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With a buttery graham cracker crust, bright lemon filling, and billowy toasted meringue, this lemon meringue pie has all the appeal of the classic. It’s easier to make, though, with no pastry dough to roll out or lemon filling to cook on the stovetop.
This lemon meringue pie recipe comes from my best friend’s mom, Myra Santoro. Originally from Snow Hill, North Carolina, Myra is a fabulous Southern cook. As a kid, I practically lived at her house and, with so many good smells coming from the kitchen, I was always trying to finagle a way to stay for dinner.
Myra’s lemon meringue pie has a buttery graham cracker crust and an easy filling made with sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, and fresh lemon juice. It’s simple and delicious. I once made it and left it on the counter with a note for my husband and kids to try it. I came home to find it butchered with forks and almost entirely gone; they hadn’t even bothered to slice it!
“Phenomenal. Easiest lemon meringue I’ve ever made and the taste was fantastic.”
What You’ll Need To Make Lemon Meringue Pie
- Graham Crackers, Sugar & Butter: Make the simple press-in crust—no rolling or pie dough required. You can use store-bought graham cracker crumbs or crush whole crackers yourself.
- Eggs: The yolks go into the lemon filling and the whites are used for the meringue, so you’ll use all four eggs. Separate them while they’re cold, when it’s easier to keep the yolks from breaking.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Gives the filling its creamy texture and helps it set. I recommend Eagle Brand here; I’ve found that some other brands can result in a runnier filling. Be sure you’re buying sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated milk.
- Fresh Lemons: You’ll use both the zest and juice, so zest the lemon before squeezing it. Freshly squeezed juice is important here; bottled lemon juice won’t give the filling the same bright flavor.
- Cream of Tartar: Stabilizes the egg whites so the meringue holds its shape and is less prone to collapsing.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie
Make the graham cracker crust: Mix the crust ingredients until the crumbs are evenly moistened; the mixture should resemble wet sand and hold together when squeezed. Press it firmly and evenly into the pan, then bake until just lightly browned and fragrant.
Make the lemon filling: Whisk the filling ingredients until completely smooth. As the lemon juice is incorporated, you’ll notice the mixture begin to thicken.
Make the meringue: Gently whisk the egg whites and sugar over simmering water until the mixture is very warm and the sugar is completely dissolved. Rub a little between your fingers—it should feel smooth, not gritty. Dissolving the sugar completely helps create a stable meringue that’s less prone to weeping.
Add the cream of tartar and whip until the meringue is thick and glossy with medium-firm peaks; when you lift the whisk, the peaks should hold their shape but curl at the tips.
Assemble and bake: Pour the lemon filling into the warm crust, then mound the meringue on top. Spread it all the way to the crust, making sure the meringue touches the edge all the way around—this anchors it and helps prevent shrinking.
Make decorative swirls and peaks with the back of a spoon, then bake until lightly golden, with the peaks a shade darker. Let the pie cool completely before slicing so the filling has time to set.
For another refreshing pie with a sweet-tart flavor, try my key lime pie, which combines fresh lime, sweetened condensed milk, and a graham cracker crust.
More Lemon Desserts You’ll Love
Lemon Meringue Pie (Easy)
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs, from about 12 whole crackers
- ⅓ cup cup sugar
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling
- 4 large egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue)
- 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk (preferably Eagle brand)
- 1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest, from 1 lemon
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice, from about 3 lemons
For the Meringue
- 4 large egg whites
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter; stir with a fork first, and then your hands until the mixture is well combined. Using your fingers and the bottom of a clean drinking glass or measuring cup, press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a deep-dish (9 x 1.5-in/23 x 4-cm) pie pan. The crust should be about ¼ in (6 mm) thick.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until just slightly browned. Let the crust sit on a wire rack while you prepare the rest of the pie. Lower the oven temperature to 325°F (165°C).
For the Filling:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Pour into the warm crust.
For the Meringue:
- Bring about ½ in (13 mm) of water to a simmer in a pot that's large enough to hold the bowl of a stand mixer without letting it touch the water. Reduce the heat to low. Put the egg whites and sugar in the bowl off the heat and whisk until frothy. Put the bowl over the pot and whisk gently but constantly until the whites are very warm to the touch, or about 115°F (the temperature does not need to be exact; the mixture should feel hot, but not so hot that you can't leave your finger in there) and the sugar is completely dissolved, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and transfer it to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the cream of tartar. Beat over medium high speed until the egg whites form thick, glossy medium-firm peaks (they should hold their shape but curl at their tips), 3 to 5 minutes total.
- Mound the meringue onto the lemon filling. Using a soup spoon, gently spread the meringue over the entire surface of the filling, making sure to go all the way to the crust’s edge (it is essential that the edge of the meringue be anchored to the rim of the crust; otherwise it will shrink). Make decorative peaks and swirls in the meringue with the back of the spoon.
- (Be sure you've reduced the oven temperature to 325°F/165°C.) Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the meringue is lightly browned. Let the pie cool completely on a rack before serving, about 3 hours.
- Lemon meringue pie is best eaten the day it’s made, but leftovers will keep, loosely tented with aluminum foil and refrigerated, for 2 days. Just keep in mind that meringue gets quite sticky in the fridge. Do not freeze.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Whipped this up as a quick, fancy dessert . SOOOO good, definitely adding it to the repertoire.
Hi! It’ll be my first time making pie so I don’t have a pie pan ready. Will using a 9-in springform cake pan be ok? 🙂
Sure, Kris, Just don’t remove the sides of the springform pan before serving. (Keep in mind that the higher sides on the springform may make it a bit more challenging to serve.) Hope you enjoy!
Loosey Goosey is what the filling of this recipe is. There is no thickening agent like corn starch or gelatin and boy is it needed. My pie looked gorgeous, meringue was on point but when I cut into it, fail. Think Christmas Vacation movie, cutting into the turkey, that was me. I followed the recipe exactly. After reading other reviews, it’s clear many others had the same problem. Real bummer and waste of money.
Mine was runny too. I used condensed milk (and not evaporated milk). Hope Jen addresses this problem soon.
Hi Kris, thanks for your feedback and so sorry you had a problem with this! I am paying attention to the comments coming in and it’s a bit of a head-scratcher for me because this has always been very predictable when I’ve made it. Any chance you used whole eggs in the filling instead of egg yolks? Also, what brand of sweetened condensed milk did you use? I’ve had the best luck with Eagle brand. I did some research and found that lesser-known brands can be much runnier and may contribute to the runny filling.
I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie for a friend of mine for his birthday. I’ve always been so intimidated by the process of making this type of pie. I finally faced my fears and did it and it was much easier than I expected. When they say it’s full proof it definitely is! The process took longer then the time shown as far as prep work goes, but I had never made a pie like this so everything was going to take longer anyway. My friend loved it and even though I don’t like lemon meringue pie I had a piece and I loved it! Bon appétit!
I made this the night before for a NYE party and it was pretty simple to put together. It was very tasty and a big hit at the party; I would definitely make it again but maybe with some cornstarch. The filling held up at first, but started oozing and losing shape after about 45 min out on the table. The meringue turned out perfectly. I also rebaked the pie for about 10 min at 325F before serving since the meringue had gotten sticky. My only modification was to use biscoff cookies for the crust since I didn’t have graham crackers (delicious btw).
Mmm Biscoff crust!! I’ve gotta try that!!😋
This recipe was excellent. The pie nice and creamy. Not to sweet or sour.
I’ve tried it twice for Thanksgiving and my filling was very much like a soup and not thick what is it I’m doing wrong?
Sorry you had a problem with this Angela! Are you sure you used sweetened condensed milk (and not evaporated milk)?
Hi Jenn,
I made this pie for the first time today and loved the flavor and how simple it was to prepare. However, the filling didn’t set up at all and 4 egg whites were not enough to mound at all in my 9” deep pie dish, the meringue laid flat across the top. Next time I will add more egg whites. Any idea why the filling didn’t set?
Hi Amanda, sorry to hear you had a problem with the meringue on this! It sounds like perhaps you didn’t beat the egg whites long enough. Did you beat them until the mixture formed thick, glossy medium-firm peaks?
I thought I had beat the beat the egg whites long enough but with an excited little girl helping me, maybe we rushed it a little, lol. The biggest problem was the lemon filling not settting.
Why would the Amanda’s filling not set up?
So sorry I forgot to address that! Amanda, are you sure you used sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk?
I used sweetened condensed milk. My filling didnt set up. I made a 2nd pie, it too didnt set up.
Hi Cynthia – sorry you had a problem with this (twice!). What brand of sweetened condensed milk did you use? Some brands are quite runny and cause problems. I always have success with Eagle brand.
This recipe was a winner. I love lemon meringue pie, and was really interested in the ease of this recipe – using just cookies, condensed milk, 4 eggs, 3 lemons and a bit of sugar. It was super simple and delicious. The meringue technique worked perfectly. However, I only wound up with about an inch-deep meringue. If I had whipped longer (I whipped about 4 min, till the peaks were stiff and glossy) would I have gotten more volume? It baked up perfectly and held its shape – no oozing or anything. I’ll definitely make this one again.
Glad you liked it, Audrey! Yes, I do think that whipping the meringue for a little longer would give you a bit more height.
Hi Jenn…I have tried to make graham cracker crusts and when it calls for being baked and the I fill it with filling, when it comes to serving it, the crust is almost impossible to slice thru…what am I doing wrong?…thx for any input.
Hi Marlene, Although you should press the crust firmly into the bottom of the pie pan before baking it, my guess is maybe you’re pressing it too hard. Your goal is to press hard enough to get a good shape and keep the crumbs in place, but not so compacted that it makes the crust hard to slice. Hope that helps!
Easy to make and so delicious. I’ve wanted to make a lemon meringue pie like my grandmother’s and this is it.
I failed to push the crust sufficiently up the sides of the pan, but I anchored the meringue to the edge of the pie plate, and no shrinkage!