No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe

Do you have 10 free minutes right now for some hands-on work and the patience to wait 2 and a half hours before sinking your teeth into one amazing dessert? Then this No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake needs to be on the menu at your house. Seriously, this cake requires only 10 minutes of active work, and as it keep well for weeks, you can spend those 10 minutes now even if you don't need a cake until quite some time in the future. And don't worry, by the way — that "active work" is simple stuff.

Chef and recipe developer Nathaniel Lee of Beginner Food calls the cake "very easy to make," adding it "can literally all be done in a food processor or blender." And while it's called a "strawberry" cheesecake, this recipe can be remarkably flexible. Within reason, Lee says: "Substitutions are any jam or fruit." Maybe not watermelon, but blueberries? Go for it. Raspberries? By all means. Or better yet, blend fruits. "Strawberry and bananas, right — who knew?" jokes Lee.

And also note that Lee says: "You can also top the cheesecake however you want. The mixture will be strong enough after about an hour to line it with anything you want." So toss on more fruit, crumbled nuts, chocolate flakes, or whatever sounds great to you.

When in doubt (and the first time you prep any given dish), just follow the recipe for this no-bake strawberry cheesecake exactly. To do that, you'll need graham crackers, a cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar, ½ a cup of melted butter, about 1 cup of strawberries, 2 cups of cream cheese, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 cup of whipped topping (Lee uses Cool Whip in this recipe), and about 4 tablespoons of strawberry jam.

But just as soon as you are comfortable with this cheesecake, the sky is the limit. Or rather, the fruits and jams available at the local grocery store or farmer's market. Just about any berry and many other types of fruit will work great.

To make the crust for our no-bake cheesecake, blitz the graham crackers (about 9 or 10 full-sized graham crackers broken into pieces), 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the half cup of melted butter in a blender or food processor. Lee says: "The mistakes to avoid [with this recipe] relate mostly to the graham cracker crust; if your blender isn't immensely powerful, it [will] create a big vortex, so you will want to pre-crumble the pieces a bit by hand so they don't get stuck above the blades."

Press the prepared crust evenly down into a springform pan, and then rinse out the blender and pat the interior dry.

Wash and hull the strawberries, chopping any extra large ones into halves or quarters, then toss them in the blender. (And or toss in whatever other fruit you are using, of course.) Now blend the strawberries, cup of sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla until they are all fully combined. Next, pour this mixture into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Next, fold the strawberry mixture with the whipped topping and jam, working until the ingredients are blended but without mixing so vigorously that the consistency starts to change. Now pour the mixture into your springform pan over the crust, spreading it out to fill the pan evenly.

Your hands-on work is already done! Pop the cheesecake into the freezer and let it freeze for at least 2 hours, but remember it can keep in there for up to a month. (It's a good idea to put some plastic wrap over the cheesecake once it has frozen if you know it's going to be sitting in the freezer for a long time.)

Just make sure you pull the cake out of the freezer a half hour before you plan to serve it, whether it has been 2 hours or 2 weeks or more. And quick pro tip: "For cleaner cuts, use a heated knife," Lee says.