Coconut Meringue Pie

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With a sweet coconut and vanilla filling topped with fluffy meringue and toasted coconut flakes, it’s no wonder this coconut meringue pie recipe is an all-time favorite pie.

Bite taken out of coconut meringue pie.

Today I’m bringing you a coconut meringue pie recipe. It is one of my all-time favorite pie recipes. Sure, they have coconut pies for sale in the freezer section but the only resemblance they bear to a true old-fashioned coconut pie is their name. This is one of those pies that, if you find yourself craving it, you’re just gonna have to make it yourself.

But don’t worry, it’s easy to do and you probably have everything you need on hand already except for the coconut. The other ingredients are kitchen essentials: sugar, vanilla, flour, milk, butter, and eggs. But when combined, let me tell ya, this pie will blow your mind!

There’s a deliciously thick and velvety sweet coconut custard filling inside a perfectly flaky crust. Then on top, you have fluffy meringue and toasted coconut flakes. It’s a decadent dessert that tastes like a tropical summer vacation. I bet you’re ready to make it now aren’t ya?

Well, without further ado, here is my recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Labeled ingredients for coconut meringue pie.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Sugar
  • Vanilla
  • Flour
  • Milk
    Butter
  • Eggs
  • Sweetened flaked coconut 

Homemade pie crust for coconut meringue pie.

Homemade Pie Crust

You’ll also need a pie crust, whether that’s a store-bought pie crust (totally fine) or my homemade pie crust. This made-from-scratch pie crust is so easy to make, as you simply mix all the ingredients in the pie dish before baking and there is no need for pie weights. Now, this pie plate is a bit larger than usual so I’m doubling the recipe and will end up with a nice thick crust. Your pie is still gonna be just as good so don’t you dare feel bad if you don’t make the crust from scratch!

How To Make Coconut Meringue Pie

Place butter and sugar in saucepot.

Place your margarine and sugar in a saucepot.

Add flour to saucepot.

Add flour…

Add salt to saucepot.

Salt…

Add milk to saucepot.

And milk.

Separate egg whites from yolks.

Now, separate your egg yolks from the egg whites.

Meringue Making Tips

Make sure you don’t get any yolks into your whites because we’re going to whip those up into a meringue later and if there are yolks in there the whites won’t whip up as we need them to.

There are lots of ways to separate your eggs. I think a lot of folks use an egg separator. Some folks use their hands by dumping the egg in and letting the white slip out through slightly spread fingers. I just crack my egg and gently tilt the shell until the egg white all falls out.

However you prefer, do it that way.

Add yolks only to saucepot.

Pour your yolks into the saucepot too.

Whisk ingredients in saucepot together.

With a wire whisk, beat up your eggs a bit and break up the butter.

Continue to stir ingredients so they don't burn.

Stir stir stir stir, cook, cook, cook, cook.

Don’t stop stirring because you don’t want it to scorch.

When it coats the back of the spoon we are going to cook it a little bit more, about two minutes after that. Now go ahead and turn your heat off.

Continue to cook until a thick pie filling consistency.

Now see, this is how thick I like my coconut pie filling.

If you cook it until you can swipe at the bottom of the pot real fast and see a trail, it will be thick enough that your pie will set up a little firmer and you can cut prettier pieces.

Take off heat and stir in coconut and vanilla.

Now stir in your coconut and vanilla.

Thick coconut pie filling.

PLEASE NOTE HOW THICK THIS FILLING IS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH.

Add coconut pie filling to pie crust.

Spread coconut pie filling into your pie shell.

Place egg whites in mixing bowl.

How to Make the Meringue

Place your egg whites in a mixing bowl.

It’s imperative you make sure your bowl is super clean. If your bowl or your beaters have any oily residue on them that will interfere with your meringue as well so it never hurts to wash them again before this step. I wash mine in the dishwasher at ahigh temp so we

‘re good.

Beat egg whites until frothy.

Beat egg whites until they’re nice and frothy and light.

You can whip it to the soft peak stage but I like to stop here and add my sugar so it has plenty of time to dissolve.

Add sugar to mixing bowl.

Pour in sugar…

Add vanilla to mixing bowl.

Dump in a little vanilla extract…

And then beat the living mess out of the egg whites until they are at the stiff peak stage.

I know this isn’t stiff peaks, but it’s soooooooooooo much easier to spread if you don’t beat it too much.

Besides, look at this whisk when I turn it upside down…

Beat meringue until stiff peaks form.

See? that’s a stiff peak!

Spread meringue over coconut pie.

Spread that over your pie, being careful to make it touch on all sides.

If you don’t spread it and make it touch on all of the sides it will pull back and shrink up a bit as it bakes.

Sprinkle meringue with extra coconut.

Sprinkle some coconut flakes on top of the meringue.

Here is our pie all ready for the oven.

Baked coconut meringue pie.

Bake this at 325 for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

I usually cook my meringues for about 15 minutes but you have to go a little shorter with this one so the coconut on top doesn’t burn.

Layers of a coconut meringue pie.

Oh, now that is a thing of beauty!

Unfortunately, now we have to pop it in the fridge and cool it down before serving (for at least three hours).

Slice of coconut meringue pie.

Enjoy your slice of coconut meringue pie!

Storage

Store leftover pie in an airtight container or loosely covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days. Because of the thick coconut custard filling and meringue topping, I don’t recommend freezing coconut meringue pie.

Recipe Notes

  • Yes, the filling is thick. Yes, there is a lot of filling in this pie. If you want a thinner filling, you can add more milk if you like. Some folks in the comments have mentioned adding 1/2 cup more and some even 2 cups more! That is totally up to you. Many folks have commented that the pie turned out perfectly using the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe.
  • To make a dairy-free coconut pie, substitute the butter for vegan butter and whole milk for coconut milk.
  • To make a gluten-free coconut pie, you’ll need to use a gluten-free pie shell and a gluten-free flour alternative.
  • For more coconut flavor, swap the vanilla extract for coconut extract. You can also swap the granulated sugar for coconut sugar.

Recipe FAQs

What is the difference between coconut meringue pie and coconut cream pie?

The main difference between these two coconut pie recipes is the topping. As the names suggest, coconut meringue pie has a meringue topping and coconut cream pie has a whipped cream topping.  

You may also like these pie recipes:

Orange Meringue Pie Recipe

Caramel Banana Pie (a.k.a Easy Banoffee Pie)

Lemon Meringue Pie With Cookie Crumb Crust

Cherry Cream Cheese Pie From Grandmama’s Kitchen

Sawdust Pie (A Family Favorite)

Two plates each with a slice of coconut meringue pie.

Coconut Meringue Pie

With a coconut and vanilla filling and fluffy meringue topping, this coconut meringue pie recipe is one of my all-time favorite pies to make.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coconut, meringue, pie
Servings: 8
Calories: 415kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs separated
  • 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1 9-inch baked pie shell

Meringue

  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

Pie

  • Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, butter, milk, and egg yolks in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and coconut. Pour into the baked pie shell. Top with meringue.
    1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk, 1 stick melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 eggs, 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, 1 9-inch baked pie shell

Meringue

  • Beat egg whites until foamy and then add sugar. Continue beating on high speed until soft peaks form. Pour onto the top of the pie and spread it to the edges to seal well. Sprinkle additional coconut on top. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate until completely cold before serving.
    3 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 415kcal
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158 Comments

    1. Yes…Although coconut is my favorite, I’ve been hesitant to make this one because of the low quantity of milk. Perhaps the large amount of butter/margarine makes up the difference. Still…? Hmmm…

      1. Made two of them last week 🙂
        Y’all are welcome to up the milk of you like, of course, but this is the recipe I use (i pull up this post when i make them) and I’d never give you an inaccurate recipe on purpose.
        Gratefully,
        Christy

  1. Well, pooh! I didn’t read the tutorial on the pie crust because I used one of Mrs. Smith’s. Good filling and meringue in raw pie crust. So glad my husband loves my gardening skills and forgives my cooking mistakes. Cup of coffee and pie filling-Yum!

  2. Christy, coconut pie is one of my favorites. My mom made one about every other Sunday when we were growing up.I use this same filling recipe but use RITZ crackers for my crust. I haven’t ever made one to take to church or a social that was not completely eaten over the last 30+ years. I have always hesitated to give away my secrets but this is just too good not to share, after all, I can’t feed everyone!

  3. I have been craving coconut pie like my grandmother used to make. This looks like it, but I remember the filling being really thick. If I double the recipe (except for the meringue) am I going to end up with a mess? Sounds a little silly to be asking, but I’m not very good with pies…yet 😉

    1. Nah, as long as you just use a deep dish pie pan and pour the filling in until it is full. Worse case scenario is you end up with extra filling and in that case I’d consider it a custard and chow down! lol
      Gratefully,
      Christy
      and there are no silly questions here 🙂

  4. When I taught English as a Second Language classes, my class asked me once what my favorite dessert was. I said, “Pie!.” “What kind pie?” “Any kind – I’ve never met a pie I didn’t like.” But, I do have to say that Coconut Meringue is my very favorite. My Mama taught me using the same recipe you use (I’ve told you we were raised by the same Mama – different names, different states, but the same recipes and the same kind of stories.) Lemon Meringue and Chocolate Meringue are tied for second place. My yankee husband was dropped on his head as a child, too, and doesn’t like meringue. My two southern sons took after their daddy in the meringue department. Occasionally.I leave it off and put Whipped Cream on it, but mostly I just let them scrape off the meringue and put their own Cool Whip on it. Some pies just have to have meringue – but, don’t pile mine up so high that the pie gets lost like some restaurants do.

  5. when i was about 5 years old, my Mother made some homemade coconut pies to take to my Granny’s house for a family gathering. the night before she did all the preparations and cooking of the most wonderful pies just like you show here Christy! well, one of those pies got someone’s finger smoothed around and around evenly tho…til that pie was almost to the pie crust before they stopped starvatin’ for that coconut pie!! 😉 the next morning, Momma found that pie half gone and she was quiet for a little while..so it seemed alright afterall. then after some thought, Momma sort made mention of having to throw that pie that was half gone away cause apparently some critter like a rat or something had gotten into the house and ate almost all of one of her coconut pies!! oh joy!! up i got and ran into the kitchen saying nooooo don’t throw the pie away…i can eat pie that the rat got into!!!
    =D…um…i think she knew who the little rat was then…
    oh boy was she graceful with me!!! that is a most delicious homemade pie
    ty for the chance to share my take on it with you

  6. Christy – my daddy used to call the meringue ‘calf slobber’ and he wouldn’t eat it. 🙂 It made me smile when I read your directions. (My daddy has been gone sine 2006 and I miss him and my mother so much!) Thank you for your stories because they remind me of my mother and grandmothers so much.

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