Easy and Creamy Cheesecake (+Video)
This easy and creamy cheesecake is absolutely delicious! Make your own crust or use store-bought. This recipe comes out perfect every time!
THE BEST FOOLPROOF CHEESECAKE RECIPE
This is one of the easiest cheesecakes you will ever make. Cross my heart. And forget about all those cheesecake recipes from the past where you had to leave the oven door open for 5 hours after baking for the cheesecake to set. This recipe has an easy baking method that takes all of the scariness out of making cheesecake.
MAKE A HOMEMADE CRUST OR USE STORE-BOUGHT
I give directions below for both. Most times I am just picking up a store-bought graham cracker crust. When buying a graham cracker crust for this recipe, you will want to look for the one that says “2 extra servings” on the packaging.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- graham cracker crumbs
- sugar
- melted butter
- cream cheese – see my post on How to Soften Cream Cheese Quickly
- sugar
- sour cream
- vanilla extract
- lemon juice (optional)
- eggs
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST EASY CHEESECAKE:
Preheat oven to 300F degrees.
For the crust:
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter and pack mixture firmly into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie pan. Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
For the filling:
Mix cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a mixer. Add eggs one at a time to the mixture and thoroughly combine. The key to getting a really creamy cheesecake is to mix these ingredients together really well until the mixture is kind of thick and smooth (about 4-5 minutes.).
Pour filling into prepared pie crust.
Bake for about 65-70 minutes.
Chill in the refrigerator a few hours before serving. Optional: top with cherry or strawberry pie filling or drizzle with caramel sauce.
CRAVING MORE DESSERTS?
Easy and Creamy Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1-¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- ⅓ cup melted butter
For the filling:
- 2 (8 ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons sour cream
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
For the crust:
- Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter and pack mixture firmly into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie pan.
- Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
For the filling:
- Preheat oven to 300f degrees.
- Mix cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a mixer.
- Add eggs one at a time to the mixture and thoroughly combine.
- The key to getting a really creamy cheesecake is to mix these ingredients together really well until the mixture is kind of thick and smooth (about 4-5 minutes).
- Pour into pie crust.
- Bake for about 65-70 minutes at 300f degrees. Allow cheesecake to cool completely in the refrigerator before serving (about 3-4 hours)
Video
Notes
- You can make the pie crust, or you can just use a premade one from the store. If you use a pre-made one, try to look for the crusts that says “2 extra servings.” I you can’t find it, just go with the regular ones. You may just have a tad bit of filling leftover.
- Chill in the refrigerator a few hours before serving. Optional: top with cherry or strawberry pie filling or drizzle with caramel sauce.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: February 2011
Updated and re-published: April 2019
Hello Brandie and other followers.
Can anyone share how this recipe would fill a 7″ X 3″ spring form pan? Or how it could be altered to fill a 7″ X 3″ spring form pan?
Thanks for any insights
Love just good old plain cheesecake, so I love this recipe. One thing I’ve learned though is to not buy the store brand cream cheese. I made that mistake this time, and I had to beat the filling for a long time to get the lumps out. Sometimes it pays to go ahead and spend the extra $$ on a good brand.
Thank you so very much Patty!!
I have to say that this recipe is now my main go to when I want a quick and easy cheesecake. So easy and I was amazed at how creamy and full of flavor it came out. I am a mom to 5 and a grandma to 13 who is known for serving scrumptious deserts. I spend a ton of hours finding new things to surprise them with at family meals. I took 5 of these cheesecakes Sunday and am proud to say there wasnt a crumb left. Everybody raved it was as good as the ones I spend hours making,baking in water baths, and fighting my springform pan to release. I even used pre-made crusts so am super happy with this recpe. Thank you so much. ❤
This makes me so happy to hear Sue! Thank you so very much for taking the time to come back and leave such a wonderful comment!
Made this last night and it was so easy and DELICIOUS. But how could you turn it into a chocolate cheesecake? Or maybe you can’t.
Hi Becky! I am sure you could! Let me play around with the recipe and I’ll try and get back to you on that one! 🙂
I have tried many cheesecake recipes in the past but today I only had 2 (8oz.) blocks of cream cheese so I decided to try this recipe. I added about 1/2 cup homemade lemon curd to the batter to make it lemony (I was craving lemon desserts) and will top with a little bit more lemon curd and some fruit sauce. Looking forward to this as cheesecake is my husband and I’s favorite dessert!
Brilliant!
I made cheesecakes before, usually in a springform pan I wanted something quick and easy and that I could use my purchased walnut crust with. I made your recipe for this cheesecake last night and served it to my guests today. Everyone loved it! This is a definite keeper and I will make it again. Thank you for sharing it with us.
My niece has been bugging me to bake a cheesecake with her. Today was the day we made it and right now we’re enjoying it. My sisters says they’re better than the store bought one. A real hit with the family.
Phenomenal! Perfect texture and flavor.
Has anyone used Rumchata as a stir in for this base cheese cake pie? If so what measurement and was it replacing anything?
I haven’t tried it Camille but I think it would be wonderful! Let me know if you try it!
Oh, no! I was mixing up recipes, added 3 eggs rather than 2! I hope it turns out ok! The batter tastes wonderful so fingers crossed. Will update after trying it.
Can I freeze these if I make several at a time.
Hi Mary! You sure can!
I am going to make this in a spring form pan, what size do you suggest?
Good morning! Loved this cheesecake with our dinner last night. It went well with our smoked ribs. Question: Is the nutritional info per serving?
Wow, this was so delicious, creamy and just one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever eaten. This will now be my go to recipe for cheesecake. Thank you for sharing this wonderful easy but amazingly delicious full proof recipe. ❤️
Made this cheesecake on Sunday morning for my birthday on Monday. Followed the instructions to the “T”other than subbing heavy cream for sour cream because I mixed them up when purchasing ingredients. After baking for 70 minutes I cooled ok a rack for 1.5 hours before refrigeration. Ate it last night and wow, turned out absolutely amazing! First time making my own crust and it was SO much better than store bought. My friend raves about how tasty it was too. Thank you for such a great recipe! Highly recommend for anyone who is nervous about making cheesecake because it’s easy and foolproof.
Amazing comment – thank you so much Hyde for taking the time to come back and leaving feedback. Love hearing that!
how much heavy cream did you use
I’ve never made a cheesecake before and I made this for the first time and it came out perfect everyone loved it thank you so much for this recipe I used a store board gram cracker crust the first time. I am encouraged by my first try and want to do a homemade graham cracker crust this time. Should I bake the crust and let it cool or just refrigerate it ?
Can I put the store bought Graham crackers crust crumbs into a springform pan?
You should be able to also do this in a springform pan – yes. 🙂
I hope the springform pan worked. I cant find my go to cheesecake recipe because I just moved & already made my crust in my springform pan & then noticed this recipe didn’t call for springform! Hopefully it’ll work out. 🙂
Can I make this a day ahead?
Hi Carolyn, yes you sure can! Just keep it in the refrigerator. 🙂
I never leave reviews but this recipe will be the only cheesecake recipe I use! It was amazing!!
I am honored then that you would write a review for this one! Yay!! Thanks so much Jenna!!
Best cheesecake EVER
Woo Hoo!! Thank you so much Liz!!
I tried this recipe about a year ago ever since then the only way I make a cheese cake is by this recipe . Everyone loves it thank you
This makes me so happy!! Thank you so much Isabel!
This recipe was so easy and turned out awesome! Thank you for sharing.
Woo hoo!! Yay!! Thank you so very much for the lovely review!!
Can you use this recipe for the small pie crusts that some
Stores carry ?
Heck yes!!
This was my first cheesecake I have ever baked and it turned out beautiful and delicious… my son wants me to make one for his birthday in May
Hey I’ve never made a cheese cake before but I followed your recipe, and the cheese cake is perfect ????????????????
Hi Rainah! Yay!! Love, love hearing this!! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know!
No problems I had a lot of fun making it