Cheesecake is one of those desserts that seems like it should be keto-friendly. After all, it’s just cream cheese with a little bit of sweetness, right?
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case — almost every cheesecake is packed with added sugar and carb-filled flour, making this delicious dessert a disaster for our health.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can never eat cheesecake again if you are on the ketogenic diet. All you have to do is make it yourself using your favorite low-calorie sweeteners, cream cheese, and the other keto-friendly ingredients that you’ll find in the low-carb cheesecake recipes below. In fact, just throw out all of the sugar in your house — you won’t need it anymore once you get acquainted with our keto recipes.
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Sopapilla Cheesecake
Here's an easy, low-carb, sopapilla cheesecake! Instead of a traditional crust, we will substitute a pork rind based dough. This m...
Keto No Bake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and I'm getting e-mail after e-mail asking for some Fall favorites to serve up to their family...
Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes
I had lots of fun last week when I went on vacation to the Keys but among the tons of overpriced tourist teasures, I didn't bring ...
Instant Pot Matcha Cheesecake
This Instant Pot matcha cheesecake is for those of you who want to eat cheesecake, but don't want to fuss with the process of maki...
Mocha Cheesecake Bars
With the holiday season in full swing, I find myself making a lot of sugar-free goodies. When I was baking in the kitchen recently...
Below, you’ll find a list of each individual cheesecakes and some information behind the health benefits of the recipe.
Sopapilla Cheesecake
Sopapilla cheesecake is a simple cheesecake that is surrounded by a sopapilla, which is a type of fried pastry. Our keto-friendly version of the sopapilla consists of pork rinds and eggs, providing a texture and flavor that goes wonderfully with the cheesecake.
The main ingredient of the cheesecake is cream cheese, which, in itself, is one of the best types of cheese for ketoers to include in their diet. Why is this cheese such a staple for the ketogenic diet?
Mainly because it is made up of almost 90% fat, making it one of the highest fat cheeses that you can consume. Having some cream cheese with your meal is a great way to meet your fat requirements while on you are on the ketogenic diet.
Another reason why cream cheese is so valuable for ketogenic dieters is that it provides us with many health-promoting nutrients. For starters, cream cheese contains more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than many of the other popular types of cheese. CLA is a type of fatty acid that appears to have several health benefits and may promote weight loss in overweight individuals. Furthermore, cream cheese also provides us with vital minerals like calcium, zinc, and selenium, and vitamins B2, B12, A, and K2. Each one of these micronutrients is essential for maintaining the healthy function of the organs throughout the body. Without consuming them in adequate amounts, we become vulnerable to chronic disease and infection.
The combination of the macronutrients and micronutrients that are found in cream cheese make this cheesecake (and the other cheesecakes on this keto cheesecake list) an ideal after dinner treat or afternoon snack for every ketogenic dieter.
Keto No Bake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
This low-carb cheesecake will fulfill your cravings for fall flavors better than sugar-filled pumpkin pie. The creaminess of cream cheese and pumpkin combine flawlessly with the flaxseed meal and almond flour no-bake crust to satisfy the palate in every way. Eating this keto cheesecake will also give you a good excuse to get more nuts and seeds into your diet.
Nut consumption alone is associated with a lower waist circumference, lower rates of obesity, decreased blood pressure, and healthier blood sugar and blood lipid levels.
This is mainly because nuts contain vitamins, minerals, health-promoting fats, and antioxidants that make them highly satiating and ridiculously healthy. Almonds, in particular, are known for being one of the healthiest nuts because they have the highest protein, fiber, and vitamin E content of any nut that has been studied.
On top of that, the flaxseeds in the crust will provide your body with lignans and fiber, which will help improve your gut and cardiovascular health even more.
Altogether, this is one of the healthiest keto cheesecakes that you can make for yourself. You may not want to wait until Thanksgiving to try this one.
Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes
If you need a little sour to go with the sweetness of dessert, then these key lime cheesecakes will be your new go-to keto cheesecake recipe. It is also one of the best ways to get the health benefits of citrus in your diet.
Although research is still being conducted to discover the unique benefits of citrus fruits, we do know for sure that they contain vitamin C, β-carotene, flavonoids, limonoids, folic acid, and dietary fiber.
The combination of these food components are thought to be the reason why a high intake of citrus fruits is associated with a reduced risk of degenerative diseases. When it comes to lime specifically, researchers have found that lime peels and lime juice contain antioxidants that can help slow down the process of atherogenesis (the buildup of plaque on artery walls).
The macadamia nuts that are used in the crust of this low carb cheesecake will improve your cardiovascular health even further. This is because they contain more LDL cholesterol-lowering monounsaturated fat than any other nut.
Overall, if you enjoy the taste of citrus with your dessert and would like to improve your health at the same time, then these key lime cheesecakes are perfect for you.
Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts
This Instant Pot matcha cheesecake is for those of you who want to eat cheesecake, but don’t want to deal with the intricate process of making it. It is also one of the most delicious keto-friendly ways to get all of the health benefits of matcha as well.
Matcha is like green tea but better — much better. This is because it is derived from the same plant as green tea but cultivated and processed differently. As a result, matcha is packed with more antioxidants and caffeine which both give it the ability to reduce cell damage, improve liver health, enhance cognitive function, prevent cancer, and boost weight loss.
This keto cheesecake also calls for eggs, which will provide you with a significant amount of thirteen essential vitamins and minerals and eye-protecting antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin. Eggs are also an excellent source of choline, a vitamin-like nutrient that’s important for liver function, normal brain development, nerve function, muscle movement, and maintaining a healthy metabolism.
The matcha and eggs together provide you with many health-boosting nutrients that will support the function of your organs and organ systems as they help you lose weight and improve your body composition. In other words, when you take the sugar and flour out and replace it with keto-friendly ingredients, your cheesecake suddenly becomes healthy.
Mocha Cheesecake Bars
Chocolate, coffee, and cheesecake, they all taste amazing on their own — but what would happen if you combine them all together? It’s everything that you hope it would be. The coffee enhances the chocolate flavor, while it simultaneously brings a nice rich flavor to the cheesecake. As an added bonus, you will get an energy boost while you treat your body to the benefits of cocoa powder.
More specifically, the flavonoids in the cocoa powder will serve as prebiotics and improve digestive health.
Some of these flavonoids will make it into the bloodstream where they help improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure, and prevent plaque from building up in the arteries.
The theobromine in the cocoa powder will also work together with the caffeine in the instant coffee to give you a slight mood boost and energy buzz at the same time. This keto cheesecake is a win win win for your palate, your health, and your well-being.
How To Meet Your Macros with These Keto Cheesecake Recipes
It’s relatively simple to use these low-carb cheesecake recipes to meet your macros. Simply tailor the portion sizes to help you meet your needs for that day. If you need to eat more fat and calories, then make a quick cheesecake for dessert. Adjust the serving size to your specific calorie and fat needs by using the calorie breakdowns you will find at the bottom of each recipe page.
Another way you can add more fats, calories, and flavor to each cheesecake is by adding some keto-friendly condiments. Some condiments that will taste best with these cheesecakes would be:
The jam will go well with the Sopapilla Cheesecake, Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes, and Mocha Cheesecake Bars, while the maple syrup will be a delicious addition to the two keto pumpkin cheesecakes.
To find out how you can fit these keto-friendly condiments and low-carb cheesecakes into your diet, you must first find your calorie and macronutrient needs by using our keto calculator. Once you’ve done that, we recommend tracking what you eat for a couple of weeks to get a better idea of how much you are eating. By tracking your calories, you will develop a better awareness of when it is a good idea to have some keto cheesecake and how much of that cheesecake you should eat. Follow this link to our guide on how to track food intake on keto if you need some further guidance.
Putting it All Together — Our Favorite Low-Carb Cheesecake Recipes
Having a keto cheesecake after your meal is one of the most delicious ways to add more high-quality fats into your diet without overdoing it on protein or carbs. There are many varieties of low-carb cheesecakes to satisfy all of your cravings without any of the guilt.
For your convenience, here are the links to the keto cheesecake recipes from this article:
- Sopapilla Cheesecake
- Keto No Bake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
- Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes
- Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts
- Mocha Cheesecake Bars
And here are some other low-carb cheesecake recipes that you may like:
Sources:
- Cheese 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits — Healthline
- Dietary lignans: physiology and potential for cardiovascular disease risk reduction — NCB
- Vitamin A — Medline Plus
- Anticancer and health protective properties of citrus fruit components — Wiley Online Library
- Facts about monounsaturated fats — Medline Plus
- Chemistry and Biological Activities of Flavonoids: An Overview — Hindawi
- Health Benefits of Methylxanthines in Cacao and Chocolate — MDPI
- Daily cocoa intake reduces the susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein to oxidation as demonstrated in healthy human volunteers — Taylor & Francis Online
- Dark Chocolate — University of Michigan
- Choline: an essential nutrient for public health. — NCBI
- Are eggs healthy? — Examine
- Health Benefits of Nut Consumption — NCBI
- NUTRIENT COMPARISON CHART FOR TREE NUTS — Almonds
- Foods highest in Monounsaturated Fat — Self Nutrition Data
- What are the health benefits of pumpkins? — Medical News Today
Comments
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The brownie layer ingredients calls for 3 eggs, but the instructions says two, then the nutrient breakdown says 3 eggs total (which would be 2 for brownie layer and 1 for cream cheese layer)
Thank you for pointing that out! I fixed it so it’s 3 eggs total.
Would real coffee be too granular? I don’t have instant and don’t really want to buy any
Yes, instant dissolves once it becomes wet. There isn’t really another moisture component that you could replace with brewed coffee, so I would just leave it out.
Can you clarify… Is it 3 large eggs or 2 large eggs for the brownie batter portion? The ingredients list says 3, but the instructions say 2. I went with 2 because the nutritional calculations at the bottom shows 3 total eggs, but the batter didn’t look quite the way I thought it would. I knew that it wouldn’t be like a traditional brownie batter, but it wasn’t liquid at all (like your picture above with the whisk shows). Plus, the 1/4 that I reserved from the top wasn’t spreadable at all. I ended up just using a fork to break up the batter and mix it into the top of the cheesecake layer as best I could, but the consistency is making me think that you really did mean 3 eggs for the batter.
Hi Cheryl. Originally I thought it was 2, then I tested the recipe after you said it didn’t work well with 2 (I’m not the writer, I just do various things around the site.) and it worked well with 3 eggs. I also had an issue with the topping being very thick, so I ended up chunking it up and just dropping it on the top. Came out good, but might need a little tweaking.
I have these in the oven right now and cannot wait to try them! I also got enough ingredients to make them again, however, next time, I’m thinking I might add some mint to the cheesecake to have a mint/mocha/cheesecake brownie! <3
Hi, just wanted to say thanks for this one. It was excellent. My entire family agrees. I made 2 changes, and only because I used what I had on hand. I left the salt out because I used salted Kerrygold butter. And I doubled the instant coffee to 1 Tbsp because I only had medium roast on hand, and wanted to make sure the coffee held its own and let a true mocha flavor stand out. It worked. I’m sure the called for amount is good too, but I like me some coffee 🙂 This was rich, sweet, chocolatey, and had an awesome texture in both the crust and the cheesecake filling: I’ll definitely be trying some more of your dessert recipes after having so much success with this one. Thank you again. ~Bob
I’m about to make this one for the second time. The first one was good (I used 3 eggs rather than 2 that it stated originally), but the topping layer was way too thick. Add a bit more liquid to the topping layer (I used half/half because it’s what I had). I used a Starbucks’ VIA packet (Columbia) for the instant coffee and it provided a perfect coffee richness without being overwhelming.
Oooh, that sounds great!
WAY WAY WAY too sweet! And I like sweet stuff! Next time both brownie and topping at half, used Swerve.
Oh wow! I wonder if the sweetener tastes sweeter to some.
Swerve tastes much sweeter when baked in my experience. Erythritol doesn’t seem to have that effect.
That’s really interesting!
i was wondering if I cut the sweetner in half how that would affect the outcome. For me the sweetner is to much but my son loves the recipe just the way it is.
I made these a couple weeks ago for my coworker’s birthday and they were AMAZING. Not too sweet at all for us. The only oddity was that my brownie mix came out drier / clumpier than your photos? The taste and end result was fine, it just made the top layer a bit difficult to spread on top of the cheesecake layer. At any rate, I’m obsessed with these bars and if I’m not careful I’m going to start making them on a weekly basis.
I’m glad to hear it Aileen! The crust seems to be a bit finicky for people, but others have said that adding a little more water can help.
I was curious to know if the nutrition facts are correct because erythritol has 4g of carbs per teaspoon. Which brand are people using because im basing it off of NOW brand. Thank you for the clarification! PS i have made this recipe several times and love it!!
Hi Emily, we don’t have a space for the sugar alcohols in the nutrition tables., and it wouldn’t really be right to put them under fiber, so we zero it out. There are no digestible carbs. Sorry for any confusion!
First off these look amazing, all the things i have made from here are amazing! but i was wondering what the serving size is exactly for this?
One of the best GUILT FREE recipes on here. I made them, to test, loved them, then took them to work to get an unbiased opinion and they LOVED them too. They also could not believe that they were good for you.
One co-worked stated “it was strange because it got better and better the more you ate”
Hahah, thanks Patrick!
ERYTHRITOL Has 4g of Carbs per tsp. That would add up to 288 additional carbs for the recipe that were left out of the macros and 18g of additional carbs per bar. Taste good but far from a sensible Keto treat.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, which is indigestible – similar to fiber. It’s 0 net carbs.
what happened to my post instead of correcting the missing carb info? you should be honest with everyone.
All comments are moderated before posting because we get a lot of spam.
Mix some lemon and orange zest in the cream cheese mess.
Yum!
Do you need to chill after baking for the cheesecake portion to set?
You don’t have to put it in the fridge, but it will be much firmer when slicing if you can let it cool first. 🙂
Could I sub swerve instead of pure erythritol for the same amount?
Sure!
Based on the previous comments I used half the amount of Swerve and they were great!!
Hi, just a bit confused about the baking cocoa. Is it in powder form or squares or chips? Thanks.
It’s a powder, usually located in baking section near sweeteners.
Thank you.
These brownies are to die for!!! I made them yesterday with my daughter and they are delicious, combining two of my favourite things… Cheesecake and brownies!! I added a bit more cocoa and used about half of the sweetener in the recipe as we prefer dark chocolate. Thank you so much, I have yet to try Ruled Me recipe I don’t love!!
This recipe is one of our favorites.
So I made this and it is by far the best and my favorite keto dessert recipe ever! I am so happy with how the crust part turned out. I am ready to make another batch but I am wondering, would I still get the same texture if I use powdered erythritol instead of granular?
It should work the same!
Could one use non-instant coffee? I bought a package of Starbucks ground coffee beans… only to find they were decaf. I’m only holding onto them because I thought maybe I could use them for baking.
I don’t know if you can sub it in this particular recipe because you add the instant coffee as a dry ingredient, and there’s no additional water that could be replaced with liquid coffee. 🙁
Tried this today. Not bad but the crust was very dry and crumbling, also I made it with equal not sweet enough but I’ve tried Stevia and Swerve can’t tolerate the aftertaste
Made these over the Christmas holidays, all I can say is ‘make them’. Even non Lowcarbers enjoyed them.
I made these for the first time over Christmas, WOW. My non Low Carb friends loved them as well. About to make my second batch for my son and daughter-in-law who have also recently adopted the Keto life style.
These are nothing short of incredible. I did have to cook mine for nearly an hour at 350, but they are quite perfect. For sweetener I used half powdered swerve and half granulated allulose. Also used Hershey’s special dark for the cocoa. Cut into 36 bites and have them in the freezer for a random treat. Thanks again for a killer recipe.
I’m really happy to hear you liked it! Thanks so much for giving your feedback!