I feel like lemon is a staple summer flavor. There's something about it that just puts me outside, soaking in the sun. And in Michigan, we only get that summer for a couple months!

The weather has finally started warming up here, and I've enjoyed the past few days playing outside with my almost 2 year old. He absolutely loves playing outside!

So let's make a classic pie that will help you enjoy these summer days ahead of us-lets make a lemon meringue pie!

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How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie

This lemon meringue pie recipe is so delicious! I looked at several recipes online for inspiration and combined many ideas into my own recipe. It has the right amount of tang and sweetness, and that meringue on top is perfectly fluffy and light. Let's get into the details of how to make the best lemon meringue pie!

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Blind Baking the Pie Crust

With either premade or homemade pie crust, roll it out to fit into your pie tin. Make sure you roll it large enough so that some of the crust hangs over the edge of the pan.

You then can cut the excess pie crust and crimp it.

Take a large sheet of aluminum foil and put it on top of the pie crust and allow it to come up the sides. You are making a bowl basically with the foil. You will fill that foil sheet with sugar. This is to act as a weight so that the pie crust doesn’t puff up while it is baking.

Bake the pie crust according to the recipe below. Set it aside to cool.

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Making the Lemon Pie Filling

Let's get to the star of lemon meringue pie...the lemon filling! This is what will make it the best lemon meringue pie.

Separate the 5 egg yolks from the whites, but KEEP THE WHITES. We will use them for the meringue, so set them aside for now.

Put the water, sugar, cornstarch, slat, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a pot and whisk together. Heat it on medium heat until it boils and thickens.

Next you will temper the hot mixture with the egg yolks. Tempering means that you are bringing both the mixtures to the same temperature. You don't want to add room temperature or cold egg yolks to a hot mixture because it will cook them too fast and you can end up with chunks of scrambled egg in your mixture. Not good.

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You will slowly pour some of the hot mixture into the egg yolks while constantly whisking it together. Add about half the liquid, again, SLOWLY, while whisking. This will heat the yolks up, and then you can add the yolks into the pot with the rest of the filling.

Add the butter and whisk it until it is melted in. Set it aside while you make the meringue.

And important note is that you don't want the filling to completely cool. You want it to stay warm when you put it in the crust and when you put the meringue on top. The heat from the filling will seal the meringue to it.

How to Make Meringue

Last but not least, let's make the meringue for this lemon meringue pie!

Get the egg whites you set aside earlier, and use a whip attachment on a mixer to start whipping the egg whites. Once they get frothy, add the sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla.

Whip them until they form a stiff peak. To understand what a stiff peak is, I highly recommend reading this article about it!

Building the Lemon Meringue Pie

Pour the lemon filling into your pie crust. Then, start spooning the meringue on top, making sure that it touches the edges of the pie to completely seal in the lemon filling.

Put the pie in the oven and bake according to the recipe below. The meringue will get toasty golden brown on top.

Let it cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate it for a couple hours before serving. It will keep in the fridge for about 3-4 days, and will start to get "weepy", meaning you will see some liquid on the bottom of the pie pan from the filling.

Enjoy!!

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