Vegetarian Classic Lemon Meringue Pie
Few desserts hit the way a proper lemon meringue pie does — that sharp, custardy filling against a buttery, flaky crust, all crowned with a cloud of glossy, torched meringue. The filling here is built from fresh lemon juice and zest, so the citrus flavor is bright and real rather than the flat, artificial tang you get from a boxed mix. Tempering the egg yolks before they go into the hot filling is the move that keeps everything silky and smooth, and straining it through a fine-mesh sieve gives you that clean, jewel-like set. The Italian meringue — made by streaming hot sugar syrup into whipped egg whites — is sturdier and more stable than a standard meringue, which means those gorgeous peaks hold their shape beautifully without weeping. Every component is naturally meat-free and built from pantry staples, so there's nothing to swap or substitute. Whether you finish it with a kitchen torch for precise, caramel-tipped peaks or slide it under the broiler, the result is genuinely showstopping. This is the kind of pie that makes people ask if you went to pastry school.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
For the crust
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
- 3–4 tbsp ice water
For the lemon filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 3–4 lemons)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
- 5 large egg yolks
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
For the Italian meringue
- 4 large pasteurized egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
- 1
Make the crust: Whisk together the flour, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt in a large bowl. Add the chilled butter cubes and work them in with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. Drizzle in 3 tbsp ice water and stir with a fork until the dough just comes together; add the fourth tablespoon only if the dough is still crumbly. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, press into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- 2
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Drape it over the rolling pin and transfer it to a 9-inch pie dish, pressing it gently into the bottom and sides. Trim the overhang to about 1 inch, fold it under, and crimp the edge. Prick the bottom all over with a fork, line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
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