This healthy Greek yogurt cheesecake recipe is luxuriously smooth, easy to prepare, and surprisingly good for you!
High protein cheesecake recipe
With a thick and creamy custard texture, the high protein Greek yogurt cheesecake pie is nutritious and filling, no cream cheese required.
Simply whip the ingredients in a food processor, then pour the velvety cheesecake mixture into a crust and bake in the oven. Or serve it in bowls for a fancy no bake cheesecake mousse.
A soft, tangy, delicious homemade cheesecake that just so happens to be healthy at the same time? It’s like a dessert dream come true.
The best part? Each slice gives you eight grams of protein, for just 100 calories!
Also try these Black Bean Brownies
Step by step recipe video
Above, watch the Greek yogurt cheesecake recipe video
Cheesecake is for sure my favorite non chocolate dessert.
I could happily eat cheesecake for days on end and still want more.
It’s like that scene from Friends where they accidentally drop an entire cheesecake on the floor and then continue to eat it…
I would totally be that girl.
Healthy Greek yogurt cheesecake ingredients
To make the recipe, you will need Greek yogurt (dairy free if desired), lemon juice, a pinch of salt, sweetener of choice, cornstarch or arrowroot (or almond flour), cream cheese or silken tofu, and pure vanilla extract.
Greek yogurt. This can be plain or vanilla yogurt. If using vanilla flavored yogurt, simply omit the vanilla extract.
Or change the recipe flavor by choosing strawberry banana, pineapple, French vanilla, peach, or any other flavor yogurt you wish.
For a vegan yogurt cheesecake, either vegan Greek yogurt or nondairy coconut yogurt work well in the recipe. To keep it plant based, use tofu or vegan cream cheese.
Cream cheese (optional). For creamiest results, buy full fat cream cheese. Or to make the tofu version without cream cheese, I like silken firm tofu (look for shelf stable Mori Nu). If this is not available, refrigerated soft tofu will also work.
Sweetener of choice. I normally use pure maple syrup, but any all purpose granulated or liquid sweetener is fine, including regular sugar, coconut sugar, honey, agave, or granulated erythritol or xylitol for a sugar free cheesecake. If using powdered sugar, increase the amount to equal the sweetness of granulated sugar.
Cornstarch. This thickens the cheesecake and binds the recipe without eggs. You may turn it into a low carb and keto Greek yogurt cheesecake by substituting two tablespoons of almond flour for the one tablespoon of cornstarch.
The cheesecake can be gluten free, oil free, low carb, low calorie, low fat, and vegan.
Use leftover yogurt to make Healthy Banana Bread
How to make Greek yogurt cheesecake
- First gather all of your cheesecake ingredients, and prepare an optional crust of choice.
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit or 176° Celsius.
- Combine the cheese pie ingredients in a blender or food processor on high power, until thick and completely smooth.
- Either enjoy as mousse, or pour the filling into the prepared cheesecake crust.
- Bake on the center rack of the oven for 50 minutes. Then carefully remove from the oven when the top still appears soft and under baked. Allow the cake to cool at room temperature for about an hour.
- Transfer the cheesecake to the refrigerator and let it chill, uncovered, for six to eight hours, during which time it will firm up considerably.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Or slice and freeze leftovers in a covered container for up to three months.
Greek yogurt cheesecake mousse
Since there are no eggs in the recipe, it’s fine to skip both the crust and baking steps if you prefer to save time and calories.
I mean, it’s basically cheesecake flavored yogurt, so why not???
Serve in bowls or glasses, topped with fresh strawberries and Homemade Nutella, raspberries, cherries, or blueberries and Coconut Whipped Cream.
Or eat the cheesecake filling straight from the blender with a spoon!
If you want to eat it for breakfast, you will get no judgement from me. This is mostly because I will be right there beside you, doing the same exact thing.
Healthy crust options
If you do wish to bake the cheesecake and use a crust, feel free to use either a store bought graham cracker crust or a homemade crust.
Graham Cracker Crust: Stir 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs with 6 tablespoons of butter or plant based butter (softened but not melted) and 2 tablespoons sugar of choice in a bowl. Press very firmly into a 9 inch pie pan or a springform pan. Refrigerate for at least an hour before adding filling. No need to bake.
Keto Almond Flour Crust: Stir 2 cups of almond or pecan flour with 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 6 tablespoons of melted coconut oil or butter. Press down very firmly into a 9 inch springform or pie pan. Refrigerate for at least an hour before filling.
Traditional Crust: In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of flour (regular flour or whole wheat pastry both work), 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 cup of sugar or xylitol, 1/2 cup of oil or melted butter, and 2-4 tablespoons of water so it sticks together but isn’t gummy. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Press into a 9 inch pie pan. Put in the oven and immediately increase the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool, then press down. Once cooled, the crust is ready to fill.
Greek Yogurt Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt or dairy free alternative (360g)
- 1/2 cup cream cheese or silken firm tofu (120g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract (7g)
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (7g)
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey (120g) (or 2/3 cup sugar or xylitol)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (8g) or 2 tbsp almond flour
- 1 crust of choice (a crust recipe is included above)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (176° Celsius).
- 2. Combine all Greek yogurt cheesecake ingredients, except crust, in a blender or food processor until completely smooth.
- 3. Pour the filling into any prepared crust. (Alternatively, pour into glasses for no bake cheesecake mousse.)
- 4. Bake 50 minutes on the oven's center rack. The cake should still look underdone when time is up.
- 5. Allow to cool at room temperature for about an hour, then transfer to the refrigerator uncovered for eight hours or overnight. It will firm up as it chills.
- 6. Slice and enjoy!
Video
Notes
More healthy cheesecake recipes
Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars (reader favorite)
this cheesecake looks fabulous!! i cant wait to to see all your veganmofo posts!
I love putting greek yogurt in my creations. Ps. Love the backdrop in your photos 😉
Made this delicious pie for dessert last night, to go with the Mexican tamale pies we also made from this website. I think we eat something from this website every day at least once. Love your recipes so much and am looking forward to the cookbook. Thanks Katie!
I have one in the oven right now! Made with “Greek Style So Delicious Dairy Free Cultured Almond Milk Plain,” found at Whole Foods. I also only used yogurt- no tofu, so we’ll see how it comes out! Excited! It smells great!
Amanda, how did it come out?
I just made this for dinner tonight. I don’t use a lot of tofu, so I was unsure of what to buy, so I guess I used regular tofu. It was a bit too firm and it cooked faster, but it was still so very yummy. I cut up strawberries to go with it. Thank you so much! You have opened my eyes on healthy desserts. Every recipe I have tried of your has turned out even when a do a bit of substituting. You are amazing!
Katie,
I have been following your website for about 2 years now and I LOVE it! Pretty much every dessert I make comes from your blog…and my entire family has loved every single one of them! I was planning on making a pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving dinner this year…and incorporating pumpking into this greek yogurt cheesecake came to mind. I found a copy cat recipe for The Cheesecake Factory’s recipe…but it’s not exactly something I would eat and therefore wind up with tons of leftovers. If I want to make this cheesecake recipe for dessert…how would I go about doing that??? Thanks!!!
I have “pumpkin cheesecake” on my list of things to try, but I don’t think I’ll get around to it until next year :-?.
Katie, this is seriously amazing. We used Gluten free graham crackers for crust. FANTASTIC!!!! Thanks
I can’t wait to buy your cookbook 🙂
Hello Katie!
I made the greek yogurt last night and was so happy with the thickness of it this morning. I made my morning Bob’s High Fiber Hot Cereal (oats, flax, chia, etc.) with the whey liquid and it was delicious! The yogurt I used was Trader Joe’s Vanilla Soy so the liquid was sweet and vanilla-y. Thank you so much for this idea. Did you make it up or did you find it somewhere?
Best Health,
Nicole
I have a cheesecake recipe that uses Tofutti cream cheese, but I know that when I post it people will immediately want to know what can be subbed for the Tofutti… so I thought I’d give this a try and see if it’d work as a substitute. According to wikipedia, Greek yogurt has simply been strained, and I’d heard of making “thicker” yogurt by straining overnight for frozen yogurt, which gave me the idea to try it out here.
I’ve tried making some of your milkshakes with refrigerated tofu before, since it was all I could find, but apparently my brand of tofu left a very strong aftertaste. Since then, I’ve been wary of tofu. Could you perhaps use Tofutti cream cheese instead of tofu? It would be a brilliant alternative.
I loved this idea but I wanted to try a making a no-bake cheesecake to preserve the healthy probiotics in the Greek yogurt. I made your recipe but substituted a package of light cream cheese for the tofu. (I wanted to try to make it with tofu but I couldn’t find the kind you mentioned.) I made a gluten free crust using equal parts cinnamon Chex and gluten free ginger snap cookies with a little melted butter and milk. I placed the pie in the freezer for about an hour to firm it up before moving to the fridge.
Let me say- it was divine! I have already made two of them. With the first one I used maple syrup for the liquid sweetener and I liked the flavor better than when I used half maple syrup and half agave.
The texture is more like pudding than a firm cheesecake but the taste was incredible! I tried topping it with sliced bananas and it tasted like banana cream pie but healthier.
I love love love your blog, Katie! I am addicted to sweets and chocolate but I much prefer a healthier tasting, less sweet dessert over the traditional. I will continue coming to your blog for for dessert inspiration!
You do realize that heat kills bacteria and renders probiotics useless, right?
You do realize I said I made a no bake version in my post. I said I firmed the cheesecake in the freezer before refrigerating it. ???
Question about the yogurt. If making your own, why do you have to strain 24oz if you are only using 12oz in the recipe? Can you please clarify this for me? I am planning to make this but want to be sure to get it right.
You’re only using 12oz of the thickened stuff. You lose some of the bulk as it drains.
I tried this and it was so amazing I had to blog about it!
Katie, I tried your homemade Greek yogurt trick using So Delicious coconut yogurt. I put it in a sieve lined with a coffee filter for close to 24 hours. A decent amount of water drained off and it did thicken a little bit, but it was NOT super thick like regular dairy Greek yogurt. It was more like pudding. Is this expected? Or did something go wrong? TIA!
It should definitely get thick.
Try Wholesoy if you can. I haven’t tried it with SoDelicious, but I know Wholesoy and Silk work.
How about making tsaziki with your leftover yogurt. It makes a great dip for raw veggies.
HI Katie
I made this last night for my birthday. I used pumpkin instead of tofu and it turned out really good. I didn’t use a crust, so it was a little hard to scoop it out like a piece of pie, however, it wasn’t runny. I used already made honey greek yogurt (hormone free) because I was pressed for time. Then I only added 2 tablespoons of honey and no dry sweetner. I really like the flavor, although I couldn’t taste the pumpkin much. Next time I will try using a little more pumpkin.
Also, of the left over yogurt, I mixed some of the left over pumpkin with the honey yogurt, added some pumpkin pie spice and ate it up! 🙂 I have such a craving for pumpkin lately, it was so good.
wow your version sounds really good as well! i just might have to try this for my birthday this week!
If you do, let me know what you think.
I made another tonight, will all yogurt for my hubby (he doesnt like pumpkin). I am excited to see how it tastes tomorrow – if he lets me have any. LOL
Note to self: don’t do it with fat-free Chobani. It went sort of cheese-like. As in, literal cheese-cake. The taste was pretty good, the texture? Nooo.
However, it does taste awesome with whipped cream.
<3