Lemon Icebox Cake
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An easy lemon icebox cake recipe made with just 4 simple ingredients: lemon pudding mix, milk, Cool Whip, and graham crackers. The easy no-bake dessert is perfect for hot summer days, backyard BBQs, special occasions, or as a little something sweet for the family after dinner.
This lemon cake is cool, light, and creamy. I love how it has just the right amount of lemon flavor so that it isn’t too lemony.
Like a no-bake eclair cake and strawberry icebox cake, you won’t believe how easy this lemon pudding icebox cake is to make. The hardest part is waiting the 4 hours for it to chill in the fridge.
Lemon Icebox Cake vs. Lemon Lush
I have heard this no-bake dessert called a lemon lush or lemon dream dessert. However, a lush or dream dessert typically has a cream cheese layer, unlike this recipe. I think the names lemon icebox cake, lemon icebox dessert, or no-bake lemon pudding cake are better-suited for this delicious treat.
If you love easy lemon desserts, give these 3-ingredient lemon cake mix cookies a try too. You will love them!
Ingredient Notes
This section includes ingredient notes and substitution options. Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
- Lemon instant pudding mix – Make sure you get instant lemon pudding mix and not cook and serve pudding. For a milder lemon flavor, you can use one box of lemon pudding and one box of vanilla pudding.
- Milk – Use whole milk for an extra creamy filling – although 2%, 1% or skim milk will work, too.
- Cool Whip Whipped topping – Two 8 ounce tubs or one 16 ounce tub, thawed. Cool Whip or Cool Whip Lite both work well for this recipe. Homemade stabilized whipped cream can be used as well.
- Graham crackers – You will use just about the entire box of grahams for this recipe.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- For neater slices, give the lemon dessert plenty of time to chill and wipe your knife clean after each slice.
- Be careful when covering your cake. I used the lid that came with my 9 x 13 glass casserole dish but it wasn’t high enough and left a large hole in the top layer of my cake. Now that I know better I ordered an extra deep glass baking pan to use next time I make a no-bake cake… which will probably be next week, knowing me. You could use toothpicks and plastic wrap, too.
- Make a day or two ahead and keep it refrigerated until serving. It actually gets better with time as the flavors meld together.
Variations
This easy icebox cake recipe is versatile and you can customize it to your liking. Try:
- Placing fresh berries like fresh blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries between the layers to provide a burst of flavor and color.
- Adding a bit of vanilla extract to the pudding mixture to enhance the flavor.
- Increasing the number of layers like I did with this banana pudding icebox cake.
- Switching up the toppings- crushed vanilla wafers, graham cracker crumbs, or fresh raspberries are all great options.
Storage and Freezing
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving. Icebox lemon cake is delicious slightly frozen, so it really doesn’t even have to thaw completely before you dig in!
More easy ice box cake recipes
Lemon Icebox Cake
Ingredients
- 6.8 ounces lemon instant pudding mix (2 boxes)
- 3 cups whole milk
- 16 ounces whipped topping thawed and divided
- 14.4 ounce graham crackers (1 box)
- fresh lemons optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk instant pudding mix and milk together for 2 minutes. Fold in one container (8 ounces) of whipped topping.
- Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with a single layer of graham crackers, breaking as needed to cover the entire bottom of the dish. Add half of the pudding mixture and gently spread into an even layer.
- Repeat with another layer of graham crackers and then the rest of the pudding.
- Top with a final layer of graham crackers and the remaining whipped topping. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
- Top with lemon slices and/or lemon zest before serving, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Originally published on 6/17/2019. Updated 6/6/2024 with new photos and a slight change to the recipe (milk was increased from 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups).
Made for Thanksgiving. Yum
Hi! We don’t have tubs of whipped topping where I liv and it’s also hard to find graham crackers. Not sure if using one packet of dream whip and preparing it myself will be enough? Also, can I use digestive biscuits as a substitute to the graham crackers? Super excited to try this!
Hi Zoya! While I have not tried preparing an icebox cake with Dream Whip or digestive biscuits, I just looked them both up and they seem like they would be good alternitives to Cool Whip and graham crackers! If you do decided to give it a try pleasae come back and let us know how it comes out 🙂 Enjoy!
Thank you! I’ll definitely let you know how it turns out. ❤️
I made this and folded in the juice of 2 very small lemons and a little lemon zest to the Cool Whip. It brought the dessert up a notch in my opinion. Also, I used the Lite Cool Whip and it worked great, nobody could tell any difference. I took this to work and just a few minutes before time to get the desserts out, I had put some whole fresh strawberries in a single layer on a baking and let them get really cold and firm, but not completely frozen. I slit an X on each strawberry & put just a tad of the lemon pudding (that I had “stolen” from the bottom layer of the dessert LOL!) in each strawberry slit. If I do say so myself, it dressed up the dessert and getting a strawberry in every slice of the dessert was wonderful. I only wish I had taken a pic before the vultures struck, LOL! People, even several men, begged me for the recipe! That always makes me feel good! I think the next time I make it, and if strawberries are still in season, I may put a whole layer of sliced strawberries as a middle layer. I may even venture out & add some confection powdered sugar & cream cheese to the cool whip. Lemon & strawberry are my fav flavors for pie-like desserts. So many great variations can be made to this outstanding dessert! But it is definitely a perfect dessert just as it is written- no changes necesssry. My hubby teased me saying “NO pecans in this dessert?? I’m shocked!” He knows I love pecans & mom’s crop was great this year! Not sure how many quart bags we put up but it was a lot! So glad not to have to buy any this year! Since retiring last year, I have found myself more adventurous in the kitchen- & the hubby is loving it! THANK YOU for a great recipe!!
Hi Jaclyn,
This looks so delicious! I love lemon desserts. I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for the recipe!
Alison
My husband and I both went crazy for this recipe! So easy and so yummy!!
This dessert looks amazing! It’s making me crave summer and picnics, and all the summer things!
Do you crush the Graham crackers
No, leave them whole and just lay them down in an even layer.
Yes, I made this. Those graham cracker crumbs surely did lie flat while I tried to spread the pudding over them. Same thing with the second layer. Fortunately, I made it in a 9×9 pan, so the mess of crumbs and pudding could resemble a child’s artwork, but I imagine it will taste good anyway. I threw the recipe away.
I am sorry that you had a bad experience but this recipe uses whole graham crackers–not crumbs.
Is this ok to freeze? Then let thaw in fridge for a day or overnight before serving. thx!
Yes, you can wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and freeze the no-bake lemon cake for up to 1 month. Thaw in fridge then enjoy!
I made this for my grandma and she doesn’t have any teeth so I made the graham crackers like cheese cake crust it was delicious and grandma was happy.. thank you
I am so glad that grandma enjoyed it! You can make the cake with other flavors of pudding mix too, pistachio and banana cream pudding cakes are a favorite in our house as well.