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Home » Recipes by Course » Desserts

Modified: May 6, 2025 Published: Feb 20, 2020· Cathy Brak · This post may contain affiliate links ·

Home » Recipes by Course » Desserts

Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie

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Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie from scratch is easy to achieve with this recipe! Enjoy the fresh lemony tartness of classic, old-fashioned pie with the best traditional-style gluten free crust.

Made without cornstarch or cream of tartar and with pure, freshly-squeezed lemon juice and raw cane sugar, this is a fresh, new version of your old favourite.

slice of lemon meringue pie on white plate
Jump to:
  • What is lemon meringue pie filling made of?
  • Instructions
  • Recipe FAQ's
  • More Gluten Free Pie Recipes
  • If you love lemons as much as I do, you'll want to try...
  • Recipe

What is lemon meringue pie filling made of?

Assemble your ingredients.
  • Lemons - Use freshly-squeezed lemon juice. Don't be tempted to substitute it with the bottled stuff! Using tangy, freshly-squeezed real lemons makes a world of difference to the flavour of this pie. It takes it from just "okay" to fantastic!
  • Butter - There's no substitute for the taste of butter, except ghee! Ghee is purely the fat part of butter, without any of the protein, casein.
  • Tapioca Flour - While most lemon meringue pie recipes use cornstarch, many gluten-intolerant people cannot have corn products, either. Tapioca flour works just as well for both thickening and retaining the nice translucent quality in lemon filling.
  • Raw Cane Sugar - I like to use natural sweeteners. Raw cane sugar is the least refined form of sugar, and yet it gives the familiar sugar taste.
  • Gluten Free Pie Dough - The gluten free crust for this lemon meringue pie is made from the same great recipe that most of my other gluten free pies begin with. With just a few tweaks in the way we use it, it can make a pretty terrific blind crust.

For the exact amounts and detailed recipe instructions, scroll down to the end of this post, or click the Jump to Recipe button at the top.

Instructions

Crust

For more detailed information and tips for pre-baking a pie crust, refer to How to Bake a Blind Crust.

floured ball of pie dough on marble with wooden rolling pin
pie plate lined with unbaked pastry pricked all over with little holes

Roll out pie crust with plenty of extra flour.

Transfer pastry to pie plate and prick with holes.

parchment paper spread over and pressed into unbaked pie shell

Wet and crumple parchment and press it into pie crust. Chill it in the refrigerator for a while before baking.

unbaked pie shell lined with black beans on parchment paper

Fill with beans for pie weights and bake for 15 min. Allow to cool before removing beans and parchment.

Filling and Meringue

shiny, white, thickened sauce in pan with red whisk

Whisk sugar, flour, and water together. Bring to boil for a minute.

yellow sauce being poured and whisked into white sauce

Whisk the egg yolks, and whisk some of hot mixture into them. Then whisk it all back into the hot saucepan.

shiny, thickened, yellow sauce in pan with red whisk

Cook, while whisking constantly, and then remove from heat.

cube of butter melting over yellow pie filling in saucepan

Add lemon juice and butter. As the butter melts, whisk the filling until smooth.

shiny, yellow filling in pie crust

Pour filling into pie shell.

top down view of piped meringue over top of pie

Top with meringue.

flat lay of gluten free lemon meringue pie with golden-tipped meringue

Bake until the meringue has golden tips. Serve cold.

banner with blueberry muffins to the left and text in remaining white space

Recipe FAQ's

Is this a Dairy Free Lemon Meringue Pie?

While not completely dairy free, this pie filling is casein free when made with ghee. Casein is the protein in dairy. Some people, including myself, cannot tolerate it. So while most dairy is off limits, ghee safely gives us the butter flavour.

How do you keep lemon meringue pie from getting soggy?

Keep lemon meringue pie from getting soggy by returning the crust to the oven for 5 minutes, after removing the pie weights and parchment paper but before adding the filling.
Add a little cornstarch, tapioca starch, or white rice flour to the meringue to keep it from weeping.
Add the meringue while the filling is still hot.

slice of lemon meringue pie on white plate with remaining pie in background

More Gluten Free Pie Recipes

When you make a batch of my Gluten Free Pie Crust, you'll have enough left over to freeze and later make a couple more pies! Here are some suggestions:

  • piece of apple pie filled with sliced apples on white plate with silver fork
    Gluten Free Apple Pie Recipe
  • closeup of a slice of pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on a white plate.
    Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
  • bite of gluten free strawberry rhubarb pie on fork
    Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
  • a slice of pear pie on a black plate
    Fresh Pear Pie (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
  • closeup of a deep meat pie with a piece removed
    Tourtiere: a French-Canadian Meat Pie (Gluten Free, Nightshade Free)
  • crispy, flaky, golden gluten free pie crust over bubbly stew in a deep, red Dutch oven.
    Beef Pot Pie Recipe (Gluten Free)
  • looking down on pecan pie in white plate with some pieces cut and one removed.
    Gluten Free Pecan Pie
  • slice of peach pie on white plate with remaining pie and whole peaches in background.
    Gluten Free Peach Pie

If you love lemons as much as I do, you'll want to try...

  • lemon curd in white ramekin with purple linen and a whole lemon in background
    How to Make Lemon Curd
  • coconut-coated balls arranged on square gray plate with lemon behind
    Lemon Coconut Chia Balls
  • glass of lemonade with ice garnished with mint in front of a pitcher of lemonade.
    Fresh Lemonade Recipe
  • raspberries and blackberries nestled into whipped cream on a meringue base
    Mini Pavlova Recipe

Recipe

slice of lemon meringue pie on white plate

Lemon Meringue Pie

Enjoy the deliciousness of tangy fresh lemon pie sweetened with raw cane sugar without the gluten!
4.24 from 13 votes
Pin Print (email required) Rate
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Diet: Gluten Free
Keyword: gluten free, lemon, lemon meringue, pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Bake Time: 35 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 8 slices
Calories: 367kcal
Author: Cathy

Equipment

  • 9-inch pie plate
  • Rolling Pin
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Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 gluten free dough for single pie crust
  • extra white rice flour for rolling

Filling

  • 3 eggs separated
  • 1 cup raw cane sugar
  • ½ cup tapioca flour
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • 3 tablespoons butter or ghee
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 or 3 lemons)

Meringue

  • 1 tablespoon raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon tapioca flour

Instructions

Crust

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
  • Roll out the pie crust in a generous amount of rice flour, turning it often, adding flour as you do. There should be enough flour that there is still an excess remaining on the rolling surface after the dough has absorbed as much as possible. (The dough needs to be dryer than usual to withstand blind baking.)
  • Place the pie crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
  • Prick the bottom and sides liberally with a fork.
  • Wet and crumple a sheet of parchment paper. Flatten it out again and gently place it over the bottom and sides of the pie crust. Line with pie weights to hold it in place.
  • Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Return the empty crust to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

Filling

  • Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).
  • Separate the three eggs, putting the whites into a large mixing bowl and the yolks into a medium one.
  • Whisk the cup of sugar and the tapioca flour together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the water until smooth. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute.
  • Whisk egg yolks in the mixing bowl. Whisk half of the hot sugar-flour mixture into the yolks. Then whisk the yolk mixture back into the sugar-flour mixture on the stove. Cook for one more minute.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in butter and lemon juice.

Meringue

  • Beat egg whites at high speed. As they begin to thicken and whiten, sprinkle in the tablespoon of sugar. Beat until soft peaks form. Add the teaspoon of tapioca starch, and beat another 30 seconds.
  • Pour the hot lemon filling into the baked pie crust. Smooth or pipe the meringue over the top.
  • Bake in 325°F (163°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meringue is starting to brown up nicely.
  • Allow to cool before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 pie | Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 164mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Christa says

    April 08, 2023 at 5:58 pm

    1 star
    I followed the directions exactly, and it's just a soupy mess that never set at all.

    Reply
    • Cathy says

      April 11, 2023 at 10:45 am

      I'm sorry to hear this, Christa. I just can't imagine why this would have happened when you followed the directions exactly. If any ingredient was substituted, the filling wasn't cooked enough, or if the pie was not cooled completely, it might be too soft. Were the eggs extra small?

      Reply
  2. Ron Moss says

    January 02, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    I found that using the beans with the parchment, the bottom of the crust was still raw when crust cooled and beans removed. I put it back in the oven with no beans until 3/4 cooked then cooled and added filling and meringe. This was my first attempt at lemon pie. My wife said it’s good enough to serve to company. That is her ultimate complement.

    Reply
    • Cathy says

      January 03, 2022 at 6:42 pm

      That was a great solution! I'm so glad that your wife liked it!

      Reply
  3. Barbara says

    January 07, 2021 at 3:10 pm

    1 star
    There's too much tapioca flour/starch in this recipe! Filling is chewy. Perhaps GF cornstarch would be a better choice. I added 2 tsp of lemon zest; flavor was good with this adjustment.

    Reply
    • Cathy says

      January 09, 2021 at 9:55 pm

      Thank you for trying my recipe, Barbara, and for sharing your input. I'm sorry that you found the tapioca flour to be too much. This recipe was created for people who can't eat cornstarch, but if you can tolerate it, go ahead and use it. You will probably need less cornstarch than tapioca starch. The addition of lemon zest seems like a nice idea.

      Reply
4.24 from 13 votes (11 ratings without comment)

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