This easy, no-bake lemon cheesecake recipe is a copycat of the one Woolworth's used to serve at their lunch counters in the 1960s. It was good then and it's even better now!

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Originally published February 25, 2020. Last updated April 13, 2025 for editorial improvements.

Table of Contents

🎥 Video
🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
📖 Recipe
📖 Variations
Can you freeze cheesecake slices?
Help! The evaporated milk won't whip!
Marye's tips -
📚 Related recipes
💬 Comments

🎥 Video

Never having tasted this before, I got excited when the nonfat condensed milk I purchased whipped up like whipped cream, and left the KitchenAid blender on too long. My boyfriend’s only complaint was that it was “too light and fluffy”, but “tastes just like mom’s.

Rebecca

This easy no-bake lemon cheesecake is the vintage Woolworth’s recipe your grandma swore by—light, creamy, and just tart enough to keep things interesting. It’s the perfect throwback dessert for summer get-togethers, backyard barbecues, or when you’re just craving a slice of nostalgia. No oven, no fuss, and it freezes like a dream for up to three months. Honestly? It’s lemony perfection without breaking a sweat. Try this no-bake lemon icebox cake, too.

🧾 Ingredients

Nothing unusual here! You could try using 'Nilla Wafers instead of the graham crackers. Be sure you're using evaporated milk and not sweetened condensed milk.

🔪 Instructions

This no-bake, lemon cheesecake recipe is one of the easiest desserts you'll ever make but you will need to start a day ahead of time. Make sure the evaporated milk, large mixing bowl, and beaters have a chance to get really cold before you use them - or the milk won't get fluffy.

Collage of step by step images showing how to make no bake lemon cheesecake. — No-Bake Lemon Jello Cheesecake Step-by-Step

Add lemon Jello to a medium size bowl
Stir boiling water into Lemon Jello, stirring until it's dissolved.
Refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes, or until it begins to thicken.
Chill a large bowl and the beaters of a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Pour chilled evaporated milk into the bowl and beat until fluffy - stiff peaks won't form but it will be like soft, whipped cream. I can't stress this enough - the evaporated milk must be freezing cold or it won't whip.
Blend the softened cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth.
Stir in the thickened gelatin.
Beat on low speed until smooth.
Fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped evaporated milk very gently.
Line bottom of 13x9 inch pan with graham cracker crumbs or other cookie crumbs. Add lemon zest to the crumbs for even more lemon flavor.
Spoon in the lemon cheesecake mixture.
Top with more graham cracker crumbs and lemon zest, cover, and chill overnight.

Some things to consider -

Make sure the evaporated milk is super cold and the cream cheese is room temperature. The first time I made this I had trouble getting the milk to whip because it wasn't cold enough.
My family liked this plain but you could put a little whipped cream or Cool Whip on top.
I have accidentally let the Jello get too thick before I added it. If that happens to you just carefully mix until all the Jello is broken up. There may be little shreds of Jello in the filling but it will taste fine.

📖 Recipe

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Recipe

4.69 from 108 votes

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This easy, no-bake lemon cheesecake recipe is a copycat of the one Woolworth's used to serve at their lunch counters in the 1960s. It was good then and it's even better now!

Course No Bake Dessert

Cuisine American - Vintage

Prep Time: 5

Chilling time: 8

Total Time: 8 5

Servings:

Calories:276

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

▢ 3 ounces lemon Jello, unprepared - just the powder.
▢ 1 cup water, boiling
▢ 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
▢ 1 cup sugar
▢ 5 tablespoons lemon juice
▢ 12 ounces evaporated milk, well chilled
▢ 8 ounces graham crackers, crushed

Instructions

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.
Let cool in the refrigerator until it starts to thicken, about 20 to 30 minutes. Do not let it gel all the way.
Beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice on low speed of an electric mixer until smooth.
Add thickened gelatin; beat on low speed until well blended.
In another bowl, on high speed, beat chilled evaporated milk until fluffy like whipped cream. The evaporated milk and the bowl must be well chilled for this to work.
Carefully fold in the cream cheese mixture and blend well with a rubber spatula.
Line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan with crushed graham crackers.
Spoon the filling into pan gently, spreading evenly with a spoon.
Top with more crushed graham crackers, cover, and chill overnight.
Cut in squares to serve.

Notes

Storage:

Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can also put small amounts of leftovers in an airtight container.

This recipe also freezes well. Wrap in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat just thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.

Tips

Use lemon Jello. It’s how they did it at Woolworths and making it any other way just won’t be the same.
The evaporated milk needs to be really cold to whip up properly.
Use room temperature cream cheese.
Don’t whip the filling! Mix everything in on low speed or fold in by hand.
Chill overnight and don’t hurry the chilling process.
The cheesecake should be shiny and firm to the touch when you’re ready to serve.

Alternate Crumb Crust

I remember this cheesecake as having just a crumbly graham cracker crust but someone I was talking to the other day swears that it was a firm graham cracker crust.

If you'd like the firm graham cracker crust then follow these directions:

Mix 3 cups graham cracker crumbs with ¾ cup powdered sugar and 8 tablespoons melted butter. Press into the bottom of the 13x9 inch pan and freeze before filling with the lemon cheesecake.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

📖 Variations

Use a vanilla wafer crust.
Use shortbread cookies for the crust.
Try lemon cookies for a lemon cheesecake your lemon lovers won't be able to resist.
Add ½ teaspoon lemon extract for more lemony flavor.
Add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract to soften the lemon flavor.
Add some lemon zest in with the graham crackers for the topping.
Switch it up and use lime Jello and lime juice.

Can you freeze cheesecake slices?

Yes!! You can slice this cake into servings. It makes it easy to have some whenever you want - and that's probably going to be often.

Add parchment paper strips between the squares to make it a snap to remove one without disturbing the others.

Help! The evaporated milk won't whip!

If your evaporated milk is being a little stubborn and won’t whip up into peaks, pop the whole bowl (milk and all) in the freezer for about 15–30 minutes. Keep an eye on it—you’ll want to see tiny ice crystals forming on the sides of the bowl. That’s your cue to pull it out and try whipping again. Don’t leave it in there longer or you’ll end up with a frozen science experiment. Since evaporated milk has less fat than heavy cream, it needs that extra chill to behave properly.

Marye's tips -

The evaporated milk, beaters, and bowl have to be VERY cold to whip up right.
You'll need to start this at least a day ahead of time. The gelatin needs time to start to thicken which can take an hour... and the cheesecake needs to chill overnight.
Use lemon Jello. It's how they did it at Woolworths, and making it any other way just won't be the same.
Use room temperature, full-fat cream cheese.
Make sure you are getting evaporated milk, not condensed milk.
Don't whip the filling! Fold the whipped evaporated milk in by hand with a rubber spatula.
8 ounces of graham crackers is about 1-½ packs, 2 cups of crumbs.
Freeze the graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of the dish before adding the filling.
Chill overnight, and don't hurry the chilling process.
The cheesecake should be shiny and firm to the touch when you're ready to serve.

You'll find even more recipes in this Cheesecake Collection!

Back when I was little you dressed up to go shopping - even if it was just to Woolworth's for some hair curlers!

Gloves, dresses, frilly ankle socks, and white patent leather shoes were always ready in the closet for those well-planned "errand days." Women in the 1960s lived by the calendar and the clock, and ran their households with military precision.

The best thing about those trips to the store were the lunches -- sitting on the twirly, red vinyl-topped chrome stools at the counter.

Try as I might to sit still (my little hands grasping the edge of the counter to keep them still and willing the rest of my body to follow suit) my lower body invariably began to twist one way then the other.

Until I got the look.

You can bet I settled down pretty fast because I knew dessert depended on it!

💛 Craving a taste of vintage sunshine? Save this no-bake lemon cheesecake for your next summer get-together and tag @marye_restlesschipotle when you make it—I wanna see your slice! 🍋✨ #RestlessChipotle #NoBakeGoodness

Grandma's Lemon Ice Box Pie is a tangy and creamy, lemony dessert. You can serve it frozen or just chilled and it's so handy to have in the freezer for unexpected company!
Lemon Meringue Pie is always a good choice!
Feel like lemon for breakfast? Try this Starbuck's Copycat Lemon Loaf.