Lemon Pie with 3 Ingredient Filling

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for this super easy lemon pie with you! I love making lemon desserts, and my lemon meringue pie is super popular on my website, but I wanted something that was a little bit simpler but still delivered with that super punchy lemon flavour.

Enter: My lemon pie with 3 ingredient lemon pie filling.

The recipe for this pie is almost identical to my Key Lime Pie recipe except that it is made with lemon (wild concept right?! haha) - they both have a super easy brown butter graham cracker crust, and a filling that is almost too easy to make.

This lemon pie sets up impossibly smooth and it cuts like a dream. It's a real showstopper, and is one of those desserts where the final outcome is hugely impressive relative to the time that it takes to make, which is 20 minutes for the crust and then another 25-30 minutes in the oven.

This lemon pie recipe is also an amazing way to use up excess egg yolks!

Components of super easy lemon pie

This lemon pie is almost too easy to make - it has two components.

• Graham cracker crust. I used my go-to brown butter graham cracker crust for this lemon pie recipe. I love how the brown butter gives an amazing depth of flavour, and it is super easy to make. There's notes in the post on graham cracker alternatives too!
• 3 ingredient lemon pie filling. The first time I made this, I went back and double checked the ingredients because it seemed too simple that combining only three ingredients - fresh lemon juice, egg yolks, and condensed milk, could give the most amazing creamy filling. It sets up a little in the oven, but still stays super soft and creamy. It's just SO good and pairs so well with the graham cracker crust.

What pan did you use for the recipe?

While I am calling this a lemon pie filling, I was a bit sneaky and made it in a tart pan with a removable bottom. I love making pie recipes in tart pans, as you get a super crisp side and they are really easy to take out of the pan - I turn a small bowl over and place the tart pan onto it, so I can release the edge of the pan and remove it from the pie.

If you do not want to use a tart pan, this recipe will also work in a 9-inch or 10-inch pie pan - I prefer to use ceramic for a pie with a crumb crust. I wrote more about this on my post on how to make the perfect graham cracker crust.

How to tell when lemon pie is baked

The lemon pie filling whisks up to be fairly thick, so you want to give the pie the jiggle test to make sure that it is baked. For me, this takes about 20 minutes in the oven to bake the lemon pie filling. It may take slightly longer if you start with an already cooled graham cracker crust.

The best way to check is to jiggle the pie pan slightly - you want the very middle to still be wiggling like jelly (jello) a little bit. Remember that it will continue to set up as it cools and then as it chills down in the fridge, but you want it mainly set when it comes out of the oven.

It is possible to overbake an egg based filling - if you have overbaked you will see the surface of the pie start to crack which is caused by the egg proteins contracting and causing cracking.

If this happens don't worry it will still taste absolutely fine - there are few things a good covering of whipped cream can't fix.

How to get a clean cut on lemon pie

I manage to cut this lemon pie super cleanly, which was so amazingly satisfying.

I didn't really do anything fancy - I just used a long, sharp knife, and so I was able to cut all the way across the pie in one go, which gave super clean lines.

Make sure that your pie is super super cold before slicing, as this will also help to give you a really nice clean cut. I also always have a tea towel or paper towel on hand to wipe the blade between cuts.

I didn't warm the blade for cutting this pie but you are welcome to if you think that will help - I run it under hot water then dry it off before using.

For tips on how to get a crumb crusted pie out of a pie pan, check out my key lime pie post.