No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie: Grandma's Favorite (2024)

Published: Nov 18, 2023 Last Updated: Nov 18, 2023 by Marye 1163 words. | About 6 minutes to read this article.

Original Eagle Brand Lemon icebox pie recipe with just 3 ingredients is an easy dessert that is perfect for summer. A thick layer of puckery lemon filling is poured into a no bake crumb crust and chilled or frozen until ready to serve. Best of all - it tastes just like you remember it.

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Chill 8 hours hrs

Total Time 8 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Jump to Recipe

No bake pies are the sweetest answer to one of Texas's hot summers! This one has been around a long time because it's both easy and delicious!

No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie: Grandma's Favorite (1)

Table of Contents

Everyone loved it
🗝️ Key takeaways
🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
🥫 How to store leftovers
💭 Things to know
Why Eagle Brand
📚 Related recipes
👩‍🍳 FAQs
📞 The last word
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

Everyone loved it

Everyone loved it.. easy to make..

Wendy

🗝️ Key takeaways

Quick and easy with just 4 ingredients.
Perfect for summer but great anytime you need a quick, easy dessert.
If you want the pie to be firmer whisk 2 egg yolks into the sweetened condensed milk before adding lemon.

🧾 Ingredients

This simple pie goes together fast. You can keep all of the ingredients on hand without any problem. Nothing unusual or hard to find here!

No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie: Grandma's Favorite (2)

Crumb crust of your choice - I like this homemade graham cracker crust but you can buy one to make it even easier.
Lemon juice can be fresh squeezed or whatever you usually use (use lime juice for key lime pie)
Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk or your favorite
Vanilla
Lemon zest

Have a little more time? Try this lemon meringue pie - it's amazing.

🔪 Instructions

This lemon pie is so quick and easy! It's a great recipe to start with when your kids want to learn to make things in the kitchen. Most 10-year-olds can do this without help.

No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie: Grandma's Favorite (3)

Add the sweetened condensed milk to a bowl. Mix in the vanilla until smooth.
Add the lemon juice and lemon zest.
Stir until it begins to thicken. Pour into the prepared pie crust.
Chill overnight or freeze.

And if you love lemon this tangy lemon pudding bundt cake is a must try!

🥫 How to store leftovers

Refrigerate the pie, tightly covered with plastic wrap, or in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.

You can freeze for up to 3 months, too.

One of the things that I like best about this lemon icebox pie is that you can serve it chilled or frozen. I personally like it better frozen on a hot summer day!

I take it out about 20 minutes before I want to serve it... less if it is a very hot day. I thaw it just until it softens a little but still has the consistency of ice cream.

No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie: Grandma's Favorite (4)

💭 Things to know

I used a combination of 'Nilla wafers and pretzels in the crust for this pie. If I happen to have some lemon cookies I'll use those sometimes.

Another good crumb mixture for the crust is to use lemon sandwich cookies and gingersnaps in a ratio of about 3:1. It enhances the lemon flavor.

Key lime pie

Here's something cool, too. You can substitute the lemon juice with key lime and have a no-bake lime icebox pie.

Really, any citrus juice should work. Let me know if you try something besides lemon or lime.

Why Eagle Brand

Lemon icebox pie has been served on countless tables and caused countless families to smile at dinner time.

This Southern recipe has been around for close to 100 years.

I have tweaked it a TINY bit by adding vanilla. I think it calms the tartness of the lemon down a little, soothes it, and makes it more enticing. Feel free to leave it out.

Y'all know that I am not real freaky about brand names except there are some that I feel are higher in quality and produce a better finished product.

You can get the Eagle Brand or you can use what you like best but if you get an off-brand of sweetened condensed milk I will not guarantee the recipe. I like Eagle Brand.

It's been around forever and the results are always good. They didn't sponsor the post or pay me... I just like the product that they create. End of sermon.

If you prefer a classic lemon meringue pie you'll love this one!

What’s new? Check out myRestless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness!Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

I'll admit a preference for chocolate pies like this chocolate overload pie or this no-bake s'mores pie. Still, if you had this simple lemon pie and those two chocolate pies on a table and told me I could only have one there might be some tears.

OK. A lot of tears.

Fluffy Pineapple Pie
German Chocolate Pie
The Original Texas Flood Pie
Pecan Praline Coconut Pie

This Brazilian grilled pineapple and no bake root beer float pie are more great summer desserts you'll love.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

Why don't you use eggs in this recipe?

I never have. This is a very creamy lemon filling. If you like a firmer lemon custard you can whisk in 2 or 3 egg yolks. If you use the egg yolks you should probably stay away from the pie if you are pregnant or immunocompromised.

📞 The last word

This easy lemon icebox pie is the perfect dessert for those lemon lovers in your life! It's honestly a 3 ingredient lemon pie -- the vanilla is optional.

If you use a store-bought pie crust it goes together in about 3 minutes. The hardest part about it is waiting for it to chill completely.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

4.60 from 776 votes

No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie

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Course Dessert- Pie

Cuisine Southern

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Chill: 8 hours hours

Total Time: 8 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings:8

Calories:430

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

▢ 1 crumb crust
▢ ¾ cup lemon juice
▢ 2 cans Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla
▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions

Mix the Eagle Brand and vanilla.
Add the lemon juice and lemon zest, stirring with a whisk until it thickens.
Pour into the chilled pie crust.
Chill for 4 hours or freeze overnight.
If frozen allow to stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Notes

Storage:

Refrigerate the pie, tightly covered with plastic wrap, or in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.

Freeze for up to 3 months.

Tips:

If you want the pie to be firmer whisk 2 egg yolks into the sweetened condensed milk before adding lemon.
You don't need a mixer for this. Just whisk the filling until it gets thick.
Don't use an off-brand sweetened condensed milk. Sometimes the quality isn't quite as good and they won't set up.
Be sure to let this chill for at least 4 hours. Overnight is better.

You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

First Published: May 30, 2015... Last Updated: November 18, 2023, for updated images.

No Bake Lemon Icebox Pie: Grandma's Favorite (11)

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About Marye

Meet Marye Audet, a wizard in the kitchen and a storyteller at heart. Marye is like your eccentric but fun aunt who knows all the secret recipes and isn't afraid to spill them. She's been around the culinary block more than once, turning simple ingredients into mouthwatering masterpieces. With a sprinkle of humor and a dash of wit, she makes cooking feel like a piece of cake (which she can also teach you to bake perfectly). When she's not conjuring up delicious dishes, you might find her sharing laughs with her family, reading by the fire, or scribbling down her next big recipe idea. Marye believes that a good meal and a hearty laugh are the best parts of life. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.