It’s true. You can take 2 ingredients and make a fabulous pie. Well, technically, with the graham cracker crust it’s 3 ingredients, but seriously, this is so easy and delicious.
This is an easy pie that would make a great addition to Easter dinner too.
Meyer Lemon Pie (No Bake and 2 ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fresh Meyer Lemon juice can also use regular lemon juice
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk I use fat free
- 1 graham cracker crust or 6 mini crusts
Instructions
- Squeeze lemon juice (through a strainer to catch the seeds) until you have 1/2 cup.
- Pour into a bowl with 1 can sweetened condensed milk.
- Mix to combine.
- Place lemon/milk filling into pie crust.
- Refrigerate until cooled & thickened.
I made mini pies for portion control purposes! The filling is a sweet and tart, creamy, custard-y type and can be topped with meringue or whipped topping. I prefer mine plain, but my mom always adds meringue (which I don’t like and when I was young, would always take it off and it would drive her bonkers 🙂 What are kids for?!)
With Meyer Lemons in season, it’s a great time to whip one of these pies up. It takes no time at all, and the burst of citrus is exactly the thing for breaking through those winter doldrums! (For lots more citrus recipes, check out the recent Ingredient Spotlight: Citrus)
For more recipes by KimM – check out her Blog, Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest
I agree with you on meringue. Never could stand it. Everyone else I know loves it.
I’m glad I am not the only one! Everyone else I know seems to like it too.
I too DO NOT LIKE meringue!!
It’s official! I’m starting a ‘NO Meringue Club’ 😀 (and seriously, why would you put that foamy stuff on a perfectly good dessert?!)
Can’t stand meringue! Wouldn’t eat lemon meringue pie because of it and am in disbelief that someone would ruin banana pudding by topping it with meringue.
Same here no meringue.
Hi,
Just wondering what size yor condensed milk can is, we usually only have 300 ml (Canada), that’s about 10 ounces. Is that the same measurement you use? Thanks
Cathy, that’s the right size.
This looks delicious! And so easy! This would make a great dessert for Easter or any spring function!
Thanks Kathy!
I can vouch that it makes an excellent Easter dessert — I did it a few years back.
This is the best lemon pie ever!
Where can you find meyer lemons. My local store doesnt have them. Would trader joes?
I got mine from Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart. It is the end of the season for Meyers, and not such a good citrus season overall, so they will probably be harder to find. I don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby, so I don’t really know – but they seem to have everything else! You could call your nearest store and ask. Regular lemons can be used in this recipe, as well as bottled lemon juice, it will just be more tart. (Lime juice can be used as well). Hope this helps!
I do this with orange juice and a chocolate cookie crust, then drizzle with chocolate syrup…..Yummy!
Oh my word! I’m SO trying that! Thanks!
Do you use the same amount of juice? 1/2 cup?
You can add pkg of cream cheese to make it even better!
Great idea! Everything is better with cream cheese!
Do you change any ingredient size if you use cream cheese
Great, just a little too sweet! Any suggestions?
Sorry for the delayed response! The only thing I know of would be to either add a meringue or maybe cool whip to cut the sweetness (if it’s already prepared) or make it with regular lemon juice instead of Meyer lemons.
Adding lemon zest will balance some of the sweetness.
Yes, this is a delicious lemon pie. What I do to cut some of the sweetness of the milk, is add at least a 1/2 package of dry, koolaide to the lemon juice, make sure it’s resolved, then just add to the milk and l had to whip it on medium for about 4 minutes to get it to stay firm. Delicious, yummy
Has anybody Tried this recipe
Can I make a day ahead and refrigerate over night?
Yes, that should work.
I made it and served it with whipped cream on the top. It was so nice.
i use 1/2 c lemon juice i caN MILK BUT MY PIE DOESN’T GET HARD ENOUGH why???
Does it not set up after being in the refrigerator? What brand of sweetened condensed milk did you use? I wonder if that could make a difference?
Yes it sets up in the fridge. I have used Eagle Brand both the regular and the low fat. I have also used great value with good results.
Do you hand mix or use electric mixer?
The pie should set up and be firm enough to slice but will still have a soft, custard like texture.
Are you using Sweetened Condensed Milk? Also, I think it should be 1/3 cup of lemon juice
i’ve made numerous lemon and lime pies using this recipe and the 1/2 cup measurement of juice offsets the extreme sweetness of the sweetened condensed milk… come to think of it, i want to try 1/4 cup of lemon and 1/4 cup of lime juice and see how that turns out
happy desserting
That sounds yummy! Or even a mixture of orange, lemon and lime juice for a citrus pie! I may just try that…
I know you posted a long time ago,but you are correct. My Mom made this pie for me every birthday for 48 years. I loved it that much. She made it for any holiday meal as well because all 8 if us love this pie. She could use ANY brand of sweetened condensed milk. She chilled the can 30 minutes and poured it in a bowl. She told me NEVER use metal bowls(I know not why,however) Anyway, she always started out with 1/4cup fresh lemon juice and added no more than 1/3 cup. She said if you want your pie more tart to use bottled REAL lemon juice (not the brand RealLemon, but make sure you bottle contains real lemon juice and not lemon flavor juice) She said the reason is lemon fruit can have different flavors according to the crop and when using real fruit lemons that the tanginess may not be as strong as you want it. We live in the South in the land of humid winter’s, and she said that had something to do with the amount of lemon juice she thought. In later years she said she had learned that some lemons are more acidic and that may be the reason. She said when she made the same pie in Colorado,that she needed almost a half cup of lemon juice,but never since then. So maybe start like my mom did with 1/4cup,mix with a whisk too so you can see if it is thickening or not. She always said whisk for 45 seconds, then stop and count to 15, if its thickening then add a bit more a spoonful at a time. If it’s thick already,stop and pour it in the crust.
I made this pie. And it does not set up much more than a loose pudding would. I used eagle brand condensed milk and the juice from real lemons. It tasted great but when you took out a slice, the filling oozed into the space where the first slice was removed. I even gave it some time in the freezer hoping it would get more firm.
I’m sorry it didn’t set up for you! I’m not sure what would cause this. It should be like a thick custard, but should hold it’s shape & not “ooze”. I’ve made this many times with great success, so I hope you give it another try.
I think I am going to try this again but use individual tart cups. I am going to make 1 can lemon and 1 can key lime. I also saw a recipe where you can add one egg yolk and bake to get the filling to set up better. I have had custard pies and the pie I made did not work out. It was oozy and I even froze it for a while. I think the problem was the recipe called for two cans of sweetened condensed milk and 3/4 cup of lemon juice. It could be that there should have been more lemon juice added to set up the milk. I used eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. I am going to try this brand with the tarts.
This recipe calls for 1 can Eagle Brand & 1/2 cup lemon juice. Is that what you used? I’ve also heard of adding egg yolk but haven’t tried it.
For those who are saying that your pies aren’t ‘setting up’ correctly, I wonder if the fact that Tiffany used fat free condensed milk could be what’s making the difference? Just a thought. 🙂
Are Meyers Lemons an actual lemon?
They are a certain type of lemon.
Just add a little bit of gelatine to the mix and then refrigerate
That is the only sensible suggestion for this post !!!!
Lol!
I think freezing is a good idea. The best key lime pie I ever had was a frozen one from a roadside “restaurant” stand in key west.
That was almost 50 years ago so that’s a testament to how good it was.
I think adding a bit of whole milk Greek yogurt would cut the sweetness people are commenting on.
Oh yum!!!
this is a great keeper recipe. However, I don’t like too sweet foods, after tasting, I added almost 1/2 cup more juice and 1/2 cup sour cream. I beat it a couple minutes in my stand mixer. The mixture was thick and creamy. It set quickly and beautifully in fridge. Condensed milk and citric acid allows room to play a bit with a few add-ins. Thank you Kim. BTW the above ppl that are having trouble getting a “set” can salvage the filling (whats a few graham cracker crumbs) and serve it as lemon cream to spoon over angel food cake and fresh berries.
when you mix the ingredients together do you use a spoon our hand mixer to get it done good,and what size can. thanks.
I just use a spoon to mix. I’m not sure how many ounces are in a can…it only comes in one size around here. I usually have a can in the cabinet but I’m currently out so I can’t check! Sorry.
It’s a 14 oz can. Just checked one in my pantry 🙂
I add a pkg of phyilly cream cheese and get the best cheese cake I don’t like baked cheesecake and it only takes 5 minutes soften cheese and beat add the milk beat and then add lemon juice mix well fill crust top with any thing you like
This is also good with strawberries on top and Cool Whip. We always used the carton of strawberries that are sweetened. Just drain first.
The recipe is a failure. The cream didnt get thick only the base is just a base. Sorry for that but it didn’t work out at all.
I made this but haven’t tried it yet, it’s in the refrigerator right now. The mixture wasn’t even enough to fill the crust, which was very disappointing. I put a bunch of blueberries on top.
I went ahead and made it, and it set very nicely. It was a tad too sweet for me, but my mom loved it. I made this with lemons from our tree that my daddy planted when he was alive. Thank you for the recipe.
I make a version of this that is truly mind blowing. It has a perfect balance of sweet, tart, and salt and always sets up nicely.
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 – 8 oz pkg Cream Cheese
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3/4 of an 8 oz tub Cool Whip
9 inch Graham Cracker pie crust
* Don’t use a metal bowl or spoon – the citric acid could react with them and give your masterpiece a horrible metallic taste. Beaters are coated so they don’t react.
Use electric mixer, mix the first 2 ingredients together till smooth, add the next 2 and mix for a couple minutes, fold in the final, pour into crust and refrigerate for at least an hour.
I made 2 pies last Christmas, didn’t set up right. I squeezed real lemons. I froze it..was excellent then.
Why does the recipe say to cool when it doesn’t mention any heating?
The pies need to cool because they’re served chilled, which also thickens them. Even though they’re not heated, they taste better after being cooled a bit.
I made this last week. But the recipe I used is for 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup of fresh lemon juice. It was perfect.
I made this before and it was perfect. I made it today with your recipe and after 5 hours in the fridge it was not setting up, more like soup. Put it in the freezer hoping it will set enough to be edible. Will check tomorrow. Not sure what went wrong.
No meringue for me either. My Dad always called it calf slobber and scraped it off. LOL.
One of my favourite pies. I’ve topped it with vanilla wafers and whipped cream before. It’s tasty! And I usually always add a pinch of lemon zest if possible.
No one has been disappointed with it.