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This keto cheesecake recipe is smooth, rich, creamy, and made with just 6 ingredients! I love that this dessert takes less than an hour all up.
Love keto desserts? Try my keto brownies, keto chocolate mousse, keto peanut butter cookies, and keto ice cream.
It may surprise you, but cheesecakes are one of the easiest desserts to “keto-fy”. A classic cheesecake uses many keto-friendly ingredients, like eggs, cream cheese, and/or heavy cream. With just a few minor tweaks, my keto cheesecake recipe looks and tastes like the real thing!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- It needs just 6 ingredients total, and that is including the crust.
- It’s made using simple and affordable ingredients. No hard-to-find flours, sweeteners, or additions are needed!
- The cheesecake is so smooth, rich, and creamy that even those who don’t follow a keto diet will be obsessed.
- It takes less than an hour to bake, which is nothing compared to other cheesecakes out there.
Ingredients needed
Crust
- Keto cookies- While for most keto pies and cheesecake recipes we use a keto graham cracker crust, we found this cheesecake worked better using crushed peanut butter cookies. If you have a peanut allergy, this works just as well with crushed almond butter cookies.
- Butter- unsalted butter measured in its melted state.
Filling
- Cream cheese- Softened and at room temperature. Also, try to use cream cheese that comes from a block instead of a tub. It contains very few additives (if any) and yields a much creamier dessert.
- Sour cream- Like the cream cheese, your sour cream should be at room temperature.
- Superfine sugar substitute- Also known as caster sugar. Superfine sugar has the consistency between standard sugar and powdered sugar, and you can easily make it yourself. Simply blend allulose until it has a finer texture.
- Eggs- Room temperature.
- Vanilla extract- A classic vanilla cheesecake should ALWAYS have a hint of vanilla.
How to make a keto cheesecake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Make the crust. Add your cookies to a food processor and break them down until a fine consistency remains. Place the crushed cookies into a bowl and mix through the melted butter. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch spring-form cake pan and refrigerate it.
Step 2- Make the cheesecake filling. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar substitute into a high-speed blender and pulse until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, and blend once more until combined.
Step 3- Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cheesecake has set in the middle. Let the cheesecake cool completely before refrigerating it for at least four hours to firm up beautifully.
What to serve with this dessert?
Take your cheesecake up a notch by serving it with some keto ice cream, keto whipped cream, a drizzle of sugar free chocolate syrup or a light dusting of keto powdered sugar.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Avoid overbaking the cheesecake, as it continues to cook as it cools. Once it is mostly set in the middle, you can be confident it will be fully cooked once it has cooled.
- Cooling your cheesecake in the still-warm oven helps it firm up even better than when left at room temperature. Be sure to keep the oven door slightly ajar. Otherwise, you will be left with a dense dessert!
- Do not refrigerate the cheesecake until it has cooled completely. This will avoid any potential cracks on the top.
Storage instructions
To store: Low carb cheesecake should always be stored in the refrigerator, covered. It will keep well for at least one week.
To freeze: Place leftover slices of the cheesecake in a shallow container and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months. Be sure to thaw it completely before enjoying it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Full-fat cream cheeses, including the Philadelphia brand, are all suitable for a low-carb diet. They are high in fat and protein, with very few carbs. Avoid using reduced-fat or fat-free cream cheese, as the fat is replaced with extra carbs.
Monk fruit sweetener and allulose are fantastic keto sweeteners that can replace sugar in cheesecakes. If you are making a flavored cheesecake, using a brown sugar substitute intensifies the flavor.
Each slice of cheesecake in this recipe has just 3 grams of net carbs.
If you make this cheesecake without the cookie crust, there are just 1.5 grams of net carbs per slice.
More easy keto dessert recipes
Keto Cheesecake
Video
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 1/2 cups keto cookie crumbs * See notes
- 5/8 cup butter melted
For the cheesecake filling
- 2 cups cream cheese softened and room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream room temperature
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 3/4 cup superfine sugar substitute I used erythritol ** See notes
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C/325F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper or tin foil and set aside.
- In a high speed blender, add your keto peanut butter cookies and blend until a fine consistency. Measure out 2 1/2 cups and place it into a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and mix together until combined.
- Transfer the cookie crust into the lined springform pan and use the back of a spoon to spread around the edges. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the filling.
- In a high speed blender or food processor, add the cream cheese, sour cream, and superfine sugar substitute and blend until combined. Add the eggs, then the vanilla extract, and blend once more until fully incorporated.
- Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and add the cheesecake filling to it. Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the middle is mostly set.
- Turn off the oven and open the oven door slightly. Allow the cheesecake to cool in it completely, before refrigerating for at least four hours, to firm up.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published September 2021, updated and republished April 2024.
Can you use regular Splenda that is half sugar and half powder into this recipe
I haven’t tried, but you are welcome to experiment and see!
This recipe is LEGIT! Best cheesecake I’ve ever made. I can’t believe I can enjoy it guilt free. Bravo
Absolutely delicious!!! The whole family loved it including my MIL. She has been a high end pastry chef for 40+ years and not easy to impress!
Bliss in every mouthful! I’m salycilate intolerant so I used pecans, walnut and cashews instead of almond meal for the crust. Also swapped disaronno almond liquor for vanilla essence and added a little sugar free maple syrup instead of more fake sugar .
I’m headed to the store. I’m not a fan of crust. Can I make in silicone molds, bake and then chill?
You can try- It might be a little too fragile.
Thank you!!!❤️❤️❤️
So welcome!
Can stivia be the sugar substitute?
If so how much?
Haven’t tried, I don’t like using stevia because it has a bitter taste.
Made it twice now, delicious. Had it with keto caramel sauce. Also heavy cream.
This cheesecake recipe help me survive the holidays. I was surrounded by so many of my childhood favorite desserts. So I made this one and then. I made a bowl of fresh fruit. And I put some sugar-free sugar in it. And I topped my cheesecake with it. And that made it where I did not gain weight. This holiday season. Thank you for your recipe. I am a fan for life.
amazingly good recipes- even though I am a 79 yr old experienced cook if four children etc brought up on the Bero cook book.
This is so good! I did find that making the crust, using the food processor was easier than the blender to get the right consistency with the cookies. I used the sugar cookies which are great on their own also. Guests at Thanksgiving loved this who are not even Keto.
Delicious! I was hoping to make it again but maybe add some lemon, would that work? How much should I add to give it a good lemon flavour? Thanks!
The best keto cheesecake recipe I’ve ever made.
Can this be made without sour cream and if so what changes should be made?
You could try a thick Greek yogurt and see!
I tried this recipe today. I used Stevia for the sweetener and almond flour for the crust. The texture of the cheesecake was PERFECT. I only used just over 1/2 of the Stevia powder and that was plenty. I’m not sure why but I was a little disappointed on the flavor of the cheesecake. Something seemed to be missing. I garnished the cheesecake with some walnuts and a drizzle of KETO maple syrup.
Hello, this is my first making this cheesecake and I was curious do I measure the butter solid then melt the butter for the crust? or do I melt some butter then measure it? Different recipes calls for different tricks and I seriously do not want to mess it up. I am also using a different type of peanut butter for the cookie crumbles for the crust, will that be a problem?
As its for the crust, measure it in the melted state 🙂
First time I tried it I wasn’t a fan of it. It might have been the carmel sauce I used. Wheb I tried it again with frozen blueberries it was delicious and I loved it!