Rich & Creamy Classic Vegan Cheesecake (EASY! No Tofu, No Cashews!)

This ultra creamy and rich baked vegan cheesecake tastes just like the classic New York style cheesecake: super creamy, soft, and slightly tangy with a perfectly sweet gluten free graham cracker crust! So easy to make in a blender or food processor, and with the simplest of ingredients: no tofu, no cashews, and no coconut cream!

The only vegan cheesecake recipe you need:

Truly. This amazing baked vegan cheesecake tastes just like a slice of classic lush cheesecake: super rich, ultra creamy, decadent, and just sweet with the perfect tang. It’s not as dense as New York cheesecake, but just as rich and decadent as your classic cheesecake.

And you don’t need to soak any cashews beforehand nor prep any tofu. This vegan cheesecake is made entirely without cashews, tofu, nor coconut cream, and the result is ultra velvety, creamy, and lush.

In fact, this vegan cheesecake recipe is the base cheesecake recipe for all of my vegan cheesecakes. It’s that good!

This vegan cheesecake is SO easy to make, uses only minimal ingredients, and is naturally gluten free, nut free, soy free and coconut free! No fancy equipment, and you can use either a blender, food processor, hand mixer or stand mixer!

Like my vegan chocolate cheesecake and vegan pecan pie cheesecake, this is a classic dessert that you can serve to all eaters, and they’ll just LOVE it. It’s also the base recipe for my vegan Oreo cheesecake and my vegan cookie dough cheesecake!

That’s right. No soaking cashews, no using coconut cream nor coconut milk (if you don’t want to!), and no tofu. If you want a crowd pleasing vegan dessert that’s fit for all eaters, then this baked vegan cheesecake is it. 

Top your cheesecake slice with fresh strawberries, fresh raspberries, blueberry ja, even vegan caramel sauce and homemade vegan whipped cream for the ultimate slice of cheesecake, vegan or not!

Ingredients & substitutions:

• Vegan cream cheese: Many vegan cream cheese do use nuts, I am aware of this. I personally love Miyoko’s Creamery’s vegan cream cheese and it works wonderfully in this recipe. However, for my nut-free readers, I have tried this cheesecake with Violife and it is a DREAM! Violife cream cheese is potato and coconut based. 
• Dairy free yogurt: You can use your favorite here (mine is Forager Project); whether it’s oat milk yogurt, cashew milk, coconut yogurt, soy milk yogurt, or almond. Using dairy free yogurt also helps us to replace the silken tofu found in other vegan cheesecake recipes, and lemon juice. 
• Dairy free milk: You don’t need to use a heavy vegan milk here. Store bought unsweetened almond milk or even homemade oat milk will work great.
• Sugar: I used organic granulated sugar here. Be sure that your sugar is truly vegan. I always personally use Florida Crystals Sugar for that reason. They’re also minimally processed!
• Arrowroot starch: You can substitute cornstarch here if you’d prefer.
• Vanilla extract: Sub in vanilla powder if you’d prefer!
• Graham cracker crust: This homemade crust uses oat flour, a teaspoon cinnamon, sugar, and vegan butter to achieve a deliciously buttery vegan gluten free graham cracker crust! You could also sub in melted coconut oil for the vegan butter if you’d prefer!

Equipment you’ll need for this vegan cheesecake

We’re keeping this baked vegan cheesecake really simple, down to the equipment needed.

Before beginning, make sure that you have:

• 8″ or 9″ springform pan
• Deep baking sheet
• Large food processor, a stand mixer, large bowl with a hand mixer

Overview: How to make a baked vegan cheesecake (EASILY!)

Now, traditionally, you’ll use a water bath for baked cheesecake. I’ve experimented with both a water bath and no water bath, and the verdict is in: use the water bath. If you want a super fluffy and soft cheesecake that tastes just like the classic, then you’ll need to use a water bath.

A water bath is really quite simple, and we go over how to make one.

Watch how to make a vegan cheesecake:

Please note that the recipe in the video is slightly different than the one below. This is because the recipe below is the most up to date rather than in the video. However, the method is still the same!

Step 1: The gluten free vegan cheesecake crust

I could eat this crust by itself, it’s so good! Plus it’s so easy and really quick to make:

1. Whisk: In a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients for the crust.
2. Add in the vegan butter and water: Mix in the wet ingredients until you achieve a sticky dough. You can add more water as needed by the tablespoon.
3. Press: Press the dough into the parchment paper-lined springform pan.
4. Bake: Bake the cheesecake crust.

Remove from the oven and set aside so we can prepare the creamy vegan cheesecake filling!

Step 2: The vegan cheesecake filling

Again, I could eat this filling with a spoon, and it’s just as simple as the crust. No need to soak any cashews or anything. The only thing you need to make sure you’ve done is allow both the cream cheese and sour cream to come to room temperature so that they’re easy to cream.

1. Mix: Cream together the cream cheese and yogurt until smooth. Then add in the dairy free milk, sugar, vanilla, and arrowroot. Cream again until smooth.
2. Pour: Next, pour the cheesecake mixture over the crust.
3. Create the water bath:Pour boiling water into your baking sheet with walls. Then immediately move onto the next step.
4. Bake: Place your vegan cheesecake onto the middle rack, and carefully place the boiling water bath onto the bottom rack. Close your oven quickly to prevent anymore heat from escaping.
5. Cool in the oven: Once baked, allow your vegan cheesecake to cool in the oven to 10 minutes. Then remove the cheesecake to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.
6. Setting time: Place your room temperature vegan cheesecake into the fridge to set for 4-6 hours, or until not wobbly anymore.
7. Serve and enjoy!

You can check out Handle The Heat’s Water Bath tecnique article for the classic way to make a water bath. However, my quick method has been proven to be successful just the same!

Do I need a water bath for my cheesecake?

Yes, you do need to use a water bath for a baked vegan cheesecake, especially if you want the texture of a classic cheesecake. The reason being is that cheesecakes love moisture, and a water bath helps to create a really moist environment in the oven, which typically runs dry.

If you were to not use a water bath, your cheesecake would come out super dry, like a block of cheese. Not fun, nor pleasant to eat. 

However, my water bath trick is really easy for beginner bakers, and will still ensure that you achieve a super moist vegan cheesecake. 

Recipe tips & tricks

While I want to emphasize that this vegan cheesecake is extraordinarily easy, that doesn’t mean we can get sloppy with technique. Here are a few tips to make sure that your vegan New York cheesecake comes out perfect every time:

• Allow the cream cheese and dairy free yogurt to come to room temperature. You will have a really hard time creaming together the ingredients if you don’t do this! Give the ingredients a few hours to soften. You should be able to indent a fingerprint into the cream cheese easily.
• Give your cheesecake time to cool at room temperature first. This will ensure that everything cools evenly. It’s also good to not put something piping hot into the fridge!
• How to slice your cheesecake: once your cheesecake is ready to be sliced, you can run a butter knife along the edges of the pan to release the cheesecake from the spring form pan. Then carefully undo the buckle and place your cheesecake onto a serving platter!
• Top with fresh fruit, jam, or amareno cherries: this is my all time favorite way to serve cheesecake, especially because it’s such a rich and decadent dessert, you need something slightly lighter to balance the flavors, textures, and density. I recommend the Amareno Fabri cherries!

Classic cheesecake topping ideas:

• Fresh berries and whipped cream
• Homemade strawberry sauce
• Vegan caramel sauce
• Vegan Nutella
• No coconut vegan lemon curd
• 2 Ingredient vegan ganache

You are just going to LOVE this baked vegan cheesecake as much as I do! This vegan vanilla cheesecake is: 

• So easy to make
• One of the best vegan desserts, hands down
• Perfectly soft and tangy, like a classic cheesecake
• Creamy, yet light and refreshing
• Perfect for graduations, birthday parties, summer holidays, and more!
• An absolute crowd pleaser, whether you’re vegan (and gluten free!) or not!

If you try it, make sure to leave a comment and a review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find this recipe!

As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy cheesecake baking!

More vegan cheesecake recipes you’ll love

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

Instant Pot Caramel Cheesecake

Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Baked Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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