Cheesecake craving, squashed. This easy no-bake vegan cheesecake is light, creamy and subtly sweet with a perfectly silky texture.
I mean really. Just look at this. Simple and lovely.
I love a good cashew-based cheesecake as much as the next person, but the last one I made cost me more than $30 in ingredients. Yikes. And I just chose to bury my head in the sand about its fat content.
So I set about to make a vegan cheesecake which would be easy, delicious (obviously) and lighter in all respects.
I served this to a bunch of friends, without telling them what was in it. They loved it, and one even said it was better than regular dairy cheesecake and didn’t leave her with that sick and heavy feeling from the usual too-rich dessert.
Success.
Here it is again.
A simple vegan cheesecake…
Like what you see? This recipe couldn’t be easier, and is super quick to make. There’s a bit of thinking ahead to do to soak some nuts, chill your crust and chill the complete cheesecake, but actual hands on prep time is less than 10 minutes, and there’s no cooking involved.
The crust is a simple mixture of dates, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, set with a little coconut oil. The crust is a little on the fragile side, but it’s really only there for taste and texture anyway. And I really like not having to smash through a too-crunchy base. We’ve all been there.
If your dish is a bit bigger than mine, don’t try and spread the crust mixture thin as it’ll just fall apart. Instead, you could line your dish with cling film (to be sure you can easily remove the cheesecake later) and make it a bottom only base (no side walls). This would also work really well as mini cheesecakes made in a muffin pan or silicon molds.
…with a secret ingredient
The secret ingredient in this vegan cheesecake filling is naturally low-fat soft tofu. With a few subtle flavours and a little sweetener added, any hint of tofu-ness is well masked if not impossible to detect. Half a cup of cashews and the coconut oil ensure there’s still some richness and a creamy mouthfeel.
You can buy silken tofu packaged at the supermarket, but you need 500 grams for this recipe so that won’t be the cheapest option. Head to your local Asian grocer instead and pick up some fresh soft tofu, mine cost $2 NZD for 500 grams. Bargain.
Oh yeah and the total cost? About $10 NZD I reckon, proportionately estimated for things like the coconut oil and maple syrup which I already had.
You’ll need a food processor to make this.
Watch the video
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
- 1 cup dates
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/3 cup almonds
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted if solid
For the filling:
- 500 g soft tofu drained
- 1/2 cup raw cashews soaked for at least 4 hours (longer is fine) and drained
- 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted if solid
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- Vanilla - seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste, or 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
For the crust:
- Put all crust ingredients in to a food processor and pulse until you have a small crumb.
- Use your hands and the back of a spoon to press the crust mixture evenly into a tin. I used a 20cm pie tin with a removable base.
- Put in the fridge or freezer for a few hours to firm up.
For the filling:
- Put everything except the coconut oil into a blender or food processor.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour in the coconut oil, while the blender is running. You'll now have a thick and creamy, but pourable filling mixture.
- Pour the filling into your pre-prepared crust and evenly spread and smooth it with a spatula. Work quickly as the chilled crust will start to set the filling mixture quite quickly.
- Pop the cheesecake in the fridge overnight (ideally) or for at least 2-3 hours to set.
- Serve straight from (or recently from) the fridge. Both the crust and filling will soften at room temperature.
RECIPE NOTES
- Prep time does not include soaking time for the cashews, or chilling time for the crust or whole cheesecake.
- This recipe freezes pretty well. It's better from the fridge so I wouldn't recommend freezing it ahead of time for a special occasion, but go ahead and freeze leftovers in single serve portions. The moisture content of the tofu means the cheesecake freezes solid, so allow an hour or two for it to thaw at room temperature.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
I miss eating this, can we please rewind to yesterday when this deliciousness was happening? Love, an always eager tester xx
Haha, I rewound to yesterday twice today. What’s a girl to do when there’s a cheesecake smiling at her every time she opens the fridge…?
Here’s another sub question (thinking of what I have in the pantry to use up instead of buying more new ingredients)…brown rice syrup for maple syrup? I’m thinking no…?
I haven’t tried it so can’t be sure sorry. I think it would be fine, but it is a lot thicker than maple syrup so maybe a good idea to melt it with the coconut oil before adding it to the tofu etc.
That looks amazing! I will have to try this idea of using tofu instead of just cashews in vegan cheesecake. Love the lime + vanilla flavors in here! 🙂
That crust is so beautiful! I love all of the colors / textures happening in there.
It’s late and I’m sleepy, so I apologize if the answer is staring me in the face, but what am I soaking the cashews in, and why?
Hi Liz. You’re soaking them in water (in a large bowl or glass jug). The reason is two-fold. Firstly – to soften them and enable them to be blended completely smooth for the cheesecake filling. Secondly – soaking nuts activates them and makes their nutrients more absorbable by your body. Here’s a good article on soaking nuts and seeds, if you’re interested in finding out more: http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/info/soaking_grains_nuts_seeds
Great. Thanks, Amber!
Omg this looks so good! I have seen many vegan cheesecakes using tofu, I have yet to try it. Your pictures so make me want to make it right now!
My husband made this a couple of weekends ago and I made today. It really is better the next day when a little firmer so may be dessert tomorrow night (if we can resist). Today I made with lemon juice instead of lime as I prefer it, tastes just as good!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I love it too and agree overnight really is ideal for the best texture. I think any citrus would probably work, now my mind is whirring on what a grapefruit version would taste like!
My son is allergic to dairy, eggs, nuts and soy…. How in the world can I make a cheesecake he can eat? Any good substitutions for the nuts?
Oh goodness me that must be so difficult. I don’t think there are any substitutions that would work for this recipe, given that the other main ingredient is tofu, but I’ll certainly give your situation some thought. There must be a way to achieve a similarly special dessert that is allergy friendly. Is cocoa/cacao acceptable with his allergies? (I know some severe nut allergies rule it out).
He can have cocoa/Cacao powder. He’s not anaphylactic, thank goodness, but he can’t consume the things I listed above.
Hello lovely! Avocado is an awesome substitute to give a creamy texture – especially when paired with cacao! I personally have never tried making cheesecake specifically but in your son’s case it might be worth a shot.
Here is a recipe, you could make a biscuit and oil base instead of nuts. All the best!
http://barerootgirl.com/nourish/2015/7/9/avocado-key-lime-cheesecake
Sorry it took me a little longer to get to this than I thought it would, but I gave your question some thought and came up with this recipe for allergy-friendly raspberry, lime and coconut vegan cheesecake: https://quitegoodfood.co.nz/2016/04/25/raspberry-lime-coconut-cheesecake/
Made this yesterday and loved it! Very surprised with the results. For sure will make again
That’s great to hear! I’m so glad you enjoyed it xx
This looks good! But what can I use instead of tofu?
Hi Marcela, tofu is a key ingredient in this recipe so there’s really nothing you can substitute sorry. Check out my raspberry, lime and coconut cheesecake if you’re interested in a vegan cheesecake without tofu.
Hi, what can I use instead of dates? I don’t like soft dry fruits in general.
Hi Viviana, in this recipe the dates are essential to ‘glue’ all of the nuts and seeds together. Another fruit like dried apricot could potentially work (though I haven’t tried it), but if you don’t like soft dry fruits in general that’s probably not much help. Depending on your dietary requirements, you could look elsewhere for a standard biscuit base to use instead of this whole foods one, which is pretty reliant on dates sorry.
This recipe did not work at all. The crust was fine: lovely taste and mouthfeel. But the filling would not set. I made it twice and ran with the recipe to the letter. A friend of mine also made it and it failed. (Thank god as I was feeling like a right numpty over such a simple recipe). Same thing. Filling wouldn’t set.
Could it be the tofu? I note you ask for soft tofu. Soft in Australia refers to silken (there are three types here – soft/silken, medium and hard/firm) and I’m thinking the tofu may have been too soft. May I ask what you actually used for the tofu? Brand? Thanks.
Hi there, I’m really sorry to hear that. I know at least a handful of other people who have made it successfully a number of times so I’m quite surprised. Silken tofu is fine. I used fresh silken tofu from an Asian grocery store, so no brand name sorry but I doubt that would have made a difference as it’s really the coconut oil that sets it. I found that the mixture started setting quickly as it was spread into the chilled base, then took an overnight rest in the fridge to be set enough to slice. Maybe it’s to do with the coconut oil? I’m assuming it’s the same everywhere but maybe not, the coconut oil I used comes in a tub and is hard (unless heated or in a warm climate). Again I’m really sorry to hear that it didn’t work for you.
Thanks so much for your response and for your comments on the coconut oil.
I will do this recipe yet again and focus on the amount of coconut oil in the recipe.
I am determined to find out what it is I’ve done wrong and get this right! 🙂
Cheers.
IT WORKED! It was the coconut oil!! GAH!
I made two of them – one with firm tofu, the other with soft. And I made a wonderful discovery. I adjusted the coconut oil and both turned out with the soft one having that smooth, traditional no bake cheesecake texture whereas the firm one had the texture of a baked cheesecake…like a new yorker. Love them both!! Thanks for the feedback. Goal scored. *thumbs up*
Fantastic news! I am so relieved to hear that, I was so puzzled about why it wasn’t working for you. Nice to know it turns out well with firm tofu too 🙂
Hi Tiny, when you said it was the coconut oil, do you mean you used too little in your first attempt?
Because my cheesecake didn’t set at all either. I stuck to the recipe though. Humm… 🙂
Made this cheesecake last week
It turned out perfectly
It was utterly delicious
It will be made again and again
Thank you
I have passed on your web page to other family members that are vegan
We love it
Many thanks
Low fat vegan cheesecake
Win win
Thanks Julie that makes me so happy! So glad you love it xxx
This looks beautiful! I was wondering whether there was any replacement for the cashews? My boyfriend is allergic to cashews (and my housemate has a severe nut allergy full stop!) .x.
Hi there, for the filling I think you could probably replace the cashews with blanched (skinless) almonds for a similar effect. It might also work to just leave nuts out of the filling altogether, though I haven’t tried it. The base also has nuts (almonds) so probably not ideal for your housemate. This allergy-friendly cheesecake recipe is very popular too, and totally nut free.
This turned out absolutely incredible for me. Thank you so much!
Fantastic! Great to hear 🙂
Such a great idea! I’ll definitely try this one.
Thank you for sharing, I’m already following you.
thebrunettetofu.blogspot.pt
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Can I leave out the lime juice? I’m making this instead of a traditional Danish dessert consisting of vanilla rice pudding with almonds and cherry sauce. I want the filling to be very vanilla-y and I don’t think the lime will work that well with the cherry layer I’m going to put on top.
Lots of love and merry Christmas xx
Hi Cecilie, you could leave out the lime juice but I think the filling does need a little something sharp to give it the right balance. Maybe you could swap it with lemon juice, which would probably work better with the cherry layer? (And oh my, what an amazing sounding combination! Such a perfect Christmas dessert!). All the best and have a wonderful Christmas xx
It looks sooo nice but the coconut oil … 🙁 I don’t use it anymore because of its content of saturated fat. I think I’ll replace it with agar agar.
How did it go with agar agar? 🙂 How much did you use? 🙂 Should I expect any difference in the taste or texture if I use agar agar instead of coconut oil? 🙂
Glorious. Absolutely glorious. My husband can’t get over that this is technically healthy. 🙂 I am going to be super mom in the morning when I announce that we’re eating cheesecake for breakfast. Lol! Honestly though, we’re very much in love. I messed up my crust a bit…no almonds in the house, so I used cashews-then I over blended which released the oils in the nuts and made it overly oily. Plus I only pressed it to the bottom of my spring form pan. As for the filling I had no tofu, but I had vegan cream cheese to use. Divine. Thanks for this recipe. I can’t love it enough.
Haha and what a wonderful breakfast it would be! Thanks for your lovely words, it makes my day hearing from readers and I’m so glad you enjoyed this 🙂 xx
Hi, LOVE this cake….. made it, and my family members all love it.
I have 1 question, by using the Tofu, I found there is water dripping out from the base after during thaw. Luckily the base is full with nuts, so the water go thru, if is a flour base, it will really mess up.
How can I make it better? is it I need to dry the Tofu in cheese cloth before use?
Hi Jasslyn, I’m so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe! This cheesecake is definitely best served straight from the fridge. In saying that, when I’ve frozen and defrosted it, I haven’t experienced the leakage you’re describing – just a slightly different texture. I don’t know that draining the tofu will make a lot of difference when it’s to be added to a wet filling mixture like this, but it could be worth a try. If you’re freezing it because it makes too much for you, you could half the recipe and make a smaller single cheesecake or mini cheesecakes in muffin tins – then you can enjoy it at its best, straight from the fridge.
Hi Amber, Thank you for your reply.
Will try it again.
I really like your nut base, so colourful.
My second attempt was using your base recipe, top with cashew cream. Yummy….
Hi I was wondering if the tofu can be replaced with anything else? I am allergic to soy but not dairy so any alternatives would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Amber, I can’t offer any alternatives for this recipe sorry, but do have other vegan cheesecake recipes which are soy free. Here, here and here.
I am so excited to try this recipe. My 13yr old is diabetic so I’m thinking of skipping the maple syrup and sweetening with mango puree. Topping off the cake with fresh kiwi mango strawberries.
Not a fan of artificial sweeteners. Any advice? Hope the cheesecake sets!
Hi Sanaya, my only concern with your idea is whether you’d need to add more than 1/4 cup of the mango puree to make it sweet enough? The cheesecake does set nicely with the current ratios of liquid/solids/fats but I think if you put too much puree in, you’d risk it not setting. Of course 1/4 cup puree might be enough, in which case happy days! I LOVE the idea of a mango and lime flavoured cheesecake, so I bet it would be delicious! Let me know how you go if you try this 🙂 I’m not a fan of artificial sweeteners either, but I don’t know much about the diabetic diet sorry so am hesitant to make any suggestions. I assume brown rice syrup is also a no go?
Hi! This cheesecake was a massive success!. I replaced the maple syrup with pureed raspberries and mango. Before pouring the filling onto the crust I put a layer of chopped mango at the base. Naturally sweet and delicious. My only challenge was with the coconut oil, after emulsifying started forming micro solid granules. Any idea why? Thank you so much!
Oh that sounds so delicious! If the other part of the mixture was very cold, the coconut oil may have started to set too quickly and formed the little granules. I haven’t had that problem before, but I think you could fix it by very gently heating the mixture to re-melt the coconut oil, then pouring into the crust. I’m so pleased you enjoyed it 🙂
Unfortunately it didn’t work, although I stuck to your recipe 100%. 🙁
It’s super runny! Speaking about the taste it doesn’t ressemble a cheesecake more like a yogurt parfait/yogurt cream based dessert, which doesn’t bother me.
So, well, it didn’t set, the cream splashes down from the base after removing the pan… 🙁
Hi Ida, let’s try and figure out what went wrong for you. Did you use a solid coconut oil (that needs to be melted to blend with the other ingredients)? How long did you chill the cheesecake for?
HI, we got introduced to your cake by a friend who makes a vegan diat since January ’20. I liked it so much that I thought to try it on my own. I don’t have an machine to chop all the seeds but I used an traditional way which also turned out perfectly. We couldn’t find coconut oil so we melted it. The cream was perfect to eat after being in the fridge for about 4 hours. Thanks for the idea and cheers from the other side of the world, Sandra
Thanks Sandra, I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Hey Sandra,
I’m not a fan of the taste of coconut oil, so I’m wondering if you know how much agar agar I should use to substitute the coconut oil?