6 Frozen Store-Bought Cheesecakes, Ranked Worst To Best

It is no easy feat to bake the perfect cheesecake at home. I know this firsthand, considering the number of run-ins I've had with cracked cheesecakes over the years. But luckily for me, and for other home bakers who have thrown in the towel on creating this classic dessert, there's an easy solution lurking in the freezer aisle of your local grocery store. 

Frozen cheesecake is a super-easy item to purchase and enjoy. It comes preassembled, so all you need to do is leave it in your fridge overnight to thaw before slicing into it and serving it after dinner. There's no mixing, stirring, or (worst of all) baking involved. The only work you need to put in is to find a brand with an excellent flavor and texture that you'd feel proud to serve.

To ease this process for you, I've done the legwork of locating, purchasing, and sampling some of the most popular and widely accessible store-bought frozen cheesecake brands on the market, so you don't have to. I tasted each one and ranked them on flavor (both of the crust and the filling), texture, and overall value of the cake itself. 

This Great Value cheesecake from Walmart came out ready to play. It had a plastic cover that makes transporting and serving it easy. Plus, the top of the cheesecake was piped with beautiful whipped cream dollops; it almost looked like it came straight from a bakery. But, in this case, looks can be deceiving. 

I don't know if this actually qualifies as cheesecake, because it was almost like someone took a can of Reddi-wip and sprayed it into a premade pie shell. Slicing into a piece was like cutting through a cloud; it is so light and so soft that my knife only met resistance when it tried to penetrate the thick crust underneath. When I bit into a piece, I immediately felt the filling coat my mouth as though I had just devoured a stream of whipped cream. There was no depth, or cream cheese consistency. Not only that, but I also missed the tanginess that cream cheese offers, despite this ingredient being prominently listed on the box. Instead, this felt like a sugary torrent unleashed from an out-of-control fire hydrant. 

Sure, you can serve a slice of this to a child and tell them that it's cheesecake — and they'll probably believe you. But there's no conceivable way that you can pass this off as cheesecake to someone with a refined palate, or at least a decent understanding of what constitutes real cheesecake. It was a big miss for me, which is unfortunate, considering that this was, by far, the cheapest store-bought frozen cheesecake that I reviewed.

How could I have once thought that Junior's cheesecake was going to be the best of the lot? Maybe it's the label on the box saying that this was "Voted No. 1" by New York Magazine. And, well, in my home region of New England, we have high standards when it comes to something like frozen cheesecake. 

This cheesecake is downright awful to cut. The second I shoved my knife into the center, the whole cheesecake cracked, just like when Scrat shoved the acorn into the ice during the opening scene of "Ice Age." Granted, the ground beneath me didn't split when I tried to slice Junior's cheesecake, but any hope of this confection coming out well did. I had to scrap the first slice that I tried to cut because it came out absolutely mangled. The second slice cut a little better, but there are still many structural issues with this cheesecake. Notably, it has a paper-thin crust, so eating it is like biting into a block of sweetened cream cheese (not a bad block of sweetened cream cheese, I'll give it that). But, there was no harmony between the crust and the dried-out, spongy filling. 

This cheesecake has flavor, and a filling that was true to the New York style — so I'll give it some credit. But otherwise, I was really unimpressed by Junior's frozen cheesecake, and would never consider serving it at a party, nor eating it out of the fridge to satisfy a midnight craving.

The Sara Lee cheesecake is smaller in diameter than many of the other brands that I reviewed for this ranking, despite the fact that its price is one of the highest. I chose between two Sara Lee cheesecake products: a thick New York-style option, and the creamy classic variety that I taste-tested. Unlike the New York-style cheesecake — which is rich and dense — the classic cheesecake is lumpy and soft. So, I expected to have more issues when slicing into it than with other brands. 

I will give Sara Lee props for their packaging. This cake was in a tightly wrapped pie tin covered with thick cardboard. So, I don't think this product would be damaged if it were jostled around on the way to your dinner party. It was also easy to see the shiny layer of sour cream on top of this slice when I cut into it. The slicing process was difficult because the pie tin's angle was too abrupt to wedge the knife in, and because the graham cracker layer was like powder. This meant that the crust came out very loose and messy — which made for a slice that I wouldn't feel proud of serving to someone. Plus, the crust was rather wet and soggy, which did the cake a disservice. 

The flavor of this cake is solid, though, which earned it some redemption. The sour cream on top is a nice touch, and really softens the richness of the thick cream cheese underneath. I think a little more of a defined crust would have done this slice some good, and bumped it up in the ranking. But as of now, it's closer to the bottom. 

I was so glad that Aldi offers a cheap alternative to the higher-end cheesecake brands on the market — and this Belmont confection is apparently popular, as I grabbed the last one out of the freezer case. This cheesecake was packaged on a thin round of cardboard with a loose paper collar, and plastic is wrapped over the top of it. My main reservation about this packaging choice was that if the box goes even a little topsy-turvy, it's likely that this whole cake will go splat. Luckily, the cake itself is rather thick and true to New York-style cheesecake, so I don't think it would be catastrophic if you accidentally bumped into something — it just may make you feel less enthusiastic about serving it. 

The cake itself is sweet and decadent. The cream cheese layer was perfectly spongy and rich, which really lived up to my expectations. However, I didn't pick up on many of the vanilla flavor notes I was searching for. Moreover, I also thought that the graham cracker crust on this cake was rather thick, which means that it stays together well when you slice into it, but it also means that it feels like you are chewing on a whole graham cracker when eating this cake. I also didn't like that there are oat-like pieces in the crust, which rubbed against my molars when chewing it. All in all, for under $10, this is a cake that I would consider choosing again, but I would be more willing to purchase it if Aldi invested a bit more in its packaging. 

If you are looking for the best whipped cheesecake on the market, Edwards Signatures is the golden ticket. It delivers everything that Great Value couldn't come close to offering (aside from the lower price). The presentation of this cake is stellar; it's beautifully piped, it comes in a plastic-covered tin, and it has a crust that's easy to cut through. While the lower-ranking cheesecakes on this list crumbled the second they came out of the package, Edwards Signatures stayed completely intact — without a single crumb in sight. 

Another thing that Edwards Signatures does well is deliver on the actual cheesecake component. While the Great Value cake was all fluff and no substance, this cake actually has layers upon layers of soft cream cheese filling. You can taste the tang and the sweetness very clearly, yet this cheesecake is still quite light on the palate. I also like that the crust has a solid density. It is thick, definitely, but it's a welcome contrast to the fluffy filling within it. 

Overall, I was quite impressed with this Edwards Signatures product. But, there was one extra perk that the top-ranked brand on this list offers that pushed it over the top.

I do not consider myself to be a brand loyalist. Name brand, generic — it's all the same to me. But when you get a reputable brand like Cheesecake Factory in the running, you know that some heads will turn. 

Someone thought about this whole frozen cheesecake thing a lot. This was the only brand that was pre-sliced and affixed with little paper tabs, so that you can easily pull out a piece and serve it without having to worry about the crumbs going everywhere. Each slice is perfectly sectioned and easy to plate, which would be very practical for serving at a party or presenting ahead of a special occasion. No mess? No fuss? That's my kind of cheesecake. 

The flavor of this cheesecake is also just like I remember from my childhood trips to The Cheesecake Factory. The cream cheese base is light and airy, yet still has the denseness that can be tied back to the New York-style. I also thought that this cheesecake is quite sweet, given that there are strong sugary notes in both the filling and the crust of this cake. I also could detect some cinnamon notes in the crumb crust, which I found to have the most correct proportion out of any of the brands that I sampled. 

Don't get me wrong, The Cheesecake Factory's frozen store-bought cheesecake isn't cheap; it's several dollars more than the other brands that I sampled. But if you're looking for quality, you may want to consider spending a little bit more — because this slice is the real deal.

I chose to review widely available store-bought cheesecakes for this review. I also elected to only purchase cheesecakes that were either New York-style or whipped. The exclusion of flavored cheesecakes was purposeful, as I wanted to fairly assess the texture and flavor of each brand as fairly as possible. Each cheesecake had to come pre-frozen to be eligible for this ranking, and I followed the recommended thawing and serving directions for every variety. 

I examined several factors in order to rank each slice of cheesecake. First, I looked for the texture and consistency of the cake. I wanted a cheesecake that could easily stick together, rather than one that comes out too crumbly. This ensures a clean serving experience, as well as the proper ratio of crust to filling in every bite. I also wanted a filling that was reflective of its respective cheesecake style (meaning New York-style cheesecake would be denser, while whipped cheesecake would be light and airy). I wanted to clearly taste the tang of cream cheese in each bite, as well as a soft, sugary flavor to carry it through. 

I awarded some extra points if the slice came ready-to-serve, meaning that it was sold in an attractive container or came pre-sliced. After considering taste, consistency, and appearance, I also considered the value of each product. I figured consumers would be willing to pay more for a high-quality frozen cheesecake, but the added price had to be justified based on the cake's quality.