Back to Basics with a Low Carb Cheesecake!
It dawned on us one day that even though we have tons of low carb dessert recipes, a few of which are cheesecake related, we didn’t actually have our faithful, original cheesecake recipe published. I’m not sure what came over us or why we didn’t realize it sooner! A friend asked us if we have a low carb cheesecake recipe on Tasteaholics and we quickly nodded our heads without realizing just how much we’ve been holding out on everyone. We’re sorry!
So with just a bit of ado, we present to you our Ultimate Low Carb Cheesecake, original, classic, and NY style! We don’t want to over-excite you… but each slice is only 3 net carbs! Eat all the slices!
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What makes a low carb cheesecake NY style? The texture is much denser and firmer than a Philadelphia style cheesecake and all others as well. The addition of sour cream either on top of the baked cake or into the batter itself also plays a part in how moist the end result is. The slightly acidic addition of sour cream can be played up even more with a bit of lemon juice, which adds freshness to the cheesecake.
Many of the NY style cheesecakes are very tall and are baked with a crust. Crustless cheesecakes are great and all, but something’s missing! Our low carb, gluten-free crust will give all other cake and pie crusts a run for their money! We use a combination of pecans and almonds, both toasted to bring out their deep, nutty flavors. It’s reminiscent of a graham cracker crust thanks to the simple addition of cinnamon. This crust is baked prior to adding the cheesecake batter to help it crisp up a bit, so don’t skip that step.
If you loved this dessert and are looking for more cheesecake recipes, check out this keto chocolate chip cheesecake from My Life Cookbook. It’s quick, easy and requires only 5 ingredients!
Let us know what toppings you like on your cheesecake. Berries? Chocolate? Caramel?
| Servings: slices |
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 6 tbsp butter (melted)
- 1 scoop protein powder (31 grams)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 10 drops liquid stevia
- 1 pinch salt
- 32 oz. cream cheese
- 2/3 cup So Nourished erythritol sweetener
- 20 drops liquid stevia
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
- To make the crust, toast the almonds and pecans on a clean baking sheet for about 10 minutes in a 325°F oven. Toss halfway in between to make sure they are evenly toasted. Leave the oven on to be ready to cook the crust once it's ready.
- Once toasted, throw them into a food processor with the rest of the crust ingredients and blend until no large chunks of the nuts remain.
- Press the crust with your fingers or a silicone spatula into a 9 inch spring form pan to make an even, thin layer. Bake for about 10 minutes or until it has turned a golden brown and is set. After the crust has cooked, let it and the spring form pan cool before adding the cheesecake batter.
- While the crust is cooking, prepare the cheesecake batter by beating together the cream cheese, erythritol and stevia. Use an electric hand mixer to make this process much easier. All the chunks of the the cream cheese should be gone and the mixture should be soft and smooth.
- Add in 1 egg at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Then add the vanilla extract, lemon juice and salt.
- Lastly, add in the sour cream and stir until it's combined.
- By now, the crust should be baked and the spring form pan should be cool. Place the spring form pan on top of a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap the foil up onto the sides of the spring form pan making sure there are no openings or holes on the bottom. Place the spring form pan into a roasting tray to prepare it for the water bath.
- Pour in the cheesecake batter and smooth out the top with a silicone spatula. Pour hot water, carefully, around the sides of the spring form pan until it's halfway up.
- Carefully transfer the roasting tray with the spring form pan into the oven and bake for an hour and a half at 325°F. The top of the cake should be set but jiggly and it will continue cooking even as it is cooling.
- To cool the cake, turn the oven off and crack the door open. We like to leave a wooden spoon wedged in the door, leaving about a 1-2 inch gap in the door. This will let the heat escape but prevent the cake from cooling too quickly, cracking in the process.
- Leave the cake in the cooling oven for an hour before covering it with foil and refrigerating for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
- Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Loved this recipe? Let us know! Something didn’t quite turn out right? Ask us in the comments below or contact us– we respond to comments every day and would love to hear from you and help you out! And check out all our keto recipes to learn to make more delicious and healthy meals!
NUTRITIONAL DISCLAIMER
The content on this website should not be taken as medical advice and you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data. The website or content herein is not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose or treat any disease. This website shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on the Website or actions you take as a result. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.
You’ll Love Our Dessert in Five Cookbook!
We believe that the key to success is simplicity and satisfaction with your diet. That’s why we created Dessert in Five – 30 low carb dessert recipes all using just 5 ingredients and 5 net carbs or fewer!
Enjoy strawberry cheesecakes, brownies, coconut cream pies, raspberry Danish cookies and much more every day of the month.
Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.
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Thanks for putting the gram weight for the Protein Powder. I’m always wondering how much a scoop is. This was perfect. Thanks.
I made this for my non-keto husband’s birthday and it was a big hit! The whole family loved it, and so did I. I forgot the protein powder and added lemon zest. Topped with a blueberry sauce, yum! Also, very pretty. Thank you!
You’re very welcome!
Hello! I made this cheesecake last year and it was awesome! I was wondering, is there a substitute for the protein powder in the crust?
Thanks so much!
I’ve had people tell me they omitted it entirely and it was just fine 🙂
Hello, I want to make this cheesecake, and I have half a container of buttermilk in the refrigerator. Could I substitute buttermilk for the sour cream in this recipe? If so, should I use the same amount as the sour cream? (I’m not on any specific diet plan so I don’t mind the carbs in buttermilk. The amount used wouldn’t amount to much anyway.) Thanks!
Yes I think that would work!
This turned out great! So moist and that perfect cheesecake look! I changed one thing – I used a chocolate protein powder instead of vanilla for the crust and that was really tasty. I do have to say that I prefer a sweeter cheesecake (still used to loads of sugar from pre-low carb days) so I think I’ll either try to add a bit more sweetener and/or try a chocolate version next time. I did whip up some sugar free buttercream frosting and added that on top and it was a good addition. Again, the cheesecake tasted perfect but I haven’t lost my over-the-top sweet tooth. (I like things really sweet – so much so that others would think it was way too sweet.)
Another idea is to add a sugar free chocolate mousse on top. (My favorite sugar filled cheesecake has a chocolate mousse on top – so I think that would be a perfect combo here and I probably wouldn’t need to add in more sweetener to the cheesecake since the mousse would give it that extra sweetness.)
I bought some sugar free strawberry jam as well – I love strawberry cheesecake so I’ll try that on another slice.
And since it was so rich, a small piece was more than plenty!
Y’all hit the ball out of the park on this recipe!
Thanks so much Stacy! We appreciate the kind words. And thanks for all the suggestions, they sound yummy!
Sounds daft but could I use the crust ingredients to make low carb cookies? I used caramel chocolate protein powder as don’t have any carbfree protein powder, the carb free is too expensive for me.
You can try! I’m not sure how the consistency would be since the crust is supposed to be crusty and crisp, while we prefer cookies soft and gooey.
Tried this to the letter and it got super dark on top! Oven temp perfect. How is yours white???? Seems like an hour and a half was way too long. 🙁
Are you sure the cheesecake is not too close to the coils or heat in the oven? Try lowering the height of the oven rack. Your oven also might be stronger than ours. Lower the temperature by 25 or 50 degrees and that should help too!
Hey? How long will it keep in the fridge? And can I slice it into servings and freeze them for later use?
You should split it up between the fridge and freezer. In the refrigerator, it should keep about 5-7 days. Freezing will change the consistency a bit once you defrost it but it will still taste great!
Oh, this was wonderful, thanks so much! So happy to have a cheesecake I can eat, and it came out awesome. 😀
Yay! So glad you like it 🙂
Hey there, do I need to erythritol? May I use any sweetener and do I have to have the crust?
You can choose to make a crustless cheesecake! As for sweetener, you can use your sweetener of choice – erythritol, stevia, xylitol, monk fruit extract – those are all low carb friendly.
Made this recipe 2 days ago and absolutely loved it! A question though on the carb count; my (Vitacost) erythritol nutritional label says that for a serving size of 1 tsp. you get: Total Carbohydrate 4g , Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 0g and Erythritol 4g. From I can determine, 2/3 cup of erythritol is approximately 32 teaspoons. 32 tsp x 4g carbs= 128g. So, just for the erythritol it seems that 12 slices would have a total of128g or 10.66g per slice plus the additional carbs of the other ingredients. I hope I’m wrong on the carb count because this is definitely a keeper recipe.
Erythritol is not counted towards the total carbs count because it doesn’t raise blood sugar or get absorbed by the body (much like fiber).
If I 1/2 this and cook it in a metal 6 muffin pan, how long do I cook it? 🙂
It’s hard to say! I would start at around 25-30 minutes and check on them. If they look set and dry on top but jiggly, that’s a good sign. If they still look wet, bake for another 10 minutes at a time until they look ready. Then follow the same directions to cool them down.
Thank you! I cooked them and it was so good I brought them to 3 coworkers that are new to the diet. Now I have to print 3 copies of the recipe! ?
Thanks for sharing! Wish your coworkers good luck with keto from us 🙂
Can you use almond flour in place of the protein powder?
The protein powder gives the crust some extra stability and hold after baking. You can omit it if you don’t want to use it but the crust may be a bit more crumbly.
Thanks but can I use almond flour instead of protein powder?
I don’t think you would need it. The almonds are ground with pecans to create an almond-pecan flour that you then mix with butter. If you add more almond flour, it might dry it out and make it extra crumbly.
Can I use powdered sweetener in the crust instead of liquid stevia or does it have to be liquid?
Powdered will work in this one 🙂
Hi I got liquid stevia, but have found no problem with the erythritol do I still need to add it?
You use just erythritol if you like. Just add it to taste 🙂
is there any substitute for pecans? or can i use only almonds instead of pecans as i cannot find pecans in my country?
You can use almonds or walnuts!
Hi, how can I replace the stevia as we cannot tolerate the metallic taste of this sweetener?
ty, michelle
Hi Michelle, we use a combination of erythritol and stevia because they both compliment each other nicely. The small amount of stevia is to help sweeten the cheesecake more without adding too much of the cooling effects of the erythritol. If you totally cannot stand stevia (and you really can’t tell in this cheesecake that it’s there) I would recommend just using a bit more erythritol or omitting it completely. You can always add a bit more sweetness by adding some berries or sugar free jam to the cheesecake when eating it.
Hope this helped!
Sweetleaf Stevia found on Amazon doesn’t have that taste! It’s amazing.
I love cheesecake! Thanks for this low-carb version!
Hope you try it out!