Lemon Cheesecake {Mostly No Bake}
Because of it’s deliciously light flavors and the fact that it is no-oven-required, this lemon cheesecake is the perfect summer dessert.
I should have titled this post “The Best, The Very Best, Honestly, The Ultimate Best Cheesecake Ever.” I know. It sounds dramatic. Major hyperbolish. But that’s the way I feel. And this is coming from a gal who loves her some dark chocolate.

This no-bake cheesecake (ok, mostly no-bake; the crust is baked but the filling is delightfully cream and not baked) is creamy and light and lemony and so absolutely addicting, I think I ate half of it. And that fact is definitely no hyperbole.
Because of it’s deliciously light flavors and the fact that it is no-oven-required, this is the perfect summer dessert.
Please make it. And when you do, invite me over. I shall show you how to inhale half a cheesecake in one sitting.
FAQs for Lemon Cheesecake
Yes, it should halve just fine.
Probably two days or so.
Absolutely!
You can use a round cake pan like 9 or 10 inches. If you don’t have those, a 9X13 might work ok. It won’t look as pretty because you can’t take the sides off but will still taste delicious.
One Year Ago: Glazed Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
Two Years Ago: Frozen Key Lime Pie
The Best {No-Bake} Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 9 whole rectangular graham crackers, for about 1 1/2 cups (150g) crushed
- 5 tablespoons (71 g) butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Lemon Curd:
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
- ¼ cup (53 g) sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) butter
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Filling:
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, from about 2 lemons
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin, (2 3/4 teaspoons)
- 3 packages (8-ounces each) (681 g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup (159 g) sugar
- Pinch salt
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream, room temperature
Instructions
- For the crust: preheat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust an oven rack to the middle position. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until they are finely ground. Add the butter and lemon zest and pulse until combined. Alternately, the graham crackers can be crushed in a resealable bag with a rolling pin and then poured into a bowl where the zest and butter can be stirred in. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake the crust until it is lightly golden brown, about 8 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a wire rack before filling.
- For the curd: while the crust is cooling, whisk the egg, egg yolk, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan. Whisk in the lemon juice and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and pudding-like, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cream. Press the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or sieve into a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.
- In a small bowl, put the 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let it stand until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave the mixture until it is bubbling around the edges and the gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
- For the filling: In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and salt until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the cream and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture and 1/4 cup of the refrigerated lemon curd. Beat until the mixture is smooth and airy, about 3 minutes.
- Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Following the photos below, pour thin lines of remaining curd on top of the cake and lightly drag a pairing knife or skewer through the lines to create a marble appearance. I found it wasn’t quite as easy as I thought to “pour” the lemon curd into lines. I kind of scooped it out of the cup onto the cheesecake and spooned it into lines. It doesn’t have to be perfect since the imperfections are somewhat hidden after you drag through the lines.
- Refrigerate the cheesecake until set, at least 6 hours. Remove the sides of the pan, cut into slices and serve.
- Scoop/Pour the lemon curd into thin lines. This doesn’t have to be perfect – it’s a bit hard to pour so do the best you can. (Photo #1 below)
- Drag the paring knife or skewer through the lines to create the decorative pattern. (Photo #2 below)
Notes
Recommended Products
See? Not too shabby once it’s all finished.
Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Country June/July 2010
Hey Mel! I keep this on repeat during the Spring months. So, so good! Have you ever tried it with your animal cookie crust, like the amazing key lime coconut bars? Just wondered if you think that animal cookie crust could be interchangeable with cheesecake recipes. Thanks for basically feeding my family for years!!
I haven’t tried that, Amy – but I think it sounds like an amazing experiment!
This turned out delicious! I made 3 mini spring forms and 12 tiny ones in muffin cups. Thank you for this recipe.
I made this cheesecake just a the recipe stated at Easter and it was wonderful. But, now my grand daughter wants the same cheesecake but strawberry for her birthday. I want to make it taller and my springform pan is 10 inches. Sorry am late getting this question and hopefully I can get an answer quickly as I have to make it today. Can you tell me how to make the exact cheesecake in the 10 inch. pan that would be as tall as this one in the smaller pan? How much should I increase the cream cheese etc. And the crust I would think would take more ingredients also. Thank you so much. Love all your recipes.
I made this cheesecake for Easter Dinner , dessert and everyone just raved about it. It turned out wonderful just like yours and was so easy to prepare. Love this cheesecake I used orange curd instead of lemon was so good. Now in a week or so going to make this beautiful vanilla bean cheesecake. Thank you for posting such wonderful recipes, that make us all look really good in the kitchen. And I loved your video section your little daughter is the cutest. Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
Thank you, Debbie!
Mel do you think you could tell me how more of the ingredients should I add to make this in a 10 inch springform pan? Making this again for a birthday they loved the first one I made but, since it’s a birthday I wanted it to be taller. Thank you in advance am making it this evening so not sure if you will see this in time. Hopefully you will.
Hi Debbie – sorry I didn’t see your question in time. Did it work out?
Amazing! I made this for Easter this year as my first-ever cheesecake and it was a dream! It came together so easily and made such a beautiful presentation. The lemon flavor was perfect for spring; I could eat that curd on anything! I used a plastic bag to “pipe” the lines of curd on top and it was super easy. I got so many compliments from my family – thanks again for another outstanding recipe!
Not only is this a KILLER TO DIE FOR POUFFY treat (which I had to share so I wouldn’t eat the whole shootin’ match) , but I make the LEMON CURD alone over and over again. Over vanilla ice cream, over berries, over Myself!
Thank you!
I’ve made this cheesecake a couple of times and always loved it, but lately it sort of curdles or breaks once I add the cream, any idea what I’m doing wrong? Should all the ingredients be at room temperature or just the cream cheese? Thank you!
Never mind, I just re-read the recipe, which states that the cream should also be at room temperature, will just have to try again 🙂
Outstanding flavor! My ten year old son requested this for his birthday and we loved it. I didn’t have cream on hand so I added an extra package of gelatin because I didn’t think it would set up well with one percent milk. I won’t do that again—we did not care for the too thick texture! Otherwise this is a fantastic dessert.
Can you half the recipe? Would like to do mini cheesecakes.
Sure, it should halve just fine.
Love this recipe. Wanting to make a plain version as well. Will add s touch more sugar and some vanilla and almond extract.
Use water to bloom gelatin…. But instead of the lemon curd mixed in… Do I replace that with 1/4 cup more heavy cream? Any thoughts?
I’m not really sure since I haven’t tried this variation but it sounds like a good starting place.
Hi Mel
I made your best lemon cheesecake and it was sensational – thanks very much. Can you please tell me how long in advance it can be made?
Probably two days or so.
Could you make the lemon curd in advance and store in the refrigerator?
Thanks for all the great recipes I’ve been using over the years.
Absolutely!
Hi, just wanna know if you could send me the measurements for cheesecake in grams, as I live in South Africa and I love cheesecake and yours seem to be an easy recipe. I do not know how to convert into grams. Really appreciate if you could help out. Awaiting your reply.
I don’t have the measurements in grams, I’m sorry! You could try googling for more help.
This is truly the best cheesecake. I went ahead and made two 9 inch crust for regular pie pans, and there was enough filling exactly. So, for anyone that doesn’t have the spring form pan on hand don’t worry. It taste even better the second day. Thanks for sharing your great recipe.
I am glad this worked out for you Pam! Sorry I didn’t respond earlier.
Hi,I have all the ingredients except the spring form pan. Will it fit in a regular pie pan, or will there be too much filling?Thank you for your reply.
Love you, Mel! This is delicious! I doubled the curd recipe so we could sample it, and add more topping. Also increased the sugar some to satisfy the guest of honor’s sweet tooth. An awesome dessert!
Could I use lemon curd from our Bulk Barn?
Sure, storebought lemon curd should work just fine (assuming you like the taste of it!).
Just made this and it is delish! It didn’t turn out super lemony for me, though. I didn’t have a spring form pan, so I made it in a 9-in pie pan, and used the rest in 6 muffin tins. I ran out of crust at that point so I just dipped graham crackers in what was still left over (probably another 3 muffin tins worth!) Yum!
Hi,
I’m from Portugal and I want to thank you for sharing this recipe … it’s really fabulous and very easy to make. I used cottage cheese instead of cream cheese. The whole family loved it!
Made this over the weekend and it was delicious! Light and amazing and a cinch. Excited to try the baked version!
I love this cheesecake and was wondering if I could tweak it a little for Thanksgiving. If I took the lemon juice out of the cheesecake portion would it still set up okay? I want to do this cheesecake with your apple cheesecake pie apple filling then your sour cream topping from it as well. Do you think this would work?
Laci – I’ve never made this without the lemon juice but it should work just fine. I’m not sure where/when you’re planning on adding the apple filling but I definitely think it sounds promising. Good luck!
Oh my, this was fantastic and easy to make! The only problem is my husband and I don’t want to share it with our kids. : P
Just tried this recipe and loved it! I had never tried using my food processor to make the graham cracker crumbs, but now I’ll use it every time! The crust was glorious, and so much easier to press into the pan. I took the cheesecake to a church event, and people were oohing and aahing as I put it down. I used the tip about piping the lemon curd on top, and it worked beautifully. Needless to say, this lovely cheesecake was gone in no time! A real hit! Thanks so much for posting this recipe!
I love looking at your blog- especially the desserts! I’m a huge fan of cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, and dark chocolate, so there are so many recipes I’d love to try.
Keep up the good work!
Hi! I love your site, i made this cheese cake and also spagetti pie, and they were sooo good!! I’m gonna be using your recipe a lot i think… thanks!
Hi there
Could I used gelatine leaves instead of granules and if so how many leaves would I need? Thanks
Andrea – I am not familiar with gelatine leaves, so you will have to experiment. Sorry I am not more help!
Hi Mel, Do you think I could double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper? Or is the cream cheese filling too soft for this method?
Hi Steph…are you wondering if you can bake the cheesecake layer? I wouldn’t recommend that but I think you could double this for a 9×13 pan (you might need an additional 8-inch pan if it’s too full). Scooping it out might be a little messier than a springform pan but should work pretty well.
Oh! And I forgot to mention. I switched 1/3 of the cream cheese for Mascarpone since I already had it in my fridge. Lovely taste!
I was searching for ages to find “the” cheesecake recipe. I have never made a no-bake cheesecake before and your pictures and text made me chose this recipe amongst many. First of all, I wanted to make it with oranges instead of lemon. I love lemon, but hubby requested something “orange-y”. Switched all lemon ingredients for orange, except for the lemon curd which I made and used as instructed. Also switched half of the butter in the crust for white chocolate. I must say I panicked when I had made the filling and it was veeery liquid. I thought no way it would set completely. So I added more gelatin (a total of 12 gelatin plates, but I made the entire cake a bit larger) and it set fantastically! So quick and the consistency is absolute heaven! I decorated with lemon curd rosettes rather than marbling. Husband was beyond pleased, and so was I. Will most definitely use this recipe as my go-to cheesecake recipe, and switch it up with different flavors. Thank you! I adore this recipe!
This sounds wonderful. I’m visiting my daughter and granddaughters in Spain in two weeks and I would like to make this for them. They have three lemon trees in there yard. My granddaughter is allergic to eggs. What can you substitute for the eggs in this recipe.
Sheila – I really have no idea since I’ve never made it egg free. You might try looking around online for an egg substitute in cheesecakes. I have a lot of other Lemon Recipes, and quite a few of them are egg free (especially the main dishes). Enjoy the fresh lemons. Oh, and your trip to Spain!
Try to google “Lemon curd egg substitute” – I found heaps of vegan recipes. You could also just use lemon jell-o I guess. Use a bit of it in the cheese-filling and the rest as a top layer on top of the cake.
Enjoy Spain!!! I am nor Spanish, however I have lived here for 4 years now. It is a lovely country.
“This no-bake cheesecake (ok, mostly no-bake; the crust is baked but the filling is delightfully cream and not baked) is creamy and light and lemony and so absolutely addicting, I think I ate half of it. And that fact is definitely no HYPBERBOLE.”
Don’t you mean HYPERBOLE?
Does it have to be regular cream cheese, or will Neufchâtel work?
Jess – using lowfat cream cheese oftentimes makes a no-bake cheesecake much runnier so I’d recommend using full fat cream cheese.
Hi Mel. Firstly, thank you for your speedy response. Secondly, I didn’t get time to experiment but omg I am so glad I took your advice and stuck to the recipe (mostly)! It turned out amazing! Everyone loved it. I did make a few small changes though. I wanted a stronger lemon flavour because I love all things lemony, so I added in approximately an extra half of a lemon, 1tsp lemon zest and all the curd. But I think next time I will only add half of the curd and more lemon juice because it was just a bit too sweet (down to the curd I assume). Also I served it with a strawberry and raspberry coulis. It was absolutely delicious, a definite family favourite. Thank you so much 🙂
Hi Mel. Your recipe looks absolutely delicious. I’m planning on serving it for a dinner party I’m having on Saturday. I was considering adding a can of sweetened condensed milk and cutting down the sugar, just wanted to know your thoughts on this. I’m a bit sceptical about altering the recipe considering the glowing reviews you’ve got thus far, but I would definitely appreciate your feedback.
Thank you.
Nikita – I’ve never made those particular substitutions so I don’t dare tell you whether they would work or not. If you have the time, you might give it a trial run with your variations to see how it goes before making it for your dinner party. The original is pretty amazing so if you are worried at all or don’t have time to experiment, I’d stick with the recipe as written.
Dear mel i just wanted to thank you for being in my life 😉 after the first time i have made this cheesecake my husband just keeps begging me for more (most of the times, i let him suffer a few weeks and suprise him). I have also made this cheesecake into a strawberry cheesecake just adapting the recipe a little bit, which was delicious as well! All of the recipes that i have made from your website so far have been a succes, and trust me when i tell you i did not know how to cook before, so this comes as quite a suprise to my hubby haha. Keep on doing such a great job and being there for us!
Thanks, Mel! I’ll give it a try and let you know how it goes! Cheesecakes are due Sept. 5.
Have a great day!
Hi Mel–I have a catering business and have made a number of your recipes, always with wonderful results. Thank you! I made several of these lemon cheesecakes for a client and they turned out beautifully. I was wondering…I need to make raspberry cheesecakes and would love a no bake version. Have you ever tried this with raspberries? Think it would work to add a layer of lightly mashed raspberries within the cheese layers without having the top cheese layer slide off? I’d appreciate your thoughts. Thanks! Love your website. Have it as my homepage!
Hi Claudia – I think this has a great possibility to work as a raspberry cheesecake but if I were to try, I’d make a simple raspberry jam/syrup mixture and swirl that into the cheesecake and let it set up. Not so runny that it messes with the texture of the cheesecake but enough to give it lovely swirls. Good luck!
I made this last night for dinner with my parents and in-laws…it was a huge hit! I usually make baked cheesecakes, but this really, honestly, is the best unbaked cheesecake ever. So creamy, and the lemon flavor is perfect. Such a good summer dessert! Thank you! 🙂
Hey Mel! Why does your recipe say to preheat the oven… sorry idk cos i dont wana read whole recipe
Mel, can I use cheese Philadelphia? Iva
Iva – Philadelphia cream cheese? Is that what you mean? Sure, that should work fine.
Hi!
I’m wondering what I can make this in if I half the recipe? I think I’d eat myself sick if I made the whole for my small family!
Thank you!
You could try a 9-inch pie plate or an 8-inch baking pan.
Hi, you are useing cream cheese, but in our country there is added salt. I was thinking what to add instead. What about mascarpone? Thanks for you recomendation. The recepie look great, I love lemon and would like to do it on my birthday. Iva
Thanks Mel for this wonderful recipe! I made it for Easter and it was a HIT! I got so many compliments and my husband’s family kept raving about how light and airy it was! I made another today for my mom’s birthday. She and the rest of my family are going to love it!
Thanks for publishing all of your delicious recipes!
This is absolutely delicious, I made it on Thanksgiving and I’m making it for Easter.
I’ve been wanting to make this for awhile and finally got around to it today when I needed a “non-Christmassy” dessert for tonight. I love the ultra smooth silky texture and how it cuts so cleanly. Not as heavy as some baked cheesecakes. I can see how this would be a great summer dessert. I am thinking of trying it with lime next time.
I’m a pie-lover and host an annual Pie Night. I added this and your Coconut Cream Pie to my usual line-up this year. Loved the Coconut Cream Pie, but I wasn’t a fan of this Lemon Cheesecake. The lemon curd was delicious (I doubled that part so I’d have some to eat later!), the cake looked beautiful, had a lovely texture, and cuts cleaner than any pie or cheesecake (the gelatin helps with that), but the cream cheese just dominated the flavor. I think it’d have a more rounded flavor if one (of the 3!) packages of cream cheese was substituted with a can of sweetened condensed milk and the lemon juice was upped to 1/2 cup.
hello,
i just made this one just now. because i am from Malaysia, we rarely use cheese, lemon and gelatin but your recipe is so easy to understand. i made a few mistakes at first but i managed to overcome with it. one more thing i realized it is a little harder to mix gelatin with lemon juice rather than gelatin with hot water like common recipe of blueberry cheesecake. but like i said, i settled with it too.
but thanks again for the recipe. it’s easy to understand and easy to prepare. and unique too with curd as topping. i cant wait to eat it later.
thank you again, so much… ^__^
Nevie – you are right. When I wrote the post years ago, I was focusing on the fact that the actual cheesecake isn’t baked, but yes, you do need to turn on the oven for the crust. My mistake!
I’m sorry did I miss something – an oven is required. You need to bake the pie crust. Otherwise this does look delish!
Hi Kanwal, the recipe states how to use the gelatin. Even though in recipes it is often dissolved in hot water, in this case, it is sprinkled over the lemon juice.
hi…I have a question about the gelatin that before adding it to the filling does it
need to be dissolved in hot water?
Hi Mel, I had a pretty big family party two weeks ago and decided to make a cheesecake (even though I had NEVER made a cheesecake in my life). I saw your recipe for this ‘No Bake Lemon Cheesecake’. It was a hit. It was gone in seconds after cutting into it. Some people thought I actually bought it and passed it off as homemade. 🙂 The best compliment I could get. Thank you for this and all your other great recipes. Can’t wait to try a lot more of them.