This Instant Pot dark chocolate cheesecake is silky smooth and lightly sweetened, with a rich chocolate crust. Perfect for chocolate lovers!
(Originally posted on May 7, 2019. Updated tips and frequently asked questions on November 18, 2019)
This cheesecake is light and super silky, with a rich chocolatey crust. It's a chocolate lover's dream, perfect when enjoyed with a cup of coffee or some fresh strawberries. We opted for a dark chocolate, lightly sweetened flavor profile by using semisweet chocolate chips. But you could totally switch them out for milk chocolate chips. This Instant Pot chocolate cheesecake is simple to make and incredibly delicious.
Why This Recipe Works
- Oven baked cheesecakes require a water bath when cooking. The Instant pot uses steam to cook, which means no water bath is necessary! Producing a smooth cheesecake with no cracks is easy with the Instant Pot.
- The cheesecake batter is sweet, but not overly rich, which pairs perfectly with the rich chocolate crust.
More Instant Pot Cheesecake Recipes
- Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
- Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake
- White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Glaze
The Process
And the AMAZING Result…
Expert Tips
- For neat and clean slices, heat your knife before cutting. I do this by submerging the blade of the knife in a glass of hot water. Dry the knife and slice. This prevents the cheesecake from sticking to the knife. You can heat the knife as often as needed while slicing each piece.
- If your store doesn't carry chocolate Graham Crackers, you can substitute chocolate Teddy Grahams You'll need 100 Teddy Grahams, which is about 4 servings. Most boxes have 9 servings, so one box should be plenty. You can also substitute with Oreos. To do so, use 12 Oreos, 2 tbs of butter, and omit the brown sugar.
FAQs
Can I use a low carb sugar substitute? Yes! Swerve can be substituted for sugar. Use Lilly's semi-sweet chocolate chips for a lower carb chocolate chip option.
What kind of pan did you use? To make this in our 6qt Instant Pot, we used a Fat Daddio's 7x3" Cheesecake Pan. A 7" springform pan will also work. You can use a regular 7x3 inch cake pan, but the slices may be difficult to remove neatly.
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Chocolate Cheesecake
This silky, dark Instant Pot chocolate cheesecake is lightly sweetened, with a rich chocolate crust. Perfect for chocolate lovers!
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Servings: 12
Calories: 365kcal
Ingredients
- 8 chocolate graham crackers 124 grams
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp. butter melted
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- 16 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Cheesecake Crust
- Place graham crackers in food processor and run until crackers break into fine crumbs. Add cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter to a bowl and stir to combine.
- Pour crumb mixture into a 7″ push pan or springform pan. Then, using fingertips or glass, press down crumbs into an even layer. Place pan in freezer while preparing the batter.
Cheesecake Batter
- Add sugar and cocoa powder to a bowl and mix together, making sure to break up any clumps in the cocoa powder. You may want to sift in the cocoa to remove any clumps. Then add cream cheese and blend until smooth with a hand mixer.
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave chips and heavy cream for 25 seconds, then whisk until completely smooth. If chips are not melted after one minute of whisking, microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.
- Let chocolate mixture cool until warm, not hot, then fold into cream cheese mixture until completely combined.
- Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla and mix until just combined. Tap bowl against counter top several times until air bubbles rise to surface. Burst bubbles with fork or toothpick.
- Remove cheesecake crust from freezer and pour batter into pan. Add 1 ½ cups water and 3-inch trivet to Instant Pot. Cover cheesecake with foil, and place on trivet. Cook for 40 minutes at high pressure, then allow a natural pressure release.
- Once pressure is released, turn off Instant Pot and carefully remove cheesecake. Remove foil and allow cheesecake to cool for one hour or until room temperature. Once cool, carefully run a paring knife around the edge of the cheesecake to separate from pan. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Carefully push cheesecake up from push pan by placing center of push pan on a can or glass and pushing edges down. If using springform pan, gently remove outer edge of pan. Then serve and enjoy.
Notes
Expert Tips:
- For neat and clean slices, heat your knife before cutting. I do this by submerging the blade of the knife in a glass of hot water. Dry the knife and slice. This prevents the cheesecake from sticking to the knife. You can heat the knife as often as needed while slicing each piece.
- If your store doesn’t carry chocolate Graham Crackers
, you can substitute chocolate Teddy Grahams You’ll need 100 Teddy Grahams, which is about 4 servings. Most boxes have 9 servings, so one box should be plenty. You can also substitute with Oreos. To do so, use 12 Oreos, 2 tbs of butter, and omit the brown sugar.
, you can substitute 
You’ll need 100 Teddy Grahams, which is about 4 servings. Most boxes have 9 servings, so one box should be plenty. You can also substitute with Oreos. To do so, use 12 Oreos, 2 tbs of butter, and omit the brown sugar.FAQS:
Can I use a low carb sugar substitute? Yes! Swerve
can be substituted for sugar. Use Lilly’s semi-sweet chocolate chips
for a lower carb chocolate chip option.
What kind of pan did you use? To make this in our 6qt Instant Pot, we used a Fat Daddio’s 7×3″ Cheesecake Pan
. A 7″ springform pan
will also work. You can use a regular 7×3 inch cake pan
, but the slices may be difficult to remove neatly.Nutrition
Calories: 365kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 190mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 825IU | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1.8mg
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Sue
This looks really good! You might want to edit step 2 of the instructions for the cheesecake, though: It says to combine WHITE chocolate chips w/cream instead of semisweet.
Gary
Oops! Thanks for the heads up. That's what happens when I try to work with my children in the room.
Becky
So good! I love being able to make cheese cake without heating up the kitchen with a hot oven. This is an easy and great recipe. I made it two ways, the original recipe and one to make it low carb. I didn't make a crust on the low carb one. I used Swerve to replace the sugar and Lilly's semi sweet chocolate chips. It turned out great but I did miss the crust.
Becky
Oh my! I made this earlier today and it is delicious. I’m on a chocolate sugar high right now and loving it! Lol. The only change I made was that I used dark chocolate chips because that’s what I had on hand. It’s so good that I’m a little worried that when I get up in the morning there won’t be any left!
Iris
Yummy!
Sherri
AMAZING!!! It’s the best cheesecake I’ve had and easiest to make. I didn’t alter the recipe at all other than using the Oreo crust recipe option instead of the chocolate graham crackers. The top and sides of mine came out rough looking, so I dipped an offset spatula into a cup of hot water and used the warm spatula to smooth out the top and sides of the cheesecake. That worked beautifully! Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!
Caeles
My cheesecake exploded 🙁 I followed the directions and allowed pressure to fully release but it was quite a mess when I took it out.
Maybe I overmixed or didn’t tap out enough air bubbles?
Nonetheless, it was very tasty. Good texture and not overly sweet. I used half dark, salted chocolate(from a bar I had on hand) and half Guitard semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Ellie
Can I use regular honey graham crackers for the crust
Gary White
Yes!
Rachel
The best chocolate cheesecake ever! This will definitely be made again and again and again. Followed recipe and came out perfect. You must make this!!!
David Ecker
Thank you so much for the recipe! I didn't have chocolate grahams so I had to use regular ones.
Jeanne
I have a large electric pressure cooker, is that the same as an instant pot? It came with a recipe book and they cook a cheese cake in it but for only 25 min. Does an instant pot cook with less pressure?
Gary White
I can't speak for other brands of pressure cookers with confidence, but I believe they are all designed pretty similarly. What varies are recipes and cooking methods. And for that reason, I'd say it's pretty safe to give this recipe a try, as it's tried-and-true!
Colleen
I absolutely love this recipe!! The BEST cheesecake ever!! I'd like to use this recipe to make mini cheesecakes in the smallest size mason jars. Any thoughts about cooking times?