This is the most silky, rich, and ultra creamy salted caramel cheesecake to ever exist, and it’s all unbelievably vegan (and dairy free and no eggs!). It has a crisp, ‘buttery’ graham cracker crumb, lush caramel vanilla cheesecake batter, and topped with a thick layer of gooey salted caramel that pulls just like caramel. This is a must bake cheesecake.

slice of vegan salted caramel cheesecake

The ultimate salted caramel cheesecake, and it’s all vegan!

This vegan caramel cheesecake is reason enough for you to consider baking caramel into all of your cheesecakes.

Because- oh my goodness – the texture is unreal. The flavor is perfectly balanced with sea salt, tang, and caramel sweet yumminess. And you’d think it’d be easy to put the fork down after one bite, but let me tell you: it is not!

This took over a year to perfect. Taking my tried and true baked vegan cheesecake (which yes, does indeed taste like a classic New York cheesecake 😉 ) and combining it with my favorite traditional salted vegan caramel sauce. And it was well worth all of the trials and errors to get to this show stopping result.

And you don’t need any eggs nor dairy- we’re using just cornstarch and dairy free yogurt (my two favorite vegan egg substitutes for cheesecake) to replace the eggs and high quality substitutes for the dairy products.

Plus if this is your first time making cheesecake- do not worry. It’s so easy. You don’t even need a stand mixer nor a hand mixer to make this recipe. Just a food processor will do!

slice of cheesecake on a plate

Salted caramel cheesecake components:

  • Graham cracker crust: My graham cracker crust only uses 2 ingredients- graham crackers and vegan butter! You can make your own homemade graham crackers, especially if you need gluten free. But Nabisco and Partake are both vegan for graham crackers.
  • Caramel cheesecake batter: This took me a year to perfect, but we’ve finally done it. I’ve finally got the correct ratios for homemade caramel sauce being added to the cheesecake batter and for it to be perfectly balanced and tangy. YUM.
  • Salted caramel topping: This last part is simple- we’ll pour our remaining vegan salted caramel on top, and sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt to finish.
bitten slice of caramel cheesecake

Overview: how to bake a vegan caramel cheesecake

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

jar of vegan caramel sauce
We’ll first start by making a batch of my homemade vegan caramel. To cool it a bit before we make our cheesecake, I pour it into a square baking pan and pop it in the fridge.
making the cheesecake batter
Onto our cheesecake, we’ll make both the crust and the cheesecake batter in a food processor. Once the crust is pressed into the pan and baking in the oven, we’ll make the cheesecake batter. Simply add in all cheesecake ingredients and blend!
cheesecake before baking
Pour our cheesecake batter into the baked cheesecake crust, and pop the cheesecake back into the oven to bake. The key here is cracking the door after it has baked to allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven. Trust me, this does wonders!
baked vegan caramel cheesecake
Once cooled, we’ll remove our cheesecake pan. You’ll have leftover caramel sauce that you’ll use for topping here.
caramel cheesecake decorated
Pour the leftover caramel sauce on top, and sprinkle with extra flaky sea salt!
slice of cheesecake on a plate
Slice and serve!

My best cheesecake tips:

  • Work the crust up the sides of the springform pan: I use the bottom of a flat glass or a measuring cup to press the crust firmly into the springform pan and up the walls of the pan.
  • Don’t over bake the cheesecake: This is really easy to do because the cheesecake will still jiggle when it’s done baking. Aim for 55-58 minutes to be honest. If your cheesecake is JUST starting to crack, stop baking it and let it cool in the turned off oven.
  • For the water bath: Any pan on the bottom will do. A cookie sheet will rust over time, so I use a large casserole dish or a glass square baking pan. Anything that can just sit on the lowest rack and let the water evaporate into the oven to keep the cheesecake moist is perfect!
  • The vanilla bean paste is optional, but worth it! Of course, enough vanilla extract will do the trick all the same. However, the vanilla bean paste will leave the cheesecake batter with beautiful flecks of vanilla bean seeds. Your vegan caramel cheesecake will look like a showstopper then!

Can I swap in your quick cashew caramel instead?

Absolutely! My cashew caramel from my vegan Snickers and Twix bars is perfect here. You could also use the date salted caramel as well if you wanted to do fruit sweetened instead.

Both of those caramel sauces are much quicker than my classic salted caramel. However, if you want a true salted caramel cheesecake that tastes like the classic, then stick with my homemade vegan caramel sauce (that’s just like the traditional!).

sliced vegan cheesecake on a plate

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slice of vegan salted caramel cheesecake

Easy Vegan Salted Caramel Cheesecake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 25
  • Cook Time: 60
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Cheesecake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This is the most silky, rich, and ultra creamy salted caramel cheesecake to ever exist, and it’s all unbelievably vegan (and dairy free and no eggs!). It has a crisp, ‘buttery’ graham cracker crumb, lush caramel vanilla cheesecake batter, and topped with a thick layer of gooey salted caramel that pulls just like caramel. This is a must bake cheesecake.

Ingredients

Scale

Caramel:

Graham Cracker Crust:

Caramel Cheesecake Batter:

  • 36 ounces vegan cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup (240 mL) vegan heavy cream, room temperature
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • 7 tbsp (70 g) cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup (120 g) dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (120 g) vegan salted caramel from caramel above
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Optional topping:

  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt

Instructions

  1. Prep: Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the edges of the pan with a bit of cooking or coconut oil as well, and line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Make the caramel: Prepare the salted caramel per the instructions, and pour it into a square baking pan to cool more quickly. Set aside in the fridge while you make the crust.
  3. Make the crust: Add the graham crackers or cookies to a food processor, and pulse until you reach a fine crumb. Then add in the melted vegan butter, and pulse again until you get a wet crumb. Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom of your cheesecake pan, working up the sides of the pan as well. Place the pan into the oven to bake for 7-8 minutes to par-bake. While the crust is baking, make the filling.
  4. Make the caramel cheesecake filling: In a large food processor, stand mixer with whisk attachment, or large bowl with hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and dairy free yogurt until smooth. Add in the sugar, heavy vegan cream, caramel, vanilla extract and paste, and cornstarch. Cream together again until smooth. Pour the cheesecake filling into the springform pan, and smooth the top. Place the cheesecake pan onto a baking sheet (SEPARATE from the baking sheet used for the water bath- this cheesecake baking sheet just helps to transport the cheesecake to and from the oven).
  5. Reduce the heat of the oven: Reduce the heat to 350F.
  6. Create the water bath: Be ready to move to the next step immediately after finishing this step. Make sure that you boil the 3-4 cups water prior to pouring the water into the pan. Pour the boiling water into the pan.
  7. Bake the cheesecake: Carefully place the water bath baking sheet into the oven on the low rack. Then place the cheesecake baking sheet onto the middle rackand quickly close the oven to bake for 55-65 minutes, or until the the top of the cheesecake lightly golden. The center is set but still wiggly. Turn off the oven, and allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for 1 hour with the door slightly cracked. The water should also be completely dissolved. Please see the video tutorial. The cheesecake should still be wiggly. This is completely fine and should be that way. This cheesecake will not seem cooked at all when you first turn off the oven.
  8. Cool for one hour in the oven: Turn OFF the oven, and crack the oven door. Allow the cheesecake to cool in the turned off oven for 1 hour.
  9. Chill the cheesecake: Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Then cover and place the cheesecake into the fridge to chill for 4 hours, or overnight.
  10. Serve and enjoy! When ready to serve, top with the remaining salted caramel, sprinkle with additional sea salt, and enjoy! Store any leftover cheesecake in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Notes

Gluten free: Use gluten free vegan graham crackers or homemade gluten-free graham crackers.

Nut free: I like Oatly or Tofutti for vegan cream cheeses. My homemade cream cheese is also nut-free and a great substitute. I often bake my cheesecakes with my homemade cream cheese.