña Colada Cupcakes
Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lemon Strawberry Poke Cake
Easy Lemon Meringue Pie Tips and Variations
- Use room temperature eggs if possible. Room temp eggs are easier to beat and whip up faster than cold eggs. Also room temp egg whites will produce more volume than colder ones will.
- However, cold eggs separate the yolks from the whites a lot easier and faster than room temperature eggs. So, when you pull your refrigerated eggs out, separate them immediately and then let them come to room temp.
- You can use a store bought crust if needed, but I think this homemade crust really seals the deal.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you don’t have to worry, you can use a pastry blender or just use a fork to mix things together.
How to Store The Best Lemon Meringue Pie
This meringue pie is best enjoyed the day that you make it or the day after. The longer it is in the refrigerator the faster the filling and meringue will loosen up and start to separate.
- Make sure you store your lemon meringue pie in the refrigerator. It needs to be kept chilled once it’s been assembled. However, it is important to note that refrigeration will speed up the meringue turning watery issue.
- Also be sure never to cover your pie with plastic wrap too tightly. Using plastic wrap over your pie may increase the risk of condensation forming under the wrapping and this will also cause your meringue to become watery and change consistency. So, be very careful when covering your pie with the plastic wrap.
Now you see how easy it is to make such a tasty perfect Lemon Meringue Pie. Grab all your ingredients to make this smooth, lemon loving pie for all your friends and family. This classic recipe is sure to win everyone over.
If you make this yummy, easy Lemon Meringue Pie recipe, please let me know. You can leave a comment with a star rating below. I’d love to know how you liked it.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, very cold, cut into cubes
- 4-6 Tablespoons Ice Cold Water
Filling
- ½ cup Fresh Lemon Juice (3-4 lemons)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Zest
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- 4 Egg Yolks
- â…“ cup plus 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1½ cups Cold Water
Meringue
- 4 teaspoons Cornstarch
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- 4 Egg Whites
Instructions
Meringue - Part 1
- In a small sauce pan, mix together meringue sugar and cornstarch. Add water and place onto stove on medium heat. Whisking constantly, bring mixture to a boil. Mix for one more minute until thick. Set aside to cool completely.
Prepare Crust Dough
- Add flour and salt to a food processor. Add half of the butter and pulse a few times to break it up. Add the other half of butter and pulse another few times until mixture is coarse.
- Add 3 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse another few times. Add as much water as needed, a tablespoon at a time, until dough stays together when pressed between your fingers. It will still be crumbly. You don’t want it formed into a ball.
- Pour crumb mixture out onto a clean surface. Form into a ball and gently knead 2-3 times (you don’t want to overwork the dough). Press down to form a disk. Wrap in Saran Wrap and place in refrigerator 15-30 minutes.
Form the Crust
- Remove dough from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough gently, from center out, until you have a circle large enough to fit in the pie dish with some hanging over the edge. Fold in half or into fourths and place into pie dish.
- There are a number of ways you can form the edge of the crust. Cutting off excess and pressing edges with a fork is the easiest. You can also flute by folding edges over, forming a short wall of dough all the way around, and then pressing with finger and thumb all the way around (youtube has a lot of great tutorial videos for all sorts of different ways to prepare pie edges).
Bake the Crust
- Place foil or parchment paper on bottom of pie shell. Add pie weights or beans and bake 20-25 minutes until edges are golden and bottom is no longer translucent.
Prepare the Filling
- While baking pie crust, prepare filling. In a medium sauce pan, mix together filling sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in water. Bring to a light boil on medium heat. Immediately remove from heat. Add half of the mixture to the egg yolks by adding a very small amount at a time and whisking constantly (this will prevent eggs from cooking). Add egg mixture back to sauce pan. Bring back to a boil and stir for 2 minutes, until very thick. (Important to stir for two minutes. If you don’t, the filling will be too thin and won’t hold).
- Once filling is very thick, remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Place Saran Wrap to top of filling in order to prevent a film from forming. Set aside until ready to use.
Meringue - Part 2
- Make meringue by beating egg whites until soft peaks form. While continuing to beat, slowly pour in cooled mixture from Step 1. Beat until stiff peaks are formed.
Bake Pie
- Pour filling into baked pie shell. Immediately spoon meringue onto hot filling. Gently spread, being sure to seal the meringue to the crust edges.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, until meringue is browned on the top. Place on cooling rack and let cool completely before serving.
Notes
- It is important for the filling to be hot when adding the meringue. They will not stick together if it has cooled.
- Store covered in refrigerator.
- Pie is best served day of, or following day. Filling and meringue will loosen the longer it is refrigerated.
- It is important not to overwork the pie dough. It will cause too much gluten formation and the crust will be tough, rather than flaky.
- If you don’t have a food processor you can use a pastry blender or a fork.
Melinda says
My favorite pie ever! I made this and was afraid it wouldn’t turn out, but it was amazing! Thank you for the detailed instructions and all of the tips!