This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our affiliate policy.
You’ll love this easy, dreamy No Bake Lemon Cheesecake. This frozen desert is smooth, silky, and it’s made with just 4 ingredients on a homemade graham cracker crust (or substitute store-bought).
Meggan’s notes
As a classically-trained chef, I love experimenting with flavors, and starting with a tried-and-true family recipe is even better. I’ve come up with a lot of wacky ideas, but every once in a while, a wild gamble pays off. That’s exactly what happened with this No Bake Lemon Cheesecake.
I grew up enjoying my grandma’s Frozen Chocolate Cheesecake, a creamy no-bake dessert made with cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and chocolate syrup on a chocolate cookie crust. Aiming for a citrus alternative, I swapped the chocolate syrup for lemon Jello-O, and the recipe was perfect. No further questions, your honor. I couldn’t believe it.
Try my 2-ingredient homemade graham cracker crust or just buy one at the store. You can also try it with any flavor of Jell-O that you want. You never know when a wild gamble will pay off. And be sure to let the cheesecake freeze for at least 12 hours. That makes this a perfect make-ahead dessert option!
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Graham crackers: Honey-flavored, cinnamon, or even chocolate graham crackers all work well. If graham crackers aren’t available in your part of the world, you can substitute 1 ½ cups crushed digestive biscuits (9 sheets of graham crackers yields about 1 ½ cups of crumbs).
- Cream cheese: For the smoothest possible filling, be sure your cream cheese is softened completely. Or, speed it up by microwaving it in 30-second increments at 50% power until you can whisk it easily by hand.
Step-by-step instructions
For faster whipped cream, chill a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk in the freezer while preparing the crust and the filling.
To make the crust:
- In a food processor or blender, process graham crackers until coarsely ground, about 15 pulses.
- Continue processing until finely ground, about 10 seconds longer (you should have about 2 cups of crumbs).
- Drizzle in the butter and process until incorporated. Reserve ¼ cup of the crumb mixture for topping.
- Pour the crumbs into the bottom of a springform pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs into an even, tightly-packed layer. Freeze or refrigerate while preparing the filling.
To make the cheesecake:
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon Jello-O until smooth, removing as many lumps as possible.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the chilled bowl and whisk attachment, whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks form, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Fold in the lemon mixture by hand until no streaks remain.
- Pour cheesecake mixture into the springform pan and top with reserved crumb mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and foil, and freeze at least 12 hours or overnight.
- Remove from freezer 10 minutes prior to serving. Store leftovers in the freezer.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes one 9-inch cheesecake, enough for 16 slices (more or less depending on how you cut them).
- Storage: Store leftovers in the freezer (the fridge isn’t cold enough).
- Make ahead: This is an ideal make-ahead dessert! Make it ahead and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Homemade Graham Crackers: To take your crust over the top, make graham crackers from scratch.
- Any Jell-O: I used lemon Jell-O here, but you can substitute any flavor of Jell-O that you want and the no-bake cheesecake will turn out fine. Just steer clear of no-sugar varieties of Jell-O. I haven’t tested this recipe with those!
- More no-bake treats: Try my No Bake Peanut Butter Balls, No Bake Pumpkin Pie, No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake, Oreo Cookie Balls, Oreo Mint Truffles, or No Bake Peanut Butter Bars.
Frequently Asked Questions
The primary reason a no-back cheesecake comes out too runny or doesn’t set up properly is due to the temperature of the ingredients. If your cream cheese is too warm, for example, the mixture will be too soft.
When folding in the ingredients, fold gently as to not knock the volume down.
Store a freshly made no bake lemon cheesecake in an airtight cake carrier or wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days. Any longer than that and you should put it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
More recipes for lemon lovers
Fruit Dessert Recipes
Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake
Cake Recipes
Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe
Cake Recipes
Lemon Cake with Limoncello Cream
Cake Recipes
Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe
Join Us
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 12 graham crackers crushed
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
For the cheesecake:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature (see note 1)
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (3.4 ounce) box lemon Jell-O
- 16 ounces heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- For faster whipped cream, chill a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk in the freezer while preparing the crust and the filling.
To make the crust:
- In a food processor or blender, process graham crackers until coarsely ground, about 15 pulses.
- Continue processing until finely ground, about 10 seconds longer (you should have about 2 cups of crumbs).
- Drizzle in the butter and process until incorporated. Reserve ¼ cup of the crumb mixture for topping.
- Pour the crumbs into the bottom of a springform pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs into an even, tightly-packed layer. Freeze or refrigerate while preparing the filling.
To make the cheesecake:
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon Jell-O until smooth, removing as many lumps as possible.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the chilled bowl and whisk attachment, whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks form, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Fold in the lemon mixture by hand until no streaks remain.
- Pour cheesecake mixture into the springform pan and top with reserved crumb mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and foil, and freeze at least 12 hours or overnight. Remove from freezer 10 minutes prior to serving. Store leftovers in the freezer.
Notes
- Cream cheese: For the smoothest possible filling, be sure your cream cheese is softened completely. Or, speed it up by microwaving it in 30-second increments at 50% power until you can whisk it easily by hand.
- Yield: This recipe makes one 9-inch cheesecake, enough for 16 slices (more or less depending on how you cut them).
- Storage: Store leftovers in the freezer.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Hello
Thanks for the recipe
But you don’t have to tell me how much cream and sweeten the mixture.
You’re welcome, Mtoo. – Meggan
Can you substitute cool whip for whipped cream?
Hi Donna, I haven’t tried it myself. I would think it would work fine, but I can’t say for sure. Sorry about that! – Meggan
Could you share ingredients for a 6โ cheesecake pan. My sister in law LOVES lemon! Iโd love to make this for her and itโs my only cheesecake pan. Thank you! I love your site and emails ๐ฉท
Hi Carolyn, thank you so much for writing! I haven’t tried this cheesecake in a 6″ pan, but I think reducing the recipe by half will be close to the volume of your pan. You can use the slider in the recipe card to change the servings to 8 and it will reduce all the ingredients by half, so the recipe can be viewed or printed out. You may need to use a scale to halve the box of pudding. I think it’s wonderful that you are going to make this for her, and I hope she loves it! – Meggan
You have not indicated if you make up the lemon Jell-O or just use the Jello-O powder in the filling. Another recipe I have alls for you to dissolve the Jell-O powder in boiling water, then let it cool and thicken slightly.
Hi Janice, thank you so much for writing. Sorry for the confusion. You’ll add the box of Jell-O powder from the box, no need to dissolve it beforehand. I hope you try this cheesecake! – Meggan