This coconut cream pie with meringue has a thick, velvety filling and a perfectly flaky crust. The meringue is airy and fluffy, topped with crispy shredded coconut. It's decadent and delightfully tropical, yet incredibly easy to make.
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There are three basic components to this recipe: the crust, the filling, and the meringue. You can make your own crust or opt for your favorite store-bought brand for convenience. The filling comes together quickly on the stovetop using a handful of ingredients. Whipping up the meringue is simple and speedy.
If you and your family are coconut fans, you will love this pie recipe for its incredible flavors and textures, as well as its ease of preparation. This delightful spring dessert is sure to please on all fronts!
Lemon meringue pie and this Australian pavlova, which is a meringue-like cake, are two of my family's most favorite desserts. It's probably no surprise that they adore this pie, too.
Main Ingredients
Making this recipe is incredibly easy. Here are some of the key ingredients that make this dessert so spectacular:
- Sweetened shredded coconut: The star ingredient!
- Pastry shell: Perfectly flaky for some crunch. Store-bought pie crust saves you time.
- Egg yolks: For a creamy coconut filling.
- Egg whites: For a perfectly airy meringue.
- Cream of tartar: Helps stabilize the meringue.
Instructions Overview
Coconut cream pie may seem like an intimidating dessert to make. However, it’s actually incredibly simple and only requires a few easy steps.
The first step is to quickly blind bake your pastry shell and let it cool. In the meantime, you’ll start to prepare your creamy coconut filling. You’ll combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a large saucepan then stir in the milk until smooth. Heat the pan until the mixture bubbles and thickens up.
Next, you’ll incorporate your egg yolks off the heat. Simply let the mixture come to a boil once more, then add in your shredded coconut and vanilla. That’s all it takes to make the creamy filling! Pour it into the pie crust.
Now, you’ll put your egg whites to use! Beat them with some cream of tartar until nice soft peaks form. Beat in your sugar and spread the meringue over your custard filling. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.
Bake it until golden brown on the top. Let it cool on a wire rack, before transferring to the fridge to chill. That’s all it takes. Serve and enjoy!
Common Questions
Desiccated coconut refers to coconut which has been flaked or shredded and then dried, while sweetened coconut is sweetened. You can get sweetened and unsweetened coconut. Although this coconut cream pie with meringue recipe calls for the sweetened kind, you can substitute the non-sweet type if you prefer or even sweeten your own.
If you don't want to buy sweetened coconut because of the propylene glycol or sodium metabisulfite, or you just want to make your own, it's very simple to do. Put ¼ cup of water and 4 teaspoons of white sugar in a pan and warm the mixture up until the sugar dissolves. Stir in a cup of unsweetened coconut and keep stirring until the liquid is all absorbed. It might need to sit for a further 10 minutes if there's still some liquid. You now have sweetened coconut that will work perfectly with this recipe!
Cream of tartar helps stabilize egg whites, which is why I added it for the meringue. If you skip it from the recipe the meringue won't become fluffy and it might even collapse, so it's best not to omit it here. You can leave it out of most icing or frosting recipes, but not from coconut cream pie with meringue without affecting the end result.
The best way to store this is in the fridge loosely covered with plastic wrap. Enjoy within 3 or 4 days.
We don't recommend it. Neither the cream pie filling nor the meringue would fare particularly well. However, you can definitely freeze the crust!
This pie keeps for several days so you could certainly bake it a day ahead of time.
It goes great paired with fresh berries or tropical fruits, like mango or pineapple.
Coconut cream pie consists of a filling that is cooked on the stovetop, as you see in our instructions highlighted here. However, the filling in a custard pie cooks in the oven.
To avoid a soggy crust, ensure that your coconut cream is nice and thick before you pour the filling into your crust. The key ingredient that helps with this is the flour as it soaks in a lot of the moisture.
We recommend you refrigerate it, but you can let it sit on your counter for up to 2 hours safely.
Chopnotch Tips
- To blind bake this pie, you’ll want to line your pastry shell with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Bake at a high temperature. Keep the pastry shell covered for the first portion and uncovered for the second portion, to ensure a nice flaky, beautifully golden-brown crust.
- To prevent your egg yolks from scrambling when adding them to the filling, you’ll want to temper them with just a little bit of the warm milk mixture first. Then, simply add the eggs right into the pan to create your cream filling.
- For the perfect meringue, you want to mix the egg whites until soft peaks form. Avoid overmixing to prevent the meringue from cracking when it bakes.
There’s nothing like a decadent slice of coconut cream pie!
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Let us know what you think! Give this recipe a rating in the comments section below.
Recipe
How to Make
Coconut Cream Pie with Meringue
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweetened coconut, shredded
- 1 9-inch pastry shell, unbaked
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
For the meringue:
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup sweetened coconut, shredded
- 3 egg whites
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Line a pastry shell with heavy-duty foil, double layer. Bake for about 8 minutes at 450 F then remove the foil and continue baking for another 5 minutes. Once done, allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Combine together ¼ teaspoon salt, 5 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, and 6 tablespoons of sugar in a large saucepan. Stir in 2 cups of milk until smooth.
- Stir-cook until bubbly and thickened over medium flame. Then turn the heat down and stir-cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Stir a bit of hot filling into egg yolks and return all the mixture back to the saucepan, stirring constantly. Bring everything to a boil and stir-cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup shredded coconut and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Pour this mixture over the crust.
For the meringue:
- Beat ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar and 3 egg whites in a bowl until you have soft peaks. Now beat in sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time, until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks are formed. Spread over filling and seal the edges of the crust. Sprinkle top with shredded coconut.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 350 F, until golden brown.
- Once baked, let it cool for an hour on a wire rack and refrigerate for 3 hours at least. Enjoy!
Notes
- To blind bake this pie, you’ll want to line your pastry shell with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Bake at a high temperature. Keep the pastry shell covered for the first portion and uncovered for the second portion, to ensure a nice flaky, beautifully golden-brown crust.
- To prevent your egg yolks from scrambling when adding them to the filling, you’ll want to temper them with just a little bit of the warm milk mixture first. Then, simply add the eggs right into the pan to create your cream filling.
- For the perfect meringue, you want to mix the egg whites until soft peaks form. Avoid overmixing to prevent the meringue from cracking when it bakes.
Hi! the pie is amazing! love the recipe! but when we cut into the pie the bottom is runny. has this ever happened to you? if so do you have any tips;)
Hi Camille, I'm so happy to hear how much you love the recipe. Woohoo! Next time, you can try a little less milk and/or cook the mixture a little longer before pouring it into the crust so that it's not as wet. This should help avoid a runny bottom.
This is a sweet (as in wonderful )recipe. All ingredients one has at any given time. Thank You!
Hi Lynn, thanks for the feedback! I'm happy you like it!