No Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

A super decadent and indulgent no bake pistachio cheesecake recipe with a white chocolate pistachio topping. The perfect creamy pistachio cheesecake, packed full of the distinct flavours of pistachio nuts.

Jump to:

• Tell me about this cheesecake
• Ingredient Notes for the Crust
• How to Make Oreo Pistachio Crust
• Ingredient Notes for the Filling
• How to Make No Bake Pistachio Cheesecake
• Pistachio Ganache Topping
• Top Tips
• Variations
• FAQs
• No Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

Tell me about this cheesecake

• Packed full of pistachio - there is pistachio nut in literally every part of this cheesecake! From a pistachio and Oreo crust to the creamy no bake pistachio filling and the white chocolate pistachio topping. If you're a pistachio lover, this dessert is for you!
• Super smooth filling - the no bake filling for this recipe is super creamy and light thanks to the whipped cream which acts to stabilize it.
• Golden Oreo and pistachio crust - a fun and unique cheesecake base, combining the sweet vanilla Oreo with nutty green pistachios.
• Rich white chocolate pistachio ganache - the top of the cheesecake is a thin layer of super rich pistachio and white chocolate ganache. The layer is optional, but it adds a gorgeous green extra touch to the final cheesecake.

Ingredient Notes for the Crust

This is a bit of a twist on my classic two ingredient Golden Oreo Crust recipe. This time, with three ingredients, adding pistachio to pack in even more flavour in this dessert.

You'll need:

• Golden Oreos - crushed to a fine crumb. This is best done in a food processor to ensure you get a good well ground texture. No need to divide out the cookie and filling - just blitz the full Oreos. Tip: whenever I process Oreos (or any cookie for a crust) I like to do a large batch and keep the leftover crumbs for other recipes. They can be stored in a jar or ziploc bag for several weeks (or even months depending on the cookie)!
• Pistachios - unsalted, shelled pistachios ground into a fine crumb. Just like the Oreos, this is best accomplished in a food processor. Blitz until well ground - usually takes a minute or two, but you may need to stop and scrape down the sides to make sure you're not missing any large chunks!
• Butter - unsalted butter, melted. This can be substituted with salted butter, but it will add salt to the overall recipe.

How to Make Oreo Pistachio Crust

This recipe follows the same essential process as my other cookie crusts like my Oreo Crust, Golden Oreo Crust and Biscoff Biscuit Base.

• Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
• Add the melted butter and mix until you have a moistened crumbly consistency.
• This can now be pressed into your pan, firmly into the base and up the sides.

Tips

• For no bake cheesecakes, such as this one, I'd recommend lining your pan with parchment paper before adding the crust. I find this helps it detach from the pan more easily.
• This crust is enough to cover the base and about an inch up the sides of an 8" round springform pan. You can use the same recipe in other size or shape pans, but the coverage will vary.

Ingredient Notes for the Filling

For this creamy pistachio cheesecake filling you'll need:

• Cream cheese - soft spreadable cream cheese. I always use spreadable cream cheese in my recipes, due to ingredient availability in my area. I discuss this in more detail in my No Fail Cream Cheese recipe. The benefit of spreadable cream cheese is that you don't need to wait for this to soften at room temperature. If you want to substitute with block cream cheese, let this soften first. I have not tested this recipe with block cream cheese.
• Sugar - granulated sugar or caster sugar work best in this recipe.
• Sour cream - just a tiny bit of sour cream will help give your cheesecake an added bite, accentuating the tangy flavour of the cream cheese.
• Vanilla extract - vanilla compliments the pistachio and heightens the flavours. It's a great way to enhance your dessert.
• Pistachio paste - I use my own homemade pistachio paste in this recipe. You can make your own or buy pistachio nut butters from the store. If buying from the store, be aware that different pistachio creams and spreads can contain various additives which might impact the consistency of your overall cheesecake. You're looking for something with a high proportion of pistachio and limited extra ingredients.
• Heavy cream - or double cream. This ingredient is called a few different names dependent on your location. For ease of finding the right one, you're looking for the type of cream you'd make homemade whipping cream from. This no bake cheesecake is stabilized with whipped cream, which means no gelatine required!
• Powdered sugar - also called icing sugar or confectioner's sugar. This usually doesn't need sifted for this recipe. If yours has some particularly firm clumps, you might want to sift to ensure it will whip smooth.

How to Make No Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

Once you've made your crust, set this aside. I like to put mine in the refrigerator to chill it while I prepare my filling. This will help the crust to firm up and make spreading cheesecake filling easier.

The process for this cheesecake is similar to my other no bake cheesecakes, such as my Biscoff Cheesecake, Baileys Cheesecake or Salted Caramel Cheesecake.

• Start by making the whipped cream, which will help keep the cheesecake firm enough to slice.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy creamy, powdered sugar and vanilla extract, until stiff peaks form.
• Once you have stiff peaks, set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until smooth. Add the pistachio paste and beat to incorporate. (Image 1 below)
• Now add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold together using a spatula. Avoid over beating at this stage and undoing all the good you've done in making your stiff peaked cream! (Image 2 below)

You now have your filling! Spoon this into the springform pan over top of your prepared crust and spread evenly. (Image 3 below)

This should now set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (better overnight).

Pistachio Ganache Topping

This pistachio ganache is essentially a slightly less solid version of the white chocolate pistachio ganache in my Pistachio Truffle recipe.

Ingredients

You'll need the same three ingredients:

• Heavy cream - or double cream. The same as the cream use for the whipped cream in the cheesecake filling.
• White chocolate - you can use either white chocolate chips or solid white chocolate finely chopped. For ganache, chopping your own chocolate can help this to melt more evenly as chocolate morsels or chips are often a bit larger than the fine chop you'll get by hand.
• Pistachio paste - use more of the same pistachio paste you used for your cheesecake filling. The same rules apply here - if buying your pistachio nut butter, look for one with a high amount of pure pistachio for best results. And don't forget, you can make your own following my Pistachio Spread recipe. It takes a little time with the food processor, but it very straightforward as a process!

Process

To make this topping, you essentially just follow the process of any standard ganache.

• Heat the cream with the pistachio paste until simmering.
• Let simmer about 2 minutes to ensure it is warmed through.
• Then pour over top the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
• Let this sit a couple minutes before stirring smooth.

Let the ganache cool down at room temperature for about 10 minutes before adding this to the cheesecake and spreading carefully in a thin layer over the top.

For some additional tips on troubleshooting pistachio ganache, check out my Pistachio Truffle recipe.

Top Tips

• Whipping cream is key to my no bake pistachio cheesecake without gelatine. This is because the stabilized cream will act to help firm up the cheesecake, in lieu of other agents like gelatine. You need to ensure you have well whipped stiff peaks, otherwise the cheesecake will be too soft to cut.
• This pistachio cheesecake is very creamy and you should use a sharp knife to get the cleanest slices. You may find the the ganache weighs down on the cheesecake (especially at the tip of a slice) and squashes this a bit if you're using a dulled blade.

Variations

• Different toppings - instead of the white chocolate pistachio ganache, you have several other topping options. You can leave the cheesecake plain, or sprinkle ground pistachios over the surface. You could make a quick stabilized whipped cream for decoration, try adding a couple teaspoons of pistachio paste to my vanilla stabilized whipped cream to accent the flavours here.
• Change the crust - don't have Golden Oreos or ground pistachios to hand? Don't worry! You can make this pistachio cheesecake with a graham cracker crust or try my Lotus Biscoff crust with it.

FAQs

Looking for more pistachio recipes? Try:

• Pistachio Panna Cotta
• Small Batch Salted Pistachio Brittle
• White Chocolate and Pistachio Truffles
• Pistachio Cardamom Challah Buns
• Cardamom Pistachio Cake
• Pistachio and Coconut Cinnamon Rolls
• Pistachio Buttercream