Costco Lemon Meringue Cheesecake Review

Author’s note: I was not paid to write this review, and I have no affiliation with Costco. This is one of my first food reviews, written before this blog even existed! I wrote it to entertain some friends on Facebook. But now, you can be entertained, too!
I tried the new Lemon Meringue Cheesecake from Costco, against my better judgement.
I said I would not buy one of these. I don’t even know how this happened. One moment I was walking past them in the store, confident in my decision to abstain. And the next minute I was swiping my credit card, with a dazed look on my face.
Alright, so here’s the scoop on Costco’s new Lemon Meringue Cheesecake:
Let’s just get it home first, shall we?
This is a fragile dessert. Mine arrived home with the meringue sliding off one side and the top smashed in and disfigured. It’s fine for eating with your family, but be careful if intended for a gathering where aesthetics matter. The pies are lovely in the store, but tough to get home. My erratic driving does not help at all.

I had my first slice at 2pm on an empty stomach, after painting all night and running errands in the morning, so I am pretty sure my own shoelaces would have tasted good at that point. But yes, it is yummy. Better than shoelaces. I had a very small piece, because I had heard how excessively sweet it is. A small piece was fine. Not sickeningly sweet, but close.
The Meringue
The meringue is fluffy and delicate and softens nearly to melting if it fully reaches room temperature. I love how it dissolves on the tongue, like a cloud. Well, I’ve never eaten a cloud. Leave me alone. As several folks have already mentioned, it’s very sweet meringue. I’m not used to that; it was almost as sweet as a marshmallow. There were several moments where my befuddled and sleep deprived brain confused it for an actual marshmallow. If you love marshmallow fluff, you’ll probably like this. If you love clouds, you might like it, too.
The Lemon Filling
The lemon filling is sweet, tangy, and thick enough to hold its shape without oozing off the slices. It has the least homemade taste of the three layers, but it’s tasty. A little too gelatinous, perhaps. The lemon zing is STRONG, and the unnatural yellow color is slightly shocking, but it’s a beautiful contrast to the cheesy, creamy, less sweet cheesecake base. The sweetness of the meringue and lemon filling make the cheesecake taste even more bland, but it’s a welcome pause from the glucose rush of the other layers.
(Do you love lemon flavor? Well, here is my silly review of the Costco Lemon Blueberry Loaf. Read it and weep! Just kidding. Don’t cry.)

The Actual Cheesecake
I am pretty sure this is the same cheesecake as the plain Costco cheesecake, but I wouldn’t bet money on it. Because I don’t bet. And because I don’t have money. But it seems very similar. The crust is just the right amount of crumbly and soft, with a warm graham flavor. I love me a good crust. I really do.
(Looking for a small-but-mighty cheesecake? Check out my review of this Pumpkin Cheesecake from The Fresh Market)
Price and Shelf-Life
The cheesecake weighs 3 pounds, 14 ounces and costs $19.99. It should serve at least 16 people. That’s $1.25 per serving. Even so, 20 bucks is an eye-watering dessert investment. Just sayin’.
I tried freezing some slices (in plastic tupperware boxes), and they were easy to thaw and eat later, with minimal change in taste or flavor. Mainly, the meringue was softer after thawing. Because this dessert is so sweet, this is the kind of thing I’d want to divide and ration over time. For sure.
This is a Kirkland Signature (Costco store-brand) item, and the product # is 1658416.
I found this in my local Costco stores in the Spring. It’s a seasonal item, so it isn’t available year-round.
Ingredients in Costco Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Here are the ingredients, from the label:
- Cream Cheese (Pasteurized Cultured Milk and Cream, Salt, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum)
- Lemon Filling (Corn Syrup, Sugar, Water, Sweetened Condensed Milk [Milk, Skim Milk, Sugar], Palm Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Mono- and Diglycerides, Natural Flavor, Beta carotene [Color], Sodium Metabisulfite)
- Meringue (Sugar, Water, Dried Egg Whites [Egg Whites, Citric Acid, Yeast, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate], Corn Syrup, Sorbitol, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Carboxymethylcellulose, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Tartaric Acid, Glucono Delta Lactone, Salt, Sodium Alginate, Potassium Sorbate, Xanthan Gum)
- Graham Crumbs (Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid] Graham Flour, Sugar, Palm Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Molasses, Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate)
- Sugar
- Sour Cream (Grade A Cultured Cream)
- Eggs
- Butter (Cream, and/or Milk, Salt)
- Whole Milk (with Vitamin D)
- Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Soy Lecithin
Well. That’s a lot to unpack. It’s nice that there aren’t any artificial flavors or colors. It’s wonderful to see real stuff like cream cheese, butter, eggs, and lemon juice. But. Yikes. All that other stuff. Just, yikes. What even IS “Carboxymethylcellulose”? Do I want to know?? Do I???
Dramatic Conclusion
For me, Costco’s Lemon Meringue Cheesecake was on the “fairly sweet” end of the dessert spectrum. This is a fun dessert. It’s much more of a novelty than a classic. I’m glad I tried it, but I wouldn’t rave about it to my friends, or bring it triumphantly to a family gathering. It’s more of a simple guilty pleasure, like eating Drumsticks on a Sunday afternoon. I probably wouldn’t buy it again.
But I said I wouldn’t buy it the first time, didn’t I?
The End.
More Reviews of Costco Desserts You Might Like (or Hate)
Check out these other reviews of Costco bakery desserts I’ve written. Or don’t. That’s fine, too:
- Costco Plain Cheesecake (Kirkland)
- Costco Pumpkin Pie (Kirkland)
- Costco Pecan Pie (Kirkland)
- Costco Pumpkin Cheesecake (Kirkland)