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As my sister put it, “This is better than the Cheesecake Factory!” I’m a huge cheesecake fan and this is the best cheesecake recipe I’ve tried.

The texture is amazingly smooth and the semi-tart blueberry topping is a perfect match! It’s simple to make and difficult to screw up.

This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten’s Cheesecake. I hope you give it a try!

Watch How To Make Cheesecake Video:

Ingredients for The Crust –

1 ½  cups graham cracker crumbs (I use “Honey Maid”  crumbs – it’s cheaper & easier. Or you can use 10 crackers)
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) melted, unsalted butter
1 Tbsp sugar

Ingredients for The Cheesecake –

2 ½ lb cream cheese (5 blocks – 8oz each) at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup sour cream
7 whole large eggs (at room temp)
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Blueberry Sauce:

This is based on our popular blueberry topping recipe (which is so good over breakfast and dessert!)

4 cups frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp sugar

What you will need :

How to Make this Cheesecake Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350°F
Crust: combine1 ½  cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 Tbsp sugar and 6 Tbsp melted butter – mix well. Pour into a 9 or 9 ½ inch springform pan (see picture above). Use a large spoon to press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

Cheesecake Filling:

Raise oven temp to 450°F and place rack in bottom third of oven.
1. Mix 5 blocks (8oz each) of cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed using paddle attachment (or use an electric hand mixer).

2. Mix until light and fluffy (5 minutes), scrape the bowl down as necessary so you don’t get chunks of cream cheese.

3. Reduce the speed to medium and add 7 eggs, one at a time.

4. Reduce speed to low and add 1/4 cup of sour cream and 1 ½ tsp of vanilla.

5. Mix well and pour into crust.

How to Bake the Cheesecake:

Place oven rack in the bottom 1/3. (Put the center rack 1 level lower than the center. In my oven, I had the rack on the third position. If it’s too close to the top, it will brown too quickly). Bake 15 minutes at 450°F.

Without opening the oven door, Reduce oven temperature to 225 °F and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes until the center is almost set. Try not to open the oven door because you will lose heat that way and it won’t bake properly and may crack.

Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool cake to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully chilled.

When ready to serve the cheesecake, carefully run a butter knife around the sides of the cake. Unlatch and remove the springform pan. Serve the cake on the base of the pan.

Berry Sauce:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/4 cup water, 2 tsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. As soon as it starts to thicken, add 4 cups of blueberries and cook until lightly bubbly. Don’t boil. Let cool to room temp and spread on top of the cheesecake when serving. You can make this sauce ahead of time and serve the next day as well.

This recipe is great for parties and is sure to please. Enjoy!

Notes: Ina makes her cheesecake recipe by adding 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest to the cream cheese filling; but I like the original flavor of cheesecake.