Lemon Meringue Pie
Updated October 25, 2023
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- About 4 hours
- Prep Time
- 30 minutes
- Cook Time
- 2 hours and 30 minutes, plus 1 hour’s cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
1 disk flaky pie crust
THE FILLING
2 Meyer lemons or other large lemons (¼ cup lemon juice)
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons salted butter, cut in 3 pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in 3 pieces
THE MERINGUE
3 egg whites, at room temperature (about ½ cup)
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
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.
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
Comments
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.
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.
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.
I made this pie for a friend's birthday getaway. It received rave reviews. All that attended said it was one of the best lemon meringue pies they'd ever had. I sent all attendees home with a remaining slice of pie where it received more praise from their families: "sinfully good" and "divine". I wholeheartedly believe this praise stems from the balance in the lemon custard. It's gently sweet and delightfully tart, smooth as butter, and packs a lemon punch. I made this pie exactly as instructed, following the technique as written. But I did make some ingredients and taste adjustments. For the Lemon Curd: I followed the suggestion to double the filling. I can't imagine eating this pie without doing this. I've seen some comments saying that doubling the filling makes it overwhelming, but I would disagree. I absolutely used four lemons worth of lemon zest (the large lemons you get at the supermarket and buy individually), but followed the advice of other comments to increase the lemon juice a little bit. I believe I hit just above 3/4 cup. I heated the curd on the stove top until it thickened at around 160° F. I then passed the curd through a fine mesh sieve and baked in the pie crust until it reached an internal temperature in the center of 175° F. It set beautifully and was wonderfully smooth, but in retrospect could probably have been taken out sooner: I found some dewy moisture on the pie after it had completely cooled, which leads me to believe that it had been slightly overcooked and the egg proteins squeezed out water. Crust: I did not use the referenced pie crust, but that's because I have a trusted and favored all-butter pie crust that never fails me. The salty, savory crust complemented the custard well. Meringue: I can't speak to the meringue referenced in this recipe because I did not make it. I do not like French meringues, mostly because I find them very finicky, but I'm also not a fan of their texture. I made a lightly sweetened Swiss meringue, placed it on the pie after the pie had completely cooled, and blow torched the meringue for brown bits! This pie was a five out of five. I will absolutely be making it again.
I doubled the recipe as I was using a deep dish pie plate, and it wasn’t quite enough. My eggs looked small, so I added one more and then realized all were labelled large. It worked fine although it seemed to need about 5 minutes more time in the oven before adding the meringue. I thought the filling was a bit too sweet, although guests raved about it. My thought about what makes a lemon meringue pie so delightful is that the sweet meringue balances the tart filling. Next time I will increase the lemon juice to 3/4 of a cup and add another egg to keep the filling from being too loose.
Far too little filling. For a 9" pie it barely covered the base. Flavors are great.