No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake – this smooth and creamy cake is made with fresh strawberries and so much easier to make than traditional cheesecake! A perfect cake for special occasions.

This No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake is lighter, softer, and more mousse-like than a traditional, dense baked cheesecake. A perfect no-bake dessert just like our Lemon cream pie for summer parties, Mother’s Day brunch, or the 4th of July.

There’s no need for a complicated water bath in the oven! Just make the no-bake crust, whip up the filling, and chill the cake overnight! This strawberry cake is much easier to make than a layered cake but looks stunning and pretty. Looking for a cake with whole strawberries? Check out our German Strawberry Cake.

It’s so simple, you can make this beautiful cake in about 45 minutes and you only need a few ingredients. There’s no gelatin or eggs in this cake but plenty of fresh strawberries and white chocolate!

Ingredient Notes

• Strawberries – You need 1 pound of fresh strawberries (plus some for decoration) for this recipe. After cleaning them, dry them with paper towels and remove the green stem from the top of the berry.
• Cornstarch – The cornstarch thickens the strawberry purée and helps to firm up the filling, so the cake can be easily cut into slices.
• Graham cracker crumbs – You can buy graham cracker crumbs at the grocery store or make your own in a food processor. To get 2 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, you need about 20 full sheets of graham crackers.
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• White chocolate – For the best taste, use high quality white chocolate. The chocolate also firms up the filling when it chills in the fridge and adds lots of flavor. White chocolate and strawberries are the perfect combo.
• Heavy cream – Homemade whipped cream adds fluffiness to this cake and makes the filling velvety and light.
• Cream cheese – You need to use full-fat brick style cream cheese for this recipe, not cream cheese spread. Make sure it’s room temperature.

How to make this recipe

1. Prep the crust: Prep the spring form pan, then combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
2. Make the crust: Press the mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the spring form pan. Chill the crust for 30 minutes.
3. Make the strawberry purée: After using a food processor or blender to make the purée, it needs to boil down with the sugar until the mixture is thick and reduced by about half. Adding cornstarch at the end makes it foolproof and guarantees that your filling won’t be too soft.
4. Melt the white chocolate: Chop the chocolate so it melts evenly. The easiest way to melt it is in the microwave, but you can also use a double boiler.

1. Make whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Take out and set aside.
2. Whisk cream cheese: In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk cream cheese until smooth.
3. Add other ingredients: Add strawberry purée and melted white chocolate. Mix at medium speed until smooth and thick. Fold in the whipped cream with a spatula.

1. Transfer filling: Spread the mixture evenly on top of the chilled graham cracker crust.
2. Finish the cheesecake: Using an off-set spatula, smooth the top of the cake. Place the cheesecake in the fridge and chill it overnight.
3. Decorate: Just before serving, decorate with whipped cream and strawberries.

Expert Tips

• Make sure the filling is well set before cutting it! Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 6–8 hours, overnight will give you the best results
• Don’t use light cream cheese or cream cheese spread that comes in a container, the cheesecake won’t set properly (you need brick-style cream cheese, see ingredient image above)
• Make sure the cream cheese has room temperature, it will be a lot easier to mix the filling lump-free
• I prefer to use a 9-inch spring form pan, if you want to use an 8-inch pan, the filling will be higher and will take longer to set
• The filling might be too much for a regular pie pan, but you could make individual cakes from the remaining filling
• Instead of Graham cracker crumbs you can also use the same amount of Biscoff Cookie, Vanilla Wafer, or Oreo Cookie crumbs (2 1/2 cups)
• You can use frozen strawberries if fresh ones are not in season, defrost them before making purée, and make sure to cook down the purée very well because they release extra liquid
• Depending on the sweetness of the strawberries you use, the cheesecake might need some added sugar

Recipe FAQs

Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight cake container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The crust might get a bit soggy after a few days.

Freezing

This strawberry cheesecake can be frozen. Cover it airtight (without decoration) and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. I prefer to serve it partially frozen because the crust can get a bit soggy during defrosting.

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