Old Fashioned Lemon Meringue Pie

This vintage recipe deserves a spot in everyone's recipe box!

Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.

Table of Contents

• Best recipe!
• 🗝️ Key takeaways
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 📖 Variations
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 How to Store Lemon Meringue Pie
• Expert Tip:
• 💭 Things to know
• 👩‍🍳 FAQs
• 📚 Related recipes
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🗝️ Key takeaways

• You'll love the simple meringue technique with lots of tips to make it flawlessly.
• Lemon Meringue pie is popular all year, but it's especially perfect for Easter and other Spring occasions.
• Be sure to rinse the mixer bowl and beaters in vinegar or lemon juice to ensure there's no oil or fat to keep the egg whites from beating up light and fluffy.

Old-fashioned lemon meringue pie is an American classic. Whether it reminds you of summertime as a kid or brings back memories of a beloved grandparent, one thing is for sure: this recipe is one you'll remember!

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

📖 Variations

• Instead of using a homemade pie crust recipe, you can make a graham cracker crust. Consider mixing in some crumbs of lemon cookies, vanilla wafers, or gingersnaps for a unique twist on the classic dessert!
• Fresh lemon juice makes your lemon pie filling taste extra flavorful, but you can use bottled juice if you need to.
• Swap the lemon zest (grated lemon rind) for lime to give your lemon custard a subtly different tang.
• After you've beaten the meringue to stiff peaks, you can mix in a ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract for a nice light taste and aroma.
• If you have a feeling ahead of time that you won't finish the lemon meringue pie, make mini versions in a cupcake tin or mini tart tins. You can refrigerate the un-meringue-d pies for 2 to 3 days. Top them with mini meringues or whipped cream as you serve them.

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.

🥫 How to Store Lemon Meringue Pie

Classic lemon meringue pie is best served on the same day as baking. Delicate meringue tends to get a little weepy after refrigeration... just like I do after the pie's all gone!

To prevent foodborne illness, never let it sit at room temperature for more than two hours. If in doubt throw it out!

If you have a slice or two left over and absolutely cannot finish it, know in advance it won't be as delicious as on day one.

Stick a few toothpicks in the meringue and carefully drape plastic wrap over top, adhering it to the sides of your pie dish. Try to finish it off the next day—I recommend breakfast!

Lemon meringue pie doesn't freeze well at all.

💭 Things to know

Egg-based fillings and meringues can be tricky. Here are some tips to ensure your pie-making success!

Tips for perfect meringue

• Don't touch the egg whites with your fingers since your skin contains oil—even if they're freshly washed. (Bonus points if you use an egg separator to prevent excessive handling of the whites—just make sure it's not plastic.)
• Do not let even a molecule of egg yolk get in the mixture. To prevent contamination, separate cold eggs one by one into a small bowl. After each successful separation, pour the egg white into the beater bowl. This way, if an egg yolk breaks, you only ruin one egg white rather than the whole batch. (Remember, save your egg yolks, as you'll use them in the lemon filling!)
• Wipe down the bowl and the beaters of your electric mixer with lemon juice or vinegar prior to use to remove any oily residue. And, whatever you do, don't use plastic cooking tools—stainless steel or glass only!
• Spoon the meringue onto hot filling and smooth all the way over the edges of the pie crust to keep it from weeping.

More tips

Now that we've got that out of the way, here are some more pro tips to nail the fluffiest component of this lemon meringue pie recipe:

• Use eggs that aren't just-out-of-the-chicken fresh. This is especially important if you buy eggs from a neighbor or have your own chickens. I find that eggs about five days old are perfect.
• Don't use egg whites from a container. The pasteurization process prevents proper setting! Always separate whole eggs.
• Choose a dry day to make meringue. Humidity and rain can cause the meringues to be flat and gooey rather than cloud-like and heavenly.
• To achieve soft peaks, allow the egg whites to come to room temperature before mixing them up. It's tempting to get the mixing done quickly by blasting them at high speed the whole time, but that can make your meringue unstable. Stick to medium speed for more sturdy air bubbles.
• If you don't want to pull out your blender, you can use a food processor to refine the sugar.
• When the egg whites reach soft peaks begin adding sugar slowly, and beat it on high until stiff peaks form. At this point, you can rub the meringue between your fingers. It shouldn't feel grainy anymore. If it does, keep beating.

Tips for perfect lemon filling

Here are a few tips to achieve a luscious, creamy lemon filling:

• Use a stainless steel or enamel pan when working with heavy citruses. Sometimes the acid can react poorly with aluminum pans and give your curd a yucky taste.
• Keep a vigilant eye on the simmering lemon filling, and don't stop whisking! If you do, you can end up with curdled, thick lumps in your smooth filling.
• On that note, if you've whisked continuously and still have small lumps—don't worry. We'll run the mixture through a strainer just to catch any imperfections!
• Temper the egg yolks by adding a bit of the hot sugar mixture to the egg yolks in a separate small bowl first, whisking vigorously. Then, add this egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot sugar in the pan. Tempering prevents your eggs from scrambling in the hot pan.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

📚 Related recipes

• No-Bake Lemon Icebox Pie tastes sweet and citrusy, just like summertime as a child—plus, you don't even have to turn on your oven!
• With graham cracker crust, gooey ganache, and marshmallowy meringue, this S'Mores Pie is an elevated twist on a campfire tradition.
• Now that you're a meringue master try another light, sweet, summery treat with these mini Strawberry Pavlovas.

📞 The last word

Although August 15 is national lemon meringue pie day there's no sense in waiting, right?

Love lemon as much as I do? Try this easy, microwave lemon curd recipe. It's so good on scones and biscuits.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

First published June 5, 2012. Last updated March 5, 2024 for more tips and information and to include video in recipe card.