You're Only 3 Ingredients And A Few Minutes Away From The Best No-Bake Cheesecake

Desserts don't have to be complicated to be delicious and this three ingredient no-bake cheesecake is proof of this. A traditional cheesecake calls for cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, a graham cracker crust, and lots of time and love. But if you have cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and a graham cracker crust, you can create this dessert and not even have to turn on an oven.

Cream cheese is the base ingredient of any cheesecake. It's the star of the show that adds the tangy, dense, creamy element that keeps the fork shoveling bite after bite to the mouth. When it is brought to room temperature it's easy to whip and blend with just about anything. This could take about 20 minutes. If you are in a hurry, quickly soften your cream cheese by submerging it in hot water. Once it softens, you will want to use your handheld mixer or blender to get it nice and airy. Just remember you want to start with a brick of unflavored, full-fat cream cheese. 

Sweetened condensed milk is thick and syrupy. Its luxurious texture is going to easily blend with the softened cream cheese, creating a pourable mixture. But you need to mix the two together until it is smooth — lumpy cheesecake is not a good thing. A mix of sugar and milk can be swapped for condensed milk if you don't have a can. Just heat the two in a saucepan and let them reduce until they are creamy and thick.

After you pour your cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk mixture into a ready-made graham cracker pie crust — or one you make on the fly with just crushed graham crackers — your cheesecake will need to set in the fridge for anywhere from two to three hours. That said, it's important to level set expectations. This cheesecake is going to have a much looser consistency than a slice you might get of your favorite flavor of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. If you like the taste of this cream cheese filling, you can inject it into your favorite red velvet cupcakes, use it as a spread for pancakes or French toast, or add it to your muffin mix.