Lemon Meringue Pie
Here are some helpful tips: 1) Separate your eggs while they’re cold - it’s easier. 2) Oil crusts are so easy they can be pieced together while rolling or when placing in the pan. 3) The lemon filling must be very hot when you add the meringue. 4) Three large lemons are usually enough but if they're smaller, you may need four. - Jenny Jones
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup milk (I use 1% or 2% low fat milk)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (3 large lemons)
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter (optional)
- zest of 2 large lemons
- 3 egg whites at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Crust:
Filling:
Meringue:
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
- Stir in milk & oil all at once & combine with fork.
- Shape into a 5-inch disc and place between 2 sheets of floured wax paper. Roll into a 12-inch circle.
- Place into pie pan and trim or flute edges.
- Prick the crust with a fork 15 times and cover the rim with a pie ring or foil to prevent burnt edges. Bake for 15 minutes or until it's lightly browned. When it's done, set on a wire rack to cool & reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
- While the crust bakes, start the filling.
- Zest the lemons and make lemon juice. Set aside.
- Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.
- Place water, juice, and yolks in a bowl and whisk together, mixing well.
- Slowly whisk juice mixture into sugar mixture.
- Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
- Turn off burner and stir in butter and lemon zest. Cover to keep filling hot.
- Beat egg whites with electric mixer on med-high until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating. Slowly add sugar & vanilla. Beat until it forms stiff peaks. (entire process takes about 5 min.)
- Pour hot lemon filling into cooled or slightly warm crust.
- Top with meringue, making sure edges are completely sealed.
- Bake at 350° F (without pie ring) for 6-8 minutes.
Crust:
Filling:
Meringue:
Notes: For more on this recipe in my blog click here.
Hi Jenny, After I made your boston cream pie for the first time, I made this lemon meringue pie for the first time the same day and I must say this pie came out just as good!!!! thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Jenny, I made your lemon meringue pie for the second time and knew I had to send you a comment. It is a great recipe just like so many other of your recipes that I have tried.All your recipes turn out consistently great-delicious,healthy and so great tasting. I don’t feel so guilty when I go for my second brownie,crusty roll or piece of pie.Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes.Wishing you all the best!!! Cheers
HI Jenny
I love all of your recipes and plan to try them all
can you freeze the lemon meringue pie
thank you
I don’t think it would survive freezing very well but you might find more info with an internet search.
Hi jenny I love your recipes!
This one is quite difficult
I wanted to ask – I followed your pie crust exactly as written I just took out my pie crust out of the oven
There are bubbles in the pie and it’s also shrunk a little
Shall I continue to finish the rest of the reciepes or it it ruined and I should just throw the crust without continuing ???
I little shrinkage is not unusual and the bubbles might be from not pricking enough holes in it with a fork. If this happens again, as long as it’s cooked through and golden, I would just proceed. It won’t affect the taste.
I just made your pie and I’m waiting for it to cool but it still has two hours left so could I just put it in the fridge so it can cool faster and so I can eat it faster.
It needs to cool at room temperature.
What is a pie ring?
There’s a pie ring in my apple pie blog post: https://www.jennycancook.com/homemade-apple-pie/
you can get a pie ring at http://www.goldaskitchen.com, it comes in a 9 and a 10 inch. I bought a 9 and wish I had gotten a 10. Maybe another time.
Do I have to refrigerate the pie a couple of hours or if not can I just dig in it right after it cools. If so how long does it cool
It needs to be completely cooled before serving. On a wire rack it should take about 3 hours.
Are you suppose to bake the pie 6-8 minutes
The crust bakes for 15 minutes and the meringue for 6-8 minutes. (the filling is cooked in advance on the stove)
Can I use a store bought pie crust
Yes, but it won’t be my recipe so I hope you’re not disappointed. It also won’t be as healthy as mine considering the ingredients in store-bought crusts.
About how much is the zest of two large lemons?
About 2 tablespoons.
I’m going to do a deep dish version,I assume I will need to double the filling ?and what adjustments do i need to make for the crust,to make sure I have enough dough?
instead of Meringue for a topping,I’m going to go with whipped cream ,so do I need to use a pie ring in the first bake ? and should i bake it the 2nd time,obviously with out the whipped cream?
do i need to keep the pie refrigerated after it is done baking and cooling off ?
I’ve just got into baking recently,as a matter of fact,your apple pie recipe was my first homemade pie and it was delicious,not bad for a man pushing 60 lol great site.I’ve bookmarked a bunch of recipes to try in the future
The pan I use for this recipe IS a deep dish pan so you would not need to make any changes. I don’t think you will need the pie ring at all but I would look at it half way through baking to make sure it doesn’t brown too much. You can always add the ring towards the end. (you will not need a 2nd baking) And definitely keep the pie refrigerated when you use cream. Good luck with the pie.
well I did mess it up,I had ran out of regular sugar and substituted powdered sugar instead,the taste is a little off,but good enough to eat,I did use a foil pie ring and the edges were almost burnt
I did double up on the filling and it took all of it,probably because there was no meringue,I will try it again soon
and I keep the whipped topping in a bowl in the fridge,I decided to play it safe and keep the pie in there too
thanks for the help and I will let you know how the next one comes out,after I make your chocolate cake first 🙂
u should put this receipe on ur utube channel. I absolutely love u on utube. I have changed my way of baking because of ur low fat & low calorie receipes. I can’t wait for u to post more!!
Can I replace the lemon to durian? Will it be any different for the ingredients?
what is durian?
Durian is a Asian fruit, that have very strong sense.. If I use 8 inches pie pan isn’t okay?
I made this pie, the meringue won’t stick to the filling and the filling not stick to the crust when I eat, isn’t like that when you eat?
Lemon meringue pie is not the easiest thing to make so I found a video that might be helpful for you. The information you need starts around 16 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TGtdzFs1eE
A pie pan that measures 8 inches across the bottom is the size most commonly used in pie recipes, including all of mine. I can’t comment on durian since I am not familiar with it.
I seen the video of joy of baking, so that i know why my meringue is not stick to the filling, really thanks for your help, Thank you very much 🙂
Can I use corn flour instead of corn starch? Will it be any different from that?
I has to be corn starch for this recipe. What may be confusing is that in some countries, corn starch is called corn flour. The corn starch that I use has as very fine texture, even finer than powdered sugar, and that is the only thing to use in this recipe.
Thanks Jenny 🙂 Sweet dreams to you
How do I know the pie is fully baked? It put on the middle rack or bottom?
If you refer to the pie crust, it is ready when it’s lightly browned and if it feels firm when you press down in the middle. It’s better to over-bake a pie crust than under bake because then it can get soggy. If you mean after the meringue is on top, well the crust and filling are already cooked and all you have to do is toast the meringue a little. Since your oven is small, keep an eye on it every couple of minutes so it doesn’t burn and if the meringue is too close to the top of the oven, I would then use a lower rack.
May I know u are using how many inch pan? Will it be too sweet of this recipe? Can I purchase the lemon zester from you, if can how much will you charge for other country?
My pie pan is 7 1/2 inches across the bottom, which is about standard for a pie pan. I don’t sell anything so you may have to look for a lemon zester on the internet, or if you have a sharp knife you could carefully cut off a very thin layer of lemon skin (not any of the white part) and then chop it up very finely to make your lemon zest. (I did not understand your question about “too sweet.”)
I mean this lemon meringue pie, will it be very sweet?
None of my desserts are very sweet so I would say no. I try to bake with as little sugar as possible but it still has to taste good. This pie has more sugar than most of my desserts and that’s because lemon juice is so tart. I hope you like it.
I baked this pie and people….it’s the healthiest and best I’ve ever had ! So easy to make ! YUM.
Sophia, a lemon meringue pie is a pretty big undertaking for a 10-year old like yourself so I appreciate that you are so passionate about cooking. If your meringue was “moist & jellied together” you need to make sure that: 1) the egg whites are at room temperature and are free of any bit of fat. 2) you beat them for a long time, at least 5 minutes and without cream of tartar, even longer until they are very stiff. And be sure you add the sugar very slowly. You may have added too much lemon juice. I have never used lemon juice but a touch of acid helps the egg whites stabilize, like 1/8 teaspoon. 3) you cannot rush meringue so take your time and it’s not ready until you lift the beaters and the egg whites are very, very stiff.
Now for your lemon curd: If it was too thick you may have used more cornstarch than needed. Be sure to measure it with a “stacking” style cup and level it off with a spatula and as with the meringue, follow the steps exactly and take your time. Do every step slowly and be sure to slowly add the juice mixture to the sugar mixture, stirring constantly. In fact, keep stirring it the whole time it cooks. I assume you used fresh lemon juice.
So that’s my advice. I know that if you follow my recipe exactly, no substitutions, no changes, this pie will turn out. I did not make a video but it might help for you to watch some videos on how to make lemon meringue pie. I hope this helps and keep up your cooking and baking. I’ve been cooking all my life and some things don’t turn out for me either, but I always go back and try again.
OK thanks. I’ll try again sometime
Hi jenny its me, is there any substitutes for cream of tartar? I’m thinking about making it 🙂
I don’t know of a good substitute but the purpose for the cream of tartar is to help stabilize the meringue. You can make meringue without it, but make sure you beat it really, really well until it’s very stiff.
Hi, so I made it and my family said it was my first time but the filling and meringue did not turn out right.:-( What did I do wrong?
I need more information to help figure it out. Please give me some details about how it did turn out and what changes or substitutions, if any, you might have made. What equipment/mixer did you use and what baking pan? What kind of milk and oil did you use? With some more detail, I can probably figure it out.
The meringue was moist and jelled together. The filling was too thick. This was what was wrong with it. I used a stand mixer for meringue and my grandmother said I could use lemon juice for meringue so I did that. Hope it helps.
My reply is above…
What do you mean by “pie ring ” in the sentence: cover the rim with a pie ring or foil ?
And why do you need the foil?
And do you cook the filling on med heat?
Thanks.
Once the filling comes to a boil, I reduce the heat and cook it on medium-low or as low as I can and keep it bubbling. The foil ring is used because it’s almost impossible to keep the edges of a pie crust from getting too brown, even burning. You can fashion one out of foil or purchase a metal ring. Here are some photos: Foil: http://noemptychairs.me/recipes/how-to/how-to-make-your-own-pie-crust-shield/ Metal: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/pie-crust-shield/
Please insert video
I have not made a video for my lemon meringue pie. If I do one in the future, it will be added here.