This classic Cheesecake is a tall, ultra-creamy, New York-style cheesecake. Baking with the water bath method is the secret to ensuring the perfect rise with a level top and no cracks.
This is a make-ahead, freezer-friendly dessert that is well-loved by all of our family and friends. Watch the video tutorial and you will be a pro in no time!
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Watch the Cheesecake Recipe Video:
If you have never made a homemade cheesecake, you are in for a treat. We love this homemade version even more than the original Cheesecake Factory cheesecake in taste and texture. Top a slice with homemade Cherry Sauce or even Strawberry Sauce and it’s a winning combination!
About Cheesecake:
Cheesecakes are essentially rich cheese and egg custards baked over a graham cracker crust. It’s not technically a ‘cake.’ The creamy and decadent texture of cheesecake is irresistible and all you need is a short list of basic ingredients: cream cheese, eggs, sugar, a bit of sour cream, and vanilla. The 3-ingredient crust is even easier.
Homemade cheesecakes are surprisingly easy to make and require very little active time. Your mixer does most of the work and the hardest part of the process is waiting for it to bake, cool, and chill overnight. It’s also one of the best parts about cheesecakes – they are a make-ahead dessert and also freeze well.
What Does a Water Bath do for a Cheesecake?
In searching for the perfect cheesecake recipe, we wanted to completely eliminate cracks, shrinkage, overbaking, and browning. We adapted our original (no water bath) Cheesecake recipe slightly, so if you enjoyed that one, you’ll completely fall in love with this one. Here’s why a water bath works so well:
- The center and edges of the cake cook at the same rate
- Steam moisture protects the top of the cake
- Gentle, even rise with minimal shrinkage and no more cracking!
- The cake is ultra-creamy all the way to the edges
- More forgiving and less likely to overbake
Our Favorite Cheesecake Crust:
A cheesecake crust is easy peasy with only 3 ingredients: graham crackers, sugar, and butter. You can pulse the crumbs in a food processor or blender, or put them in a sturdy Ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin until fine crumbs form. They are also sold as crumbs to save time.
- Combine crumbs together with melted butter and sugar and stir until moistened.
- Press the crumbs into a 9″ springform pan, going up the sides slightly.
- Bake in the center of the oven at 350˚F for 8 minutes then cool to room temperature.
Tips for Making the Best Cheesecake:
Our best tip is to not rush the process of making or cooling the cake. Each step is important for making the perfect cheesecake. Read through this advice before starting your cheesecake and be sure to watch the video tutorial.
- Make sure cream cheese is at room temperature so you don’t end up with lumps of cream cheese.
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth. This step is your last chance to ensure a smooth batter.
- Use the paddle attachment to avoid over-mixing.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and the attachment frequently to ensure the mixture is smooth.
- Reduce speed when adding eggs.
- Bake until the cheesecake looks set and the center wobbles slightly when you tap the pan.
- Always chill your cheesecake before serving, or it will be soupy in the center.
How to Bake a Cheesecake in a Water Bath:
- Boil a pot of water. Boil more than you think you’ll need to ensure you have enough.
- Place 2 large sheets of heavy-duty foil on the counter (use the extra-wide foil to go all the way up the sides).
- Fold the foil up the sides of the pan ensuring there are no rips or holes. Fan the foil out slightly at the tops to keep the rim clear for rising and to block any boiling water from splashing into the pan (don’t worry if a little water gets in).
- Pour cheesecake filling into the foil-lined springform pan and place into a deep roasting pan. Fill with 1 1/2 to 2″ with water. It should be about halfway up the side of the springform pan.
Safety Tip: Use oven mitts to transfer the roasting pan in and out of the oven for safety and transfer slowly to avoid sloshing.
Pro Tip: How to Cut a Cheesecake:
Cheesecakes can get ugly fast if cut the wrong way. To get clean professional looking slices, dip a long knife into very hot water (I pour hot water in a tall mason jar). Once the knife warms up, wipe with a paper towel and slice through the cheesecake. For best results, dip and wipe your knife between slices.
Our History with Cheesecake!
We are major cheesecake fans over here. For years, we have perfected our cheesecake recipes with everything from No-bake Cheesecake to Mini Cheesecakes and even Pumpkin Cheesecake.
Print the Recipe below then head to the grocery store to stock up on ingredients. This is bound to become your new favorite Cheesecake Recipe!
Perfect Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, from 12 whole crackers
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
For the Cheesecake:
- 2 1/4 lb cream cheese, room temperature (4 1/2 packages, 8-oz each)
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
How to Make Cheesecake Crust:
- Crush graham crackers into crumbs. In a medium bowl, combine crumbs together with melted butter and sugar and stir until moistened.
- Press crumbs into a 9" springform pan, going up the sides slightly. Bake in the center of a conventional oven at 350˚F for 8 minutes then cool to room temperature.
- Place 2 large sheets of extra-wide heavy-duty foil on the counter. Set the springform pan in the center and fold the foil up the sides of the pan ensuring there are no rips or holes. Fan the foil out slightly at the tops to keep the rim clear for rising.
How to Make Perfect Cheesecake:
- Preheat oven to 450˚F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine cream cheese and 1 1/4 cups sugar. Beat on medium/high speed for 5 minutes until completely smooth, scraping down the bowl and attachment as needed.
- Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, letting them incorporate between each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Reduce speed to low and add 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/2 Tbsp vanilla and mix just until incorporated. Pour batter over the foil-wrapped springform pan with your cooled crust.
How to Bake Cheesecake in a Water Bath:
- Boil a pot of water (boil more than you think you'll need to ensure there's enough). Set your cheesecake pan in a deep roasting pan. Pour hot water around the edges about halfway up the sides of the springform pan (1 1/2" to 2" of water).
- Carefully transfer cheesecake to the center rack of the oven and bake at 450˚F for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 225˚F and without opening the door, bake additional 60-75 minutes or until center of cheesecake wobbles slightly when you tap the pan.
- Remove cheesecake from the oven and let it rest in the roasting pan with water for 45 minutes then transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Cover pan with plastic wrap, being careful that it doesn't touch the surface, and chill in the refrigerator overnight to fully set before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
We can’t get enough of this classic cheesecake recipe. It bakes up beautifully and you can’t beat the flavor and creamy whipped texture. Make this and you will get recipe requests.
Hi Natasha!
What an awesome cheesecake 🙂 I made this for Mother’s Day and I followed your recipe to the dot. (including the cherry sauce) It looked just like yours and tasted amazing! My typical cheesecake is usually dense, but this cake was so light and just melted in my mouth. We loved it! I can’t wait to make it again. 5 stars from my whole family, and Happy Mother’s Day! 🙂
Yay, I am so happy to read your comments and feedback. Thank you so much for giving this recipe an excellent review. It makes me so glad that you loved it!
Oooo yum! Cheesecake is always a favorite!! I can never get a tight enough seal with the foil (even using the heavy duty) and always get water In my crust.. after doing some research, I learned that you can use slow cooker liners to tightly wrap around the pan.. works perfect! No more soggy crusts!
Awesome, thank you for sharing that with us!
How do you wrap a slow cooker liner tight? Do you THEN use the foil to keep the liner in place?
Hi Natasha! I love all of your recipes, just a question about the cheesecake, when i put it in the fridge to cool overnight do i leave the spi gform pan on it? Thanks in advance
Hi Laurie, you can definitely leave it on! We do.
Fantastic recipe Natasha! Thank you very much! Your enthusiasm is contagious!
My pleasure, thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Hi Natasha, can I use regular foil or does it have to be heavy duty?
Btw, Happy Mother’s Day and thank you so much for all your recipes. I have learned so much from you and every recipe I’ve tried has been delish!
We recommend heavy-duty foil just to be sure. Thank you for your greetings!
Can I make this but without the Crust?
Hello Ann, I’m not sure how it would work without the crust. I have never tried making it that way before.
Hi Natasha, can I use the way baking water bath for another cheesecake recipe too? Because when I bake blueberry and another your cheesecake recipe is always crack. Thanks for the great recipe!
That should work too Jessie! I hope that helps.
So I love how easy the recipe is and I made sure Everything was blended properly, I’m watching it bake and the water is bubbling and there are little bubbles forming in the cheesecake ….
What have I done wrong ?
Hi Katie, a couple of tiny bubbles on the surface of the cheesecake is normal but many bubbles could indicate beating at too high of speed. This is why we recommend the paddle attachment and reducing the speed between steps since you don’t want to incorporate too much air while mixing. I hope that helps. your cake should still be just fine though. A water bath is more forgiving and those bubbles on top shouldn’t cause a crack with the water bath. Boiling water is normal and don’t worry it won’t go beyond the boiling point so that is fine.
I am going to make this cheesecake for a house warming lunch my sister is having.
Can you make a video of a chocolate or oreo cheesecake, pls. Love your recipes.
Hello Sam, sounds like a great idea. I hope everyone loves it. I don’t have a video on how to make an oreo cheesecake but thanks for your suggestion!
Hello, saw this recipe and I had to make it for Mother’s Day. I have a setting in my oven called quick bake and it’s a conventional oven setting. I decided to bake in that setting and when I started baking at 450 for 15 minutes about 3/4 the way in my top kind of gets a little darker than a golden brown. So I just changed the setting to normal baking and took the temp down to 225. Not sure why it got dark so quick, but it’s not bothering me. Baked very nicely the rest of the way. It’s cooling in the fridge and can not wait to dig in! thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing that experience with me.
Hi Natasha! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe with us! I was wondering if I dont have a stand mixer, would a hand mixer do?
Hope you have a terrific Mother’s Day! 🙂
Hi Ang, a hand mixer will work but you might reduce the mixing level a touch so you aren’t adding too much air to the mix.
Thank you Natasha!!
I made it and the flavor was delicious!! However, my cheesecake was a little more like a mouse texture. Not as firm as other cheesecakes I’ve had. How can I fix this?
Hi Ang, this isn’t supposed to be dense like most store-bought cheesecakes. A home-baked cheesecake has an airier texture to it, but not quite mousse-like. Do you think you could have overbeaten the mixture (incorporating too much air?). Also, make sure to let it fully chill before cutting into it so it can set properly.
Best cheesecake ever!! I made it for my moms birthday/ Mother’s Day. Everyone loved it. Thank you. 🙂
Yay so awesome to hear that! Thank you for your great feedback.
Hi, so I had a similar issue with the cheesecake top burning in the oven after 10 min at 450, it’s not completely burned but a carameled brown. I also made it for mother’s day and was wondering if I can salvage it? I was reading to cut off the burned top? Thank You Natasha!
Hi Katelyn, it sounds like you baked without a water bath. A water bath would prevent that. It will still be ok and that is a common occurrence with a non-water bath cheesecake. It’s still going to taste great underneath that browned top.
Same thing just happened to me. I’m so disappointed with myself. I followed the instructions to the letter and ended Up over baking it. Took it out after 60 minutes but it didn’t giggle in the middle and the top browned wayyyy too much! Time for a new oven! And it’s only 5 years old! I’m sure it will still taste delicious but I’m still so disappointed. Surely it will taste burnt?
I just baked my first cheesecake following the recipe. I used triple foil for the water bath, Waited 45 min after cooking, and when I was attempting to take it out to cool on the wire rack water got in! Is it bad? Is it salvageable? Will putting it in the fridge overnight help?
Hi Anya, a little water on the surface of the cheesecake isn’t bad – just dab it out with a paper towel and it will be ok.
How do I make the cherry sauce?
Hello Tara, here’s the Cherry Sauce recipe.
Can I use a block of lite cream cheese in place of regular?
Hi Alexis, we always make this with full-fat cream cheese, but that should still be ok. The water bath method is also supposed to be the best method for making a cheesecake with light cream cheese. Let me know how you like it.
Very close to my recipe. And I bake the cream cheese and grahams then add sweetened sour cream and bake another 10 min.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me!
Can I make a this without a springform?
Hi Mary, I haven’t tested any other way since it would overflow a regular cake pan.
I love cherries. I love strawberries. But I go berserk for red raspberries! Do you have a raspberry version of the topping?
Hi Ryan, a raspberry topping would be yummy. You could substitute raspberries for strawberries in our strawberry sauce.
I can’t not wait to try this, but instead of graham crackers can I use Oreos for the base?
Hi Farhana, that may work! If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I just put my cheesecake in the oven I’m hoping it comes out OK. I don’t have a deep roasting pan so I used a somewhat deep foil pan. I love making your recipes they are simple and easy to follow.
I hope you love this recipe Linda!
hi natashas
i wanted to ask how much we need of cream cheese in cups
Hi Tala, if you click on the metric button you will see a conversion to weights.
Hi Tala, to make sure I’m understanding are you trying to make mini cheesecakes out of this? You can see our mini cheesecake recipe here.
hi natasha. great cheesecake! came out perfect shared it with friends
Thank you, Ariana! Glad you and your friends enjoyed it.
This recipe was so easy to follow and I cant wait till try it! I made the cherry sauce, but couldn’t find frozen (or fresh) cherries but I did get a frozen Michigan sweet cherry, blueberry, and blackberry mix that turned out just divine!
Question on the cheesecake – after waiting the 45 min for the cheesecake to cool (while still in the bath), how long do you let the cheesecake cool on it’s own before it can go in the fridge to set?
Hi Monika, it depends on the room temperature. You just want to let it rest until full at room temperature before refrigerating. It was about 2 hours.
I’ve never tried to make a cheesecake (my mother-in-law does) and so I told my husband I will make one tomorrow for dessert on Sunday (Mother’s day).
Question: I don’t have a roasting pan, what pan shall I use?
Thank you!
Hi Noreen, any deep pan will work that fits your springform mold (and is about the same depth as your springform). You should have at least 1″ of space for the water. I have made it work with my Staub braiser before. If you don’t have a roasting pan, consider making our no water bath cheesecake.
Love this cheesecake!
Super easy to make and so delicious. I topped mine with raspberry jam. It was gone shortly after served. My only problem was that the crust was sticking to the bottom and it was hard to scrape off, why would that be?
Hi Vivien, if you pack it down too tightly that could be the culprit – also make sure to have the right mix of crumbs to butter which will help the crust stay moist. I’m so glad you loved the cheesecake!
Cheesecake is a favorite of my husbands. We have an anniversary on Monday so I will be making this for him. It looks amazing!
I hope he loves this recipe! Thank you for sharing that with me Krissy!
The BEST cheesecake! Love the step by step photos for making this come out so creamy! Love the tip for the water bath too!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Hi Natasha! Your cheesecake looks delicious! I can’t wait to cut into it! If I put it in the freezer instead of the fridge would it chill faster and I could eat it faster? I just really want to dig in I can’t wait!
Hi Ruth, I would still recommend refrigerating first before freezing to give it a chance to set properly.
Simple perfection! We loved this cheesecake recipe!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for that great review!