Easy Vegan No Bake Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake Recipe
This no-bake strawberry crunch cheesecake has a golden cookie crust, fresh vanilla bean and dairy-free strawberry cheesecake batter, with strawberry cookie crunch on top! It’s like the ice cream truck classic- but honestly way better. And so easy!
The iconic ice cream truck treat turned cheesecake- and dairy free!
Remember those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars from the ice cream truck? Yeah, this is way better.
And it’s in a no bake cheesecake. And it’s honestly better than any ice cream bar you’ve had before.
Like no icy texture at all, just a super smooth, creamy, and fluffy cheesecake that’s paired with a crunchy cookie crust and coating. It’s so good, it inspired me to create another ice cream truck favorite turned cheesecake: the no bake choco taco cheesecake!
Just like my no bake biscoff cheesecake and no bake chocolate cheesecake, the recipe comes together in 20 minutes tops, and after that, no extra work is needed. And guess what?! It’s entirely dairy free and vegan, yet you’d never know!
Strawberry crunch cheesecake components:
- Golden cookie crust: Using just vegan vanilla wafer cookies and melted vegan butter, the crust comes together so quickly in a food processor. You can also use golden Oreos, which are vegan, or even vegan graham crackers if desired. However, the true strawberry crunch ice cream bar flavor will come from the golden cookie!
- Vanilla bean cheesecake batter: This is my favorite base cheesecake filling- it’s a simple vanilla bean cheesecake batter that’s perfect for no bake cheesecakes because the ratios have been altered from a traditional cheesecake to be a bit thicker at room temperature. Perfect if you’re serving a freezer dessert!
- Fresh strawberry cheesecake batter: We’re using both fresh strawberry and freeze dried strawberries to not only create the most gorgeous naturally pink color, but to also amp up the deliciously sweet strawberry flavor- all with real strawberries. If you’re a lover of all things strawberry and cheesecake, then you’ll love this (and my strawberry cheesecake cookies too!).
- Strawberry cookie crunch: We’re taking even more vanilla cookies and mixing the crumb with blended freeze dried strawberries and a little vegan melted butter.
How is this no bake cheesecake dairy free?
Making a dairy free no bake cheesecake is actually easier than you think. Based off of my 7 ingredient no bake vegan cheesecake bars, converting this recipe to a no bake version and vegan was a breeze.
Instead of traditional cream cheese, we use dairy free cream cheese: Now, not all brands are great here, but I’ll share my favorites. I love using Kite Hill (contains nuts), Nature’s Fynd, or Tofutti (contains soy). Violife is okay- I don’t think it makes a GREAT vegan cheesecake. Miyoko’s vegan cream cheese really doesn’t taste like cream cheese, so I just generally avoid it (but their butter is wonderful!). You can also make your own cream cheese using my recipe here.
Instead of traditional butter, we’re using dairy free butter: Like I mentioned above, Miyoko’s is my favorite here for that (but it does contain nuts!). You can also use Plant Crock. Earth Balance I find has too much of a processed taste and tastes like fake butter rather than a butter replacement.
Instead of heavy cream, we’re using vegan heavy cream: Now, you can use my cashew cream recipe, which is fantastic and really works, or you can use store bought. I personally prefer Silk or Plant Crock, but Califia will work as well. Again, I also don’t really like to use coconut milk or coconut cream here unless the recipe is trying to have a coconut flavor, so avoid that if you can.
Instead of yogurt, we’re using dairy free yogurt: My favorite here is Forager Project (which contains cashews), but you can also use Kite Hill, Tofutti’s sour cream, or soy milk yogurt.
Overview: How to make and assemble a vegan strawberry crunch cheesecake:
The process is very simple, but it does require a few steps, so let’s walk through it.
You’ll only need a food processor and your cheesecake springform pan, so that does make things simplified for sure! No stand mixer required.
All in all, prepping and assembling everything took me 20 minutes start to finish. Then we chill the cheesecake in the freezer for 5-7 hours (or overnight), and you’re ready to serve with fresh strawberries!
Is there a gluten-free option?
Absolutely! If you want to keep with the iconic flavor, you can use store bought gluten free golden Oreos in lieu of the vanilla wafers.
If you’re keen on making your own gluten-free cookie, you can also use my vegan shortbread cookie with gluten-free 1:1 baking flour. (But of course, that would require some baking on your end!).
That’s the only component that would need to be converted to gluten-free- otherwise, you’re set!
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Easy Vegan No Bake Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Chilling Time: 240
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cheesecake
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This no bake strawberry crunch cheesecake has a golden cookie crust, fresh vanilla bean and dairy free strawberry cheesecake batter, and strawberry cookie crunch on top! It’s like the ice cream truck classic- but honestly way better. And so easy!
Ingredients
Strawberry crunch topping:
- 1 package (23 g) freeze dried strawberries
- 36 cookies (150 g) Nilla wafers
- 1/4 cup (55 g) vegan butter
Crust:
- 1 package (250 g) vegan Nilla wafers*
- 85 g vegan butter, melted
Vanilla cheesecake base:
- 32 ounces vegan cream cheese
- 1 cup (240 mL) vegan heavy cream or cashew cream
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 g) dairy free yogurt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup (240 g) hulled strawberries, pureed
- 1 package (23 g) freeze dried strawberries
Toppings:
- Vegan whipped cream
- Fresh strawberries
- Vanilla sandwich cookies
Instructions
- Prep: Line a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper, including along the walls.
- Make the strawberry crunch topping: In a food processor, blend together the freeze dried strawberries from the topping section, cookies, and melted vegan butter until they resemble a wet crumb. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Make the crust: Next, make the crust in a food processor as well. Pulse the cookies and melted vegan butter in the food processor again until they resemble a wet crumb again. This time, pour the crumbs into the springform pan, and press the crust firmly into the base of the pan. You can also work part of the crust up the walls of the cheesecake pan or just leave it as one even layer. Place the crust into the freezer to chill while you make the filling.
- Make the vanilla cheesecake filling base: In a food processor, blend the vegan cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, yogurt, vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste together until you reach a silky consistency. You can pause the food processor to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Pour half of the filling into the crust: Remove the crust from the freezer and pour half of the vanilla cheesecake batter into the base of the crust. Spread the cheesecake to the edges of the crust, and set aside while you make the strawberry cheesecake layer.
- Make the strawberry cheesecake filling: To the food processor with the remaining vanilla cheesecake batter, add in the hulled strawberries and freeze dried from the cheesecake batter section. Blend until smooth.
- Finish assembling the cheesecake: Pour the strawberry cheesecake batter on top of the vanilla cheesecake batter, and spread the batter to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the strawberry crunch topping on top evenly.
- Chill: Chill the cheesecake in the freezer for 4-6 hours, or overnight.
- When ready to serve: Carefully remove the cheesecake from the springform pan. Top with sliced strawberries and vegan whipped cream if desired. Enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Equipment
Notes
For gluten free: Use Oreo’s Gluten Free Golden Oreos, gluten free vegan Nilla wafers, or homemade gluten free vegan graham crackers.
Incredible! I used Tofutti cream cheese, tofutti sour cream, Earth Balance butter, and Silk heavy cream to make it nut free. If you serve it frozen it tastes just like a strawberry shortcake ice cream. Yum! I was looking for a cake that didn’t have buttercream because I find it too sweet. This was perfect!
This is just awesome 🙂 Wow!! Thank you so much for the review!!
Made this for my sister’s-in-law birthday. It was quite easy and looks stunning. Everyone raved about the taste! I couldn’t fine vegan vanilla wafers; I used (accidentally vegan) animal crackers. Will definitely make this again! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
This is amazing 🙂 Thank you so much for the review!! Enjoy!!
I needed a dessert that was dairy, egg, gluten and soya free for various allergies in my family. This was an absolute winner. I made gluten free biscuits for the base and the cashew cream. Fabulous recipe that was easy to follow and it tasted absolutely amazing, so creamy.
Thank you, I can always rely on your recipes x
This is STUNNING! Oh my goodness, I’m so so happy you shared a photo! Thank you so much for making this recipe 🙂 So grateful you loved it! Thanks for being here!
I know its a vegan recipe so no gelatin, but mine couldnt hold its shape and melted quickly…
Hi B! It should definitely still hold its shape! did you freeze it or just place it in the fridge?
I made this for the missus with one small change – I added some rose water since she loves rose flavored sweets. Needless to say she was blown away! Thank you so much 🙂
WOW! This looks absolutely amazing and I do hope she loved it! Thank you SO much for sharing with the community. 🙂
nilla waffers aren’t vegan.. any good sub?
The Whole Foods ones are, those are the ones I use! 🙂
This cake is really delicious but is not that easy to make (it takes some time) and the ingredients are extremely expensive!!
Made this cake for the birthday of my boyfriend. What should I say? It turned out amazing. Thanks for the amazing recipe.
Omgsh this looks TOO GOOD!!! You did it perfectly! Thank you so much for sharing!! YUM!
So, so smooth, creamy, crunchy, light and delicious! I had so much fun making this for my son’s 30th birthday. He and his wife loved it! I used my homegrown mint as the green accent and removed the hulls from the strawberries.