Unbelievably creamy lemon pie is just like key lime pie with a lemon twist and toasty almond graham cracker crust. Made with 7 simple ingredients, you’ll appreciate the ease and simplicity of this refreshing dessert.
I wasn’t going to share my sunshine-sweet lemon pie recipe because it’s extremely similar to my key lime pie. It’s the same recipe but with lemon flavor, though I did alter it slightly to make up for the different juice. And the crust is made with toasty almonds instead of macadamia nuts. It’s pretty! And creamy! This chilled dessert will surely keep you cool. One slice certainly doesn’t compare to cooling off in actual pool—but is this a summertime sweet or what?
This is my favorite lemon pie recipe, no questions asked. It packs as much lemon flavor as lemon crinkle cookies, and you’ll love the delicious contrast between a salty sweet crunchy crust and smooth and tangy filling. Let’s dive in!
This is EASY Creamy Lemon Pie
- 7 ingredients total
- Filling is only 3 simple ingredients
- You don’t need a mixer
- From mixing bowl to oven in 20 minutes
3 Parts to Creamy Lemon Pie
- 4 ingredient toasty almond graham cracker crust
- 3 ingredient creamy lemon filling
- Fun toppings like whipped cream, meringue, almonds, and lemon slices
Graham Cracker Crust with an Upgrade
We’re not using our typical classic graham cracker crust—instead, we add almonds, which take this dessert from good to out-of-this-world delicious! We combine whole salty almonds, graham crackers, sugar, and a little melted butter to create the perfect sweet-salty base for our creamy lemon filling.
I recommend using salted almonds to pair with the sweet/tangy lemon filling. You can even toast them in the oven before incorporating for another level of flavor. The crust won’t taste overly salty because there’s sugar in there as well, but it’ll have a super faint salted flavor. I guarantee you’ll only want to make graham cracker crust this way from now on. And I love how buttery and thick it is.
Use a food processor to process the nuts and graham crackers together, then add the sugar and butter to combine. You’ll pre-bake the crust for about 8 minutes, then pour the filling right in. No need to let it cool down. It’s quick and easy!
Or you could use a Biscoff pie crust instead if you’d like.
Creamy Lemon Pie Filling
The flavor of today’s lemon filling reminds me of lemon curd and the filling for my lemon meringue pie and lemon bars, but it’s much creamier. We have the sweetened condensed milk to thank for that. It’s actually adapted from my oatmeal lemon crumble bars filling, but we also add egg yolks here for structure and fresh lemon juice for flavor. That’s it—only 3 basic ingredients that have big jobs to do. You won’t believe how silky smooth this filling is!
You’ll notice this recipe calls for 3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice (as opposed to 1 cup of fresh lime juice used in key lime pie). This boggles my mind as you would think it’d be an easy swap from lime to lemon. The pie wouldn’t set up with 1 whole cup.
Made with only 7 ingredients, this pie is super quick—only 20 minutes of hands on time! The real waiting game (torture) comes afterwards when it has to cool down and then chill in the refrigerator. I like to serve this pie when it’s super cold, so I make it a day ahead of time and chill it overnight. If short on time, you can get away with only 1 hour in the refrigerator after it has completely cooled at room temperature.
Optional Garnishes
While delicious on it’s own, try garnishing your lemon pie! I used a star tip to pipe homemade whipped cream on top. Or try adding marshmallow meringue topping from my s’mores tartlets, a sprinkle of almonds, lemon zest, or slices of fresh lemons.
Other Favorite Pie Recipes
- Blueberry Pie
- Cherry Pie & Peach Pie
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie & Cheesecake Pie
- Peanut Butter Pie
Creamy Lemon Pie
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 40 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Deliciously cool and creamy lemon pie is the perfect summer dessert made with only 7 simple ingredients.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Almond Crust
- 11 (about 160g) full-sheet graham crackers
- 1/2 cup (62g) salted almonds (I used roasted)
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling + Topping
- 2 (14-ounce) cans full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup (180ml) fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
- 4 large egg yolks*
- garnish: lemon zest, lemon slices, almonds, whipped cream, or meringue topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Make the crust: Using a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and almonds together into crumbs. A few larger pieces of nuts is OK. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie dish. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly. Tips: You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. And run a spoon around the bottom “corner” where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust—this helps prevent the crust from falling apart. For more shaping technique tips, see the graham cracker crust recipe page.
- Pre-bake crust for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
- Make the filling: Whisk the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and egg yolks together. Pour into warm crust.
- Bake the pie for 19–21 minutes or until only *slightly* jiggly in the center. You want it mostly set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and chill for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before serving.
- Garnish as desired. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can prepare and pre-bake the crust up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and store at room temperature. Likewise, you can mix up the filling up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then assemble and bake. Freezes well up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowls | Pie Dish | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Graham Cracker Crust: If you purchase graham cracker crumbs, you need 1 and 1/3 cups (160g) for this recipe. Even though they are already crumbs, you can still pulse with the almonds. If you want to skip the almonds, use this graham cracker crust recipe instead and pre-bake for 8 minutes.
- Leftover Egg Whites: Here are my recipes with egg whites, or you can make a meringue topping for the pie.
- Non-US Readers: Don’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 180g ground digestive biscuits instead (about 12 biscuits), with the same amount of almonds and butter, and add an extra Tablespoon (12g) of sugar. Pre-bake for 10 minutes.
Here’s the recipe for key lime pie!
I don’tt have any almonds on hand but am goin g to substitue coconut. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Thank you for all your delicious recipes! I teach a cooking class and use your recipes often. I hope you will respond as I am now preparing 8 Creamy Lemon pies and I would like to use bottled lemon. I have some fresh lemon, but not enough. Please Help!
Hi Suzanne! You can use bottled lemon juice in a pinch, but we do prefer the flavor of fresh.
I am new to all these baking things, so if someone could help me out. Must I use almonds or can I use other nuts, I’m just asking because we can’t get almonds from where we are?
Hi Tanay, the same amount of another nut will work here.
This is THE BEST LEMON PIE! I have made it twice now. Everyone raves and there is never any left. I read others comments and so ground the almonds first, then added the gram crackers. I used 3 TBS melted butter along with 2TBS olive oil as one of our guests does not care for butter, and it worked out perfectly. The butter flavor was diluted enough so as not to be so prominent. I also followed others suggestions of whisking the egg yolks with the condensed milk first then add the lemon juice and zest of one lemon and continue whisking. This a not just a summer time recipe. It’s fabulous anytime of year.
Made this today for brunch and it was appreciated all around. So easy and refreshing! I used digestive biscuits for the crust. Will definitely make this again!
Great recipe!! So easy and a big hit at a recent family dinner. Like cheesecake without the fuss.
This is the exact recipe I grew up with I will be 82 years old in two weeks. Th recipe is so versatile. I have made it with a mix of orange and lemon juices. Just use your imagination. Nothing beats this!
Hi. The link for the meringue topping goes to a S’mores recipe.
Hi Kelly, correct—you can use the meringue topping from the s’mores tartlets on top of this pie. Hope this helps!
If I want to switch out the graham cracker crust for a typical pastry crust, would I still need to pre-bake the crust?
Hi Lacy, yes, you would need to par-bake the crust.
I’m looking for a lemon pie recipe with creamy filling I don’t like the gelled filling. Is this filling more a pale creamy yellow?
Hi Sonya, this pie is very creamy and not gelled. We hope you’ll give it a try!
I LOVE this pie. So creamy and tart. I substituted ginger snaps for the graham crackers, and I think that added an extra oomph.
How many ginger snaps did you use? This sounds perfect
Can i use a already made graham cracker crust then put my mix in and bake
Absolutely!
Pie perfection! Didn’t have almonds so substituted macadamia nuts and wow, is it delicious! Added lemon zest to the filling as well as on top. Best lemon pie ever!
Hi, do you know what the temperature of the center of the pie should be when it is done? I was aiming to hit 165 because of the eggs, and found I needed to cook almost twice as long as the directions. The texture came out kind of curdled, I’m assuming because I overcooked it.
Hi! Yes, if you want to be precise, you can absolutely take the internal temperature of the pie. Look for 160°F (71°C), which is the temperature cooked eggs are considered safe to eat.
Mix the egg yokes with the condenced milk first, then mix in lemon juice to avoid curdling.
Sally this is the same recipe my grandmother made all summer and every summer as we grew on her farm. I know it by heart and although her crust was different the “pie” was the same. I know it’s a great recipe and will be making it with your crust soon.