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.
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Can this recipe be individually frozen? Do you recommend for or against?
No idea, but creamy fillings often change consistency in the freezer.
Can you use this recipe for key lime also???
Sure.
Can you add some gelatin to make it set?
You could… but it already sets so you don’t need to.
Made this today for a small group dinner (topped with whipped cream and blueberries) and it blew their minds. “This is sugar free?? I can’t BELIEVE it.” You know the drill. Perfect balance of sweet tart. I’m glad there are two pieces leftover for me to eat at teatime tomorrow in my jammies. Holla!
Love this! Thank you for sharing, I enjoy so many of your recipes!
Excited to try this tonight! Made it for our anniversary…our fir dinner and then come home for this lemony dessert!
Run as fast as you can to make this delicious pie! Made it for my Mom on Mother’s Day and she couldn’t believe NO SUGAR lol outstanding flavor and such a creamy texture. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes. You are making my Keto diet soooooooo easy!!!
So happy to hear it!
I ended up with too much filling for my crust. Can you freeze the filling in some small ramikins?
Sure!
Just cooked the pie. I followed directions exactly. The contents of the saucepan ended up coating the back of the spoon. Pie tasted fantastic. But after being in the refrigerator overnight, it still does not set very firm which is a shame. I loved it but husband would have liked it more firmer. Any hints to make it more firm or is that it?
Did you happen to use a different sweetener for the filling?
Mine worked great but the 2nd time I made it I used the US measurements based on volume and mine didn’t set well. I then switched back to metric and weighed all the ingredients. First time I also mixed my sweeteners and did half lakanto and half swerve so that could have contributed (I thought swerve would make it cooling in the mouthfeel but it didnt do this in this recipe – likely because it’s Cold and lemony). I’ve made this dozens of times now and every once in awhile it doesn’t set as well but a few other things I find help-
1) make sure the crust is completely cooled prior to pouring the filling in. I know the filling is warm but I think because the crust is keto and therefore doesn’t set until cool, it possibly affects the filling because of the butter leaking from the crust into the custard. Idk if this is correct lol but it definitely makes a difference for me
2) I’ve added tiny amounts of Guar gum, gelatin, tapioca starch and Arrowroot starch and all were successful in achieving a firmer texture with a good chew. The guar gum should be added at same time as xanathan and half a teaspoon to 1 teaspoon is sufficient. It also helps it be nice and smooth. Xanathan gum also adds moisture to dishes while guar actually dries it out a bit. Too much xanathan could have opposite effect of goal in things like puddings and custard etc.
I added my gelatin to the cold mix prior to heating it. It worked well but not sure if this is correct.
Also, the Arrowroot and tapioca I wasnt super familiar with but I had success adding a teaspoon to the stovetop and heating. I also tried by making a slurry at the end and whisking it in with the sweetene.r not sure if those 2 starches are even keto though tbh!
Oh yeah and also glucomannan works great! No more than 1/4 tsp then
This is my 2nd recipe of yours I’m attempting. Your recipes come out so delicious and professional tasting!
Thanks!
Whipped Cream recipe link? Thank you Carolyn~
I Love everything lemon. This is amazing!
What a great recipe! It was just the right amount of tart and sweet. Loved the custard cream texture. Homemade slightly sweetened whip cream balanced the flavors well.. It was easy and fun to make. I live in Japan and a friend of mine gave me a lot of homegrown Yuzu (A Japanese citrus that tastes between a lemon and an orange) so I used that. Next time I will try the lemon. It’s my new favorite dessert. Thank you!
This was delicious, but quite runny, even after refrigerating for 24 hours and using extra xanthan gum in the filling… perhaps it needs some gelatin? I also used double cream (~50% fat) and full fat sour cream. Nonetheless, the flavours are spot on and it is incredibly easy to make, although I did need to use a hand blender to smooth out some of the xanthan gum lumps in the filling. Next time I will try adding some bloomed gelatin to the filling to see if that helps set it more (my tiny freezer never has space for a full pie, sadly). For the crust, I slightly modified the recipe to use a mix of almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts, as I find almond-only crusts a bit plain and one-toned. And finally, I decorated this with Italian meringue drops made with egg whites and allulose, and it was oh so pretty. A great way to spend the weekend, thank you Carolyn! 🙂
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? I always have Greek yogurt on hand, would it change the texture/taste?
I have not tried it with yogurt so i can’t guarantee it.
Great idea adding the sweetener after heating the filling, no grit at all. This is a very rich and “sofisticated” filling just wonderful, thanks.