Lemon Meringue Pie
Updated Oct. 26, 2023
- Total Time
- About 4 hours
- Prep Time
- 30 minutes
- Cook Time
- 2 hours and 30 minutes, plus 1 hour’s cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9-inch pie
- 1disk flaky pie crust
- 2Meyer lemons or other large lemons (¼ cup lemon juice)
- 2eggs
- 3egg yolks
- 6tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3tablespoons salted butter, cut in 3 pieces
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in 3 pieces
- 3egg whites, at room temperature (about ½ cup)
- ¼teaspoon cream of tartar
- 6tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½teaspoon vanilla extract
The Filling
The Meringue
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the shell: Roll the pastry into a 12-inch circle, ⅛-inch thick, and fit gently into the pan. Trim the edge a half-inch beyond the rim, fold under and crimp or pinch to make a decorative edge. Prick the bottom with a fork. Freeze the shell for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Prepare the filling: Grate the zest from the lemons into a small, noncorrodable bowl. Strain in the lemon juice, then press through as much lemon pulp as possible.
- Step 3
In a heavy, noncorrodable saucepan, beat the eggs, yolks and sugar until just mixed. Stir in the lemon juice and pulp, then the six tablespoons of butter.
- Step 4
Cook, stirring constantly, over low to medium heat, until the mixture comes together and thickens enough to coat a spoon. Remove from heat, allow to stand five minutes, then whisk briefly to smooth. (Strain through a sieve if you prefer a completely smooth filling.) Set aside.
- Step 5
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the frozen shell with aluminum foil, weight with beans or pie weights and bake for 20 minutes, or until set and dry looking. Remove the weights and foil, turn the heat down to 350 and continue baking until shell is golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly, but leave the oven on.
- Step 6
Spread the prepared filling in the shell and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the filling is just set. Remove pie and turn oven to 375.
- Step 7
Make the meringue. Beat the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar and continue beating until rounded peaks form. Beat in sugar and vanilla.
- Step 8
Spread the meringue over the filling, making sure it meets the edges of the crust to make a seal. Swirl in a design with a knife or spatula and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the meringue is lightly browned.
- Step 9
Allow to cool completely, from one to two hours, but do not refrigerate.
Tip
- To make Key lime or lime meringue pie, follow instructions above, substituting the zest of two limes for that of the lemons, 6 tablespoons lime juice and pulp plus one tablespoon water for the lemon juice and pulp.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Lynn
I ended up having to double the recipe for filling, the recipe does not begin to fill a 9" pie shell even half way up the sides. Since I only had two Meyers lemons I used 2 large regular lemons in the second batch. Did anyone else find the filling insufficient? Delicious pie when we finally got around to eating it.
Abbie
This pie came out beautifully, but I made some changes.
1) Like other reviewers, I doubled the filling, and it was the perfect amount for a 9" pie.
2) For the doubled filling, I used 5 lemons instead of 4, which was a good cup of juice. The filling set correctly and I had no problems. Delicious, tart, not too sweet.
3) I used a Swiss (cooked) meringue.
4) I put the assembled pie under the broiler for a few minutes until the tips of the meringue were toasted.
Joyce
I wish they would say how much lemon juice. We have our own meyer lemon tree and the lemons differ in size quite a bit.
Miss Foy
We made it as written, and it is perfection. Proportionally, it's like pie used to be before it got cracker-barrelled and pauladeened.
Abbie
Just ate the first slice, and I need to make one change to my notes: the filling was a little too sour with the 5 lemons. I'd stick with 4 next time, or about 3/4 of a cup of lemon juice.
Katy
For those who doubled the filling, did you double the butter as well? 12 tablespoons seems like a lot of butter, especially when you take into account all the fat in the pie crust. I found a recipe on FBWorld.com that claims to be Alice Water's recipe and all ingredients for the filling are doubled with the exception of the butter. The meringue was doubled as well with except for the vanilla. Thoughts?
Shelly
The recipe says not to refrigerate. Is it safe to store this on your counter for a couple of days? There's only two of us here, so it will take us more than an evening to eat this pie... What did others do?
ann
Please include a measurement for the lemon juice!
Kirk Breault
Used a few drops of lemon juice instead of cream of tartar and everything worked like a charm.
Barbara Cohen
I made double the filling and meringue for a 2” deep 9” pie pan. I used The NY Times crust suggested and it was delicious. Most importantly I used 3/4 cup of lemon juice for the double recipe and did not use any zest. The pie was perfect. Lemony, not too sweet, but not too tart either. It was a hit all around. I encourage people to try to give the pie 2 hours to set. We ate ours about 1 hour after it was baked and it was still too warm. If I could have planned it better I would have waited.
Jessie
Thank you NYTimes for following up on my observation and reapportioning the serving size in the nutritional information. I feel heard.
JMR
Allowing the filling to cool down a fair bit, before sealing with meringue, should stop leakage.
Alex M.
Seems like the recipe may have been updated as I had plenty of filling - it certainly was not overfilled but ended with about an inch-deep fill. I added extra lemon juice and was glad to have done so.
I used my go-to pie dough recipe, but this recipe would taste best with a crust more like a pastry tart crust, and my pie crust recipe is exceedingly flaky (perfect for fruit pies, but wrong here). I'll try http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016816-sweet-tart-dough next time.
Michael
Made this as written and can see why many are doubling the recipe for filling or meringue or both. BUT I don’t believe this is meant to be the lofty pie of childhood marshmallow dreams. The amount of filling more closely resembles that of tarte au citron, and while a slice isn’t pictured on the recipe page, it’s clear that the meringue sits well inside the crust and not above it. The filling is potent enough as is; doubling it would be overkill. This recipe is about flavor not grandeur.
KIm
There's not enough curd or meringue for a 9-inch-wide/2-inch deep pie dish. I double both the curd and the meringue. I use 1.5 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice and double all the other ingredients for the curd. I pass the curd through a fine-mesh sieve after it cools for 5 minutes. When done, if you refrigerate, the meringue will weep. It's not the end of the world, but that's why it says don't refrigerate.
Erin
Grocery store didn’t have Meyer lemons, so I found somewhere online that recommended adding in the zest and juice of a clementine or mandarin — not sure if I actually noticed a difference in taste or just *thought* I did, but the lemon was perfectly tart and sweet and just a tiny bit floral! (Zest of 2 lemons, zest of 1 mandarin, juice of 1 lemon and 1 mandarin = perfection)
Bland
I should have read the notes first. Not nearly enough filling and the meringue is kind of puny for people who come from mile high country.
Mary Robinson
Does anyone add lemon zest to the filling?
Wendy
Not much filling. Too much butter
L
Okay, okay, I know, Alice Waters, Chez Panisse, iconic, blah blah blah I should have expected, but WOW is this absolute perfection. Everything I want in a lemon merengue pie. I can see doubling the filling, depending on what your expectations are, and I may next time, but the filling is absolutely the best. One note: we tried this in a graham cracker crust and it was lovely. Just as a possible riff.
Janet
I made this with 1.5x filling the first time and agree it needs to be about double (only 1.5x butter and sugar is plenty). In the YouTube video, Melissa Clark chooses to make Swiss meringue. That should definitely be reflected in the recipe as half the problems in the comments are about weeping.
sourdoughbaker
This is not lemon meringue pie. Its really lemon curd which is so rich that it is spread in thin layers in tart shells. If you’re looking for traditional lemon meringue pie the filling is mostly water, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest and egg yolks. So look for a recipe that has those ingredients. More is not always better!
J.Neer
The best lemon pie I have ever tasted.
sheridan
No need to double filling (although I wouldn’t use a deep dish pie dish). I did double the lemon juice and zest, from three small lemons, which came out to 1/2 cup. Added a little more sugar to taste and used 2 yolks 2 eggs because that’s what I had. I’ve made lemon curd so many times that I felt comfortable improvising. Filling was set after 15 minutes in oven. Followed meringue recipe exactly. Big hit at Easter 2024!
Christine Penberthy
I was the research director for Bon Appetit for almost 10 years so I come with some experience. Problems: 1/ don't photograph a different recipe from one you provided. 2/ The curd should be doubled and the meringue should be tripled to look like the photo. 3/ Meyer lemons too sweet and soapy for this pie. Very disappointed for all the effort.
Marguerite
Made this in Beaufort on vacation. Only had 4 eggs total so filling - 1 egg and 3 yolks Doubled sugar and lemon juice 2T butter Mike hand whisked the meringue! It was super. Also made it in a square glass baking dish!
Christine Penberthy
Found that both the filling AND the meringue should be doubled. Otherwise very sad pie.
agatha
Can you make the pie the day before and add the meringue on the day? And if so, should the pie be frozen, refrigerated or kept at room temp?
agatha
Can the pie be made a head without the meringue? And if so, should it be kept in the freezer, fridge or at room temp?
denver cook
This is a fantastic recipe! All the components taste wonderful. However, I agree with others who have commented the recipe does not have enough of the curd filling. I doubled on the second try and was happy with the result.
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