The beloved classic lemon meringue pie gets a low carb, grain-free makeover. The lemon filling is both tart and sweet, and the meringue is crisp on the outside, tender in the middle.
I sincerely love making over the classics to be low carb and gluten-free. The funny part is that many of these classic dishes and desserts are not things I would have bothered with back in my sugar and flour days. Some of them I simply wasn’t interested in and some of them were just a little too daunting. For others, I would have had to follow the recipe to the letter and goodness knows how I hate doing that. I can hardly make my own recipes the same way twice. But now the challenge of recreating the classics in a healthy format I can enjoy holds great appeal. Can I take an iconic dish, something that stands out in people’s minds as the food or dessert they remember from childhood, that their grandmother made every time they came over, and can I remake it without sugar or flour or grains? Can I make it more than simply palatable, more than a mere approximation of the classic they love so much? Can I not only make it, but make it really, REALLY good?
Yep, I sure can. At least in this case, I believe I conquered that challenge and conquered it admirably. Now if only I could conquer crusty Italian or French bread. Then I would be the master of the low carb universe.
Lemon meringue is honestly not one that was very significant in my childhood. Ever the chocoholic, I would forego the citrus-based desserts in favour of something darker, creamier and denser. I know I had lemon meringue pie on a number of occasions, and it was even pretty good a few times. Other times, it was an overly-sweet, soggy mess. But such is the way with any classic dessert, there are good ones and there are awful ones.
Since I already have a low carb pastry recipe that I love, my challenge with this classic lay in both the filling and in the meringue. Lemon meringue fillings are made with plenty of cornstarch to help them set properly and we know that isn’t a gonna fly for low carb. And meringue without sugar can be tricky, as it can either be overly hard and crunchy, or it can lack structure and deflate during baking. I wanted the filling to be slightly gooey but not liquid, so I decided to tackle that in two ways. First, with xanthan gum to help thicken it a little, and secondly, with a little gelatin to help it set properly. I was more worried about the meringue, thinking it might disintegrate when I tried to spread it over the warm filling. But it held up nicely and even better, it baked to that perfect soft crispness. It was crisp on the very outside but sweet and tender on the inside, and I think it was the mix of both granulated and powdered sweetener that helped.
One word to the wise: be patient. Let it chill the full 3 hours. Don’t do as I did and cut in too soon or the un-set lemon filling starts oozing out everywhere. Patience is a virtue that I don’t have enough of!
Low Carb Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients
Pastry Crust:
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tbsp arrowroot starch OR 2 tbsp oat fiber for THM
- 1 tbsp granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp butter chilled and cut into small pieces
- 2-4 tbsp ice water
Filling:
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp water divided
- 1 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tbsp grassfed gelatin (can use 1 envelope Knox gelatin)
Meringue Topping:
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- Pinch salt
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Combine almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, sweetener, xanthan gum and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
- Sprinkle surface with butter pieces and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- With processor running on low, add ice water, one tablespoon at time until dough begins to clump together.
- Place a large piece of parchment on work surface and dust liberally with additional almond flour. Turn out dough and pat into a circle. Sprinkle with more almond flour and cover with another large piece of parchment.
- Roll out carefully into an 11-inch circle. Remove top layer of parchment. Place a 9-inch pie pan upside down on crust and then carefully flip both over so crust is lying in the pie pan. Remove parchment. (Alternatively, you can skip rolling out the pastry and simply press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pan).
- You may get some cracking and tears. Simply use small pieces of pastry from the overhang to patch them up. Crimp the edges of the crust and prick all over with a fork.
- Bake crust 12 minutes, then remove and let cool.
Lemon Filling:
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup of the water, sweetener, lemon zest and salt. Bring to just a boil, whisking frequently, until sweetener dissolves.
- In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks until smooth. Slowly add about 1/2 cup of the water to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Then gradually whisk the egg yolks back into the pan and lower the heat to low. Cook for 1 minute more, stirring continuously.
- Stir in lemon juice and butter and whisk until smooth. Sprinkle surface with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine.
- In a small bowl, stir together the remaining two tablespoons of water and the gelatin. Let sit 2 minutes until gelled, then stir into hot lemon mixture, whisking until well combined. Cover and set aside while making the meringue.
Meringue Topping:
- In a large bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until frothy. With beaters going, slowly add sweeteners and vanilla extract and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
To assemble:
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- Pour warm filling into crust. Dollop with meringue and spread right to the edges so that the meringue meets the crust. Swirl the top with the back of a spoon.
- Bake 20 minutes or until meringue topping is golden and just barely firm to the touch. Remove and let pie cool 20 minutes, then refrigerate at least 3 hours to set.
Notes
Total fat: 17.51g
Calories from fat: 157
Cholesterol: 98mg
Carbohydrate: 7.22g
Total dietary fiber: 2.12g
Protein: 6.45g
Sodium: 174mg
Kate Hapgood says
Best thing I’ve ever baked. Tastes amazing. I can’t believe it’s keto. My mum couldn’t believe it either! INCREDIBLE!!!
Lynda says
Definitely want to try this recipe. I noticed the water amt is different in the fillings list of ingredients compared to the instructions in the filling. The list says 1 cup + 2 Tbsp water. But in the instructions you use 1 cup water with the sweetener and 1/2 cup water with the egg yolks. The 2 Tbsp goes into the gelatin. Is it 1c + 2 tbsp or 1 1/2c + 2 tbsp total? I read all the comments and saw some people had really runny filling and wonder if the sweetener is only supposed to get 1/2c of water instead of a whole cup?
Hope you see this question. Thanks so much!
Carolyn says
You’re not reading that correctly, I’m afraid. You use 1 cup of water, heated in the pan…. you use HALF of that warmed water to temper the egg yolks, which you then return to the pan when they are tempered. So that’s 1 cup. Then the 2 tbsp happens with the gelatin.
Mark says
Hi Carolyn m I made this pie yesterday 12/23/20 to have tomorrow night on Christmas. I cut a tiny sample piece today and it’s wonderful! As good if not better than any of the better quality lemon meringue pies I’ve ever eaten.
Thank you so much for all of your great recipes! I plan to make your Basque cheesecake for New Year’s Eve!
Josie says
I have made this pie several times and love it! However, my friend wants one for her bday and doesnt like meringue or any other topping. Can I just cover with foil and still bake 20 min? Thanks!!!!
Carolyn says
I honestly can’t say, I’ve never tried to make a lemon pie that way. You will have to experiment.
Name Carol Spooner says
I’m late coming to this recipe. Don’t know if you will see this comment. Just found it as my husband requested Lemon Meringue Pie for Father’s Day. He’s a vegetarian. Can this be made without the gelatin?
Carolyn says
There may be a vegetarian replacement but I honestly can’t say as I don’t use them myself. But to skip it altogether would mean a messy, gooey filling.
Lily says
Can someone help me out to why my filling did not set? I have made lemon filling/curds and never had an issue until now.
Carolyn says
But have you ever made them without sugar? Totally different ball game. What brand of sweetener did you use?
Lynna says
I would like to make this but do not want to use that starch. Is there are replacement I could use?
Carolyn says
Use this pie crust instead: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/easy-low-carb-press-in-pie-crust/
DMarie says
I made this and spread it with whipped cream, as one of your readers suggested. It is superb! Next time I’ll get more adventuresome and make the meringue ha ha. The crust is very much like a traditional crust, too-yum!
Erica B says
Hi Carolyn, I wonder if you could answer a baking question for me. Once a year, I make a lemon meringue pie based mostly on your recipe (I call it my annual attempt, because I’ve had various degrees of success). This year’s pie was the best yet. I was careful to add the meringue when the lemon filling was hot, and I didn’t refrigerate the pie at all. The meringue and lemon filling were both great, but my meringue wept on the underside and separated the two layers. I was told that this was probably because I baked my pie on the convection setting (my oven is sort of broken and that was the only button working today.) Can you offer any insight about this? Could convection baking cause meringue to weep? I don’t see how, myself. I’d appreciate any thoughts you have. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Hi Erica, I truly can’t actually. I rarely use convection for keto baking as I find it hard to control on my oven. Like you, I can’t see how that would change things… all convection does is circulate the air more efficiently. Supposedly, anyway. As I said, mine is hard to control and over-bakes things even when I set it 50 degrees powder than my standard setting.
Erica B says
Thank you for the input! I suppose I’ll just have to see how next year’s pie comes out baked on the standard setting, so I can compare the results. 😄
KAY says
What can I substitute for Whey powder in this recipe? lemon POPPYSEED BUNDT CAKE?
Carolyn says
Egg white protein powder.
Sharma Dutton says
Hi Carolyn, LOVE your recipes! I was hoping to make a keto-friendly lemon meringue pie for Thanksgiving to fulfill a special request from my husband that we could both enjoy (I was diagnosed at 53 as a T1 diabetic…go figure!). I use the keto diet to manage my diabetes with only 1 shot long-acting insulin/day, no other meds since I keep my carbs super low.
Anyway, was curious if you thought that Bocha Sweet or some other version/combo of sweeteners besides Swerve would work in this. My family can’t stand Swerve, so I use stevia, pure monk fruit, minimal erythritol (my least favorite), and occasionally sucralose for certain things. I just recently purchased Bocha Sweet and Allulose. Tried Bocha Sweet today for the first time, pretty cool! I thought Bocha Sweet due to the structure needed and lower carb count as opposed to Erythritol, especially for the meringue. I’m pretty sure if pushed I could use sucralose for the lemon filling, but would like a healthier option if possible since I’m trying to move completely away from that if possible.
It doesn’t look like any of the comments were recent, so I thought I’d ask. Any help you could provide would extremely appreciated!
Carolyn says
Hi Sharma… Never ever use BochaSweet, Xylitol or allulose for meringue. It will make it so soft and gooey, it will never cook through. For my big baking book, I tried meringue with a combination of BochaSweet and Swerve and it never firmed up. I tried again with mostly Swerve and a single tablespoon of Bocha, and it still didn’t firm up. Sorry, but it makes things too gooey. It would be fine for the filling, but not for the topping.
Also, where are you getting the idea that Bocha has fewer carbs than erythritol? I believe they are exactly the same per teaspoon and the only one I trust for a zero carb impact is Swerve.
Anyway, I already have a lemon meringue pie recipe if you want to use that. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/best-low-carb-lemon-meringue-pie/
Laura says
I had the same problem as others who made this pie the day before – the filling became gritty. The meringue looked beautiful the entire day before also, but ended up collapsing. Now I know for next time to make it the day of.
My only comment on the recipe itself, which is indeed very good, is that the filling has too much sweetener. I brought this to Thanksgiving – all 4 of us on low-carb diets thought it wise to cut back on the sweetener for next time. If the sweetness intensifies over time in the same way it re-crystallizes (which was only a day in my case), then I suppose that isn’t this recipe’s fault either, but I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’ll try 3/4 cup next time.
Carolyn says
So re-crystallization is a problem with erythritol, no matter what. Now that I’ve tried Bocha Sweet, I would probably do half of that instead of half the Swerve for the filling in this recipe.
Patricia Clayborn says
Could you use your newly revised Easy Almond Flour Pie Crust recipe instead of the one that is included with this recipe card?
https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/easy-low-carb-press-in-pie-crust/
Carolyn says
Yes indeed!
whisperingsage says
I really love that you remade this even though it wasn’t a childhood favorite for you. It was for me. My mother knew how to cook and back. I didn’t know as a child or appreciate what she was teaching me , but as a 57 year old that knows basic skills like cooking and sewing, I am shocked at the level of ignorance of most people today. How can they live? I just learned one of our men in church in his 30’s ate pixie stix for his dinner. Well, that boy is going to die if he doesn’t change that habit.
Anyway, I do remember my mother making the most perfect and beautiful lemon meringue pie, and I will be thrilled to try this. Thank you. And yes I love chocolate but I love fruit and especially lemon too. I can always taste the artificial flavors and hate the chemical taste. That’s why chocolate is an easy choice. Usually it’s cheaper and easier to use the real thing. I hate fake strawberry but love real strawberry. It’s too obvious to me. And of course lemon is easy to get. I even use lemon juice on my hair as a rinse.
sara says
Can I use cornstarch instead of arrowroot? Also are both types of sweetener necessary?
Carolyn says
Yes, both sweeteners are necessary. I don’t use cornstarch so I can’t really guide you there.
Jacqui L says
I have been instructed by my husband that I absolutely MUST post about this recipe – he says it is possibly the best low carb he has ever tasted!
Carolyn says
Wow, that’s so lovely! Thank him for me. And thank you too.
Susan Hoefer says
Hi Carolyn, thanks for your recipes, I have purchased 3 of your cookbooks! In your Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen, your crustless lemon meringue recipe is different from this one! When I made it, it didn’t turn out! But I see the ingredients are different now in this recipe???? Love Lemon pudding, don’t even need pie part of it!! Hope to try this soon!
Carolyn says
What didn’t turn out about it?
Kim says
Can this be made ahead and froze??
Kim says
Could I put this in an 8×8 cake pan instead of pie pan for bars? Or would it need to be in a 13×9 pan?
Zach says
Is there anything I can use in place of Coconut Flour? For someone allergic to coconut?
Carolyn says
Use this pie crust instead. No coconut flour, easier and fewer carbs! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/easy-low-carb-press-in-pie-crust/
Zach says
Thanks!
Melissa says
Can tapioca flour/starch be used to sub for arrowroot starch?
Carolyn says
Sure.