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!
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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, but completely dairy-free, and unlike most vegan cheesecake recipes you don't need any vegan cream cheese or tofu.
To get the perfect baked cheesecake texture I tested and retested with many different ingredients and methods and found that the unlikely combination of chickpeas and cashew nuts gave amazing results.
Please don't let that scare you off though. You would NEVER know! The cashews give the filling its creaminess and the chickpeas give the denseness, which means you don't need to use vegan cream cheese or tofu.
Prefer a no-bake cheesecake? Give my very popular Vegan Biscoff Cheesecake or Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake a try, or if you're really pushed for time I have a single-serve Emergency Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl recipe!
Mel x
Let's Make Vegan New York Cheesecake!
Can't wait to make it? Here's a quick summary of how it's done:
- Make the crust- For this, you need some cookies. Either digestive biscuits or graham crackers. Store-bought or homemade. I have recipes for both. To make the crust blend the cookies with some vegan butter or coconut oil in a food processor then press into a loose bottom pan and refrigerate.
- Make the filling - Blend all of the filling ingredients together. I recommend soaking the cashew nuts in boiling water before blending even if you have a high-powered blender.
- Bake the cheesecake - Pour the filling mixture over the crust then bake. No water bath is required.
- Refrigerate - After baking the cheesecake needs to be refrigerated for at least a few hours before serving.
Do not try to make this cheesecake in a cake pan without a removable bottom. You need to use either a spring-form cake pan or a loose-bottomed cake pan or you will never get it out in on piece.
Serving Suggestions
Here's the cheesecake in all its naked glory:
It is delicious on its own. That BISCUIT BASE is so good! A topping or sauce of some kind is highly recommended though. Not only does it make the cheesecake look beautiful, but it also adds flavour and contrast.
The topping can be as simple as a pile of fresh berries or some vegan caramelized bananas, or you can get creative with any of these:
I love a lemon curd and fresh raspberry combo, or a berry compote and fresh mixed berry combo like in the pictures.
Readers have had so much fun with this recipe over the years. 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 never tried freezing it so can't be sure how it will hold up. I think it should be ok though as long as it is wrapped very well.
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.
Recipe
Vegan New York Cheesecake
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
FOR THE BASE
- 23 (350 grams / 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 sit 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 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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Lucy says
Incredible. I don't know how the combination of ingredients worked, but it sure did! I've never made cheesecake before and consider myself a baking noob but it still turned out amazing. My friends (including non-vegans) really enjoyed it. I also appreciate that this recipe is much cheaper to make than those using vegan cream cheese.
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you all enjoyed it Lucy, and thank you for your review. It's much appreciated!
RubyTwoShoes says
I have a deep 6" cake pan with a removable bottom. Could I use 1/2 the ingredients for the cake? Or.... could I refrigerate half and bake the next day?
Someone mentioned cupcakes 🧁? So many options 🤔
Melanie McDonald says
That's a tricky one. A 9 inch springform pan holds about 10 cups of batter and a 10 inch springform pan holds about 12 cups. According to Google (because I don't know how to calculate it!) a 6 inch pan that's 2 inches deep only holds 4 cups. That means you'd need to make only one third of the recipe. It will significantly affect the bake time which you'll need to wing as I've never tried it and wouldn't like to guess. Just make sure you don't overcook it. You'll need to catch it when its set with a very slight wobble in the centre.
If you plan on baking 2 small cheesecakes, the filling would definitely refrigerate well until the next day but the crust wouldn't because it would set into a hard lump the fridge. You might be able to warm it up really, really gently in a microwave to melt the butter so you can press it into the pan again but again, I've never tried it so don't know how successful it would be.
I hope this helps a bit!
Alyce says
I have a lot of food allergies, so regular cheesecake is a pretty bad idea. This. Is. AWESOME! Actually, I think I need to make it again!
Melanie McDonald says
I’m really pleased you enjoyed it Alyce, and thanks so much for coming back to leave a review. It’s much appreciated!
Estella says
Could I substitute sugar for the maple syrup - if so, how would that work?
Melanie McDonald says
I'm sure you could but I've never tried it and some small adjustments might be necessary for perfect results. I chose maple syrup intentionally because of it's rich, smoky, sweet flavour. Made with it, you can't taste the chickpeas at all. There is a chance that might not be the case if you were to use sugar. I would think that the cheesecake would end up slightly firmer too because you'd be losing the liquid/water content from the maple syrup. So you might need to add something else to replace the flavour, although the difference might be subtle enough you'll get away with it, and you might need to add some liquid of some kind to compensate to get the same texture. I would think you'd need less sugar too as it's sweeter than maple syrup.It's so hard to say without actually trying it though. So, long story short, I think it should be ok if you do, but it won't be at it's best. Hope that helps a bit!
Kelly says
Best cheesecake recipe ever! My daughter is vegan and she loves it! I'm making it for the second time in less than a month mostly because I've craved it since the first time I made it. I may add vegan chocolate chips this time - but it is delicious as is :) My son and I prefer it over non-vegan cheesecake any day!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you’re all enjoying it, Kelly! I love that this recipe is such a blank slate for flavours. Chocolate chips and some warm chocolate sauce to serve would be delicious!
Sally Jones-Rooy says
I've been eyeing this recipe for about a year and finally got around to making it last week. I was skeptical - how could cashews, chickpeas, and tahini turn into such a high rated cheesecake? Much to my pleasure and surprise, it turns out that those ingredients make a deeeliiicious one! I'm gluten-free so I did have to swap out Mel's recipe for my own crust recipe. I topped each slice off with some berry compote, and my husband and I enjoyed the hell out of this cake for 4 days. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you, Mel, for another fantastic recipe!!!
Elva Bevan says
Any idea if this cheesecake freezes well?
Melanie McDonald says
I have never tried freezing it so can't be sure how it will hold up. I think it should be ok though as long as it is wrapped very well but can't guarantee.
Kelly says
I'm making this today, my cheesecake pan is 7.5" wondering if I can use the extra filling in a muffin tin - hope these modifications work!!
Melanie McDonald says
I think it should be ok. Fill the pan no more than 3/4 full and be sure to check it early as it will cook quicker in a smaller pan. You want it slightly wobbly in the middle.
I've never baked the filling in a muffin pan. I wonder how easily they'll come out? If you have silicone or paper liners it should be ok. If you have some, ramekins would work too then you can eat from them and won't need to worry about turning them out.
Good luck!
Kelly says
Thank you for the speedy response!! I love the ramekin idea and you caught me in time :) I can't wait to surprise my vegan daughter with this!
Kaitlyn says
So good!!
I bet it would hold well swirling in jams or nut butters, I'm definitely going to give that a try next time I make it!!
Melanie McDonald says
You can have all sorts of fun with this recipe!! It’s like a delicious blank canvas. So pleased you enjoyed it!!
Coralie says
The texture was AMAZING, unfortunately it tasted like apple cider vinegar. 3 tablespoons sounds like a lot, any reccommendations?
Melanie McDonald says
It's a big cheesecake with so many other ingredients. You really shouldn't be able to taste the apple cider vinegar. I've also never had a report of anyone else tasting it and this is a really old, tried and true recipe. Did you make any changes that could have unbalanced the flavours? Like reducing or omitting one of the other ingredients? If not maybe the brand of vinegar you used is particularly potent, or you are just extra sensitive to the flavour?
Pat says
I love this cheesecake!!! Ive made it serveral times to my and those around me's delight. So much so I'm afraid to make any other recipe. Thing is I've come into a number of pitachios and wanted to make a pistachio cheesecake, do you have any suggestion how I might modify this recipe? I was thinking I would replace the tahini with fresh pistachio butter but wondered if that would be enough pistachio flavour? or would it even work at all?
Melanie McDonald says
Oh gosh pistachio would be delicious! I think you could safely increase the pistachio butter in place of the tahini to 1/4 cup for more flavour. It would make it very expensive but you could also replace the raw cashews with pistachios or go half and half. They’d just take more blending. The top would look stunning with bright green pistachio butter and pistachio crumbles! Let me know how it turns out!
Pat says
i already have an abundance of pistachios so and i dont have anything to do with them, so im going to try to use them all. Thanks for replying and i will report back!!!!!
Jessica says
How did it turn out with pistachios?
Summer Kleweno says
I found a bunch of reddit posts talking about how incredible this recipe is, so I made it this weekend with a mixed berry compote for my son's birthday. It was good, but I would definitely cut back on the apple cider vinegar next time. Even with a flavorful compote, 3 tbsp gave it a very strong, distinct ACV taste. I added a half cup of coconut sugar to try to mask it, but next time I'm going to just cut back to 1.5tbsp of ACV. Other than that, the texture was delicious, just like a traditional New York cheesecake, and it was really pretty!
Angie says
Amazing! best cheesecake ever!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you're enjoying it Angie, and thank you for your review. It's much appreciated!
Carmen says
Hi, this recipe looks amazing but I’m wondering if there’s a substitute for tahini?
Melanie McDonald says
The tahini really helps the overall tangy cheesecake flavour and richness. You honestly wouldn’t know it’s there once it’s baked up and chilled. It just adds another layer to the flavour. There isn’t really anything else that would do the same. Perhaps cashew butter would add the richness but not the tang but I’ve never tried it.
You could omit it if you want but the cheesecake won’t have as much tang and you might detect the chickpea flavour a little more. Hope that helps!
Jackie Newman says
After reading your July catch up email I was going to make the Hummingbird cake. As there were no ripe bananas at my local shop I decided on the cheese cake. Wow, this is a great recipe, beautiful texture and tastes delicious. The berry compote is on the stove now and will top it off beautifully. Sorry I couldn't wait until it was cold to try it 😁
Melanie McDonald says
I'm so pleased you're enjoying it! You'll love it even more with the compote. I guess you'll have to make the hummingbird cake next time. Thanks so much for your review, Jackie. It's much appreciated!
Jackie Newman says
Definitely, as soon as my bananas are ripe enough!
Linda says
Hi! My daughter is allergic to chickpeas. Would white beans work instead of chickpeas for this recipe? Your blog has become my new favorite to find recipes for my vegan daughter.
Melanie McDonald says
Hi Linda, I've never tried this one with white beans. I feel like chickpeas work well in baked goods and desserts because they aren't too "beany". I have a feeling that if you used white beans instead their flavor would come through a lot because the other flavors are quite mild.
I think silken tofu would be the best chickpea substitute here. 1 cup (about 250 grams). If you have the option when buying it go for firm silken tofu but soft should still be ok if you don't. Silken tofu is often in tetra packs and not refrigerated. About 50% of grocery stores sell it here in BC, and any Asian grocery store will have it so hopefully you won't struggle to find it. If you do though regular soft tofu will also work. Just don't use regular firm or extra firm tofu as they can get a scrambled egg type texture when blended and baked.
Hope that helps and that you both enjoy it!
Linda says
Unfortunately she is also allergic to soy so she cannot have tofu. Thanks for the quick reply and the advice, though!
Patricia Schor says
Delicious!!! The recipe is easy and the result is just perfect. I have been vegan for 10 years and am an experienced dessert cook. I had never found such a wonderful traditional vegan cheesecake as this one. My family loved it too. Thank you so much, Mel.
Jen says
Hi Mel! I noticed you have "modified" the recipe on June 12, 2024 . Can you tell me what modifications you made in the recipe so I can make a new card for my recipe file? I LOVE the original recipe but if you found something better, I'm going to try it! Thanks so much for all the incredible recipes you share for free!
Melanie McDonald says
I'm so pleased you're loving the recipe! You'll be pleased to hear that the recipe wasn't modified at all. It's perfect! The changes were only made to the writing of the post and photos. The modified date changes whenever a change is made there. I'm always cycling through old recipe posts as my writing style changes, to improve user experience, or to keep them up to date with Google's ever changing requirements. Hope that helps!
Ania says
I rarely leave any comments under recipes, but that one deserves all the hype and attention! I've been making this NY cheesecake for a few years now and everyone loves it. It's so worth the time and effort. Creamy, rich and smooth. :) The downside is that now I can't enjoy vegan cheesecakes anywhere else, because I've tasted heaven and I know now that a perfect vegan cheesecake exists :P