Lemon Meringue Pie with Condensed Milk 🍋

Recipe updated: April 12th, 2024

This is a simple and easy-to-make lemon meringue pie recipe with only 6 ingredients. It uses four lemons, vanilla extract, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, granulated sugar, and a 10-inch graham cracker crust. And it is oh so delicious! If you have never tried lemon meringue pie, it will soon be one of your favorite desserts. It has a sweet meringue top and a fresh creamy lemon filling with condensed milk. This easy recipe is perfect for all of your special occasions.

🥧 Key Ingredients

• Fresh lemon juice from 4 medium-sized lemons (about 1/2 cup of lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces) – Eagle Brand or your favorite brand
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 10-inch graham cracker ready pie crust

👩‍🍳 How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie

These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.

Step 1. Preheat the Oven

Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 2. Separate the Eggs

Take the 3 eggs and separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, putting them into 2 different bowls. Set the egg whites aside for now while we use the egg yolks to make the lemon filling.

Step 3. Combine the Egg Yolks and Condensed Milk

In a medium separate bowl, add the egg yolks together with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.

Stir the sweetened condensed milk together with the egg yolks using a whisk if you have one. If not, a spoon or fork will work fine.

Step 4. Squeeze Some Lemons

First, wash the lemons by running cold water over them, then roll the 4 lemons on the countertop to soften them up a bit. A cutting board, a table, or your favorite workplace will do. Then cut the lemons in half. After that, use a citrus hand squeezer to get the juice out of the lemons.

We squeezed four fresh lemons for this lemon pie recipe. There are approximately two tablespoons of lemon juice in one medium-sized lemon, so that equals about 1/2 cup of lemon juice for the 4 lemons.

Note: Lemons can be different sizes and have different amounts of juice in them, so it is best to measure the juice you need if a recipe you are making doesn’t tell you how many lemons to use. In this recipe, four medium-sized lemons will be enough.

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Step 5. Add the Lemon Juice to the Egg Yolks and Condensed Milk

Pour the lemon juice into the mixing bowl together with the condensed milk and egg yolk mixture.

Step 6. Mix the Lemon Juice, Egg Yolks, and Condensed Milk

Mix the lemon juice, egg yolks, and condensed milk until thoroughly blended using a whisk or spoon to create the lemon filling.

Step 7. Pour the Lemon Filling into the Pie Crust

We used a 10-inch graham cracker pie crust for this recipe. Pour all the lemon filling into the pie crust, then set aside for now.

Step 8. Make the Meringue

Put the 3 egg whites we saved earlier into a mixing bowl together with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Note: I’ve read about not using a plastic or glass bowl when whipping up the egg whites, so I guess a stainless steel bowl would be the one to use. The egg whites slide down the sides of the glass bowl, so they won’t whip properly, and the plastic bowl has some kind of fat or whatever to interfere with the egg whites while whipping them.

However, we used a plastic bowl, and the egg whites whipped up just fine. But use a stainless steel bowl if you are skeptical.

Step 9. Whip the Egg Whites

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on high speed, whip up the egg whites together with the vanilla extract until the egg whites form soft, stiff peaks.

Step 10. Add the Sugar

Then, gradually add the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar together with the whipped egg whites and vanilla extract while still using the hand mixer at high speed.

Step 11. Put the Meringue on Top of the Lemon Filling

After whipping up the egg whites and having formed the meringue into nice soft peaks in the bowl, then, spread the meringue over the top of the lemon filling. Make sure to spread the meringue to the edges of the pie using a spatula.

Step 12. Make Some Peaks

Using a spatula, make peaks on the meringue topping across the whole pie. To do that, as you spread the meringue around over the top of the lemon filling, slightly flip up the spatula, which will form the peaks.

Step 13. Bake the Lemon Meringue Pie

Bake the pie in the 350 degree oven for 20 minutes until the meringue is slightly browned.

Step 14. Cool the Lemon Meringue Pie

After baking, take the lemon meringue pie out of the oven and let it cool for about 20 minutes at room temperature on a wire rack before slicing. This will give the lemon filling time to set. Cutting this pie while it is still hot will make the lemon filling spread and run into the rest of the pie. We don’t want that to happen, so be sure to wait a little bit first.

❓ FAQs

💡 Final Thoughts for the Best Lemon Meringue Pie

This lemon meringue pie recipe is made with very simple ingredients and does not use that much sugar. It has a homemade lemon filling made from fresh lemon juice and a meringue top made from beaten egg whites and sugar. I love the taste of this pie. It only takes 20 minutes of cooking time. The graham cracker pie crust has just the right amount of graham crackers crunching up against the soft and smooth lemon filling inside. So the next time you are at the grocery store, make sure you have these 6 ingredients in your cart so you can make this easy lemon meringue pie recipe.

What’s nice about this lemon meringue pie recipe is you don’t need a pie pan. The ready-made graham cracker crust comes in a tin foil pan.

It is best to eat lemon meringue pie within a couple of days. The longer the pie sits in the refrigerator, the worse the meringue will get, becoming rubbery and watery. But no problem, we always eat it up before that happens. Discard any leftover lemon meringue pie after 3 days, unless you freeze it.

📄 Recipe Card

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