No Bake Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries are the perfect party dessert. Beautiful, festive and you don’t even have to turn on your oven. Juicy strawberries filled to the brim with a sweet and tangy cheesecake mixture with a crunchy graham cracker topping.
Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
You know how food trends come and go in cycles? I feel like cheesecake stuffed strawberries were totally one of those trends. You couldn’t scroll your Pinterest feed without seeing at least 2 variations.
Some of them had a graham cracker sprinkling and others were cheesecake stuffed chocolate covered strawberries. I liked both of these ideas, but also a little lemon tang.
They are perfect for afternoon tea, Valentine’s Day, bridal showers, Mother’s Day, baby showers and refreshing spring or summer dessert platter or just because you love strawberries and cream cheese. A wonderfully easy dessert option that can be made ahead of time and is always a crowd favorite.
No-Bake Cheesecake Filling
My no-bake cheesecake recipe is a little different from others. I used sour cream, whipping cream and lemon for a zesty and fluffy cheesecake. Just cream cheese can get a little dense, so this makes it a little lighter and easier to pipe out.
The filling also isn’t overly sweet and using powdered sugar versus granulated cuts down on the potential for a grainy filling.
This can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.
What You’ll Need
- Fresh Strawberries – I know this is hard, but look for a package of traditionally shaped strawberries in uniform size. Also note that each container will have a varying amount, so it is hard to estimate how many this recipe will yield total. We can generally make between 20-30 strawberries with the filling provided.
- Cream Cheese – Full fat or reduced fat works just fine! Make sure it is room temperature to blend well and pipe perfectly.
- Lemon Juice -Acid brightens the whole mix and keeps the flavor profile more sophisticated than just “sweet”.
- Vanilla Extract -Sweetened cream cheese is good, sweetened cream cheese with vanilla is phenomenal.
- Sour Cream – Taking up even one more notch, we added just a touch of sour cream. Tangy and thick, it will help thin out the cream cheese mixture, but add another layer of taste.
- Powdered Sugar- Our original version used granulated sugar, but we found that it sometimes ended up a bit grainy, so we swapped it out for powdered sugar and never looked back.
- Heavy whipping cream– This is optional and only to be used sparingly if the blend is too thick to pipe. We are aiming for a rich and luxurious base.
- Graham Cracker Crumbs- First first batch didn’t include graham crackers, but I decided a little crunch wasn’t a bad idea.
Prepare Them
- Wash and hull the strawberries, I find using a hulling tool to be the most efficient way to do this, but you can also use a paring knife or small melon baller. Making a nice deep well ensured you can fit the maximum amount of cheesecake filling into the strawberry. Also slice a small bit off the bottom tip so they stand up straight.
- Sit the strawberries upside down on a plate covered with paper towels to drain any excess liquid. Liquid will make the cheesecake filling watery and also prevent it from sticking to the interior. Place them in the refrigerator to continue drying while you make the filling.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth using a hand mixer or stand mixer and don’t skip this step- it is the most common reason folks end up with flecks of solid cream cheese instead of a smooth and cohesive filling. Add the lemon juice, vanilla and sour cream until smooth and then the powdered sugar.
- Moisture levels in cream cheese vary and thus, so does the potential amount of powdered sugar or liquid ingredients. If the mixture is too thick, add a small amount of heavy cream, if it is too thin and doesn’t remain stiff after you stop blending, add more powdered sugar tablespoon by tablespoon. These steps might not be necessary if you hit the Goldilocks of cheesecake fillings.
- Transfer the cream cheese filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large star or round tip. Alternately, you can use a large plastic storage bag and just cut a generous amount off one corner to create a round opening. Pipe into each strawberry. Some have tried this using a small spoon, but it is certianly more challenging.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours so the cheesecake has time to chill and set. Wait until you are ready to serve to sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs so they retain their crunch and don’t get soggy.
Variations
This strawberry recipe is pretty good on its own, but if you want to take it up a notch or create a beautiful serving tray with lots of options, here are a few others.
- Chopped nuts– finely chopped pecans, walnuts or even pistachios
- Lemon Zest- I love the pop of yellow and clean lemon flavor that comes from zest. This is best freshly grated before serving. If it sits in the fridge for too long it dries out and while it tastes the same, looks unsightly.
- Chocolate– Dip the bottoms in chocolate, drizzle with melted chocolate or top with mini chocolate chips.
- Sweetened Shredded Coconut– Toasted or plain, a few shreds goes a long way, but adds tropical flair.
- Cookie Crumbs- Swap out the graham crackers for Oreo crumbs, Nilla wafers or any other cookie flavor.
- Extracts– I used vanilla with lemon, but you can do all lemon, almond or another flavor that strikes your fancy.
- Spices– Use 1/4 teaspoon of warm spices in the cheesecake batter, but omit the lemon because it will be overwhelming. Nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice all come to mind.
- Lazy Strawberries- Yes, this is basically cream cheese frosting, so if you are feeling particularly, lazy, go ahead and just pick up a tub of frosting and pipe that on it.
- Chocolate Cheesecake– Make the cream cheese filling chocolate by blending in 1/4 cup of melted chocolate to the batter.
More Easy Dessert Ideas
We all know I love sweets, but am a lazy baker. Here are a few more easy favorites.
- Caramel Apple Bites
- Blackberry Buckle
- Chocolate Bacon Saltine Toffee
- Brownies from Scratch Recipe
- Depression Chocolate Cake
Dark Chocolate Bacon Cookies
Chocolate Bacon Jam Cookies are an unexpected cookie sandwich filled with a sweet bacon jam and then dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt.
See The Recipe!
Super Easy Cinna-Sticks
Cinna-Sticks are super easy dessert or snack recipe using flatbreads, a simple cinnamon sugar mixture and powdered sugar glaze. Kids just love them!
See The Recipe!
Edible Cookie Dough Recipe
Edible Cookie Dough is the perfect single serving cookie dough to satisfy your cravings without using eggs.
See The Recipe!
Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
No Bake Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries are an easy party dessert made with no bake cheesecake and fresh strawberries.
Servings: strawberries (approximate)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds fresh strawberries , rinsed and hulled
- 8 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream , only if needed
- 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs , optional for garnish
Instructions
- Wash and hull the strawberries. The more space you remove from the strawberry, the more cheesecake you can stuff in there, so be generous.* Also slice a small bit off the bottom tip so they stand up straight.
- Sit the strawberries upside down on a plate covered with paper towels to drain any excess liquid. Place in refrigerator to keep cool and continue drying while you make the filling.
- In a medium bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vanilla and sour cream until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.
- If the mixture is too thick, add a small amount of heavy cream. This might not be necessary depending on the thickness of your mixture.
- Transfer the cheesecake filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large star or round tip. Pipe into each strawberry.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or until ready to serve. Right before serving, sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings.
Nutrition
Calories: 116 kcal, Carbohydrates: 9 g, Protein: 1 g, Fat: 8 g, Saturated Fat: 5 g, Cholesterol: 29 mg, Sodium: 42 mg, Potassium: 128 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 7 g, Vitamin A: 340 IU, Vitamin C: 40.3 mg, Calcium: 30 mg, Iron: 0.3 mg
Did you make this recipe?I’d love to see your recipes – snap a picture and mention @savoryexperiments or tag #savoryexperiments!
When do you add the sugar? It isn’t in the directions.
Hi Deb! Thanks for noticing that- I juts added the sugar 🙂
These were a HUGE hit at my parents crab feast. Everyone loved them. The huller really helped with the strawberries. I crushed up graham crackers and sprinkled them on top, someone suggested having a bowl on the side of crushed graham crackers. Another great recipe!!!!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for stopping by!