The Best Store-Bought Lemon Meringue Pie Is Sweet And Buttery And Comes From An Inexpensive Chain

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Making a classic lemon meringue pie from scratch is a labor of love. The flaky pastry shell requires blind-baking, the tart lemon filling has to be thickened gently on the stove, and the fluffy meringue needs to be whipped until stiff and glossy. Luckily, there's a sweet and buttery store-bought version of this nostalgic dessert that eliminates all of that effort but still tastes delicious. Moreover, it comes from an inexpensive chain: Walmart's Freshness Guaranteed Lemon Meringue Pie. Its offering was the winner in our ranking of 5 store-bought lemon meringue pies, beating Schnuk's, Hy-Vee, and Marie Callender's to the top spot. As soon as we lifted it off the container, the pie had a yummy, sweet aroma and looked totally on point. Plus, it sliced beautifully into wedges and each layer remained distinct but unified, making it perfect for serving at gatherings. 

The pastry was tender and flaky, while the all-important lemon curd in the middle was luxuriously smooth, providing plenty of terrific contrast. The flavor of the filling was also tart enough to balance out the sweetness of the fluffy meringue piled on top. In fact, the meringue was actually the best part of the entire dessert because it was glossy, smooth, and nicely firm (the meringue in the runner-up pie from Schnuk's, on the other hand, was underdone, soggy, and not velvety enough). Priced at $7.63, the 8-inch pie is also trans fat free and includes five servings per container. Though it was delicious as is, you can take any store-bought pie up a notch by adding a swirl of whipped cream.

Walmart's Freshness Guaranteed Lemon Meringue Pie has over 900 five-star reviews on Walmart's site, at the time of writing, further highlighting its popularity. One satisfied customer noted, "This pie is always spot on. Not too tart, not too sweet. The meringue is high and perfect. Large enough to serve several guests and looks lovely in a decorative pie plate. As good as my grandma's!" Another reviewer pointed out, "It's difficult to find lemon curd vs lemon creme pies these days, so I love that this one is the curd! The crust isn't great, but then, I don't buy it for the crust." As they warned, "You're lucky to find this one in stock as they make too few and sell out fast, but it's worth it when you do. Great lemon flavor." 

Meanwhile, the negative reviews were mostly about delivery issues or the pie arriving damaged rather than anything to do with its flavor or texture. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the loser in our taste test was the No Sugar Added Lemon Meringue Pie from Rocky Mountain Pies. While it looked impressive with its fluffy and shiny meringue top, there was liquid pooling at the bottom of the container and the pie had an off-putting artificial taste, likely due to the presence of sweeteners like maltitol syrup and sorbitol.