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!
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.
My Instagram acquaintance, 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.
How to make Cheesecake:
Easy Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
Cheesecake Crust and Topping:
- 1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust
- 21 oz cherry pie filling
Filling:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup condensed milk
Instructions
How to make Easy Cheesecake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Beat the cream cheese at room temperature until creamy (1 minute.) Beat in the condensed milk then the eggs until combined.
- Pour batter into a pre-made pie crust and bake for 25 minutes. Cool before topping with canned cherry pie filling. Keep refrigerated.
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
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:
- Bake cheesecake at a low oven temperature and skip the water bath!
- Make Mini Cheesecakes by using a muffin pan!
- Make a homemade graham cracker crust with my easy recipe!
- Top with any cherry canned pie filling or tart raspberry pie filling!