Strawberry Cheesecake

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Hello Strawberry Cheesecake! The most glorious, delicious, classic dessert is here! This is a showstopper no matter who you serve it to or when you serve it. This recipe is a variation of The Best Cheesecake Recipe and is one of my favorites. It’s a thick and creamy classic cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries and homemade strawberry-vanilla sauce. It’s truly the perfect dessert.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake is made with very few ingredients when mixed together give you an amazing finished product. I do recommend certain brands because I have found the best results with them, but feel free to use no-name brands if you prefer them better or would like to save a few dollars. Cheesecake is notoriously labor intensive and expensive for dessert standards, but I try to streamline this process to make it as simple and straightforward as possible with the best ingredients.

Ingredients For Strawberry Cheesecake

for the crust

• graham cracker crumbs
• granulated sugar
• butter

for the cheesecake filling:

• cream cheese– I recommend using Philadelphia full-fat cream cheese
• granulated sugar
• sour cream– use full-fat sour cream
• vanilla extract
• large eggs

for the strawberry topping:

• fresh strawberries 
• granulated sugar
• water
• vanilla extract

Equipment

• 9″ Springform Pan– I would highly *highly* recommend using one. The best baking pan for this cheesecake recipe is a 9-inch springform pan. You can definitely put this into a 10-incher but definitely won’t fit into an 8. Also, I know you can buy larger 9″x 3″ cake pans without the springform option, but just don’t see any good way to remove the whole cheesecake without ruining it. Moral of the story? Splurge and get the springform pan. Or find a friend and borrow one (I find that this is super easy when you are willing to share some of your strawberry cheesecake).

Some Important Notes Before You Begin:

1. I recommend using Honey Maid graham cracker crumbs and Philadelphia cream cheese for this recipe. These are the brands I use when testing all my cheesecake recipes, so I know your finished results will be good.
2. Use a good quality vanilla extract when possible. Obviously if you only have artificial vanilla extract, use that, but I always recommend PURE vanilla extract.
3. Don’t forget to have room temperature ingredients before you begin. I cannot stress this enough!! Everything incorporates easily when it’s all the same temperature, giving you a smooth, thick cheesecake batter. I’m mainly talking about the cream cheese, eggs and sour cream.
4. You will use two full pounds of fresh strawberries. I know that seems like a lot, but half is for the sauce and half is for the garnish. This is a strawberry cheesecake, after all.

While there is nothing HARD about this recipe, it does take some time. Do your best to follow my instructions for making the batter and baking and you too will have a gorgeous strawberry cheesecake, just like my pictures show.

Love Cheesecake? Try these other favorites: New York Style Cheesecake, NY-Style Nutella Cheesecake, Amazing No-Bake Cheesecake, Perfect Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cheesecake Factory copycat Vanilla Bean Cheesecake.

How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake

I know there are a lot of steps, but following this method exactly will give you a beautiful, thick, crack-free cheesecake. Here are my step-by-step instructions for the best homemade cheesecake. The FULL recipe is in the printable recipe card below.

Make the Graham Cracker Crust

Start by stirring graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together and press into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 7 minutes in a 350° F oven. Set aside to cool.

I have had great success making this strawberry cheesecake in a 9×13 baking dish and serving as cheesecake bars. None of the ingredients, directions, or baking times are changed. Simply just replace the springform pan with a 9×13 baking dish. You will need more strawberries for garnish (about 1/2 pound), but that is the only change.

Make the Cheesecake Filling

In a large bowl, stir the very soft cream cheese together with the granulated sugar. Stir in the vanilla extract and sour cream. Scrape the sides really, really well and stir again to ensure there are no lumps.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together and slowly add to the cheesecake filling with the hand mixer on. Once eggs are incorporated turn the mixer off. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl really well to ensure a very smooth batter. If there are lumps, stir them in by hand.

Remove Air Bubbles

Tap bowl on the counter for 30-45 seconds to remove air bubbles. Air bubbles can contribute to why cheesecakes crack, so we definitely want to prevent that.

Bake, Cool, Chill

Pour batter onto graham cracker crust, smooth the top and bake. Bake at 325° F for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 250° F to finish cooking. Let the cheesecake sit in the hot oven with the oven closed for 30 minutes before cracking the oven door and letting it continue cooling for another hour. Remove from oven and bring cheesecake to room temperature (3-4 hours).

Refrigerate Your Cheesecake

Once the cheesecake has cooled to room temperature, cover and refrigerate until completely chilled (6 hours to overnight). 

Once the cheesecake is chilled, unhinge the sides of the springform pan and remove the collar. The great thing about cheesecake is that it’s a wonderful dessert to make ahead because it stores so well in the fridge.

Make the Strawberry Sauce Topping

The homemade strawberry sauce recipe that makes this cheesecake quintessentially strawberry is only 4 ingredients. After you cook those ingredients together, you blend them until smooth. You will still have seeds! If you’d prefer the sauce to be seedless, strain out the seeds using cheesecloth.

Wash, hull and slice 1 pound of strawberries. Wash and slice the other pound keeping the green part in place, if desired. Slice in half and reserve those berries for the garnish.

Place the hulled and sliced berries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan. Simmer on low to medium heat for 10 minutes or until berries are very soft. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Place into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth. Refrigerate until completely chilled before topping the strawberry cheesecake with it. After the sauce has chilled, it should thicken slightly.

Of course, you can definitely just buy strawberry puree sauce from the store if you’d prefer to not make it. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Slice + Serve Strawberry Cheesecake

To serve, top with the fresh berries and drizzle half of the strawberry topping overtop. Slice strawberry cheesecake into pieces and serve with remaining strawberry sauce.

Pro Tip: For cleaner slicing, dip a sharp knife into hot water, wipe off any excess water and slice. I like to dip my knife in water between each slice to get really clean-looking pieces.

A Few Tips to Prevent Your Cheesecake From Cracking

There are several reasons why cheesecakes can get a giant crack down the center but through my recipe testing and research, I’ve found the main three reasons are: air bubbles, lumps in the batter and baking and cooling. Here’s how I’ve dealt and adjusted my recipe to ensure these three things don’t cause any issues:

In love with this strawberry cheesecake flavor combo? Check out these other recipes: Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake, Strawberry Cheesecake Tart, and Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies.

Storing Strawberry Cheesecake

Like I mentioned above, cheesecake in general makes a great make ahead dessert because it does so well in the fridge and freezer!

In the Fridge: After your fully baked cheesecake has come to room temperature, refrigerate covered for up to 1 week.

In the Freezer: If you are a kitchen expert, you’ll know cream cheese by itself doesn’t freeze well, but baked it does! Cheesecake is a perfect candidate for freezing!

First, un-mold cheesecake from the springform pan. Place into the freezer uncovered for about 4 hours or until its mostly solid. Remove springform bottom and wrap the cheesecake well in two layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. It will stay good for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Love Strawberries? Try these recipes:

If you loved this strawberry cheesecake recipe, you’re going to devour these other strawberry recipes.

• Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake
• Easiest Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Summer Strawberry Jello Pie
• Nutella Deviled Strawberries
• Strawberry Mint Limeade
• Strawberry Pretzel Salad

The printable recipe card is below! Enjoy, friends! 🙂

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.