Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie

With a flaky pie crust and buttery, tangy lemon filling topped with gold-tipped meringue, this vegan lemon meringue pie is just the perfect vegan dessert for any occasion.

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My passion for vegan dessert, especially vegan pies never stops. I already had my fresh vegan strawberry pie that my kids adore. Since I was also making vegan lemon curd as a side to this pie, I realized I never shared a vegan lemon meringue pie recipe.

Classic lemon meringue pies are not vegan. They use many eggs and egg whites for the meringue. Making a vegan version of this classic took a bit of trial and error, but the result you can make with the recipe below is incredible!

Why You Will Love This Vegan Lemon Pie

• Impressive and beautiful
• Easy to make
• Decadent buttery, sweet and sour
• Gluten-free option
• Dairy-free
• Egg-free

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Vegan Pie Crust of choice. You must pre-bake the crust to make lemon pie. You can use my vegan pie crust or vegan gluten-free pie crust if needed. You can also use a vegan store-bought prebaked pie crust.
• Fresh Lemon Juice is the best choice to enhance the pie filling’s tart, sour lemon flavor. Bottled juice works as well, but it’s less flavorsome.
• Almond Milk or any non dairy milk you love. Coconut milk adds a creamy, bold texture and lovely coconut flavor that goes well with lemon. Soy milk and oat milk are great options as well.
• Lemon Zest for a boost of tangy lemon flavors.
• Salt to enhance flavors.
• Cornstarch to thicken the lemon curd. You can eventually use arrowroot powder but I found the texture a bit more liquid and rubbery with it.
• Turmeric or vegan liquid yellow food coloring adds a vibrant yellow color to the lemon pie filling.
• Vegan Butter to add bold, buttery texture to the curd or unrefined coconut oil has no coconut flavor and work as well.
• Granulated Sugar, like caster sugar or white sugar, this is for the filling.
• Powdered Sugar this is for the egg-free meringue.
• Aquafaba – This is the egg-white replacer, simply drain a can of chickpeas over a sieve and place a bowl under to gather the liquid. This liquid is called aquafaba. Refrigerate for a few hours before using, best overnight.
• Cream of Tartar to firm up the vegan meringue topping.

Pre-Baking The Vegan Pie Crust

Roll the pie crust on a floured surface and press in an 8-inch greased pie plate. I like using a removable-bottom pie pan, making it easier to release the vegan lemon pie later.

Prick the curst. Cover it with foil, and add pie weights or dry rice to apply weight to the crust.

Bake the pie crust in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C) for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights and bake it for an extra 5 minutes.

Let the pie cool down at room temperature for 30 minutes before filling.

Making Vegan Lemon Curd Filling

1. To make the filling, whisk the sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Then, whisk in lemon juice, almond milk, food coloring and bring over medium-high heat.
2. Whisk and cook until a light boil forms, then reduce to medium heat and use a silicone spatula to stir constantly and thicken. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until thick and glossy, and it rubs the back of the spatula nicely.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the vegan butter and lemon zest. Cool down in a glass bowl at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. When lukewarm pour in the pre-baked pie crust and refrigerate for 1 hour or until the curd is cold to the touch.

Vegan Meringue Toppings

When the vegan lemon pie has cooled, prepare the aquafaba meringue.

5. In a cold, large mixing bowl, add the cold aquafaba. Use a hand beater or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer to beat the aquafaba until a soft peak forms – it takes 4 to 5 minutes on high speed, speed 10 of my KitchenAid stand mixer.
6. Stop beating, add cream of tartar, beat again on high speed, and gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat for an extra 3 to 4 minutes or until glossy and a stiff peak forms. If you flip the bowl upside-down, it won’t fall.

Assembling The Pie

7. Using a silicone tool, spread the meringue on top of the pie, forming stiff peaks in some spots.
8. Use a kitchen blower torch to cook the top of the pie and create lovely gold-tipped spots. Refrigerate the pie overnight before slicing.

Pastry Expert Tips For Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

• Refrigerate the pie for at least 6 hours. The lemon curd will firm up with time, and it’s highly recommended to refrigerate overnight if you can or at least 6 hours before slicing. If you slice the pie too early, the curd is runnier, and the serving is messy.
• Use a removable bottom pie pan. This makes it easier to serve the pie on a pie stand and slice.
• Refrigerate the aquafaba. Drain the liquid ahead, at least 3 hours before, pop it in a glass bowl, and refrigerate. Cold aquafaba whips faster and it guarantees a stiff peak every time.
• Refrigerate the bowl and whisk before beating the meringue. Same as before, using cold tools and ingredients ensures a no-fail vegan meringue every time.
• Don’t spread the meringue flat. To create a fancy look, golden-tipped meringue forms stiff peaks all over the top.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Pie Recipes

Vegan Strawberry Pie

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Vegan Blueberry Pie

Vegan Pecan Pie

Vegan Peanut Butter Pie

Chocolate Avocado Pie

Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie

With a flaky pie crust and buttery, tangy lemon filling topped with gold-tipped meringue, this vegan lemon meringue pie is just the perfect vegan dessert for any occasion.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

cool: 1 day d

Total Time: 1 day d 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 slices (8 inch)

Calories: 163.8 kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 1 Vegan Pie Crust - 8 or 9 inches

Lemon Curd Filling

• ▢ 1 cup Almond Milk
• ▢ ¾ cup Lemon Juice
• ▢ 1 cup Sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted)
• ▢ 8 tablespoons Cornstarch
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric - or natural yellow liquid food coloring
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Lemon Zest
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Salt

Vegan Meringue

• ▢ ½ cup Aquafaba
• ▢ 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Instructions

• Prepare a pie crust following my vegan pie crust recipe, or use a store-bought prebaked vegan pie crust.
• Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate, roll the pie crust into a 1/4 inches thick, and cover the pie plate with the rolled pie crust. Prick the crust bottom with a fork. Foil the crust with a large piece of aluminum and cover with pie weight or dry rice.
• Pre-bake the pie crust for 20 minutes for 350°F (180°C), remove it from the oven, remove the foil and pie weight, and let it cool down completely at room temperature.

Making the lemon curd

• In a non-stick saucepan, add sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk well to combine.
• Whisk in lemon juice, plant-based milk of choice, and turmeric.
• Bring the saucepan over medium-high, whisk constantly, until it reaches a light boil.
• Reduce the heat, use a silicone spoon to stir, and cook until the mixture thickens, bubbles form on the sides of the pan, and it looks glossy. This takes 3-4 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in vegan butter and lemon zest.
• Transfer to a glass bowl to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Pour the lukewarm curd into the pre-baked crust.
• Cool down for 2 hours in the fridge until the curd firm up, or overnight. If overnight, film the top of the pan with plastic wrap.
• Once the curd is firm and cold, start the vegan meringue.

Vegan Meringue

• In a clean, cold mixing bowl, add aquafaba and beat for 4-5 minutes or until a soft peak forms.
• Sprinkle cream of tartar and beat it in for a few seconds to incorporate.
• Gradually beat in powdered sugar, keeping beating until glossy and stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla extract.

Assemble the lemon pie

• Spread the meringue using a silicone spatula, spread gently, and evenly all over the cold curd.
• Use a kitchen blow torch to brown the meringue on some spots, or set up the oven to broil mode, place it on the top rack of your oven, and broil for a few seconds.

Notes

Vegan pie crust or gluten-free vegan pie crust

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Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 163.8kcal | Carbohydrates: 36.4g | Protein: 1.2g | Fat: 6.6g | Saturated Fat: 1.7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3.1g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 159.3mg | Potassium: 44.3mg | Fiber: 0.6g | Sugar: 17.1g | Vitamin A: 1.3IU | Vitamin C: 6.6mg | Calcium: 30.1mg | Iron: 0.5mg | Magnesium: 3.6mg | Phosphorus: 13.5mg | Zinc: 0.1mg