Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Surprisingly vibrant strawberry flavor.
Texture: Depends on how cold you serve it! The colder it is the more like ice cream the texture becomes. The warmer it is, it’s more like a cross between cheesecake and strawberry mousse.
Ease: Definitely easy but you need both a blender or food processor and electric mixer.
Pros: Fun, bright, and crowd pleasing summer treat. Can be made far in advance.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
There’s nothing better than a fresh, fruity, and chilled dessert on a hot summer day.
What I love about this recipe is how bold the strawberry flavor is. I find with a lot of baked goods, the strawberries kind of dull in flavor from the heating process (unless you’re roasting strawberries!).
In this recipe we use strawberries in two forms for a double pack of both flavor and color. Freeze dried strawberries that are blended into a fine powder as well as fresh strawberries that are blended into the filling mixture.
with 1/4 cup heavy cream and spread on top after freezing the bars.
So while you do need both a blender or food processor and an electric mixer (or very strong arm) to make this recipe, there’s no oven involved. There’s also no Cool Whip. Totally homemade from scratch!
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bar Tips & Tricks
I can’t find graham crackers. What else can I use?
Whatever your heart desires! You can use vanilla wafers, chocolate wafers, pretzels, digestive biscuits. You can even put the filling on top of a pan of brownies!
Where do I find freeze dried strawberries? What if I can’t find them?
The freeze dried strawberries offer a ton of strawberry flavor and vibrant color without adding too much extra liquid to the filling. Fresh strawberries contain a lot of water which makes it difficult to make a sturdy enough no bake cheesecake that holds its shape. Or one that doesn’t get icy and hard if you freeze it.
You can find freeze-dried strawberries near the other dried fruits like raisins at the grocery store. I’ve seen them consistently stocked at Target, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, and Walmart. Reader Francesca also mentioned you can often find freeze dried fruit next to the baby food at the store!
If you can’t find, simply omit. The strawberry color and flavor will be less intense.
By the way, I also love to use freeze dried strawberries in icing recipes like with my Baked Strawberry Lemon Doughnuts! When you grind them up they also make a great garnish on chocolate cake or brownies.
Can I use frozen strawberries?
The second strawberry ingredient is simply fresh strawberries that have been hulled and chopped.
Yes, you can use frozen strawberries. Just make sure to thaw them then drain any excess liquid completely. Too much water will prevent this cheesecake from setting.
Chilling & Serving No Bake Cheesecake
This cheesecake needs to hang out in the freezer for at least 4 hours to ensure it fully sets and holds its shape. I usually just make it the day before I plan to serve it.
Before serving, allow it to soften slightly in the fridge for 30 minutes.
For clean slices, use a big sharp knife and run it under hot water and wipe if off in between slices.
Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to 2 weeks. The texture will be looser when stored in the fridge.
More No Bake Recipes
- No Bake Frozen Blueberry Pie
- No Bake Strawberry Lemonade Mini Cheesecakes
- No Bake S’mores Mini Cheesecakes
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 sleeve (9 crackers, 140 grams) graham crackers
- 5 tablespoons (71 grams) unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (47 grams) freeze-dried sliced strawberries*
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 16 ounces (454 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1/2 cup (180 grams) heavy cream, chilled
Instructions
For the crust:
- Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.
- Place the graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until very finely ground. The more finely ground, the better the crust will stay together and not crumble. Add in the melted butter and pulse until moistened.
- Very firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the pan using your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup. Refrigerate.
For the cheesecake:
- In the bowl of blender, combine the sugar, freeze dried strawberries, and salt. Blend until the strawberries are powdery with no visible chunks remaining. Add the cream cheese, lemon juice, and fresh strawberries. Blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom as needed. A blender tamper can help bring the mixture together quicker.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment to whip the cream until medium peaks form. Add the strawberry mixture to the whipped cream and gently fold until combined. Spread over prepared crust, smoothing the top.
- Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. Let sit in the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Run a large sharp knife under hot water, wipe if off, then slice into 9 bars.
- Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to 2 weeks. If freezing, remove from freezer and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
June Baking Challenge
This recipe was the pick for our June 2020 baking challenge! Check out the entries submitted below. Click here to discover the current month’s challenge.
I made this using 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 3/4 cup and it was the perfect level of sweetness for me. Reducing the sugar made it taste more tart from the lemon so it tasted more like strawberry lemonade cheesecake. I love strawberry lemonade so this was a good thing.
A delicious cheesecake with a nice light texture. I didn’t have freeze dried strawberries so used dehydrated instead. This added wonderful chewy chunks of strawberries throughout.
Very simple to follow and very strong strawberry flavor!
Hi Tessa!
I’ve a question in regards to your metric measurements. It may be my limited scope, but are you liquid ingredients actually measured by weight in metric? Normally, at least in Canada, we might use grams for dry ingredients, although ml would be more common, and for liquid ingredients, definitely ml is the common standard for home baking. My question is, was this an oversight on your part? Are things measured on a scale or with measuring cups?
Thank you! Have a great day!
Dry ingredients are measured by weight (except small amounts such as teaspoons) and liquid is measured with a liquid measuring cup. I find this to be the best and easiest way to measure 🙂
Taste great. Was a little confused when to put the sugar in since it says it twice in the directions? Also what is a bowl of blender? I used a food processor. Still turned out good
Absolutely scrumptious!! The recipe was so easy to follow and they were such a crowd pleaser!
It says to add the sugar with the freezer dried strawberries and salt. Then it says to add it with the cream cheese. At which point are you supposed to add the sugar?
Delicious! I love strawberries and cheesecake and this was fantastic! Thanks for a fun, yummy recipe!
I would recommend this for summer party’s! It’s sweet and scrumptious!
Might it be possible to make this in a purchased chocolate cookie pie crust, probably @ a 9”? Thank you.
I don’t see why not… the filling might just be a little shallow for a large size deeper crust.
Tessa, I’d like to tell all your fans that I can usually find the freeze dried strawberries (as well as other fruits) in the baby section of the grocery store.
Great tip! I’ll add that to the blog post. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Tessa, I was just curious; do you think you could use freeze dried strawberry powder for the freeze dried strawberries? And do you have any idea what volume of strawberries you end up with after food processing the 2 cups you need for this recipe? Just in case I can substitute the powder, I would need to have an idea of how much to use.
Thanks,
Michelle
I’m not sure of the amount in cups of powder, but if you have a scale just use the weight provided in the recipe 🙂
Hi Michelle, I’m going to guess that yes, you can use powder. Do you have a scale that measure in grams? If so, just measure out 47 grams of the powder. I’m guessing that it should work since you would be using the same weight. Good luck! I just finished making it and it’s in the refrigerator. I’ll try it tomorrow.