How To Bake A Vegan Cheesecake In The Instant Pot

The Cookies ‘n Cream Cheesecake in my cookbook is probably one of my favorite cakes of all time (and I highly recommend trying it out), but this recipe is for a more classic cheesecake! While it’s rich and creamy just like traditional cheesecake, it’s a bit lighter and won’t weigh you down. To see how I make a vegan cheesecake in the Instant Pot, check out the video below or on Youtube! And scroll down for step-by-step instructions.

Why Bake a Cheesecake in the Instant Pot?

First, let’s talk about the why. Why would you want to make a cheesecake in the Instant Pot? For one, you can bake a cheesecake in the summer without having to turn on your oven for 1-2 hours. In other words, less sweat, more cake! Second, the reason the Instant Pot is perfect for making cheesecakes is that it acts as a huge water bath. If you’ve ever made a traditional cheesecake, you might have baked the cheesecake in a water bath (you wrap the bottom of the cheesecake pan in foil, then place the cheesecake pan inside of a large roasting pan filled with hot water, then bake that inside the oven). This helps the cheesecake stay moist and helps prevent it from cracking and drying out, but even with a water bath, the perfect cheesecake can be hard to nail. In my pre-vegan days, I tasted many a cheesecakes that were too dry and too thick and not moist enough. But when you bake a cake inside the Instant Pot, you’re using the pot-in-pot method (PIP, for short), and this turns the Instant Pot into its own water bath (more on that in the next section). The Instant Pot essentially steams the cake throughout, resulting in a cake that is tender, moist, and light. No dry or cracked cheesecakes here!

Equipment for Baking a Cheesecake in the Instant Pot

Next, let’s talk about the equipment you need to make a cheesecake in the Instant Pot. (Affiliate links below)

A 6-quart Instant Pot (or an 8-quart Instant Pot) A 7-inch springform pan (for the 6-quart model). If you have an 8 quart model, you can use the 7-inch pan or a 8-inch springform pan. A steamer rack or trivet with handles A sling to lift the pan in and out of the Instant Pot A food processor

As with any cheesecake recipe, you’ll need to use a springform pan. But a standard 9-inch springform pan is too large to fit in the Instant Pot and you’ll need a smaller pan. I’ve had the same 7-inch springform pan for over a year and have used it dozens and dozens of times to bake cakes and casseroles in the Instant Pot. In fact, I used this same pan throughout all of the recipe testing for my cookbook and it still works beautifully and doesn’t leak, so I’d say it’s a great investment. If you have an 8-quart Instant Pot, you can use an 8-inch springform pan, but if you don’t increase the volume of the ingredients in the recipe, your cheesecake will be rather skinny and not very thick, as there is more surface area to cover in the larger pan. For the sling, I simply use a long sheet of aluminum foil to make a sling. You can see how I make it at 05:33 in the video or on page 21 of my cookbook. You can also purchase a sling-type contraption such as this one.

How to Assemble the Cheesecake

Vegan Cheesecake Ingredients

And, of course, we have to talk about the ingredients that make this cheesecake taste just like a classic cheesecake! Raw Cashews: Soaked cashews, once pulverized and blended with some liquid ingredients, add a rich creaminess and luxurious mouthfeel that won’t make you miss the dairy and eggs. You will need to soak the cashews in water overnight or for 8 hours to help soften them up. In the event you forget to soak them (it happens), you can pour boiling water over them and soak them for just 1 hour. Coconut Cream: While coconut cream and coconut milk are made from the same ingredients, coconut cream has more coconut + less water and therefore a higher fat content and thicker texture. You can get coconut cream from one of two places. First, you can buy canned coconut cream (affiliate link). This is probably your easiest option, but if you can’t find coconut cream in your grocery store, you can also buy a can of full-fat coconut milk. The cream that rises to the top of the can of coconut milk is the cream. And if you’re wondering Can I use lite coconut milk to save on calories? The answer is no! First, light coconut milk doesn’t have enough fat content to create the cream. Secondly, this is a cheesecake, so we are not counting calories! You will need to refrigerate the can of coconut milk for at least 24 hours to help get that solidified texture. Occasionally, you’ll end up with a dud of a can, and the cream won’t fully solidify. This actually happened to me in this recipe – as you can see in the video at 4:19, the coconut cream wasn’t super solidified, but this recipe still turned out great so don’t worry too much about whether your cream is 100% solidified. If you’re curious what the consistency of refrigerated coconut cream should really look like, you can check out my video for a baked pumpkin cheesecake at the 3:42 mark. Vegan Cream Cheese: The last principal ingredient that makes up the cheesecake filling is vegan cream cheese. For vegan cream cheese, my recommend brand of cream cheese is Tofutti. I recognize that I haven’t had dairy cream cheese in a few years, but I honestly cannot tell the difference between this stuff and regular cream cheese (I actually like Tofutti more than I used to like regular cream cheese). I also recognize that this isn’t the cleanest of ingredients, but again, we’re making a cheesecake! But if you are looking for a healthier alternative, you have two options. You can use Kite Hill Foods vegan cream cheese, which is made with almond milk and a few other ingredients. Or, you can omit the cream cheese entirely and use just cashews and coconut cream. You will need to increase the amount of each of those ingredients: use 1 1/4 cups raw cashews (instead of 3/4 cup) and use 3/4 cup coconut cream (instead of 2/3 cup). I’ve done a lot of cheesecake recipe testing over the past year, and this triple threat combination works the best for achieving the rich creaminess and tangy taste of traditional cheesecake. And one more note about the ingredients! The recipe calls for three tablespoons of lemon juice. Please do not skimp on the amount of lemon juice and please use freshly squeezed lemon juice only! Fresh lemon juice is essential for (a) masking the taste of cashews (you want to taste a cheesecake, not a cashew cake) and (b) adding that characteristic tart flavor that you want in a cheesecake.

How to Finish the Cheesecake

Once the cheesecake is done cooking in the Instant Pot, remove it to a wire rack and allow it to cool to room temperature (or at least somewhere near room temperature). Then wrap the cake in some plastic wrap (you can skip this step if you are plastic-free) and pop it in the fridge to cool for at least 4 hours. I accidentally popped this in the freezer instead of the fridge and it was perfect after 3 hours, so you can do it either way. And you can serve the cheesecake as is, but if you really want to take it over the top (taste- and presentation-wise), then make this easy strawberry sauce! It takes 15 minutes to make, has just four ingredients, and is so delicious (especially right now since we’re in strawberry season). I hope you enjoyed this post on How to Bake a Cheesecake in the Instant Pot! If you make the recipe, be sure to leave me a comment on Youtube or down below!