EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (2024)

This Easy Cheesecake Recipe is super creamy and made from only 3 ingredients! To make a perfect cheesecake all you need is cream cheese, eggs, and condensed milk! The crust is pre-made, which will give you dessert in a pinch!

EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (1)

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We love smooth, rich, and creamy cheesecake recipes! This tall Cheesecake Factory Copycat is extremely delicious and The White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake is one to really impress! This one is done quickly but if you want to make the crust from scratch, then make homemade graham cracker crust from this Cheesecake Recipe!

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

This cheesecake recipe is so simple! It has all the classic flavors but done in a pinch! No water bath, list of different dairy products like sour cream or heavy cream, just three easy peasy ingredients for the creamy filling which are cream cheese, eggs, and condensed milk! That’s it! The graham cracker crust is pre-made, although crushed graham crackers and butter make a quick homemade crust, seamlessly.

EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (2)

My Instagramacquaintance, Irina was the one who shared this easy of a cheesecake recipe! She has mentioned that her husband even makes this simple dessert and how they double the recipe because it’s gone in minutes! If there was one recipe she wanted me to try it was this easy cheesecake recipe! She suggested it to me back in 2015 and it has been in my collection of cheesecake recipes since! When an easy cheesecake tastes this good then it’s a keeper!

If you are new to the cheesecake making world, then tips can be helpful in creating the perfect cheesecake. Here are my tips for making a cheesecake easily. I don’t pre-bake my crust its gets baked with the cheesecake. Water Baths are unnecessary if baking at low oven temperatures, which are highly recommended in the first place to prevent any cracks. And last but not least don’t over mix until your batter until you see curds your cheesecake will be like farmer’s cheese and that’s a big no-no. This recipe yields one 9-inch cheesecake.

EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (3)

How to make Cheesecake:

EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (4)

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Easy Cheesecake Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 slices

Author: Alyona Demyanchuk

ThisEasy Cheesecake Recipeis super creamy and made from only 3 ingredients! To make a perfect cheesecake all you need is cream cheese, eggs, and condensed milk! The crust is pre-made, which will give you dessert in a pinch!

Ingredients

Cheesecake Crust and Topping:

  • 1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

  • 21 oz cherry pie filling

Filling:

Instructions

How to make Easy Cheesecake:

Notes

  • Homemade Pie Crust: Combine 9 crushed graham crackers (one sleeve) with 5 Tbsp of melted butter and press into a pie pan.
  • Mini Cheesecakes-Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Place 1 tbsp of graham cracker crust (can crumble store-bought if needed) into each liner and press down. Pour 1/4 cup of prepared cheesecake batter into each liner. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350°F.

Nutrition per serving

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 463kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 8gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 335mgPotassium: 267mgFiber: 1gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 1024IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 130mgIron: 1mg

EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (5)

Q&A

Can I make Mini Cheesecakes?

Mini cheesecakes are perfect for a crowd or party!

To Make Mini Cheesecakes:Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Place 1 tbsp of graham cracker crust (can crumble store-bought if needed) into each liner and press down. Pour 1/4 cup of prepared cheesecake batter into each liner. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350°F.

How to Make a Homemade Crust over Store-Bought?

Making a homemade graham cracker crust is easy if you get the right melted butter to crackers ratio! This one took me a while to figure out as too much butter can make the crust wet and not enough butter can make the crust dry and crumbly. This is my perfected Graham Cracker crust that is equivalent to a store-bought crust.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust vs Graham Cracker Cheesecake Crust

Keep in mind a store-bought crust is ideal for a 16 oz cream cheese recipe that fits a pie pan. Anything more should be baked in a springform pan that is deep, hence the more use of cream cheese.

How to Make a Graham Cracker Pie Crust like the store-bought crust:Combine 9 crushed graham crackers (one sleeve) with 5 Tbsp of melted butter and press into a pie pan.

To make a tall Graham Cracker Crust for larger cheesecakes:Combine 15 crushed graham crackers (2 cups crushed crumbs) with 9 tbsp of melted butter and press into a 9-inch springform pan.

Why do you have to use room temperature ingredients?

Having ingredients at room temperature prevents lumps in a cheesecake batter. I tend to focus on the cream cheese as that is the base to a cheesecake so make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature or that it’s softened. A cheesecake batter shouldn’t turn lumpy if you add cold heavy cream, it’s the addition of sour cream that can tend to make the cheesecake batter lumpy or any other dairy solids like yogurt or thick liquids.

How to bring cream cheese to room temperature quickly: microwave every 8 oz of cream cheese for 30 seconds (cut into fours.)

What can happen if you overmix a cheesecake batter?

As much as you would like to smooth things out when beating a cheesecake, over mixing it can ruin it! I’ve learned the hard way. It wasn’t until I mixed too well that I realized my cheesecake batter looked like a small curdled mess. Baking a curdled cheesecake doesn’t make it better either. It’ll just look something to a farmer’s cheese crumb with little curds once baked.

Having the cream cheese at room temperature also helps with the smoothness of a cheesecake batter without the need of beating it too long. It’s okay to beat the cream cheese alone for a good minute but once the other ingredients come into play its best to just beat the cheesecake batter only until combined.

How to Store Cheesecake?

Cheesecake is best chilled in the refrigerator. Leaving a cheesecake at room temperature is not as enjoyable and firm as a chilled cheesecake. Keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Can you freeze Cheesecake?

Absolutely! You can freeze a cheesecake! If the Cheesecake Factory Sell Frozen Cheesecake slices then cream cheese is safe enough to freeze!

To freeze a Cheesecake:Cool cheesecake in its pan completely on a wire rack or heat mat. Wrap with plastic wrap and place into the freezer. Add the cheesecake topping before serving.

To freeze leftover cheesecake slices:place cheesecake slices on a tray and freeze slices solid, then wrap individually and freeze.

Frozen Cheesecakes can keep up to 3 months. They are best frozen without a pie filling topping. However, cool whip or whipped toppings freeze well.

What Ingredients go into an easy cheesecake?

This easy cheesecake recipe has only 3-ingredients for the filling plus crust!

Filling:

  • Cream Cheese- use 16 oz of softened cream cheese to fit a pre-made store-bought pie crust.
  • Eggs- this recipe calls for 2 eggs.
  • Condensed milk- 1/2 can of condensed milk makes the perfect cheesecake batter without running over the crust. Anything more reaches above the crust.

Crust:

  • Graham Cracker Pie Crust- use store-bought or make your own graham cracker crust with one sleeve of crackers and 5 tbsp of melted butter.

How to tell if a Cheesecake is done?

The best way to tell if a cheesecake is done is how wet it looks. A perfectly baked cheesecake typically rises on the edges and may get a yellowish hue. The very middle is the only place that should look slightly wet. If the cheesecake is too jiggly it needs more time. A cheesecake should look underdone but not too wet.

How to prevent a cheesecake from cracking?

Some reasons behind a cracked cheesecake can be one of the following:

  • Over-baked- I’ve noticed the longer a cheesecake bakes the more cracks it tends to get.
  • High Oven Temperature-cheesecakes should always be baked over low temperatures as cheese tends to be a dense ingredient.
  • Releasing the baked cheesecake from the springform pan on time-if your crust didn’t go high up the sides it’s likely the cheesecake batter got baked to the sides of your springform pan. Run a knife through the sides to free your crust from gluing to the sides then cracking.

Tips for making Cheesecake:

  1. Bake cheesecake at a low oven temperature and skip the water bath!
  2. Make Mini Cheesecakes by using a muffin pan!
  3. Make a homemade graham cracker crust with my easy recipe!
  4. Top with any cherry canned pie filling or tart raspberry pie filling!

More Cherry Desserts:

  • Chocolate Cherry Cake with Super-Moist Crumb!
  • Cherry Pie Filling Recipe
  • Cherry Cheesecake Pretzel Dessert
  • Easy Danish Recipe (Cream Cheese & Cherry Filling)

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Categories

  • Cakes
  • Desserts
  • Gluten-Free
  • Holiday

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55 comments

  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (6)

    • Sara

    So easy & a hit for our church group luncheon. Made individual cupcakes size and they were great! Won’t make cheesecake the old way ever again!!

    • Reply
  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (7)

    • Gladys R.

    The best cheesecake ever! 😋

    • Reply
  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (8)

    • Stacey

    Can I add Oreo’s to it?

    • Reply
    • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (9)

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Hi Stacey, you can swap out the graham cracker crust for an Oreo crust.

      • Reply
  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (10)

    • Joy Martin

    My cake didn’t set in the oven. Still not completely set in fridge after 1 hour cooling. Any idea why? Thanks in advance!

    • Reply
    • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (11)

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Hi Joy, are you baking with a conventional oven? My sister wasn’t able to get her cheesecakes to set until she started selecting conventional bake on her oven settings, perhaps that can be an oven setting issue?

      • Reply
  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (12)

    • Angie

    What size pie crust

    • Reply
    • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (13)

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      The 9-inch would be fine.

      • Reply
  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (14)

    • Dominique

    Currently making this now and I am hoping it comes out well!

    • Reply
    • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (15)

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Let us know how it turned out for you!

      • Reply
  • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (16)

    • Diane

    Can l make this cheesecake in a air fryer?

    • Reply
    • EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (17)

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Not sure how that would work, Diane.

      • Reply

Show more

EASY Cheesecake Recipe (Only 3 Ingredients) - Alyona’s Cooking (2024)

FAQs

Which baking method is best for cheesecake? ›

Classic Cheesecake Recipe. Look no further for a creamy and ultra smooth classic cheesecake recipe! Paired with a buttery graham cracker crust, no one can deny its simple decadence. For the best results, bake in a water bath.

What not to do when making cheesecake? ›

Avoid Overcooking

DON'T overbake. Overbaking a cheesecake can cause cracks on the surface. The center of the cheesecake should still be a little wobbly, the filling still pale, and the outer ring slightly puffy and firm. It will continue to cook as it cools and maintains that smooth and rich texture.

What does adding an extra egg to cheesecake do? ›

Eggs: Three whole eggs hold the cheesecake together. I also add an extra yolk, which enhances the cake's velvety texture. (Whites tend to lighten the cake, which is actually fine — if you don't feel like separating that fourth egg and don't mind some extra airiness in the texture, just add in the whole egg.)

Is baked or no-bake cheesecake better? ›

They both are great in their own way. It all narrows down to your personal preferences. If you enjoy dense and velvety cake, a baked cheesecake is the one for you. Or if you crave some light and airy dessert post-dinner, go for the no-bake one.

Is heavy cream or sour cream better for cheesecake? ›

The addition of cream gives a velvety, smooth texture, but too much of it and you begin to mask the cream cheese flavor. Sour cream supports the underlying tang of the cream cheese, but, if overdone, it takes over as the dominant flavor. You need a little of each -- cream for texture and sour cream for flavor.

Do you bake a cheesecake on the top or bottom rack? ›

You can bake a cheesecake in a water bath, too, but you have to wrap the springform pan with foil to make sure the water doesn't seep in and make it soggy. Play it safe and put the roasting pan of water on the lower rack and bake the cheesecake on the rack above.

What happens if you overbeat cheesecake batter? ›

When making your filling, overmixing can lead to incorporating too much air into the batter. Once baked, the air bubbles will burst, and the cheesecake will fall and crack. THE FIX: The number one reason why you'd overbeat your batter is because you're having dificulty incorporating cold ingredients.

Why do you add sour cream to cheesecake? ›

Cheesecake is clearly a different animal from bundts or cupcakes, but sour cream has a place here too! Combined with even more densely rich cream cheese, sour cream actually tempers the star ingredient a touch, softening its texture. It also adds another layer of tangy flavor and moisture to a cheesecake.

What happens if you over mix cheesecake batter? ›

Cheesecake Accomplished

Avoid Overmixing: Unlike other cakes, where beating air into the batter is key, overmixed cheesecake can rise, fall and then crack from that excess air. Keeping ingredients (cheese, eggs, liquids and flavorings) at room temperature can help.

What happens if you put too much sour cream in cheesecake? ›

Sour cream adds tanginess and moisture, so if you use too much, it can make the cheesecake too tangy and the additional moisture can make it runny.

Why does my cheesecake taste like scrambled eggs? ›

Baked cheesecakes need to contain some egg as the egg thickens the cheesecake mixture as it bakes, in a similar way to a baked custard, so it is possible that you are more sensitive to the egg flavours within the cheesecake or maybe did not add quite enough flavouring (such as vanilla).

Is it better to use flour or cornstarch for cheesecake? ›

Step 10: Corn Starch Added

It did result in a more cake like texture as well. If you want to add something to thicken your cheesecake then I would definitely recommend this over flour to thicken it.

How many hours does a cheesecake need to set? ›

Chill: This is a must! Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature (about 3 hours) and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, but overnight is best.

Why do you need a water bath to bake a cheesecake? ›

A water bath helps cheesecakes cook evenly, ensuring the edges don't bake faster than the center. The process gently bakes the custard slowly, ensuring a smooth and creamy filling. Otherwise, the dessert may get a rubbery texture. It also prevents cracking along the surface and browning on the top.

What is the difference between New York cheesecake and baked cheesecake? ›

Regular cheesecake relies on heavy cream and sour cream to thin the batter and create a silkier, creamier texture. New York cheesecake is heavy on the cream cheese which is why it's so dense and rich. Extra cream cheese isn't the only thing that makes New York cheesecake so special.

Is convection better for cheesecake? ›

- Another suggested method is to go around the top edge of the cake when it is done baking with a paring knife to release it, thus averting tension as it cools. - Convection ovens are not recommended by some for baking cheesecakes.

Which method is best for baking cake? ›

With the classic creaming method, sugar and fat (usually butter) are whisked together thoroughly to create tiny air bubbles that will result in a beautifully soft and risen cake.

What is the method of creating a moist baking environment for something like a cheesecake called? ›

A water bath is simply a pan of hot water that you place in the oven. Also called a bain-marie, a water bath helps more delicate bakes—particularly cheesecakes—bake more evenly.

Should you use parchment paper when baking cheesecake? ›

Line the Pan Like a Pro

Line the pan with parchment paper, which should come 2 inches above the top of the pan. This keeps the batter from spilling out—the cheesecake rises quickly. Start by spraying the pan with nonstick cooking spray. This will act as the glue for the parchment paper to stay in place.

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