This dessert is the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth without hours of baking or a complicated recipe. It’s creamy, refreshing, and delicious!
Hi cousins! This no bake dessert lasagna has sweet and delicious layers, including a graham cracker crust, strawberry cheesecake, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream.
What is No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna?
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna is a delicious and easy-to-make dessert. It’s the perfect combination of creamy cheesecake and sweet strawberry flavor, layered on top of a crunchy graham cracker crust. This sweet treat is sure to please everyone in the family and can be whipped up in no time. The best part is, no baking is required—once it’s set, it’s ready to be served and enjoyed!
Ingredients and Shopping List
Cheesecake Crust Ingredients
- Graham cracker crumbs—buy crumbs, but if you only have graham crackers the directions for crumbling them are below.
- Sweet cream butter—melted to create a rich and buttery graham cracker crust.
Cheesecake Ingredients
- Cream cheese—full-fat cream cheese softened on the counter for about 1 hour.
- Sugar—regular white granulated sugar
- Cool Whip—a 32-ounce container of Cool Whip. Heavy cream won’t work for this recipe.
- Strawberry gelatin—for a sweet and refreshing strawberry flavor.
- Water and ice—boiling water to dissolve the gelatin and cold water and ice to help it set.
- Strawberries—1 cup of fresh strawberries, small if you can find them small so that they are easier to dice.
Strawberry Sauce Ingredients
- Strawberries—1 pound of fresh strawberries diced into small pieces.
- Sugar—1 cup of granulated sugar that melds with the natural sugars in the strawberries to make a sauce.
- Lemon and lemon zest—the juice of a medium lemon and the zest from a large lemon to balance out the sweetness.
Toppings
- More strawberries—another cup of fresh strawberries.
- Cool Whip—another 8 ounces of Cool Whip.
- Optional—chocolate shavings.
Supplies
- Mixing bowls
- Mixing spoons/spatulas
- Hand mixer
- Small knife to cut strawberries
- Potato masher for strawberry sauce
- 9 x 13 glass baking dish
- Cheese grater or potato peel to shave chocolate
Cheesecake Without an Oven!
Yes, that’s right! This No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna is made without baking. It’s softer and creamier than a traditional cheesecake, but it still delivers a cheesecake flavor. It uses Cool Whip instead of eggs to thicken the cheesecake layer, so it only needs to be chilled to set.
I have a few other no-bake cheesecake recipes—No Bake Oreo Cookie Cheesecake or No Bake Lemon Cheesecake!
Tips for Perfect No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna
With layers of creamy cheesecake and fresh strawberries, this treat is sure to be a hit. Here are some tips for making the perfect No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna:
1. Use fresh strawberries for the best flavor. It’s best to use berries that are ripe but still firm.
2. Ensure the cream cheese is softened. If it’s not soft, your cheesecake will be lumpy, not creamy.
3. Use full-fat cream cheese for the most delicious and creamy texture. Now is not the time for reduced fat!
4. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy before folding in the whipped cream.
5. Be sure to chill the lasagna for at least 6 hours before serving for maximum flavor and texture.
Softening Your Cream Cheese
I can’t underestimate the importance of softening your cream cheese. If it’s not softened your cheesecake layer will be lumpy. It will still taste good, but it will taste better if it’s smooth as silk!
Countertop: cheesecake takes about 60 minutes to soften on the countertop. If it’s hot or humid in your home it will soften in about half the time. Speed up the countertop method by opening the cream cheese foil, placing the cream cheese on a cutting board, and cutting it into 1-inch cubes. This will reduce the softening time to 20 or 30 minutes. You can prep the graham cracker crust and strawberry sauce while it’s softening.
Water bath: there are a couple of different water bath methods, just make sure your water is warm not hot. Remove your cream cheese from the box and foil, cut it into 1-inch cubes, and let it sit in warm (not hot) water for 20 to 30 minutes.
Microwave: this is the fastest method, but you must keep a close eye. There is no recovering a melted cream cheese. Remove your cream cheese from the box and foil. Microwave it on low for 10 seconds, flip it, and microwave it for 10 more seconds. Check to see if it’s soft. It may need to be flipped and microwaved 1 more time.
Mix It: remove your cream cheese from the foil, cut it in cubes, and place it in a mixing bowl. Use a mixer to mix it while cold, for about 2 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Check to see if it’s soft. If not, mix again and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
Making Your Own Graham Cracker Crumbs
Buying graham cracker crumbs is the fastest and easiest, but as always—use what you have! If you have 2 full sleeves of graham crackers, you can crumb them yourself. Be sure to measure thought, as you may need a tiny bit more than 2 sleeves.
Food processor—break your graham crackers into pieces, pop them in your food processor, and process until you have crumbs. You won’t be able to fit 2 full sleeves in at once, so crumb in batches.
Rolling Pin—pop about 8 halved graham crackers in a zip-top baggie. Press out the air and seal. Roll over the graham crackers with a rolling pin until they crumble.
What if I Can’t Find Fresh Strawberries?
If you can’t find fresh strawberries, you can use frozen strawberries instead. At the very least, try to use fresh strawberries for your topping.
1. Let them fully defrost in a colander first, not in water.
2. Once defrosted, gently press out the liquid.
3. Dice into small pieces and use as directed.
How to Shave Chocolate
1. Buy a full chocolate bar, either milk or dark chocolate for flavor and contrast.
2. Set it out at room temperature as cold chocolate is too hard to shave.
3. Use a potato peeler, cheese grater, or rotary cheese grater to make shavings.
Do you love strawberries? Check out my other strawberry recipes!
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna
Ingredients
Cheesecake crust and ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup sweet cream butter melted
Cheesecake Ingredients
- 8 oz package cream cheese softened and at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 32 oz Cool Whip
- ⅔ cup boiling water
- 3 oz box instant strawberry gelatin
- ½ cup cold water
- ½ cup ice
- 1 cup fresh strawberries diced
Strawberry Sauce Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh strawberries clean & diced into small pieces ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 medium sized lemon
- 2 tsp lemon zest from large lemon
Toppings
- 1 cup diced strawberries
- Chocolate shavings Optional
- 8 oz cool whip
Instructions
- Using a large bowl, combine the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Mix together with a fork until it resemble wet sand.
- Press the graham cracker mixture evenly into a 9×13 glass dish .
- Refrigerate the mixture in the glass dish for 30 minutes.
- While the graham cracker crust is setting it's time to make the cheesecake! Add the cream cheese, and 1 cup of sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat together using a handheld mixer on a medium speed.
- Next, fold in 1 cup of Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture .
- Remove the bake dish (with the crust)from the refrigerator, and gently spread the cheesecake mixture evenly over the crust.
- Let set in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
- Next, grab a large bowl, and combine boiling water with the package of instant strawberry gelatin. Whisk until the gelatin has completely dissolved.
- Whisk in ½ cup water, and half cup of crushed ice .
- Stir into the gelatin mixture until all of the ice is dissolved, and the mixture starts to thicken up a bit.
- Now fold in 1 cup of Cool Whip, and mix until well combined .
- Toss in 1 cup of diced strawberries, and fold the ingredients.
- Cover the bowl, then place it into the refrigerator for 1 hour so it can set.
- After one hour spread the gelatin mixture evenly over the cheesecake mixture.
- Place back into the refrigerator for another hour.
- Combine the 1 cup of diced strawberries, the juice from one medium sized lemon, and 2 tsp of lemon zest. Use a masher, or pulse a few times in a blender until well combined.
- Remove the bake dish from the refrigerator, and spread the strawberry & lemon mixture evenly over the gelatin layer.
- Place back into the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Now, spread the remaining Cool Whip evenly over the strawberry & lemon mixture, and garnish with chopped strawberries and chocolate shavings.
- Place back into the fridge for a minimum of two hours.
- Serve, and enjoy!
