This classic lemon meringue pie features a sweet-tart lemon filling in a buttery crust topped with a light, but stable meringue. A few simple tricks help prevent weepy, watery meringue and ensure a pie that holds up well for days.

Side view of a slice of lemon meringue pie on a plate

I really enjoy a good lemon meringue pie. The tart, but also sweet, lemon filling with the light meringue and the crisp, buttery crust is a heavenly combination. But meringue can be finicky and is the defining piece that determines a great pie, or a soupy pie. I did alllll the testing so that you can have it turn out right every time!

This pie uses the more traditional French meringue topping, but it is fully baked. While French meringue can be finicky and will eventually begin to weep a bit, if done correctly it can actually hold up really well for several days. The key to a stable meringue that doesn’t immediately weep is to use cream of tartar, a little cornstarch, and to cook it fully.

And if you want a truly reliable meringue that won’t weep at all, you can go with a Swiss meringue. It’s what I use on my Lemon Meringue Cheesecake. It’s delicious and I love it, but it has more of a marshmallow-y flavor to it, which I personally think can overpower this pie a bit. But it is super reliable!

Lindsay, author of Life Love and Sugar, holding a plate of cupcakes and smiling.

Why This Is The Best Lemon Meringue Pie

Tart lemon filling. One of the reasons I love lemon meringue pie is the creamy sweet/tart lemon filling. It manages to be both sweet and tart, which is how lemon is supposed to be.
Perfect stable meringue. After lots of trial and error, I finally figured out how to make a stable meringue topping that doesn’t weep. There’s no need to devour this pie in a few hours because the topping holds up for days. Just be sure to read through all the tips in this post before starting, so you can avoid some of the common mistakes!
Easy to make. The crust, filling and meringue each come together quickly and are fairly simple to make. The part you have to pay the most attention to is baking to ensure the meringue is fully baked.
Great for holidays. There are a few pies that make an appearance at nearly every holiday dessert table. For my family, that’s usually chocolate cream pie, pumpkin pie, and lemon meringue pie. I am now volunteered to make this pie every holiday, and everyone is always impressed by how pretty it is, how nice it looks, and how good it tastes.

Key Ingredients

Here’s an overview of the ingredients needed for each element of this pie recipe and why each one is important. The exact ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Overhead view of ingredients needed to make lemon meringue pie

Crust Ingredients

Flour – I recommend weighing the flour for accurate measuring. No one wants a dry crust! If you don’t have a food scale, the spoon and level technique is best, as described in my How To Properly Measure Flour post.
Salt – To enhance the flavor in the crust.
Butter – I always use unsalted butter. If you happen to use salted butter, skip the salt. It should be very cold and cut into ½ inch cubes. Sometimes I even freeze it for a few minutes before using it.
Ice water – It is important to use ice water, not just cool water. The goal is to keep the butter as cold as possible to ensure a flaky crust.

Lemon Filling Ingredients

Egg yolks – Help to thicken the filling and add to its flavor.
Water – Adds the volume and liquid needed, without adding fat, like milk or cream would.
Cornstarch – Along with the egg yolks, the cornstarch helps to thicken the lemon filling.
Salt – Enhances flavors already present in the pie filling.
Lemon juice – Use fresh lemon juice, not bottled, for best flavor.
Lemon zest – Amps up that yummy lemon flavor.
Butter – Adds to the texture, flavor, and appearance of the filling.

Meringue Ingredients

Egg whites – The main component of our meringue.
Cream of tartar – Adds stability to the egg whites and helps prevent weeping.
Sugar – Aids in building the structure of the meringue. It adds strength and elasticity to the proteins in the egg whites.
Cornstarch – Also helps guard against weeping, but you could leave it out if you’d prefer.

How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie

The most important thing to remember with this pie is that the crust needs to chill for several hours before baking, and the meringue needs to be added to a warm pie filling. Feel free to make the pie crust in advance to speed things up! More detailed printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.

Make the crust

Pulse 3/4 cup flour and salt 2-3 times. Add the cubed butter and pulse until a crumbly dough forms.

Pulsed butter and flour in a food processor

Add the remaining flour. Pulse until combined with a sandy appearance and no large chunks.

Transfer to a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of ice water. Use a spatula to fold it together.

NOTE: The dough is ready if it holds together nicely if when you pinch it. If it falls apart, add more water and continue to press together with the spatula.

Shape the dough into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll the crust out, place it in the pie plate and shape. Prick the crust with a fork and refrigerate until cold and firm.

Parchment paper and rice on a pie crust to blind bake it

Preheat the oven to 350°F and fill with pie weights, dry rice, or beans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until it begins to brown on the edges. Remove the weights and bake for another 5 minutes.

Make the lemon filling

Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Heat the water, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon over medium until it begins to bubble.

Tempering egg yolks with warm lemon filling

Slowly add 1/4 cup of the lemon mixture into egg yolks. Pour slowly and whisk quickly to prevent scrambling.

Add the egg mixture to the lemon mixture. Cook for about 1 minute, until thick and bubbles begin bursting at the surface.

Whisk in the butter, then spread the filling evenly into the blind baked pie crust.

Make the meringue

Combine the sugar, salt, and cornstarch.

Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium until foamy. Increase the speed to high until soft peaks form.

Meringue on a beater to show the stiff peaks

Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Continue whipping on high until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy with no graininess.

Spread or pipe the meringue evenly onto the warm pie. Be sure to spread it to the edge to seal it to the crust.

Bake the pie at 325°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the meringue reaches 160°F. Let the baked pie cool at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate for 4-5 hours before serving.

Tips For Meringue That Won’t Weep

The key to a good and stable lemon meringue pie is the meringue. Your pie filling should hold up great. But if your meringue weeps, you can have a mess on your hands. Avoid that with these tips.

Only add the sugar to the meringue after soft peaks form. Then continue whipping until stiff peaks are reached. The structure created in your meringue will hold/stick to your filling better if the sugar is added at the right time.
Use a little cornstarch to help avoid any potential weeping. Your meringue shouldn’t weep if you follow the proper steps, but let’s be honest – meringue can be finicky. Cornstarch is a little bit of an insurance policy.
Spread the meringue to the crust. Make sure the meringue is spread (or piped) all the way to the edges of the crust all around the pie to seal it, which prevents shrinking.
Be sure that your meringue cooks fully. This is the most important tip. Undercooked meringue will create a soupy pie. Eggs are fully cooked at 160°F and all ovens vary, so if you have an instant read thermometer to check with, you can certainly use that. I do!
Be sure to add the meringue to a warm pie filling. This helps it cook fully. The heat from the filling helps to cook the meringue from the bottom/inside, while the oven warms from the outside.
Bake the meringue at a moderate temperature. As the air bubbles expand during baking, the water in the meringue evaporates and the meringue sets. But if the temperature is too high, the top browns before the water inside has time to evaporate. This water dissolves the sugar and forms syrupy beads on the surface.

Why Did a Crust Form On Top Of My Meringue?

This usually happens if you’ve added too much sugar to your meringue. Be sure to stick with half a cup.

Why Is My Pie Full of Liquid?

It sounds like your meringue weeped, and badly. If your pie is sitting in so much liquid that you can’t even slice and serve it, your meringue was probably quite underbaked. If it’s weeping more slowly, it may just be a little under baked. Be sure to add the meringue to a warm pie filling and to bake it fully. Otherwise, the proteins in the meringue won’t set properly, and the structure will collapse and leak water, or ”weep”. The worst weeping issues I’ve seen are from a meringue that’s not fully cooked.

Other reasons your meringue may have weeping issues: It was baked at too high a temperature or for too long. This can cause weeping that appears as large droplets on top of your meringue.

Front view of a slice of lemon meringue pie on a plate with a bite on a fork

Make Ahead & Storage

Lemon meringue pie is best enjoyed sooner rather than later, after it’s had several hours to chill. That said, part of the testing I did specifically for this recipe was trying to make a meringue that would hold up for several days.

While it’s still best to make this pie no more than 24 hours in advance, leftovers can be stored, tightly covered, in the fridge for 2-3 days. The meringue will begin to weep a little but should stay pretty stable if it was cooked properly.

Watch How To Make It

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Lemon Meringue Pie

Why This Is The Best Lemon Meringue Pie