Are you looking for an easy and amazing simple vegan cheesecake recipe that will blow your mind with how 'real' it tastes? This ultra creamy vegan cheesecake literally whips up in minutes, bakes in the oven to perfection, and then rests in the refrigerator overnight until you are ready to serve it with your favorite toppings!
This cheesecake is fantastic for any special occasion (is Friday night a special occasion??). But in all seriousness, it's great for birthday and holidays, and the best part is that it is cooked the night before so it does not take up valuable oven space when you're busy cooking for a big holiday.
By the way, if you're looking for more holiday recipe inspiration, check out my favorite vegan holiday recipes!
What is vegan cheesecake made of?
Often you will find recipes for vegan cheesecake made with cashews, coconut milk, and/or tofu. All of these ingredients have their place, but you won't find them in this recipe. I love healthy desserts but the goal here is a super decadent vegan cheesecake.
This is a rich and creamy vegan cheesecake without tofu and without cashews. This cheesecake is made with dairy-free cream cheese and dairy-free sour cream for a dairy-free cheesecake that tastes like the real thing.
Related recipe: Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients:
- vegan cream cheese (I love Tofutti cream cheese for this cheesecake)
- vegan sour cream (I also use Tofutti for this cheesecake)
- flour or cornstarch
- lemon juice
- vanilla extract
- sugar
I know!! It sounds too easy, and it really is!
You'll also need:
- large graham cracker crust
- ingredients for the drizzles, if you want to add some pizzazz to your cheesecake (fresh or frozen raspberries + agave nectar + corn starch, and chocolate chips + coconut oil)
- Vegan coconut whipped cream - for topping
Related recipe: Vegan Strawberry Shortcakes
Let your vegan cream cheese and sour cream warm to room temp if possible. (If you're in a hurry, just go for it, it'll just be a little more difficult to whip or blend.)
Empty two 8oz. containers of vegan cream cheese, and one 12 oz. container of vegan sour cream into a blender (you can also use a bowl and electric beaters for this!). Add fresh lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla extract to blender (or bowl) and blend away.
Blend (or beat with electric beaters) until absolutely smooth and creamy. Pour into an extra large graham cracker pie crust.
Keep the center of the cheesecake slightly higher than the edges if possible.
Gently place in the oven and bake on middle rack at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until center appears mostly set. (You will see the cheesecake puff up considerably during baking. It will deflate after and that is perfectly normal.)
Allow the vegan cheesecake to cool on a wire rack until close to room temperature, then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Related recipe: Simple Berry Sauce
Raspberry and chocolate drizzle for cheesecake
A simple raspberry sauce and melted chocolate are some of my favorite ways to decorate this cheesecake.
Here's how to make raspberry sauce for cheesecake:
→ Warm one cup of frozen raspberries either in a pot on the stove or in the microwave. Using a sieve, drain the raspberry juice, saving the pulp for smoothies or other recipes.
→ Add 2 tablespoons of Agave Syrup or sugar to your raspberry juice to sweeten. If your raspberry juice is room temp or cooler, you can add 1 - 1 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch directly to it. If it is warm, first dissolve the cornstarch in a tablespoon of water, then add to your raspberry mixture.
→ Whisk continuously over medium heat until thickened and set aside.
Here's how to make a simple chocolate drizzle for cheesecake:
→ Take one quarter cup of vegan chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, and place in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds or (warm to melty state in a saucepan on the stove).
→ Remove from the microwave and stir. If all chips are melted, you're ready to drizzle, otherwise microwave further in 20 second increments, stirring each time to see if completely melted!
Now you're ready to slice your cheesecake, add your drizzles, (add a touch of non-dairy whip cream if you like!) and serve to your delighted guests!! (Just be sure and slice it so you have some left for later!!!)
Other cheesecake drizzles to try:
- Simple berry sauce - if you prefer some pieces of fruit on your cheesecake!
- Vegan caramel sauce - caramel cheesecake?? Yes please!!
- Vegan chocolate sauce - if you prefer to make chocolate sauce from scratch instead of by melting chocolate chips
So here's the ultimate question, Is Vegan Cheesecake good?
No, it's not good - it's AMAZING! Yeah, excuse me for shouting that. But I'm just so seriously addicted to this cheesecake and I know you're going to love how authentic it tastes, so I can't wait for you to try it!
Well my dears, I am truly excited for you to try this recipe. No stress, little mess, but ohh so decadent!!
Other vegan desserts you will love:
- Vegan cream cheese
- Vegan chocolate peanut butter pie
- Vegan chocolate milkshake
- Chocolate popcorn balls
- Vegan pie crust
- Vegan blueberry pie
- Vegan coquito
If you’ve tried this Vegan Cheesecake Recipe or any other recipe on my blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I LOVE hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food!!!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?? PLEASE CLICK ON THE STARS TO GIVE IT A RATING BELOW!!
Best Easy Vegan Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the cheesecake:
- 2 8 oz Vegan cream cheese, I use Tofutti
- 1 12 oz Vegan sour cream, I use Tofutti
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice, fresh squeezed is best!
- 2 tablespoons Flour, or cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 Extra-large graham cracker pie crust
For the raspberry drizzle:
- 1 cup Frozen rasberries
- 2 tablespoon Agave nectar, or sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cornstarch
For the chocolate drizzle:
- ¼ cup Vegan chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon Coconut oil
Special equipment
Instructions
- Let your vegan cream cheese and sour cream warm to room temp if possible. (If you’re in a hurry, just go for it, it’ll just be a little more difficult to whip or blend.)Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Empty two 8 oz containers of vegan cream cheese, and one 12 oz container of vegan sour cream into a blender (you can also use a bowl and electric beaters for this!). Add fresh lemon juice, sugar, flour, and vanilla extract to blender (or bowl) and blend away.
- Blend (or beat with electric beaters) until absolutely smooth and creamy. Pour into an extra large prepared graham cracker pie crust.
- Keep the center of the cheesecake slightly higher than the edges if possible.
- Gently place in the oven and bake on middle rack at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until center appears mostly set. (You will see the cheesecake puff up considerably during baking. It will deflate after and that is perfectly normal.)Allow the vegan cheesecake to cool on a wire rack until close to room temperature, then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Raspberry Drizzle
- Warm one cup of frozen raspberries either in a pot on the stove or in the microwave. Using a sieve, drain the raspberry juice, saving the pulp for smoothies or other recipes.
- Add 2 tablespoons of agave syrup or sugar to your raspberry juice to sweeten. If your raspberry juice is room temp or cooler, you can add 1 – 1 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch directly to it. If it is warm, first dissolve the cornstarch in a tablespoon of water, then add to your raspberry mixture.Whisk continuously over medium heat until thickened and set aside.
Chocolate Drizzle
- Take one quarter cup of vegan chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, and place in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds or (warm to melty state in a saucepan on the stove).
- Remove from the microwave and stir. If all chips are melted, you’re ready to drizzle, otherwise microwave further in 20 second increments, stirring each time to see if completely melted!
- Now you’re ready to slice your cheesecake, add your drizzles, and devour!
Abby
Hands down best vegan cheese cake recipe very much like the real thing has always come out perfect.
Kate
So glad to hear you loved it!!
Delia
I did my cheesecake according to the instructions and cooked for 60 minutes. It came out wiggly like loose I have it in the fridge right now ....I'm wondering what I did wrong and if is going to set up firm.....I mix it in the blender ....what did u think?
Kate
Oh no, how wiggly was it?? It will definitely set, make sure it's in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Did it look slightly puffed up and a little golden on top when you took it out of the oven? Like in the photos? Or was it way wigglier?
Please come back and let me know how it worked out!!
Bev
Has anyone tried making this in another type pan (ie: springform) using their own crumb base? Just wondering how it would work,.
Jess
Hahaha.. yeah, lots of subs. Actually baked it for 1 1/2 hours and it was still like water... then I took it out and added arrowroot powder, which started to thicken it. Then put it in fridge, by next day it was firm. Odd texture, but still tasty. Oddly enough there was some oily liquid floating on top. I removed some, but some solidified. maybe from the carob chips being cooked for so long, I used Daiya and Violife Cream cheese, and good karma sour cream. I remember when I made cheesecakes with dairy cream cheese and the carob chips, they didn’t melt so much. Anyway, always interesting when I sub. Thanks for the suggestions,,,
Rebecca
Well it sounds like a cooking and tasting adventure anyway! My creativity doesn't always go the best either, but it's fun, and it sounds like this try was at least not a total loss! Keep at it!
Jess Peterson
I subbed maple syrup instead of sugar, 1/2 cup, added 2 more tablespoons of flour. Some carob powder, carob chips, and 60 minutes later it’s still liquid, haha haha, not sure it it is salvageable ,but yours looks lovely.
Rebecca
Oh dear! Yes, that's a lot of subs all at once and I might be too late getting you advice, but I would've kept baking it awhile longer, and then have been sure to chill it overnight to see how well it would set with the extra liquid. Hopefully it will set once it's chilled. The carob chips should help that also. If it didn't for some reason, freeze it, and then serve as a frozen cheesecake! I'm sure it will be delicious!
Dawn Keeter
Can you use your cream cheese recipe? I made it and my whole family loves it with habanero jelly on top.
Rebecca
Thanks for the comment/question! So glad you like the cream cheese recipe! I haven't used my homemade cream cheese in this recipe, so I can't tell you for sure that it would work... please let me know if you try it!
Foodpharmer
The perfect dessert!!! I have been Plant Base for over 5 years. My claim to fame prior to my life style change to plant base eating was my cheesecake. I was looking for a recipe and this one seemed simple enough. I made a cake took it to work, never have made or taste it prior to taking it there, it was an instant hit everyone loved it including myself. They were also surprize it was vegan. Thank you for such a great recipe. It has been printed and laminated and placed with my favorite recipes.
Rebecca
Thanks SO much for your comment! Stuff like this is what keeps me going! So glad you and everyone else enjoyed the cheesecake! I just made it for my hubby's birthday too! A favorite for sure!
shama
Wow, just had this for the first time today and it was AMAZING!!!
Rebecca
Glad you liked it!
Hillary
Looks great!! I didn't see when to add the flour to the cheesecake mix though. Does it matter?
Rebecca
Thanks! It is uber delish! Add the flour into the blender with the rest of the filling ingredients! Thx for noticing that I missed that in the recipe card. I went ahead and added it in!
Kate
Could I use all cream cheese and no sour cream?
Rebecca
Hmmm... you could def try it! I'm thinking it would turn out a bit thick/dense, but probably still very tasty!