This is the perfect lemon meringue pie! With a delicious homemade pie crust, tart and smooth lemon filling, and a fluffy toasted meringue topping, it’s impossible to resist. If using your own pie dough, make sure dough is prepared before making the pie. Make dough the night before because it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out.

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Lemon Meringue Pie

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Active Time20 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Yield: 8

Calories: 334kcal

Author: Sally’s Baking

Materials

• 1 cup sugar
• ⅓ cup cornstarch
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 1⅓ cups water
• 5 large egg yolks (beaten) room temperature
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp lemon zest grated
• 1 pastry shell – 9" baked

Meringue

• 5 large egg whites room temperature
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 while preparing and adjust the oven rack to the lowest position. Reduce to 350.
• Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside. Whisk the water, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. The mixture will be thin and cloudy, then eventually begin thickening and bubbling after about 6 minutes. Once thickened, give it a whisk and reduce heat to low.
• Temper the egg yolks: Very slowly stream a few large spoonfuls of warm lemon mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Then, also in a very slow stream, whisk the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan. Turn heat back up to medium. Cook until the mixture is thick and big bubbles begin bursting at the surface. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the butter. Spread filling into the warm partially baked crust. Set aside as you prepare the meringue. (Don’t let the filling cool down too much as you want a warm filling when you top with the meringue in step 7. The warm filling helps seal the two layers together, preventing separation.)
• Make Meringue: With a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium speed for 1 minute, then increase to high speed until soft peaks form, about 4 more minutes. Add the sugar and salt, then continue beating on high speed until glossy stiff peaks form, about 2 more minutes. Spread meringue on top of filling. Make sure you spread the meringue all the way to the edges so that it touches the crust. This helps prevent the meringue from weeping.
• Bake pie on the lowest oven rack for 20-25 minutes. (If the meringue is browning too quickly, tent a piece of foil over it as best you can without the foil touching the meringue.) When pie is done, remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour before placing in the refrigerator to chill. Chill for 4 hours before slicing and serving.
• Cover any leftovers and store in the refrigerator. Lemon meringue pie tastes best on day 1 because it doesn’t keep very well. No matter how hard you try to prevent it, the meringue will wilt and separate over time. Best to enjoy right away.