Gluten free lemon meringue pie

Updated 5th February 2026

Here’s a LOVELY recipe for a truly delicious gluten free lemon meringue pie!

Lemon meringue pie has featured delightfully throughout my life, as my mum and grandma frequently made this zingy meringue topped pie. But whilst they’d always make their own pastry and meringue, the lemon filling tended to be a Green’s packet mix. I used to love helping my mum and grandma make the pie. I say help, it was generally a case that I stood and stirred the lemon filling in the pan until it had thickened, and the little capsule filled with the magic lemon flavouring, finally popped and dissolved. Oh the joys! Unfortunately the last time I checked, Green’s lemon pie filling was a ‘may contain’ for gluten. So of course it’s something that’s now off limits for me. Hence the need for me to now make lemon meringue pie from scratch.  

The original recipe for this lemon meringue pie is something I stumbled across when I was going through a recipe collection that belonged to a very special lady called Dorothy. Like me, Dorothy adored her food. She also loved to bake/cook and would jot down recipes and keep cutting of things that caught her eye. Within her precious recipe bundle was a Mary Berry recipe print out from 1983 (Mary Berry – Cooking at home). I’m a huge fan of Mary Berry and when I spotted her recipe for an old English lemon meringue pie, I knew I had to give it a go.

Since 1983 Mary Berry has updated her lemon meringue pie recipe. And after testing her latest recipe, which features in her fabulous book Mary 90, I’ve now mirrored her update. The Addition of extra lemons and eggs are a bit of a game changer in my humble opinion. I hope you feel the same. 

Whilst lemon meringue pie does take some time to prepare, it’s COMPLETELY worth the effort. Serve it up to family and friends, or simply make it purely for your own indulgence and enjoy it as a rather wonderful weekend treat! 

 

Ingredients (serves 8)

For the pastry base
Click here for the full gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe 
Add 1 large tablespoon *icing sugar to the pastry mixture after you’ve rubbed in the butter (check method below at this point)

For the lemon filling
3 large unwaxed lemons, finely grated zest and juice 
40g (1½oz) *cornflour 
300ml (½ pint) water 
4 large egg yolks (room temp)
75g (3oz) caster sugar

For the meringue topping
4 large egg whites (room temp)
200g (7oz) caster sugar

Method

Make a batch of gluten free pastry. Don’t forget to sift in the icing sugar once you’ve rubbed the butter into the gluten free flour. Then give everything a stir before adding the beaten egg, and just the amount of cold water needed to bring the pastry together. 

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6/180C Fan to blind bake the pastry. Reduce the temperature to 160C/325F/Gas 3/140C Fan to bake the meringue.

Lightly butter a 23 cm loose bottom flan tin or fluted flan dish.

Roll out the pastry on a clean surface that has been lightly dusted with gluten free flour, until it’s large enough to generously line the flan tin/dish. 

Dust the rolling pin with gluten free flour before wrapping the pastry around it and gently lowering it into the tin/dish. Work your way around the dish, carefully lifting and easing the pastry into place. Try not to over stretch the pastry to allow for shrinkage as it bakes in the oven. 

Lightly prick the pastry base with a fork. But don’t pierce right through.

Line the pastry base with baking paper. If you scrunch up the paper first, you’ll find it fits much better. Fill the base with baking beans.

Transfer into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. After this time remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set to one side. 

To make the lemon filling: Pour 300ml of water into a pan and bring to the boil. Blend together the lemon zest, juice, cornflour and sugar until lump free. Pour this into pan of boiling water, whisking all the time until the mixture thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks until they’re fully blended.

Pour the lemon filling into the pastry base. 

To make the meringue: Whisk the egg whites in a large clean mixing bowl until they are stiff and form peaks. Add the caster sugar a desert spoon or two at a time, whisking after each addition. The meringue will become thick and glossy. Don’t be tempted to throw all the sugar in at once, adding the sugar gradually really does make a big difference.   

Spoon the meringue evenly over the lemon filling. Gently spread the meringue right up to the edge of the pastry. Ideally you don’t want any gaps around the pie. With the back of the spoon or using a fork, form soft peaks over the top of the meringue.

Pop the pie into a preheated oven set to 160C/325F/Gas3/140C Fan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the meringue is pale golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least an hour before tucking in.

Recipe notes and suggestions:

Lemon meringue pie without a shadow of doubt, is at its best on the day it’s made. I also think its best served slightly warm. If not eating straight away store in a cool place. Whilst you can still continue enjoying the pie for up to 48hrs if it’s stored in the fridge, you’ll find that the overall texture isn’t quite the same as on the day it’s made.  

To make life easier you can prepare the pastry base in advance. The uncooked pastry base will be fine in the fridge for up to 48hrs and in the freezer for up to 2 months. Wrap well for both storage suggestions. I’d recommend that you bake the pastry base on the same day you make the complete pie. 

You will have pastry leftover after making your pie. Don’t chuck it away, maybe make some jam tarts or a little fruit pie or line another dish to slip into the freezer. 

Individual lemon meringue pies would look amazing! To make them look extra fancy, maybe pipe the meringue on top. Lightly buttered muffin tins or tiny flan dishes would be the ideal thing to use. Method and oven temp would be the same, you would just need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.

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Thanks as always for taking the time to check out the things I share. It means so much. I do hope that you love this recipe for lemon meringue pie as much as I do, and you enjoy making and sharing it with your special people.

Full credit and thanks for the original recipe I’ve slightly tweaked to make gluten free, must of course go to Mary Berry.

I’m delighted to tell you I also have a video of me making this gluten free lemon meringue pie over on my YouTube channel. Click here to watch. 

For now,
Liz x

Check this product to ensure that there are no gluten containing ingredients, ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable’ for a coeliac/gluten free diet warnings on the pack.