No-Bake Lime Cheesecake Recipe
No-Bake Lime Cheesecake is a creamy, tangy dessert with refreshing lime flavor. Set with unflavored gelatin—no oven needed—it's perfect for summer BBQs, picnics, or any easy crowd-pleasing treat.
Servings: 8 servings
Cost: $8
Ingredients
Pate Sucree
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup chilled butter, cut in 1 inch cubes
- 1 egg yolks
- ¼-1/3 cup ice water
Cheesecake Filling
- ½ cup water
- 1 envelope unglavored gelatin
- 2 8 oz Packages Cream Cheese
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons lime zest plus extra for topping
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup thinly sliced limes for topping
Instructions
- Pate Sucree: If you are making the pate brisee for a crust, follow these steps. If not, skip to the filling instructions. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and mix. Cut the chilled butter into ½-inch pieces. Add this to the flour and cut in until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Next, pour in the ice water. Mix until it is incorporated, then knead a couple times until it comes together. You do not want to overmix.
- Form into a disk and chill for at least 1 hour. When it is chilled roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Gently press into your tart pan and place in the fridge for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Put a piece of parchment carefully in the tart shell to hold your pie weights or beans. Add the weights in and move the tart shell to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes with the weights in. Then carefully remove the parchment and weights and return the shell to the oven. Bake for another 7-10 minutes until the tart shell is a light golden brown on the edges.
- Remove the shell from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool.
- No-bake filling: Once the shell is cooled, it is time to start the filling. Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it over the water in a small container. Mix and set it aside for 5 minutes. When the 5 minutes are up, I like to microwave it for 3-4 SECONDS to loosen it up a bit.
- Add the cream cheese, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla. Mix until it is smooth with a hand mixer or by hand. Next, continue mixing while slowly pouring in the gelatin/water mixture. Once it is all in, mix well to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Pour immediately into the pan. Let this chill and set for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with lime slices and more lime zest. The tart will hold in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- This recipe uses a process called “blind baking” which simply means pre-cooking your crust before adding a filling. Once the dough’s in the tart pan, you’ll want to cover it with parchment paper, then fill the top with something to keep the crust from shrinking during baking. I have pie weights, but you can also use dried beans. You won’t be able to cook the beans after, but you can use them over and over for blind baking.
- The gelatin comes in a powdered form, so we need to “bloom” or soften it before using it. I used to do this with really hot water, but now I use lukewarm water and just heat it if needed. If it is too clumpy, heat. If it softens smoothly, you’re good to go!
- I use a Microplane for zesting the limes. If you don’t have one, though, you can peel off thin layers of the lime (just the green part), then chop it very fine.