Vegan Lemon Cheesecake (No-Bake)

5 from 10 votes

A marriage of sweet and savory yields this tasty Lemon Vegan Cheesecake, made with a flaky walnut crust and a creamy, vegan cream cheese filling. No baking required!

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: Greek

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: pieces

Calories: 1035kcal

Author: Deborah

Cost: $15

Ingredients

Walnut Date Crust

2 cups 250 g raw walnuts
6 large medjool dates pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon sea salt

Lemon Cheesecake Filling

2 cups 274 g cashews soaked overnight in water, then drained and rinsed
1.5 cups 120 g fresh apple peeled, pitted and chopped
1 cup 236 ml melted coconut oil
1 cup 236 ml pure maple syrup grade A
½ cup 118 ml fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon + 1 tsp 11 g nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon soy lecithin granules
1.5 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Make your walnut crust by adding walnuts to a food processor. Pulse a couple of times just to break the walnuts into small pieces, then add chopped dates, cinnamon and sea salt. Pulse again until the mixture is well-combined and begins to stick together.
Line a 9-inch pan with plastic wrap, then add the walnut mixture to the crust.
Using your fingers, press walnut mixture firmly over the entire bottom of pan and up sides.
Next, make the lemon cheesecake filling by adding soaked cashews, chopped apple, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla extract, nutritional yeast, soy lecithin and sea salt to a food processor. Pulse on high for several minutes until you get a lovely, creamy texture. Pour over crust and place in refrigerator overnight to chill thoroughly.

Notes

I used a food processor to make this recipe. You can also use a high-speed blender, but I'm not certain if it will give you the same consistency for the lemon cheesecake filling.
For best results, chill raw vegan cheesecake overnight in your refrigerator.
The recipe calls for coconut oil. If you prefer a not-so-coconut flavor, you may try using raw cacao butter.
You can purchase soy lecithin granules online or at a local health food store.
If you desire a deeper yellow for your cheesecake, try adding ¼ to ½ teaspoon turmeric to the filling mixture.
For the most accurate results and to replicate my recipe exactly, use grams when measuring ingredients.
If you don't have time to soak cashews overnight, place them in a pot of water, bring to boil then remove from heat. Allow about 2 hours and they should be soft enough to use the same day.

Nutrition