One bite of this Keto Lemon Cream Pie and you will be hooked! It has a mouthwateringly tangy, creamy filling in a crisp keto pie crust. Honestly, it’s like sunshine on your tongue! It really doesn’t get any better than this.
There are some desserts that just stick with you. And I don’t mean this in a bad way, as in something making you too full or uncomfortable. I mean it in the sense that it was so delicious, you can’t stop thinking about it. This lemon sour cream pie is one of them.
I have a lot of great keto pie recipes, like Keto Pecan Pie and Keto Peanut Butter Pie. But if you love lemon, then this keto dessert is an absolute must. It’s been a fan favorite since I first published it in 2016.
And now I’ve tweaked the recipe just a smidge to make it better than ever!
Why we love this recipe
- Gluten-free crust: My famous almond flour pie crust is super easy and completely gluten-free and low carb.
- Smooth custard filling: The pie filling involves making a lemon custard and then folding in some sour cream. It is so velvety smooth and rich!
- Tangy lemon flavor: Pucker up, buttercup! This wonderful lemon cream pie is full of that bright, fresh citrus flavor.
- Low carb dessert: With only 5.7 grams of carbs per serving, it’s a perfect dessert for low carb and keto diets.
Reader’s Thoughts
“Made this yesterday for the first time. It was truly delicious! Served it to my non-keto friends and family and they all love it. Carolyn, you are a keto baking genius!! Thank you for working out this recipe and for sharing this and all your other great recipes.” — MjeanF
Ingredient Notes
- Sweetener: I used a combination of Swerve confectioners and some allulose to get an extra smooth, creamy filling. I also like this pie quite tangy so I only used half a cup sweetener total.
- Glucomannan: Conventional sour cream pie uses cornstarch to thicken the filling, but glucomannan helps the keto filling set properly. You can also use xanthan gum.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream gives the pie a silky consistency.
- Egg yolks: You also need plenty of egg yolks for a custard filling like this one.
- Lemon: You can’t have lemon pie without the lemon!
- Butter: Chilled butter helps cool the custard more quickly and helps it set faster.
- Lemon extract: For more lemon flavor, I also use a little lemon extract.
- Sour cream: Use full fat sour cream as it may not set properly with anything less. I don’t recommend substituting greek yogurt for this recipe.
- Easy keto pie crust: You will want to make the fully baked version of this crust. For a nut free option you can use sunflower seed flour for the crust. It is a 1:1 ratio with almond flour, but do know that your crust will be more gray in appearance.
Step by step directions
- Whisk the sweeteners: In a large, heavy-duty saucepan, whisk together the sweeteners and glucomannan.
- Simmer the cream: Add the cream, egg yolks, lemon zest, and lemon juice and whisk to combined. Set over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken. This takes 7 to 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it, you do not want it to curdle.
- Add the butter: Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and lemon extract. Let cool to room temperature.
- Add the sour cream: Whisk in the sour cream until no lumps remain. Pour the mixture into pie shell and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to set – the longer, the better, so overnight is best if you can wait that long.
- Serve: Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream and serve.
Tips for Success
For this recipe, you need a fully-baked pie crust. So bake it 15 to 20 minutes, until it’s a nice light golden brown. Let it cool completely.
As with any custard-like filling, you need to watch this one carefully. Don’t walk away while it’s cooking. Just hang out there right by your stove, whisking and watching, as it will likely take less than 10 minutes.
The best way I can describe knowing when it’s done is watching your whisk carefully as you move it through the custard. When it’s first cooking, it is very liquid and sloshes around the pan. When it starts to thicken, you will see the mixture move more lazily. Your whisk will almost leave tracks for a quick second. Once it hits that point, remove it from heat immediately.
Troubleshooting:
– Oh no, you over-cooked the custard and you see curdles! Quick, get it into a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend on low until smooth.
– Oh no, you undercooked the custard and the pie didn’t set properly! Simply stick it in the freezer and serve it frozen. It will be delicious!
Sweetener options
The pie crust requires an erythritol based sweetener to crisp up properly. Any amount of allulose will make it quite soft.
For the filling, I recommend a mix of erythritol and allulose (or xylitol). This helps provide enough structure but also keeps the filling from re-crystallizing as it cools. I don’t recommend using only allulose, as it may never firm up properly. If you use only erythritol, I recommend using a powdered version and only whisking it at the end of cooking the custard.
If that sounds confusing, please leave a comment and I will explain further what I mean.
Frequently Asked Questions
I recommend making this pie one day in advance of serving, as it firms up better overnight. I don’t suggest making it ahead much more than that, unless you plan to freeze it. Creamy custard desserts like this should be served and consumed within 4 to 5 days.
Store the pie in the fridge at all times. It will last for up to 4 days. You can also freeze this pie for up to a month. Wrap it up tightly to avoid freezer burn and only add the whipped cream when ready to serve.
This keto lemon pie recipe has 5.7g of carbs and 1.8g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.9g net carbs per serving.
More Keto Lemon Desserts
Keto Lemon Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp (91 g) powdered sweetener
- 2 to 4 tbsp allulose, or xylitol
- 1/2 tsp (0.25 tsp) glucomannan, (can sub xanthan gum, see notes)
- 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) heavy cream
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 large (4) egg yolks
- 3 tbsp (42.61 g) butter, chilled and cut into pieces
- 3/4 tsp (1 tsp) lemon extract
- 1 cup (230 g) full fat sour cream
- 1 keto pie crust, fully baked
Instructions
- In a large, heavy-duty saucepan, whisk together the sweeteners and glucomannan.
- Add the cream, egg yolks, lemon zest, and lemon juice and whisk to combined. Set over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken. This takes 7 to 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it, you do not want it to curdle.
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and lemon extract. Let cool to room temperature.
- Whisk in the sour cream until no lumps remain. Pour the mixture into pie shell and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to set – the longer, the better, so overnight is best if you can wait that long.
- Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Thank you for this recipe! I was really needing a low carb dessert that was not a “fat bomb” texture. I had to eliminate the pie crust and xanthum (because I didn’t have) and I halved the rest of ingredients to make a lemon pudding. It made 2 servings and I chilled in fridge. It was so very good. Thanks, again.
Made this lemon sour cream pie last week. WOW! All I can say is this pie is decadent & rich and reminds me of a dessert I would get in a Southern Tea Room. I love tart lemon desserts and this is my first sour cream pie to make. I added raspberry puree on top, the flavors compliment each other. You would never know this pie is low carb and sugar free. It is absolutely delicious and will be making it again. THANK YOU for the recipe and all your hard work with your blog, cookbook & many other yummy low carb recipes.
Teresa
I did a trial run of the filling only. I probably did not get it thick enough. It did not firm enough as to slice. I put it in the freezer. We ate it as you would ice cream……….wonderful! Do you have any thoughts how to do this with strawberries? Maybe just puree and a little extract? The texture is unbelievable. Thank you
Search strawberry lemonade on my blog, I have a good filling recipe.
Made this pie today and WOW! Outstanding. I will definitely be making this regularly. I only had one problem and saw someone else had the same issue. I couldn’t get it out of the pie plate. It was very very stuck to the glass pie plate. Any ideas or suggestion as to why or to how to keep this from happening?
That never happens to me with that pie crust but next time, try greasing your pie plate first. I don’t have to and maybe it’s’ my pie plate (although it’s just a regular glass one!).
Today it came out just fine. Maybe it just needed to be refrigerated longer. You’re right – so good the longer it sits!!
Oh, One other thing I remembered that I forgot to do when I was making my piecrust was to poke it with a fork all over. I wonder if that made a difference too. Thank you for your response. Love your recipes!
I am on my second go round of making this recipe and it is AMAZING! The first time I brought it to a family dinner so I could have dessert…but everyone skipped the full sugar dessert and dove into this. There were no leftovers and it was requested that I bring it for dinner again tonight. 5 stars!!
I love hearing that!
AMAZING!!!! I love lemons and this pie did not disappoint, it was delicious! I will admit I used 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 tsp more lemon extract, so I did add just a pinch more of the xanthan since I increased the lemon juice. Added a pinch of salt as well. I also used at least 3/4 cup of the powdered swerve…maybe even one cup, I tasted it for sweetness and added a little more until I thought it was the correct amount. My husband loved this pie too! Winner!!!!
My cousin made this for my birthday. It is delicious. I think it will be added to our Thanksgiving meal. So creamy.
Made this and it is sooo good. We’re in the rv and I had everything except zanthan gum so I subbed with chia seed and it was perfect! Thank you! ??
Carolyn, do you happen to know an instant-read temperature that would correspond to the custard being thick enough in this recipe (like with ice cream recipes)? Thanks!
Could slices of this be frozen? I’m the only one eating it at my house and won’t be able to finish it before it will go bad.
I’ve frozen it, and it keeps well. But we do still finish it off in just a few days. So I’m not sure about longer.
Have you tried using the confectioners sugar from Swerve?
The first and only fat bombs I’ve made were made with the granulated Swerve. Needless to say the candy is gritty even though I melted the coconut oil and tried to dissolve the granules. I bought confectioners Swerve to use for my next attempt.
I use confectioner’s all the time. I use them both. They work a little differently but you could use confectioner’s in this recipe.
I’ve just come across this recipe and I’m excited to make for my keto family. I do, however have a few questions regarding the ingredients.
I’m assuming that by saying egg yolks, you mean for the whites to be removed?
Also, I have had trouble locating xanthan at my local stores–could you suggest an alternative? Would corn starch work?
Thank you!
Yes, just the yolks. I am sure you can do cornstarch but you will need to mix it with water first.
This is seriously the BEST pie I have ever eaten. Seriously! Thank you for such a tasty and easy recipe.
I wanted to tell you that I made this over the weekend. We love it so much! I got an offer from my daughter’s boyfriend, who said he would pay me to make this for him! Thank you, for your wonderful recipes. It makes the low carb lifestyle so much fun!
Hah! That is delightful to hear!
I have a lot of lemons and need to make a couple different recipes. Can this pie be frozen after it is made?
Yes, in fact it’s quite good that way!
Thanks! I’ll check out agar agar and I already have xanthan in my pantry.