No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake. An easy dessert recipe made from simple ingredients including economical frozen strawberries, which means you can make it year round.
Originally published April 2021.
Just last week, Spouse and I were discussing favourite Sunday supper desserts from our childhood. I was always a big fan of a Sunday trifle, but she said hers was an ever popular no bake cherry cheesecake.
Growing up in the 70’s as we both did, a New York style baked cheesecake was not nearly as popular as it’s no-bake counterpart. It was practically the only kind we knew.
I remember it was often a take-along dessert when going to my grandparents or a favourite aunt’s for Sunday dinner. It was also much anticipated childhood treat if we knew it was being served.
I remember my mom always made it in a large 9×13 inch Tupperware container with a fitted lid. This made it very easy to transport and to cut into serving size squares.
Back in those days the topping was most likely going to be a can of E.D Smith’s brand cherry pie filling. It’s odd how I loved that stuff back then, but really dislike it now.
I’m not sure if it tasted better then. We often say things tasted better back then, but is it just the pleasant memory of Sunday dinners that make it seem so? I suspect it might be.
An updated approach for No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake.
These days my pie fillings are all homemade with no artificial colours or flavours. If using a cherry pie filling these days, I would use the topping from my cherry cheesecake pie!
That’s also made quite economically with frozen cherries. It’s far better than any canned variety I can guarantee.
This cheesecake conversation happened around the time of a freezer cleanout. A large bag of frozen strawberries were at the top of my list to use and free up some space.
Frozen strawberries do indeed make this cheesecake dessert more economical. Perhaps even more importantly they are always available, making it an ideal year round dessert.
We decided a strawberry topping for a cheesecake would be a good idea for Sunday dinner that weekend. With no-bake cheesecake still on our minds, we decided to make one in a springform pan and not a flat baking dish.
We thought that would present better and be easier to serve that way. We were glad we did!
Everyone loved it and it sparked a few more delicious memories too.
One thing we did say was that we would be trying this idea with my Roasted Strawberry Jam next time. I’d highly recommend you try that too. That jam has the most intense strawberry flavour ever!
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No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake. An easy dessert recipe made from simple ingredients including economical frozen strawberries, which means you can make it year round.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, or digestive biscuit crumbs
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 3 tbsp sugar
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- 1 pound of cream cheese [2 eight ounce (250 gram) packages]
- 1 cup icing sugar powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste, or pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
For the strawberry topping
- 4 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 tbsp corn starch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water
Instructions
To prepare the crumb crust
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper but do not grease the sides.
- Mix together the graham crumbs butter and sugar and press evenly into the bottom of the prepared spring form pan.
For the cream cheese layer
- Remove 3 rounded tbsp of the icing sugar from the 1 cup you have measured.
- Add the 3 tbsp icing sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer along with the vanilla extract and whipping cream.
- Beat together to firm peaks, then transfer the whipped cream to a separate bowl.
- Now add the remaining powdered sugar and the cream cheese to the electric mixer bowl and cream together well until smooth and the cream cheese is well softened.
- Add about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream to the softened cream cheese mixture and beat again until smooth. (This step helps soften the cream cheese mixture a little more for the next step)
- Finally fold in the remaining whipped cream by hand until smooth, using a rubber or silicone spatula.
- Spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the prepared crust and chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
- When the strawberry topping has cooled to room temperature, spoon it evenly over the filling and chill for several hours before serving.
- If you have the time, make this cheesecake a day in advance to get the best set on the cheesecake filling.
To prepare the strawberry topping
- Combine the strawberries and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.
- Thicken with 3 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water, which is added to the strawberries while stirring gently.
- Boil gently for 1 additional minute, stirring constantly.
- Allow to cool completely to room temperature before spooning it evenly over the cheesecake layer.
- Chill several hours or overnight before serving.
- Garnish with additional whipped cream and berries if you like.
Notes
The strawberry layer can be added as soon as it cools to room temperature. Once the strawberry layer is added I usually do let it chill overnight, but if you make it in the morning, it should be chilled enough by dinner time.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1 sliceAmount Per Serving Calories 342Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 14gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 64mgSodium 165mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 1gSugar 25gProtein 3g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Karen
Sunday 9th of April 2023
I must comment on your wonderful recipes. This Strawberry Cheesecake recipe shows that your cheesecakes taste super but every little detail is perfection. The sizes of the cut pieces of the cream cheese looks like you measured each piece and the crust! Incredible. I'm lucky if mine taste awesome and nobody notices my technique! Thanks for all your recipes!