My mouth-watering sweet and sunny lemon pie recipe is perfect for a hot summer day when you need a sweet treat! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Lemon Pie: The Perfect Slice Of Summer
My lemon pie recipe is a subtle riff off of my classic key lime pie, but the nuances are enough that I felt it was worth sharing on its own, anyway. We eat it on its own often enough here that it warranted its own blog post, and I didn’t feel right withholding this recipe from you any longer.
The crust is a traditional graham cracker crust, which provides a firm shell for the filling and gives way to a buttery crunch between your teeth. The filling is just tart enough to be distinctly lemon, like lemon curd or the tart filling of my lemon cheesecake, but without making your mouth pucker (well, too much, anyway). Its texture is deliriously smooth and creamy, and the topping is my airy homemade whipped cream, a sweet complement that helps combat some of the tartness.
It’s simple, sweet, and nearly as refreshing as a glass of lemonade. Let’s get started.
What You Need
- Graham cracker crumbs, sugar, & butter. These make up the homemade graham cracker crust. My pie recipe makes too much filling for a store-bought pie crust in a disposable tin, so I recommend making your own (it takes only minutes).
- Sweetened condensed milk. This gives the filling its creamy texture and sweet taste.
- Egg yolks. Using just the egg yolks makes the texture of the lemon pie thick and smooth. Be sure to save your egg whites for my angel food cake!
- Lemon juice. When it comes to lemon juice (and lemon pie, of course), fresh is always better. Fresh juice has a better flavor than lemon juice from concentrate and will give you the best tasting lemon pie. That being said, I’ve definitely taken the easy way out and made it with bottled before 🤫
- Heavy cream, vanilla extract, & powdered sugar. You’ll need these three ingredients to make a quick and easy homemade whipped cream that’s better than anything you can get at the store.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Making The Crust
For today’s crust I’m using my easy graham cracker crust. This is a versatile, simple recipe that you might’ve used before in my cheesecake or other pies. Note that you could use a traditional pie crust but you would need to follow my instructions for blind baking first.
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugars.
- Drizzle melted butter over the graham cracker crumbs.
- Toss the ingredients together with a fork until combined. All of the crumbs should be evenly coated, the mixture may resemble wet sand.
- Press the mixture into your 9.5″ pie plate and transfer to a 350F (175C) oven for 10 minutes to bake.
Because this is a fairly liquid pie filling (at least initially), I like to pre-bake the crust for a few minutes to help keep it crisp. Let the pie crust cool a bit before adding the filling to help keep it crisp.
How to Make Lemon Pie
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. The easiest way I’ve found to do this is simply crack the egg in half and pass the yolk back and forth until the white falls away. Save the egg whites to make another recipe!
- Whisk the egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk together until thoroughly combined. While still whisking, slowly add the fresh lemon juice until all the ingredients are combined.
- Once the graham cracker crust is baked, remove it from the oven and pour in the lemon filling, and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Lemon pie is finished baking if you jiggle it and the center jiggles slightly but the edges are set. It will continue to firm up as it cools and then chills in the refrigerator.
Easy Whipped Cream Topping
Many lemon pie recipes go through the effort of making the crust and filling from scratch, then top them off with store-bought Cool Whip! In a pinch, sure, you could, but I highly recommend making my homemade whipped cream instead (it’s easy!):
- In a chilled bowl combine the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer until you have whipped cream that is fluffy with stiff peaks.
- Add the whipped cream to the cooled lemon pie with a piping bag, or dollop it on with a spoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lemon pie would also taste great with a crust made with shortbread cookies or vanilla wafers, feel free to try the crust that I use for my banana cream pie!
Yes. Not only will the pie need to chill in the refrigerator for several hours, once it has set it should be kept in the refrigerator. Any leftovers can be covered with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 5 days. Lemon pie can also be frozen for up to a month in the freezer.
You’ll have 5 egg whites left over after making this recipe. Use them to make meringue cookies or pavlova (the sweet, airy texture pairs nicely with this tart & luscious lemon pie recipe!), make a double batch of my coconut macaroons, or put them toward my lemon cake (you’ll need just one more egg white).
More Recipes You Might Like
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Lemon Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (170g)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar firmly packed
- 7 Tbsp butter melted (100g) salted or unsalted butter will work
Filling
- 2 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk (792g)
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 cup lemon juice fresh preferred (236ml)
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream (236ml)
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar (41g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Freshly grated lemon zest optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
- In medium-sized bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and stir until combined.1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, 7 Tbsp butter
- Press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9.5” pie plate. Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 10 minutes (do not turn off the oven once the crust has finished baking, you will need it again shortly). While pie crust cools, prepare your filling.
Filling
- In a large bowl, whisk together condensed milk, and egg yolks, until thoroughly combined.2 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk, 5 large egg yolks, 1 cup lemon juice
- While whisking, gradually add lemon juice. Whisk well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Pour filling into baked pie crust. Return to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or edges are set and center is set as well but still slightly jiggly if shaken.
- Allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes then transfer to refrigerator to chill for 6-8 hours or (preferably) overnight. Before serving, prepare whipped cream topping.
Homemade Whipped Cream Topping
- Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl (preferably a chilled metal bowl). Use an electric mixer to beat on low-speed, then gradually increase speed to high, beating until mixture is thick, fluffy, and stiff peaks have been achieved.1 cup heavy cream, ⅓ cup powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pipe or dollop over pie before serving. If desired, grate lemon zest over the top as well.Freshly grated lemon zest
Notes
Piping Tip
I used an Ateco 848 piping tip to decorate the pie seen in the photos and the video.Storing
Store, covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days. Pie may also be tightly covered and frozen for up to a month.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Originally published 04/04/2016
Netti Fulton
Love love love this pie! Hubby made it for me for my birthday last month and the recipe was perfect! Would like to make it GF…can this be done easily? Also hubby wants to try another citrus juice like blood orange. Will let you know how it turns out.
Sam
So happy to hear this, Netti! I unfortunately do not have experience making the crust gluten free so I am hesitant to advise, but I’m hoping maybe someone else who has tried this can chime in! I would think another citrus juice would work well, but yes please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
PK
What the heck! Followed the instructions, and after waiting 30 hours, the pie was soupy and the crust was too hard to come off of the pie plate. The flavor however was delicious. What went wrong???
Sam
Hi PK! I’m honestly not sure! Were any ingredients substituted (evaporated milk instead of condensed milk would leave you with the results indicated) or could anything have been accidentally mis-measured? Was the pie baked the full amount of time? Could your oven be running cold? I just filmed a video for this recipe last week (coming soon, editing takes a while), which meant making the pie 3 times, and I did not have this issue in any of those instances, so I’m really not sure.
Anita Dore
I would like to use your pie crust recipe (the one with sour cream). Sh-oils I bake the crust first then add filling and bake again? Btw your recipes are fantastic-you are my go-to sweets recipe guru. 😀
Sam
Hi Anita! I would bake the crust first according to the crust recipe and then add the filling and bake. I hope you love it! 🙂
EM
Hi, really looking forward to making this pie! How long will it keep in the fridge? I was hoping to make it in advance. Thanks!
Sam
It should keep for a week in the refrigerator. You may need to cover it so it doesn’t absorb any fridge odors. 🙂
Isabel
This is a wonderful, easy, and delicious summer pie. My whole family and I loved it! Thank you for recipe.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Isabel! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how it turned out! <3
Sheep
Hello! Can I substitute the graham cracker crust for a regular pie crust? 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Sheep! Yes, you can! Here is my homemade pie crust pie if you’d like to use that. I hope that you enjoy the pie! 🙂
Sheep
The pie turned out delicious, as always! Thank you very much! 🙂
Joana
How much (or many? 😳) graham crackers do I need for this recipe?
Sam
Hi Joana! You will need about 10 graham cracker sheets to make the crust. 🙂
tara
Hi!! Can you meringue the top of this pie? or is it better with just the whipped cream? THank you!!!
Sam
Hi Tara! My only concern with putting a meringue on top is the meringue will need to be baked in the oven and I have not tested how this pie works if it is baked. If you do try it I would love to hear how it turns out for you, though!
Ronald C Marshall
Easy, a real crowd pleaser, taste like you’ve been in the kitchen all day. I have been making this pie for about 30 years from my mothers recipe.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys the pie, Ronald! 🙂
Mrs N.
No time to make a graham cracker crust, or whip up a pie in three stages, but do have a spouse with diabetes who adheres strictly to his physician’s directives, I try to avoid sugar, and delicious ‘richness’ of high-fat ingredients, I came up with a zingy lemony fluff based on this lovely recipe.
From youth, quite frequently not having the proper quantities or even called-for ingredients of published recipes, I’ve come to use my chemistry background in replicating flavor, consistency, and substituting high-calorie additives. (Hello, Meta Givens Family Cooking Cookbook with dedicated chapter to substitutions!)
So, I resort to the internet for ideas to start out, and improvise as I go along. Some cooks don’t like this approach and either have everything on hand and in the brand name product before attempting a recipe, or don’t go beyond their safety zone, and are upset with those who offer ‘alternatives’ in a comment box seemingly viewing my suggestion as a way to usurp tried-and-true recipes, and even suggesting that I start my own blog.
I placed a layer of graham cracker squares in the bottom of a 8×8 Pyrex baking dish, (and had enough for a small smackerel left over to go with some peanut butter and a few slices of apple for myself). In a small bowl I blended 6 oz lemon low-carb cultured dairy blend yogurt (I would’ve used another kind of lemon yogurt if I had it in my frig today, but that was it), with a teaspoon of lemon juice concentrate, and 8 oz mascarpone, (instead of fat-free cream cheese because a. I had been going to make a tiramisu-type dessert weeks ago which called for mascarpone, but found six containers in the grocery dairy case with short dating so bought five containers at that time for the price of two packages of cream cheese–yes, I used the cheese beyond its freshness date, but since I’d not opened it, I assumed it was still bacteria-free), and b. because it is softer than cream cheese, blends more easily with the acidity of lemon juice).
I dissolved 4 packets of unflavored gelatin in 3/4 cup of scalding hot water, then added a teaspoon of lemon Crystal Light powder (I would’ve used sugar-free lemon gelatin, but of the flavored gelatins had only had cherry and raspberry), and used a hand-mixer to blend the ingredients with 3/4 cup of ‘lite’ softened whipped dairy topping.
I wish I could say that I poured the mixture into the square baking dish, and then topped it with fresh lemon peel curls, but alas, I had no fresh lemons, nor zest. It only took the time to serve make-your-own tacos with prepared ingredients (maybe an hour) to coalesce in the frig. I cut the firm dessert into squares (there’s less tendency to consume the whole dish if it’s sectioned into individual portions), and served it with sliced fresh fruit.
Sugar Spun Run was a great inspiration in this 75% humidity and 88 deg F summer evening!
Sam
Glad everything worked out! 🙂
Anaelle
Hi!!
I live in a country that is hard to find
sweetened condensed milk, therefore how many cups is 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk ??
Btw the pie looks promo
Anaelle
Promising
Sam
Hi Anaelle! 2 cans is about 2 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk. I hope you love the pie! 🙂
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel
Yummy!! This pie sounds so good! It’s kinda funny that you don’t see lemon cream pie more often since the key lime version is so popular. I love any kind of tart citrus dessert, so this is right up my alley! <3
Amanda
I usually go for everything chocolate when it comes to pie. But lemon pies are so refreshing! I always make an exception for them. This looks so homey and delicious. A really beautiful pie!
Puja Darshan
Mmmmm, it’s yummy Sam.
Loved that yellow color topping on it….
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
This pie is stunning! I always (wrongly!) only associate pie with fall and winter- spring pies are clearly important 🙂