This mouth-wateringly creamy No-Bake Cheesecake is the perfect dessert for when you’re craving something sweet but don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen. It truly doesn’t get much easier when it comes to creating a dessert that feels so extravagant; you’re just crushing cookies and mixing a few ingredients. That’s it! PS You can make this up to 4 days ahead!
What Is a No-Bake Cheesecake?
Most cheesecakes (like New York, Philadelphia, or Basque) are made with eggs and baked, which gives them a rich, velvety mouthfeel and firm texture. Making traditional cheesecake is a WHOLE THING. Which is why I love No-Bake Cheesecake! It’s regular cheesecake’s less fussy younger cousin. You don’t use eggs. Instead, you use whipped cream to create a much lighter texture than a traditionally baked cheesecake. It’s also really easy to go plant-based when you make a No-Bake Cheesecake!
Ingredients For No-Bake Cheesecake
This easy-to-make No-Bake Cheesecake comes together in fifteen minutes with just a handful of ingredients. My favorite kind of dessert! The hardest part is waiting for it to set. Here’s what you’ll need to get this No-Bake Cheesecake on your table:
- Honey-Graham Crackers: These cookies are the base of our crust. If you don’t like graham crackers, use your favorite cookie here. Oreos (minus the filling) and Shortbread Cookies are great substitutions.
- Salted Butter: Helps pull the crust together. If you don’t have salted butter, use unsalted, and add 1/8th teaspoon salt to the crust mixture. If you’re dairy-free, substitute with plant-based butter.
- Brown Sugar: Helps sweeten the crust. Since cheesecake is served chilled, you won’t be able to taste the sugar as much as if it were a room-temperature dessert. So, we add a touch of sugar to the crumbled cookies to make sure the sweetness shows up. However, if you’re watching your sugar intake and want to leave it out, go for it. The crust will work without it.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Will be whipped to stiff peaks to lighten the cream cheese filling. If you’re plant-based, sub with unsweetened coconut cream.
- Cream Cheese: Because what would a cheesecake be without it? You can use plant-based cream cheese as well.
- Greek Yogurt: Adds a tanginess to the filling that helps develop a more intricate flavor profile without complicating things. You can substitute it with sour cream. For my dairy-free friends, use a plant-based sour cream or yogurt.
- Powdered Sugar: Is the best option for sweetening, as it will dissolve immediately into the filling. Make your own by blending 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch until the mixture is powdery. You can also sweeten the filling with 1/3 cup of honey.
- Vanilla: scents the filling and adds depth.
What To Serve With No-Bake Cheesecake
This easy breezy dessert is perfect topped with our Strawberry Syrup, Lemon Curd, Cherry Sauce, or Blueberry Sauce. If you want to garnish with fruit, frozen and thawed blueberries or cherries are an easy and economical option. You can, of course, top this easy cheesecake with sliced fresh strawberries.
How To Store No-Bake Cheesecake
This luscious cheesecake can be made up to four days ahead. If you have any leftovers (highly doubtful), wrap them well and store them in an air-tight container for up to five days in the fridge and three months in the freezer.
No-Bake Cheesecake
Servings 8 slicesIngredients
Crust
- 10 oz. honey graham crackers (2 cups crushed) ($1.44)
- 10 Tbsp salted butter, melted ($1.28)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.04)
Filling
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream ($1.50)
- 1 cup powdered sugar ($0.27)
- 2 8oz. blocks cream cheese, room temperature ($4.38)
- 5 oz. non-fat Greek yogurt ($1.00)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.58)
Topping (optional)
- 2 cups cherry sauce* ($3.88)
Instructions
Crust
- Crush the graham crackers to a fine powder in a blender or food processor and add to a medium bowl.
- Mix the brown sugar into the graham cracker crumbs and then add the melted butter. Use your hands to mix the butter into the crumbs until a sand-like consistency is created.
- Pack the cookie crumb mixture into a 9.5-inch pie plate using the bottom of a measuring cup to press it in well and smooth it out. Press the crumbs from the center, out, and all the way up the sides. Place the pie plate in the freezer while you make the filling.
Filling
- Whip the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar to stiff peaks.
- In a separate bowl, whip the softened room-temperature cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Gently fold one-half of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated. Repeat with the remaining whipped cream.
- Add the filling to your frozen crust gently. Lift the pie plate off the counter a 1/4 inch and gently drop it a few times to remove large air bubbles. Use a spatula or large spoon to smooth out the top.
- Cover the cheesecake with a sheet of plastic or parchment directly on the surface and then cover it in aluminum foil. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or until the cheesecake sets and is firm to the touch.
- Serve the cheesecake as is, or spoon a fruit sauce topping over it before serving. If the crust sticks to the pie plate, wet a dish towel with hot water, squeeze out the excess water, and place the pie plate on top of the towel for a minute to warm and loosen the crust. Enjoy the beauty of this incredible no-fuss dessert before it gets devoured!
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make No-Bake Cheesecake – Step by Step Photos
Crush 10 ounces of graham crackers (about 18 crackers) to a fine powder in a blender and add to a medium bowl. You’ll need 2 cups once crushed.
Mix two tablespoons of brown sugar into the cookie crumbs and then add 10 tablespoons of melted butter. Use your hands to mix the butter into crumbs until a sand-like consistency is created.
Pack the cookie crumb mixture into a 9.5-inch pie plate using the bottom of a measuring cup to press it in well and smooth it out. Press the crumbs from the center, out, and all the way up the sides. Place the pie plate in the freezer while you make the filling.
Whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1 cup of powdered sugar to stiff peaks.
In a separate bowl, whip the two 8-ounce blocks of softened room-temperature cream cheese, 5 ounces of Greek yogurt, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth and creamy.
Gently fold one-half of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated. Repeat with the remaining whipped cream.
Add the filling to your frozen crust gently. Pick the pie plate up a 1/4 inch and gently drop it on the counter a few times to remove large air bubbles. Use a spatula or large spoon to smooth out the top. Cover the cheesecake with a sheet of plastic or parchment directly on the surface and then cover it in aluminum foil. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or until the cheesecake sets and is firm to the touch.
Serve the cheesecake as is, or spoon a fruit sauce topping over it before serving. Try our Cherry Sauce, Blueberry Sauce, Lemon Curd, or Strawberry Sauce. If the crust sticks to the pie plate, wet a dish towel with hot water, squeeze out the excess water, and place the pie plate on top of the towel for a minute to warm and loosen the crust. Enjoy the beauty of this incredible no-fuss dessert before it gets devoured!
Any recommendations or changes, particularly to the crust if I want to make it in a spring pan instead of a pie plate?
I’ve never done a graham cracker crust in a spring form, but here’s a blog post from someone else about doing just that. Hopefully you’ll find some helpful info there. :)
What do you think about maybe adding creamy peanut butter into the cream cheese mixture? Would that be a little too crazy?
It just depends on your taste buds! :) It could be kind of cool!
YESSSS, this was so good! I love no-bake cheesecakes (almost always prefer them to baked cheesecakes), and this was so easy and I wouldn’t change a thing. I should caveat that I didn’t make the graham cracker crust because I have about 200 Biscoff cookies in my pantry, so instead, I made the filling and used it as a sort of “dip” for the Biscoffs. Turns out this is my perfect dessert! I tried it right away while it was still really soft and it was great. I also had some today after the filling had firmed up – also great! Would also obviously be great with graham crackers as the dippers. I will for sure make this a bunch in the future (both as this quick “dip” version and as written in a pie pan!). Always love the thoroughness of the recipes here, y’all can’t be beat. <3
Oops, forgot to rate it!
Quick, easy and rich. With only 8 oz. of cream cheese in my refrigerator, I opted to serve it as pudding in four custard cups, halving the recipe’s filling and significantly reducing the amount of crust for use as a topping to provide flavor and crunch. Worth the calories!
Thanks for your discussion of the ingredients and substitutes; it’s very helpful and informative.