Lemon Pie
Lemon pie every which way — lemon meringue, lemon icebox pie, lemon chess pie, and creamy lemon pie — for potlucks, Sunday dinner, and hot summer nights.
★ dessert
dessertMy Best Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe
A classic lemon meringue pie with a flaky butter crust, tangy lemon filling, and fluffy meringue topping. Perfect for any season, especially on warm summer days.
Stacey Rowe DyerIngredients
- PIE CRUST
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- a few tablespoons ice water
- for greasing pie pan vegetable shortening
- LEMON FILLING
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- MERINGUE
- 5 large egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1Make the pie crust by preheating oven to 400°F. Mix all dry ingredients in a food processor, add cubed butter and lemon zest, pulse briefly, then add ice water gradually until the dough sticks together. Chill the dough for up to an hour.
- 2Roll out the dough on a floured surface, press into a greased pie pan, cover with parchment and weights, and blind bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Remove weights and parchment, let cool.
- 3Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Whisk egg yolks and set aside. In a small pan, whisk together remaining ingredients over medium heat until bubbling and thickened. Temper the egg yolks by adding a tablespoon of the hot mixture to the yolks while whisking, then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan. Cook until thickened and bubbling, then remove from heat.
- 4In a stand mixer, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks. Add sugar and vanilla, whisk until glossy and firm peaks form.
- 5Pour the lemon filling into the cooled crust. Spread meringue over the filling, sealing to the crust. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes until tips are browned. Cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.
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Open in Pepper →A Cold Slice Of Lemon Pie
Lemon pie is the dessert you make when the kitchen is already too warm and you want something sharp and sweet at the end of the meal. Half of these barely need the oven, and every one of them slices clean off the pie server.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when company is coming and there's no time for fussing, or when there's a church supper Sunday and the pie has to sit on a table for an hour and still look good.
Every recipe here is a real lemon pie somebody makes on repeat: My Best Lemon Meringue Pie, Lemon Icebox Pie made with lemon jello, Magic Lemon Icebox Pie with sweetened condensed milk, Lemon Chess Pie, Buttermilk Lemon Pie, and Pay de Limón on a cookie crust.
Quick Tips
- 1
Zest before you juice
Grate the zest off the lemons while they're whole and firm, then juice them. One good lemon gives about a tablespoon of zest and three of juice.
- 2
Spread meringue to the crust
Seal the meringue all the way to the edge of the crust so it can't shrink or weep, then bake at 350°F for about 12 minutes until the peaks are golden.
- 3
Chill icebox pies overnight
Condensed milk and lemon juice set up firm with cold, not heat. Give the pie at least 4 hours in the fridge, and overnight is better.
- 4
Temper the egg yolks
Whisk a half cup of the hot cornstarch mixture into the beaten yolks first, then pour it all back in the pot so you don't end up with scrambled bits.
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