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Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake has the creamy texture you love, with a rich chocolate flavor. It’s the perfect no-bake dessert to make for any chocolate fans in your life.
Why You’ll Love It
This healthier chocolate recipe is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and even has a veggie hiding inside the creamy filling. But you’d never know just by tasting it!
Since the filling is made with cashews instead of cream cheese, it’s also dairy-free, vegan and Paleo friendly.
Ingredients You’ll Need 
What’s in vegan chocolate cheesecake?
- Cashews
- Maple syrup
- Cacao powder
- Zucchini (yes, a veggie!)
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla extract
- Sea salt
That’s all you need for the filling, and I like to pour it over the same no-bake chocolate crust I use for my vegan cheesecake bars. A simple blend of pecans (or walnuts), cacao powder, maple syrup, and coconut oil brings that together in no time.
Pro Tip: If you don’t care for the flavor of coconut oil, look for a refined or “expeller pressed” version at your local grocery store. Refined coconut oil has zero coconut flavor, so you won’t taste it at all in the final dessert. I use this trick for making vegan cream cheese and homemade magic shell, when I don’t want coconut flavor.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
1. Prepare the crust. Place the pecans and cacao powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, and process briefly, until the texture is crumbly.
Add in the maple syrup, coconut oil, and salt, and process again until the crust sticks together.
Transfer the crust to an 8-inch springform pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper, if you want the cheesecake to be very easy to remove later.
Press the crust evenly into the bottom of the pan, and then place it in the freezer to firm up while you prepare the filling.
2. Make the filling. Add the cashews, zucchini, cacao powder, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, and salt into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
This will work best if your ingredients are NOT cold from the fridge, so the coconut oil doesn’t thicken up from the cold.
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I typically do not soak my cashews ahead of time (because I don’t plan ahead very well) so I also add in a 1/4 cup of water to help with blending. If you would prefer to soak the cashews, cover them with 2 inches of water in a large bowl and let them soak for 2 hours.
Then drain and rinse well, before adding them to the blender. Soaked cashews will blend easier, and may not require any additional water for blending, but you can add water 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary, to make everything blend smoothly.
Be prepared to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender, or use a tamper if your blender comes with one, because this chocolate filling is pretty thick!
3. Chill. Remove the crust from the freezer and use a spatula to add the chocolate filling from the blender container.
Smooth the top, and then place the pan back in the freezer to chill until the top of the cheesecake feels firm to the touch, about 3 to 4 hours.
When the cheesecake is firm, you can slice and serve it chilled. It pairs nicely with fresh fruit on top, like raspberries or strawberries.
Keep in mind that the coconut oil is what holds this vegan cheesecake together, so it will melt if you leave it out at room temperature for too long. I recommend storing it in the freezer until just before serving. It can sit out for up to 30 minutes when frozen, but no longer than that!
Storage Tips
Since this cake needs to be served from the freezer, you can store it in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
If you would rather make this in an 8-inch square pan, you can also slice it into bars for an easy treat to have on hand.
Ingredients
Chocolate Pecan Crust
- 1 1/2 cups pecans
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Chocolate Cheesecake Filling
- 2 cups raw cashews (no need to soak)
- 1 cup diced zucchini , peeled
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- To make the crust, add the pecans and cacao powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with an "S" blade and pulse briefly, until the mixture looks crumbly. Add in the maple syrup, coconut oil, and salt and process again until the mixture sticks together.
- Prepare an 8-inch springform pan by lightly spraying it with oil and pressing a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan. This guarantees the cheesecake will be easy to remove later. Transfer the crust to the prepared pan and press it evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the freezer to set while you prepare the filling.
- To make the filling, add the cashews, zucchini, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, coconut oil, and water to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Stop and scrape down the sides of the blender, as needed, to make sure everything is blended well. It will be very thick.
- Remove the pan from the freezer and add the chocolate filling on top, smoothing it with a spatula. Return the pan to the freezer and chill until the cheesecake feels firm to the touch in the center, about 3 to 4 hours.
- When the cheesecake is totally firm, it's ready to slice and serve. Be sure to serve it directly from the freezer for the best texture, as it will soften up if you leave it at room temperature for too longer. Serve with sliced berries on top, or with coconut whipped cream.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted in 2013, and was updated in 2022. I increased the maple syrup and cacao powder in the filling by a 1/4 cup each to boost the chocolate flavor, but you can omit that addition if you prefer. I think it greatly improves the flavor, though!
If you try this Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
I made this yesterday on a hot and humid afternoon. Yay no cooking!!! I just taste-tested it with my dairy and gluten allergic son. We both loved it! He was so pleased to eat zucchini in this tasty way! The whole thing was fast and easy to make. If there were more than 5 stars, we would rate it higher! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!!
Not a fan of maple syrup, does the cheesecake have a strong maple flavor? Do you think light karo syrup could replace the maple?
Also, I have a friend that is allergic to coconut. Do you think the vegan butter could replace the coconut oil in the crust and filling? Or could you suggest a different oil? Possibly crisco?
Thank you. I can’t wait to try this.
You can use almost any type of sweetener to replace it. It is only meant for the sweetness. I freely interchange maple, honey, or even date pulp for recipes. Just do it by taste, The amount of sugar/sweetness in the different liquids is not the same in comparison to volume, so you may need more or less of the Karo syrup
If you use the stick vegan butter it would probably work fine. It still solidifies the same way coconut oil does. My grandmother used Crisco for everything butter would be in when I was a kid due to my sister’s milk allergy, back before coconut oil was common. I wouldn’t recommend spreadable vegan butter, and definitely not another type of oil. Other oils do not solidify at colder temperatures, so the cheesecake would not solidify.
Just a note: not sure if you use the vegan recipes for an actual vegan diet or an allergy. Most people with a milk allergy are actually allergic to the protein casein, and can still have butter since it is entirely fat. Same thing for lactose intolerance. Since there is no sugar in the butter, there is no lactose.
hi Megan, love your blog and I can’t wait to try your chocolate cheesecake, but I was wondering if I can use brown rice syrup instead of maple syrup since it has a lot of sugar? Hope to her from
You can, but you’ll need to use significantly more brown rice syrup to make it taste like cheesecake!
The zuchinni is also raw? And how long can this be frozen for? Can I make it a week in advance?
Yes, it’s raw, and yes this can be made a week in advance as long as you cover it tightly and keep it frozen.
This recipe is AMAZING! My entire family loved it. Do you happen to have the nutritional information for this recipe?
This looks so delicious and there is a small heart on the right side of the cake painted in strawberry sause and it is on the plate with hearts…Oh so dearly amazing. I am making this at home.
Thank you for this inspiration…. so wonderful.
Love and light
Vivian
This recipe is simply amazing! Everyone who ties this can’t believe that it’s vegan and has zucchini in it!
Can I replace the zucchini with an avocado? Excited to try this!
I tried soaking nuts and then drying them in a dehydrator. Or they can be dried in the oven on the lowest setting. When they are dry, they can be used in the crust recipe just fine..
Why would you soak them and then completely dehydrate them again? Just curious….
There is an enzyme on the outside of nuts that affect some people’s digestive systems. Soaking breaks that down. So, they are removing the enzyme, then drying it back out.
This recipe is amazing!! I’ve made it twice and both times it was simply divine. Perfect for festive entertaining, it also made me bike 10% faster! I’m a total kitchen noob and even I managed to make it taste good. Imagine what the culinary geniuses who read this blog could do?? Plant power!
Could it affect the crust consistency and/or texture if I soak the pecans over night? anybody has any experience soaking nuts and using them for crust?
Thank you!
I wouldn’t recommend using wet nuts for the crust, but it should be fine if you dry them completely before using them in a recipe.
thank you! im going to dehydrate them in the oven for a few hours to avoid messing up the recipe! happy thx giving Megan and thank you for all your wonderful healthy recipes <3