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.
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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.
This looks so good! I love the color~ I will definitely try this recipe!
Easy and delicious! A perfect summer dessert!
This was so fun to make. This dessert is light, fluffy, delicious, and it melts in your mouth. I will definitely make this again.
I had my doubts, I must admit. But the balance between cream cheese and strawberry was perfect. The pink look implies a sugary desert, but my family felt the strawberries were just a bit tart and Not overly sweet. What a nice change for desert. A little messy with powdered strawberries mixed in a blenders bowl, but I managed to get most of the mixture out. My husband went to bed talking about the leftovers after his birthday party. Hum…guess it’s a winner.
So refreshing and absolutely delicious. Easy to make too.
Loved making these. Not too sweet to allow the cream cheese flavor to shine through. Quick and easy dessert for hot summer days when you don’t want to turn on the oven. I made these as part of the baking challenge but am definitely keeping the recipe in my files.
Such a yummy & refreshing summer treat. Easy to make & you could easily change up the flavors!
Such a great easy, make ahead dessert!
All of the recipes that I have tried on Handle the Heat have turned out more that amazing! Except for this one. At 4 hours in the fridge they were not set so I refrigerated them longer. After refrigerating for nearly 24 hours, they were still not set and were really liquidy. They only thing about this cheesecake that held its shape was the crust. I was already wondering if I should make this recipe due to the large amount of ingredients I would have to buy from the store. I wouldn’t make this recipe again.
Easy make-ahead dessert. How long could you leave it in the freezer? Mine was thicker than the the picture so I assume you could make it in a larger pan than 8 x 8 for a thinner bar.
Hi Zoe – as per the recipe instructions you’re meant to freeze the cheesecake bars then refrigerate them 🙂 Skipping the freezing part will prevent them from setting up properly.
I was unable to find freeze dried strawberries with the inventory problems our grocery store is having so I used strawberry banana chips. This changed the recipe flavor and although everyone liked them I wish I had been able to use plain strawberry. Also the mixture was too thick for my blender. After some false starts I finally got success with my food processor. I think the second time making these will go better as now I know better how to proceed and will wait until I get the right ingredients.
This was great! Love the graham cracker crust and real, fresh strawberry flavor.
We loved this recipe! The sweet strawberry flavor was wonderful, even without the freeze-dried strawberries. T(I wasn’t able to drive to a Target to get them so just made it without!) My family loved the sweet treat – great on the warm evenings we’ve had!