With creamy lemon filling and a buttery graham cracker crust, this lemon icebox pie is the perfect dessert for spring, summer, and anytime!

Your perfect summer dessert is here! This easy lemon pie recipe is perfect for beginners (or for us old hands who want something easy!). It’s a simple recipe that packs a lot of punch — sweet graham cracker combined with fresh lemon taste is a winning combo!

The fact that it’s a no bake dessert is also a major plus for those hot summer days. This easy dessert is one of my favorite things to bring to a potluck or family dinner in the summer!

Why you want this recipe

• beginner-friendly
• silky filling with tons of lemon flavor
• when people say “easy as pie,” they mean this one!

Ingredients

You can make this pie with just a few simple ingredients!

• Lemon Pudding Mix: You’ll need two 3.4 oz packages of instant lemon pudding. Brand doesn’t matter, but do make sure you get instant pudding!
• Milk: You can use any percentage of cow’s milk you’d like. I recommend whole milk, because it really makes the filling so much more creamy. Unless you are using pudding that is designed to be made with plant milk, do not sub plant milk for this ingredient. 
• Cool Whip: We use this to lighten the pudding to get that lemon pie filling!
• Graham Cracker Crust: You can use your favorite pre-made graham cracker crust, or make your own homemade graham cracker crust. I love this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Step 1 | Make the Filling

In a large mixing bowl, add the 2 boxes of pudding and milk. Whip the pudding and milk until it’s smooth and has thickened a bit. I recommend using an electric mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed for this!

Fold in the Cool Whip. Don’t mix the Cool Whip in, or the filling will come out more like extra sweet pudding rather than creamy lemon pie!

If you’re making your own crust, you can put it together in the pie dish now.

Step 2 | Put it Together

Pour your tart lemon filling into your graham crust. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, or even overnight. This is when that creamy filling will set up and turn into pie!

Step 3 | Decorate and Serve!

Once the pie has set, you can remove it from the fridge and decorate. You can use fresh lemons as twists, slices, or wedges. I used homemade whipped cream to pipe the little swirls on the top of the pie, but you could also add the leftover Cool Whip in a layer, or use Redi Whip to make swirls. If you’re super fancy and know how ot make a meringue topping, you could also do that.

For extra fun, you can add a dusting of lemon zest or graham cracker crumbs. Lemon lovers will enjoy the extra flavor the zest adds!

Tip

If you want clean cuts on your slices, freeze your pie for an hour or so before serving. You can cut and plate the slices, then leave them at room temperature or about 15 minutes. They’ll completely unfreeze, but you’ll get beautiful slices!