Ultra-rich and creamy baked Vegan New York Cheesecake made with no cream cheese or tofu! It's sweet but not too sweet, tastes amazing, and can be served with your choice of topping. I love it with some berry compote and fresh berries.
Love cheesecake? Be sure to try my very popular Vegan Biscoff Cheesecake and Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake next!
FEATURED COMMENT
"Not even joking, this cake is amazing! I am a huge cheesecake fan, and this consistency is right on the money...Amazing. Great flavour, and fantastic texture...you can't even tell it's vegan, it just tastes like a homemade cheesecake. I'm in love." - Al ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
It doesn't get better than this Vegan New York Style Cheesecake! It is just like a "real" baked cheesecake in texture. Dense, rich, super creamy, very satisfying, completely dairy-free and unlike most vegan cheesecake recipes, you don't need any vegan cream cheese or tofu to make it.
This recipe is such a popular one with AVV readers, with 5-star reviews aplenty, and it comes highly recommended on Reddit too. One user commented, "I have made this one multiple times and always get rave reviews from non-vegans. It tastes and has texture like a real baked cheesecake. I can't recommend it more."
To get the perfect baked cheesecake texture, I tested and retested this recipe dozens of times with many different ingredients and methods and eventually found that a very unlikely combination of chickpeas and cashew nuts gave amazing results, and that tried-and-true version is the one you are seeing here today.
Please don't let the cashews and chickpeas scare you off, though. You would NEVER know! The cashews give the filling its creaminess and the chickpeas make the filling dense and creamy, which means you don't need to use vegan cream cheese or tofu.
I hope you love it!
Mel x
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🤍 WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS Vegan New York Cheesecake
- Easy - Simple instructions and quick to prepare.
- Delicious - It tastes just like regular cheesecake and even impresses non-vegans.
- Great for making in advance - It keeps really well for up to a week in the fridge. Perfect for a stress-free dessert when entertaining.
- Customizable - Make the cheesecake and choose your own topping.
- No vegan cream cheese - Most plant-based cheesecakes need store-bought cream cheese for the filling. This recipe doesn't, which means it's cheaper to make and more accessible for people who can't easily buy vegan products.
- Soy-free and dairy-free - Perfect for people with allergies or intolerances.
- Naturally sweetened - Instead of refined sugars, the cheesecake filling is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, which gives it a balanced, not-too-sweet flavour.
- Family-friendly - This is a vegan dessert recipe the whole family will love. It's perfect for holidays and dinner parties.
Serving Suggestions
It's delicious as it is, but a topping or sauce not only makes the Vegan New York cheesecake look beautiful, it also adds flavour and contrast.
In my pictures, I topped it with my easy frozen berry compote (blended and sieved to make it smooth) and piles of fresh berries.
Other toppings that work really well include:
- Vegan caramelized bananas and coconut whipped cream
- Vegan Lemon Curd (amazing with some fresh raspberries too)
- Pumpkin Caramel Sauce
- Roasted Strawberries
- Blueberry Lavender Sauce
- Frozen Berry Compote
- Healthy Caramel Sauce
- Melted Biscoff spread (you could even use Biscoff cookies instead of digestives or graham crackers).
Readers have had so much fun with this recipe over the years. I love seeing your remakes! One very popular riff, which I haven't yet tried myself but sounds amazing, is to use Oreo cookies for the base, with chunks of broken Oreo stirred through the batter and lots of chocolate syrup or sauce to drizzle.
Recipe FAQs
I have personally never tried freezing it, but several people in the comments have said they have with success. Be sure to wrap it very well if you decide to try it.
To make this recipe gluten-free, you'll need to find some gluten-free digestive biscuits or graham crackers. The filling is naturally gluten-free.
You can use either a springform pan or a cake pan with a loose push-up style removable bottom. I do not recommend trying to make this cheesecake in a cake pan without a removable bottom, or you will never get it in one piece.
Sorry no. The full-fat coconut milk is important for setting the cheesecake.
Recipe
Vegan New York Cheesecake
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
FOR THE BASE
- 23 (350 grams or 12 oz) digestive biscuits, or graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons (90 ml) melted vegan butter, or coconut oil
FOR THE FILLING
- 2 cups (300 grams) raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for 15 mins then drained (measured before soaking)
- 1 cup (175 grams) canned chickpeas, drained & rinsed well
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
- ½ cup (120 ml) maple syrup, (real maple, not pancake syrup!)
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 x 14oz (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk (It must be full-fat, not light. If your can is only 398 ml, that's fine).
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 320F (160°C) and line a 9 or 10-inch spring-form pan that is at least 3 inches deep. First, grease it with vegan butter or a little oil so the paper sticks. Then draw around the bottom of the cake pan on parchment paper, cut it out and put that in the bottom of the pan. Line the sides of the pan with a long rectangular strip of baking parchment.
- Put the digestive biscuits (or graham crackers) into a food processor with the melted butter/coconut oil and blend until well combined and looking like crumbly damp sand. Press very tightly into the bottom of the cake pan to form a thick crust layer. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
- Add all of the filling ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour over the crust, then set the pan on a baking tray.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until set well around the edges with a tiny bit of a wobble in the middle. Time will vary slightly depending on your oven and the pan you use.
- Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 4 to 5 hours or overnight. Don't put it in the fridge while hot/warm.
NOTES
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Ally says
Hi,
This looks amazing and I am so excited to try it. I have a question though: would it be possible to use some other bean instead of chickpeas? I find I have an allergy to chickpeas (usually just chickpea flour, but I avoid both chickpeas and chickpea flour to be safe) .
Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I haven't tried it with any other bean so I'm not sure whether the beany taste might come through with others? I would imagine it would be ok though as it would more than likely get drowned out by the other ingredients. You could always taste the mixture and add more vanilla to cover up any bean taste if you can detect it. It will definitely technically work though so no worries there. Good luck!
Fran says
Do you only use the solid part of the full fat coconut milk?
A Virtual Vegan says
No the whole can, not just the hard part.
Lindsay says
The taste is very good and the directions were easy to follow. Mine was a bit overcooked at 70 minutes though. I should have been keeping a closer eye on it.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm glad you liked it Lindsay. With anything baked in the oven the time can vary a little. All ovens are slightly different, some pans conduct heat better than others etc. That's why I say "around" 70 minutes and give instructions on what to look out for so you know it's ready. I'm sure you'll get it spot on next time! Thank you so much for stopping by to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!
Raina Saul says
Oh my God i just put it in the oven and realized i forgot to add the vinegar!!! Whats going to happen? Is it ruined? I could cry!
A Virtual Vegan says
It won't be ruined so don't panic! The vinegar helps give it a little tang, like a cheesecake made with cream cheese. It will still be perfectly edible without!
Raina says
Oh thank you! Do you think the vinegar also works to cover some of the coconut flavor from the coconut milk?
A Virtual Vegan says
Maybe a little but hardly as it's such a small amount. With all the other ingredients the coconut is pretty drowned out. I have never detected it.
laura says
this looks awesome, can't wait to try! I used to make normal cheesecake as a rainbow-cake, by dividing the filling, colouring the different batches and pouring them on top of each other into the form. do you think this could work with that filling or is the texture not creamy enough?
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. The mixture is pretty thick and creamy so I think coloured layers probably would work if you poured them on really gently. I bet it would be really pretty!
Emre says
Hi,
I'd like to make this cheesecake next weekend. I've tried countless recipes, but nothing came close to a real cheesecake. This recipe sounds interesting, so I'll give it a try. I'm not sure about the Tahini, tho. Mine tastes very bitter and intense. I like the flavour in hummus, but I don't know about cheesecake. Will it blend in or does your Tahini taste different than mine?
Skhdzb says
Pretty delicious!! I recommend using about half of the lemon zest
Amber says
I made this and the ingredients didn't fit in my blender and really gave it a workout. It smelled strongly of vinegar and there was far more filling than to fit a 9" pan. It wasn't creamy or sweet at all.
I followed the recipe to a T, so I'm unsure what went wrong.
A Virtual Vegan says
Sorry you didn't have a good experience. It's a shame because this is such a popular recipe and usually gets fantastic feedback.
If you have a smaller blender, when making larger capacity recipes you need to blend up the mixture in two parts. I work with a standard sized blender and can only account for that in my recipes. Everything you are blending in this recipe is really soft so it shouldn't be hard work for your blender. It sounds perhaps like yours isn't powerful enough for recipes like this or that you were trying to blend too much at once and it couldn't cope.
If you only used the stated amount of vinegar and used apple cider vinegar then it shouldn't smell strongly of vinegar. It smells tangy because that's how cheesecakes should be but not vinegary. Did you use a different type of vinegar or use a different amount?
As for it not fitting in the pan, it needs to be a deep springform pan suitable for cheesecakes. Shallow pans wont have the capacity needed. I have a deep 9 inch springform pan and everything fits in it perfectly every time.
Ruth says
Excited to make this! Will this freeze well? If so, how long do you think? Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never tried freezing it. I would imagine it would be ok but can't say for sure. If you try it let me know how it goes!
Daniela says
I wanted to thank you for sharing this great recipe! I modified it a little and made it into a grain free carob cheesecake and it was fantastic! Even or omni friends liked it! Thank you thank you! Next attempt will be pumpkin cheesecake! Happy holidays and have a great new year!
A Virtual Vegan says
It sounds great. So glad you all enjoyed it! The adaptation possibilities are endless with this recipe. Pumpkin would be so good!
Cara says
This recipe tuned out great! My cheesecake-loving son gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up. I did not have a spring form pan, but there was just about the perfect amount of filling for two nine-inch store bought graham cracker pie crusts. I reduced the cooking time to 35 minutes (although don't quote me on that, my oven is kind of dodgy) and added a homemade cherry sauce. Divine!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I'm so glad you all enjoyed it. I can imagine how good cherry sauce was with it!
Joanna says
I have a can of chickpeas. What do you mean by cooked? Also, will it be ok if I made the cheesecake 5 days in advance? Thanks!
Mindlyly says
Impressive.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you!
Violaine says
Thank you, your recipe sounds very promising. I have a question concerning the full fat coconut milk to make sure I pick the right one. How much fat do you have in your coconut milk? I found one with 22 g fat for 100 ml (3,4 oz). Is it enough?
A Virtual Vegan says
I just checked a can in my cupboard and it is 14g of fat per 79ml, so roughly the same as yours. It will be fine!
Isabelle Adams says
Do you think if i added oreos to this to make it an oreo cheesecake, it would still turn out okay?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes. I have a couple of readers who make it like that. With oreos crushed up for the base instead of digestives and chunks of oreos through the batter and whole ones stuck in the top. They say it's great!
Mary Light says
I am in the midst of making it for a student gathering tomorrow. So far just in tasting it it is surprisingly tasty!
I had Mexican Vanilla at hand (which is not always my go-to...) and did fresh lemon and also orange zest. I had a ten inch springform and added a cup of unsweetened coconut shredded to the " gluten free graham animal cracker cookies " I had on hand, as it seemed to need more to fill it out as to that size bag of animal cookies. I used to be a chef/caterer and made a lot of cheesecakes in my time, and this one is shaping up nicely! About to go in the oven. Have a Peach Cranberry Maple freuit sauce to serve with it as an optional topping, or a cold "coconut whipped" organic whipped topping.
A Virtual Vegan says
I hope it goes down well tomorrow. Your sauce sounds amazing. The perfect accompaniment!
Michael says
Great post, fab recipe, chickpeas, who'da thunk it, *clap clap clap* :D
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! Chickpeas are my secret weapon in lots of recipes!
Emily says
Love your cheesecake! I only changed the maple syrup to a cup of sugar. Lotus biscoff cookies make for a delicious crust.
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you like it! I love those biscoff cookies. That's a great idea to use them in the crust.
Maggie says
So for the chickpeas is it supposed to be 1cup of cooked chickpeas for the recipe or cook a cup that will expand to about 3cups?
A Virtual Vegan says
It's 1 cup of cooked chickpeas.
Lia says
Hi. Is there anything that can sub for cashews?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never tried it with anything other than cashews. Macadamias would almost certainly work, possibly sunflower seeds although I'm not sure how they would affect the flavour, almonds if they were soaked and blended really well. Young coconut meat too might work. Let me know how it goes if you do decide to try anything else. I'd love to know how it turns out!