This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
This healthy cheesecake is so smooth, rich, and creamy, you won’t believe it’s made with Greek yogurt! No sugar needed, it’s elegant and guilt free! Less than 100 calories per serving.
Healthy Cheesecake
When it comes to healthy desserts, my favorite recipes to make are a chocolate cake, flourless brownies, and this healthy cheesecake.
Over the past year or so, I’ve kind of let things slip in the healthy eating department. Too much work and too little exercising, and I’ve found myself craving more and more sweets. The sad reality is, I work with desserts every day so I have an abundance of them on hand.
Luckily, I’m not the kind of person who deprives themselves. I know I like something sweet after dinner, so I’m now opting to make smarter choices. Giving healthier makeovers to some of my favorite desserts has really helped me get back on track. While I typically enjoy something chocolate based, I’ve recently loved making a healthier version of my favorite cheesecake.
I’ve been meaning to share a healthy cheesecake recipe for quite some time. It’s the perfect quick and easy dessert to make when I’m trying to be good but NEED something sweet. It uses healthy and wholesome ingredients but tastes incredible.
No sugar and no butter are needed, but you’d never tell. The texture is extra smooth and creamy, and incredibly rich. It’s sweet and with a subtle vanilla flavor, without being overpowering.
My sister, who has the world’s biggest sweet tooth, came over for dessert and she could NOT believe this cheesecake was healthy- She thought it had to be full of fat and sugar!
How do you make a healthy cheesecake
The Ingredients
- Cookie crust– A simple combination of homemade, crushed up sugar free cookies mixed with melted butter.
- Greek yogurt– Non fat or low fat Greek yogurt. Try to use a brand that is naturally thick, so it will give the cheesecake some extra stability.
- Cream cheese– Not fat cream cheese, preferably from a block, not a spread. The latter often has added water or liquids in it, which can affect the overall texture and cooking time of the cheesecake.
- Eggs– Room temperature.
- Granulated sweetener of choice– Any granulated sweetener can be used. To keep the calories and carbs down, I opted to use erythritol.
- All purpose flour– Thickens the filling so it does not fall apart once it is out of the oven.
- Vanilla extract– Just a dash to give a light vanilla flavor throughout.
- Salt– Balances the other ingredients and brings out the sweetness.
The Instructions
Start by preparing the crust by mixing the crushed up cookies with the melted butter. Transfer the mixture into a springform cake pan and refrigerate it while you prepare the filling. Next, add the cheesecake filling ingredients into a high speed blender and blend well, until smooth. Transfer into the cake pan and spread out until even on top.
Now, place the cheesecake into the oven and bake at 170C/325F for 45-50 minutes, or until it has set in the middle. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature, before refrigerating it for at least 4 hours, to firm up.
Tips to make the best low calorie cheesecake
- If you’d like this to be a crustless cheesecake, omit the crust and bake it in a lined square pan for 35-40 minutes, or until the center is cooked.
- Once the cheesecake is out of the oven, cover it completely, to avoid any cracking on top.
- I used homemade sugar free cookies for the crust, to cut the calories and sugar. You can use a pre-made crust or even a graham cracker crust if you prefer.
Storing and freezing Greek yogurt cheesecake
- To store: Cheesecake must always be stored in the refrigerator, covered. It will keep well for up to 2 weeks.
- To freeze: Place the cheesecake in a shallow container and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More healthy dessert recipes to try
Healthy Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 recipe Sugar free cookies crushed
- 1/2 cup granulated sweetener of choice I used erythritol
- 1/3 cup butter vegan or standard
For the filling
- 1 cup non fat cream cheese
- 2 cups non fat Greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup granulated sweetener of choice I used erythritol
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F.
- In a mixing bowl, add your crushed cookies, sweetener, and melted butter and whisk together until combined. Transfer into a greased 8-inch springform cake pan.
- Add the cheesecake filling ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Transfer onto the cheesecake crust.
- Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the middle is set.
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool completely, before refrigerating for at least 4 hours, to firm up.
This cheesecake was perfection! I made a few tweaks as I don’t follow a sugar-free diet. For the crust, I used 200gr of Lotus (Speculos) cookies + 1/3 cup of salted Irish butter (no extra sugar). For the filling, I used Low fat plain yogurt (I didn’t have Greek yogurt), and it worked great. I added the zest of a lemon, and baked it in a 7-inch springform cake pan (I didn’t have a bigger one) for 1h 15 min (my oven is old and it took forever for the center to cook). I had leftover crust and filling so I made 4 mini-cheesecakes in a muffin pan. After 4h in the fridge, I served it with homemade salted butter caramel sauce and red fruits. I have made many cheesecake recipes over the years, and this one is my new favorite. Thank you!
This was my first time making cheesecake (or baking in general!), my dad said it was the best cheesecake he ever had. 😁
This question has been asked but not answered. How many cookies for the crust. Don’t say an entire batch because that could mean many different things depending on your cookie recipe. I would really like to try this recipe, but don’t have time to bake cookies so I was hoping to buy sugar free sugar cookies, but I need to know how many or how many grams.
About 12 cookies, so 200 grams 🙂
Thank you!
I used one package of Murray sugar free shortbread cookies and that was enough for a 9”round springform pan
I’ve made this recipe twice using different cookie types, honestly just eyeball the crust. I had some cranberry orange cookies I found at Costco that I used and it took about two and a half sleeves for me to like the crust depth. The butter amount can be modified depending on if you’re okay with a more crumbly crust.
I have these exact cookies on hand and I will give a try! Thanks
Yum!!!
I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. Made a few subtle changes.
Used ginger snaps (12 from Dollar Tree bag full) and didn’t add more sweetener to the crust.
Also added a splash of lime juice to the batter, maybe a teaspoon? Sweetener of choice was Splenda brown sugar, only used 1/2 cup.
Made it in my instant pot (on trivet, 1 1/4 cups water, cover pan with foil, 32 minutes and natural release)
Will top with fresh fruit, this recipe is a keeper 💗
Thanks, Karen!
Used graham crackers and made my own strawberry topping. Absolute perfection.
I can’t eat yogurt what could I use instead? can I use cream? Would that work? And instead of flour, cornflour? Thanks! Really want to try this
You could try sour cream and for flour, I’m not sure- you could try that. Good luck!
Coconut yoghurt? If it’s lactose, maybe just strained lactose free yoghurt?
Made this for Christmas, I ended up making it easier for myself and bought a pre-made 9″ crust. The batter ended up being too much to fit in the pan so I made muffins with the rest of them. Absolutely delicious!! Don’t even miss the real thing,although I did add real sugar but its still ridiculously low calorie( 217 cal a slice instead of close to 600 cal) so it’s a win for me!
Any alternative for the flour? Doing the low-carb thing…
Not that I’ve tried 🙂 You could experiment with almond flour and see
This was the best healthy cheesecake I’ve ever made- so rich and creamy!!
Thanks, Ella!
The cheesecake is so unbelievably good. You think you used only cream cheese. It’s not overly sweet and the texture is perfect.
Thanks Susan!
Your sugar free cheese cake is the best I have ever tried. Low in calories too. I’ve tried using low sugar flavoured jelly crystals, what’s your advice on the ratios of cream cheese etc. it’s definitely a secience, lol. Have u ever tried Mr Kipling brownie bites, they are so delicious. Could you come up with a low sugar version that taste like those. Difficult I know, I’ve tried. When you read what they put into them it’s enough to kill anyone. Regards Sharyn Thompson
Most recipes call for 3-4 packages of cream cheese but this one was healthier. I made this so many times because it is an excellent cheesecake base. I made tiramisu, strawberry, chocolate, pumpkin, lime, and my favorite, lemon cheesecake with this recipe base. Gonna continue experimenting with this recipe.
How would you make this into pumpkin cheesecake?
Hi Em- you can make my pumpkin cheesecake recipe on my site instead.
Look at other pumpkin cheesecake recipes and combine it with this one. I just made a pumpkin cheesecake today and added 30oz of pumpkin pureè and added 1/3 more sugar. You will have extra filling so u can just bake em in a mold dish as small cheesecakes.
How do you combine recipes? If you add pumpkin, do you have to adjust other things to make it more stable? Do you have to adjust cooking time?
do you need a water bath?
I didn’t for this one!
Absolutely amazing and foolproof, ingredients can be easily substituted to your liking, I‘ve made it three times last summer and I‘m about to make it again because it‘s just so easy and tasty! Thankyou for this amazing recipe!
I made this with a weight watcher, gram cracker crust homemade then this time I added almond flour instead of all purpose because I was afraid that my self rising flour would make it rise too much. Hope it works out. It’s the best cheesecake I’ve ever had that’s low calorie.