Lemon Pie
This easy Lemon Pie features a homemade graham cracker crust, a creamy lemon filling, and homemade whipped cream on top. The perfect dessert for lemon lovers!
Have you ever tried a lemon pie? If not, you’re in for a real treat today! This pie is very similar in taste and texture to a key lime pie with one exception – it uses fresh lemon juice instead!
One of the things that I really love about this pie is that it uses minimal ingredients. There’s only three ingredients in the graham cracker crust and three ingredients in the filling. I also topped this pie with my homemade whipped cream, but if you want to keep things easy feel free to use store-bought whipped topping or leave it off.
This pie also needs to chill for several hours, so it’s a wonderful recipe that you can make the day before and not have to worry about the next day!
Ingredients For This Recipe
To make this lemon pie recipe, you will be preparing the crust, filling, and the whipped cream. It seems like a lot, but it’s fairly easy to throw together! I wanted to share just a few notes on some of the ingredients to make sure this pie turns out perfect for you.
- Graham Cracker Crumbs: To get 1 and 1/2 cups of crumbs you will need about 11 to 12 full sheets of graham crackers. If you want to make this recipe even easier, just use store-bought graham cracker crumbs – no one will ever know!
- Lemon Juice: Fresh is best here! One medium lemon will usually yield 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and one large lemon will yield 3 to 4 tablespoons.
- Egg Yolks: This recipe only uses egg yolks so that the filling is rich, thick, and easy to slice. You can use the leftover egg whites in my white cake recipe or save them and use them for an omelette!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: You don’t want to confuse this ingredient with evaporated milk, otherwise your pie won’t set up! Sweetened condensed milk is super thick and sweet. It helps create a thick filling and balances out the tartness of the lemon juice.
How To Make Lemon Pie
First things first, you want to start out by making the graham cracker crust. I wrote a full post on how to make a graham cracker crust here, so if you haven’t made one before then I recommend reading through that post first.
For the crust, you will need crushed graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Simply combine them together in a mixing bowl, scoop it into a 9-inch pie dish, and firmly press it on the bottom and up around the sides. Pro-tip: Use the bottom of a measuring cup to help firmly press the crust into your pie dish.
Place the prepared crust into the oven and pre-bake it for 8 to 10 minutes, then let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes. This will ensure that your pie crust is sturdy and can hold up to the weight of the lemon filling.
As the crust is cooling, you can prepare the filling. For the filling, you’ll be using fresh lemon juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk.
Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk them together until they’re well combined. The mixture will be nice, thick, and creamy like the picture above. Then, pour the filling into the pre-baked graham cracker crust and bake it for about 20 more minutes.
Once the pie is finished baking, the top should look set but it will still be jiggly. As the pie cools the residual heat will continue to cook the pie and it will set up properly. Don’t worry!
Once the pie has cooled and been refrigerated, I like to top it off with some homemade whipped cream. If you want to make this recipe a little easier, then you can just use a tub of whipped topping. But I’ll be honest, the homemade version is SO much better!
I have a simple tutorial showing you how I make my homemade whipped cream here – I promise, it’s easy too! Once the pie is done, you can store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it.
Baking Tips
- Once you bake the graham cracker crust, let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes before you add the pie filling. This will ensure a sturdier crust that will hold up well.
- I suggest using fresh lemon juice for this pie instead of bottled juice. You will need about 8 medium lemons or 5 to 6 large lemons to get 1 cup of fresh lemon juice.
- To get the most juice out of your lemons, firmly roll them on the counter with your hand before cutting into them.
- When you cover the pie, make sure that the plastic wrap (or whatever you use to cover it) is not directly touching the top. I find that plastic wrap tends to stick to the pie and can pull some of it up with it when you remove it.
More Pie Recipes To Try!
![A lemon pie in a white baking dish tipped with whipped cream and lemon zest.](https://i0.wp.com/www.livewellbakeoften.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Lemon-Pie-9s-new.jpg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
For the graham cracker crust:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) graham cracker crumbs
- 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
For the lemon pie filling:
- 1 cup (240 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 5 large egg yolks
Topping:
- Whipped topping or homemade whipped cream
Instructions
To make the graham cracker crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Add the melted butter and stir until fully combined and all of the crumbs are moistened.
- Scoop the mixture into a 9 to 9.5 inch pie plate and firmly press it down into an even layer on the bottom and up around the sides of the dish.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the filling.
- Keep oven temperature at 350°F (177°C).
To make the lemon pie filling:
- Combine the lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and whisk until fully combined.
- Pour the filling into the slightly cooled graham cracker crust and spread it around into one even layer.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until the top of the pie is set, the pie will still be jiggly.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature for about 2 hours. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 5 to 6 hours or overnight. Once chilled, top with whipped cream, serve and enjoy!
Notes
Hi Danielle love your pie recipes…Do you have any sugar free pie recipes you can share.
Thank you, Ella! I don’t do much sugar-free baking since I’m not very familiar with it. But I’d be happy to point you to some blogs that do if you like!
This looks amazing!! Can’t wait to use my new stuff to make it!! Thank you again so much for all the awesome baking items in the prize basket!!
Thank you, Heather! So glad you received your basket! Let me know if you try any recipes 🙂
Made this with my daughter- so good, super creamy, & perfect for lemon lovers! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the lemon pie, Dara! 🙂
So I only have a 8 and 10 inch springform pan, which one would be best to use?
Since this makes quite a bit of filling, a 10-inch pan may be better. You may need to reduce the baking time slightly too.
Had family over for dinner and everyone loved it !! I topped it over with some whipped cream and frozen berries and I couldn’t find graham crackers ( i live in a town in sweden haha) so i used hobnobs instead and it turned out great . Thank you love your recipes !!
So glad to hear that, Mona! I know some readers have used digestive biscuits too. I’m not sure if they’re available in Sweden, but that may be another option for you too. 🙂
Hi, there, this looks delicious! Quick question, though – do you think it would be possible to turn this into several mini-tartlets? I’m assuming the cooking time would be drastically reduced… Thanks!
Yes, I think that would be fine. I’m not sure on baking time though.
My husband loved this pie! He requested a lemon pie for his birthday and I chose this one. I confess, I did use a purchased crust, but he really loved the whole experience. He’s not really big on complimenting my cooking (it’s just not his thing 🙂 but he said this one was “restaurant quality” and deemed it “my new favorite pie of all time”!
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe with me.
So happy to hear that, Paula!
Perfect and super simple! My boyfriend would NOT stop raving about this pie! It wasn’t too sweet, it had the perfect amount of lemon flavor and it was so easy to make. I put a nice layer of the whipped cream on top. Definitely will make again!
Made this recipe twice with fresh AZ lemons and everyone loved it. Back in MN and am about to make it again. Is it possible to freeze this pie and still retain its consistentcy and taste. Thanks, Joel
So glad you liked the pie, Joel! I haven’t tried freezing it, but I think it would freeze okay and you could thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
Hi! just wondering if this pie is more tart or sweet? I am for a nice tart lemon pie recipe to make for my mom’s birthday and this one looks delicious! 🙂
This pie is sweet, but it’s also pretty tart. It’s similar to a key lime pie, but with lemon juice.
Hello
This recipe is awesome! I made mine with key limes and it was delicious!
Hi Danielle,
I was wondering whether I could put a meringue on top instead of whipped cream?
April
You can use a meringue on top of the lemon pie, but I wouldn’t add it on top of the whipped cream especially if you plan to toast it or bake it.
Hi if i did meringue on it, when would you add it?
I haven’t tried it, but I would probably bake the filling first, add the meringue on top of the warm filling and spread it to the edges to seal it, then bake it until the meringue is lightly browned.
I used this lemon filling recipe to make little tarts with a shortcrust and they were a crowd pleaser! All gone from the plate within minutes 😀
It’s a hot sunny Sunday afternoon and my family came to visit. I mentioned I had made Lemon Pie. My sister got so excited. We all enjoyed it very much. It’s so yummy! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I was up till 3:30 am so that it would cool properly before refrigerating it. It was worth the time of lost sleep. Thank you! Kelly
So happy to hear that, Kelly!
My first pie ever, for my husband’s birthday today. Excellent! Nice and tart with just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you for such a simple but delicious recipe.
Just made this pie to be served on Christmas day. It is my brothers favorite. Thank you.
Home made whipped topping recipe?
Hi, Frances! I linked to the whipped cream recipe in the recipe card.
I made it and it turned out so Delicious!!!!
I would like to thank you very much for this.
Hi I made it earlier today, and was wondering if I can eat it before the 5-6 hours in the fridge?
It’s been in so far around 2 hours
I would recommend waiting until the pie is at least chilled all of the way through. If you cut into it too early, it won’t set up properly.
Hi Danielle,
I just tried the recipe. The filling has a lovely taste, but it’s very runny. I wonder if 14 ounces of condensed milk isn’t too much.
Never mind my previous comment! I had not read step 4 of the recipe (for the lemon pie filling).
No worries! I hope you enjoyed the pie!
Can I just use one can of condensed milk as I would like to reduce the sweetness? Thanks.
Hi, Catherine. If you reduce the sweetened condensed milk, you’ll need to adjust the other ingredients for the filling too otherwise it won’t set up correctly.
My pie has a kinda gritty aftertaste/texture. I mixed the condensed milk with the lemon juice in the bowl and it became kinda weird. It broke or did something. I added the eggs next. It looked fine and tasted fine, but when I ate it the next day it was gritty. My mom said it could’ve been because I didn’t strain it. I just want to know what happened.
Sorry you had trouble with the recipe, Toni. Did you use fresh lemon juice and did it have some pulp in it?
Recipe seems great, want to try it . Could you recommend any substitute for egg?
I honestly haven’t tried an egg substitute in this pie, so I’m not quite sure. Sorry!
Hi I made this recipe is a top 5 !!!! I just noticed it was too soft after refrigerate. Any advice you can give me?
Hi, Marlene! The pie will be a bit soft even after it’s chilled. Is it too soft to slice into and serve? If so, try freezing it for about an hour or so and see if that helps!
Will all these ingredients fit in one regular 9″ pie pan, afraid some would be left over.
Yes, it will! I’ve used several 9-inch pie pans and never had any issues with it not fitting.
Hi Danielle,
This recipe is very similar to what we make here in South Africa, namely lemon meringue pie. The only difference is that we make meringue with the left over egg whites using castor sugar and pop it on top of the pie and bake for 10 minutes or so. Just a thought for using the egg whites!
Enjoy your site and recipes very much.
Thank you for sharing your passion with us.
Thank you, Samantha! I haven’t tried it using the egg whites as a meringue, but I definitely need to!
I have been serving this pie recipe for over a year now and it’s ALWAYS a hit.
Thank you for sharing!
Good lemon pie. tastes great. I used store bought 7” crust and halved the ingredients, and put 3 egg yolks. also made a meringue using left over egg whites. put this in the oven for 18 mins turned out beautiful.
Can I use this same recipe to make lemon parfaits
You could make mini lemon pies, but I don’t think it would work well for parfaits.
Can lemon juice be used instead of fresh lemon
Do you mean bottled lemon juice? If so, that would be fine.
When putting meringue on, do you cool as In recipe and then refrigerate overnight
Yes, that’s correct.