classic strawberry cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake is sheer perfection – it’s light and creamy, with a crisp graham cracker crust, and a luscious strawberry sauce on top. Cheesecakes are easier to make at home than you’d think, and I’ll walk you through the entire process to ensure success each time you bake this!

this recipe

If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the thought of making cheesecake from scratch, there’s no need to be!

Why you’ll love this Strawberry Cheesecake:

• Classic Flavor – This is a staple dessert for a reason – it’s full of perfect vanilla cheesecake flavor, with a sweet strawberry topping.
• Creamy Cheesecake – This cheesecake is ultra creamy and luscious, evident from the first moment your fork slides into a slice! It’s truly the best cheesecake recipe you’ll ever taste!
• Approachable Recipe – Even though there are a few steps to this strawberry cheesecake recipe, the whole thing is completely doable no matter your skill level as a baker.

Ingredient Overview:

As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).

• Cream Cheese – Use full fat cream cheese, in the block style. This needs to come to room temperature before you bake.
• Eggs – Use large eggs at room temperature.
• Sour Cream – Use full fat sour cream, at room temperature.
• Vanilla extract – Use real vanilla extract for best results.
• Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter for the crust if you prefer.
• Strawberries – Use frozen or fresh strawberries. If using frozen, do not thaw them first.

Recipe Substitutions:

• Gluten-free – Use gluten-free graham crackers to make this gluten-free!
• Dairy-free – Use your favorite, trusted dairy-free products to make this a dairy-free cheesecake.

How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake:

Step 1: Make & Bake the Crust. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press into a greased springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes and set aside.

Step 2: Make the Vanilla Cheesecake Batter. In a large mixing bowl, beat your cream cheese on high speed with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer) until creamy, 1 minute or so.

Then, mix in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, corn starch, and sour cream. You’ll have a silky batter. If there are a few tiny lumps, that’s ok.

Step 3: Bake the Cheesecake. Pour batter into your crust and smooth it out. Bake cheesecake for 88-93 minutes as directed in the recipe. This may seem like a long bake time but it’s very normal for cheesecakes.

(Too hot to have your oven on this long? Try my No-Bake Cheesecake Jars instead.)

Step 4: Chill the Cheesecake. Once the cheesecake is done, turn the oven off, crack the door open, and let cool in the oven for 1 hour. Then, take it out of the oven & out of the roasting pan.

Remove the foil carefully and let the cheesecake cool, on a wire rack, to room temperature. Cover it, and chill in the fridge at least 6 hours or overnight before serving.

Step 5: Make the Strawberry Topping. Strawberry sauce is super classic topping – and takes just 10 minutes to make! Cook sliced strawberries in a medium saucepan with sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, corn starch, and vanilla until you have a luscious, syrupy sauce.

Cool this in the fridge before using. (This topping would also be delicious in my Black Forest Cheesecake in place of the cherries!)

Serving + Storing:

Once the cheesecake has chilled, top with the fresh compote, slice, and serve! Cheesecake is a light, yet fairly rich dessert, so you can stretch this recipe to yield 12 to 16 slices! It’s perfect for a party or family gathering.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Expert Success Tips:

• Room Temperature Ingredients – Your cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs must to be at room temperature or your batter will be lumpy! Leave these things out for 30 minutes to 2 hours before beginning, depending on how cool or warm your home is.
• Don’t Over Mix – Over mixing the cheesecake batter when you’re adding the eggs can result in too much air in the batter, which means it will puff up and deflate as it cools, giving it a bit of a waist around the middle. It will still taste great, but won’t look as pretty.
• Don’t Over Bake – Use the doneness cues given in the recipe card below for best results. No one wants an over baked cheesecake!
• Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.

FAQs:

Special Tools:

• Springform Pan – This recipe uses a 9-inch springform pan.

More Cheesecake Recipes to Love:

• Mini S’mores Cheesecakes
• Pecan Pie Cheesecake
• Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake
• Bailey’s Chocolate Cheesecake
• No Bake Cherry Cheesecake Parfaits
• Biscoff Cheesecake
• Boozy Key Lime Rum Cheesecakes

More Recipes for Strawberry Lovers:

• Strawberry Rhubarb Galette
• Homemade Strawberry Shortcakes
• Strawberry Blueberry Pie
• Strawberry Scones
• Strawberry Caramel Crumble Bars
• One-Bowl Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
• 10-Minute Strawberry Compote

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