Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake makes a show stopping dessert! The Instant Pot is the perfect vessel to create a creamy, rich Pumpkin Cheesecake made with a Gingersnap and Pecan crust.
Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake, along with Apple Crisp are must make Thanksgiving Desserts!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
There is something magical about pumpkin cheesecake.
In my opinion, Pumpkin Cheesecake is one of the BEST versions of cheesecake out there.
In fact, I even think it is safe to say, I would take this cheesecake over pumpkin pie any day of the week!
Made with a gingersnap crust and a perfectly creamy, spiced filling, this Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake is decadent, rich, and delicious!
Not to mention by using the Instant Pot, Pumpkin Cheesecake is not only easy to make, but it also is tastier than traditionally baked cheesecake.
Because of the moist heat that the Instant Pot uses to cook with, this pumpkin cheesecake is baked in a delicate environment that preserves it’s creamy texture and bakes the cheesecake evenly–making YOU look like a rock star.
How To Make Pumpkin Cheesecake
Step One: Prepare Gingersnap Crust
Ginger and pumpkin are a perfect match and the kick from the ginger cookies really adds dimension to this cheesecake.
- In the food processor, pulse the gingersnap cookies and pecans until they are broken down into crumbs.
- Add in the melted and butter and pulse until the crumbs are wet and resemble wet sand.
- Press the crust down into a 7 inch spring-form pan.
- Place crust in freezer while assembling cheesecake filling.
- Alternatively, you can bake the cheesecake crust at 400 degrees for 10 minutes if you would like a crunchier crust.
Step Two: Prepare Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
This pumpkin filling is creamy and spiced to perfection.
- Start by setting all your ingredients out 3-4 hours BEFORE making your cheesecake. Room temperature ingredients are essential so a smooth and uniform cheesecake.
- Beat together pumpkin puree, cream cheese, eggs, sugar and spices until creamy and smooth.
Step Three: Pressure Cook Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Remove gingersnap crust from freezer.
- Pour Pumpkin Cheesecake filling unto crust. Gently tap down cheesecake on counter to remove air bubbles.
- Cover cheesecake with a piece of foil to prevent condensation from forming on it during pressure cooking.
- Place 1 and 1/2 cups cold water in bottom of Instant Pot.
- Add trivet to inner pot of Instant Pot.
- Place cheesecake on trivet.
- Set to cook on high pressure for 45 minutes if covered with foil (which I highly recommend!) If you do not cover your cheesecake with foil, set cook time for 35 minutes.
- Allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes.
- Release any remaining pressure and remove cheesecake from Instant Pot.
Step Four: Serve Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Let cheesecake rest for 30 minutes.
- Run a knife around edges of spring form pan and carefully loosen outer ring.
- Cover Cheesecake with parchment paper or wax paper (to prevent moisture from forming on cheesecake) and then wrap in foil or plastic wrap.
- Best if eaten after 8-12 hours of being refrigerated.
Tips for the BEST Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Like all cheesecakes, this pumpkin cheesecake tastes best if made at least 8 hours in advance.
- Pumpkin cheesecake will keep in the fridge for 4 days or can be frozen up to 30 days.
- Be sure to use fresh nutmeg for optimum flavor.
- This pumpkin cheesecake calls for 100% Pumpkin Puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- If you don’t care for gingersnaps, use graham crackers in their place. You can also omit pecans for a NUT free Pumpkin Cheesecake.
- A 7 inch pan is the perfect size to fit inside a 6 or 8 quart pressure cooker. For cheesecake, I like to use a spring form pan, but if you don’t have one, a 7 inch stainless steel cake pan will work.
- Use mini pot holders to remove your cheesecake from the pressure cooker or craft a foil sling by taking a 20 inch piece of aluminum foil and folding it three times length wise. Carefully center the filled pan on a foil sling and lower it into onto the rack in the pressure cooker. Fold the foil sling down so that it doesn’t interfere with closing the lid.
- It is best to have all your ingredients at room temperature BEFORE preparing the batters for the cake and cheesecake. This step is crucial to a SMOOTH cheesecake.
More Instant Pot Dessert Recipes
Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
The pressure cooker is the perfect vessel to create a creamy, rich Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake made with a Gingersnap and Pecan crust.
Print Pin RateServings: 12
Calories: 244kcal
Ingredients
Cheesecake Crust
- 3/4 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs about 10 gingersnaps
- 1/4 cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Pumpkin Cheesecake
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Gingersnap Crust
- Process gingersnaps and pecans in food processor into crumbs. Add in melted butter and combine until the crumbs have been moistened with the butter.
- Press gingersnap crust into a 7 inch cheese cake pan. Place crust in freezer while preparing the cheesecake filling.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Beat together cream cheese, pumpkin, egg, sugar, vanilla, and spices until creamy and smooth. It is EXTREMELY important to ensure your batter is smooth for a creamy cheesecake. Pour batter into crust. Cover pan tightly with foil.
- Place the trivet into the Pressure Cooker. Pour 1.5 cups cold water of into Instant Pot.
- Place the pumpkin cheesecake on the trivet in the Instant Pot.
- Seal the pressure cooker and set to cook on high pressure for 45 minutes. (Hit manual button and adjust until time reads 45 minutes.)
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Release remaining pressure and remove cheesecake from Instant Pot.
- Allow pumpkin cheesecake to cool and the refrigerate for 8-12 hours before serving.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Like all cheesecakes, this pumpkin cheesecake tastes best if made at least 8 hours in advance.
- Pumpkin cheesecake will keep in the fridge for 4 days or can be frozen up to 30 days.
- Be sure to use fresh nutmeg for optimum flavor.
- This pumpkin cheesecake calls for 100% Pumpkin Puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- If you don't care for gingersnaps, use graham crackers in their place. You can also omit pecans for a NUT free Pumpkin Cheesecake.
- A 7 inch pan is the perfect size to fit inside a 6 or 8 quart pressure cooker. For cheesecake, I like to use a spring form pan, but if you don’t have one, a 7 inch stainless steel cake pan will work.
- See Instant Pot High Altitude Conversion if cooking 2500+ feet above sea level.
- If you are not at sea level, be sure to follow my directions for converting recipes for higher elevations.
- It is really important to use cold water at the bottom of the pan, warm water will change the results.
- If you DO NOT cover with foil, only cook this cheesecake for 35 minutes at high pressure--and be very careful removing lid from pressure cooker to not drip condensation down onto cheesecake.
Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 244 Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 8g50%
Cholesterol 73mg24%
Sodium 184mg8%
Potassium 122mg3%
Carbohydrates 18g6%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 14g16%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 3785IU76%
Vitamin C 0.8mg1%
Calcium 54mg5%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
I would love to know how you enjoy this recipe!Snap a picture and tag #amindfullmom on Instagram or Facebook - I would love to see!
Absolutely divine!! And easy, too!
I am so glad you enjoyed Heather! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
I don’t have a spring form the right size to fit in my instant pot- can I bake in the oven?? How long?
Hi Asil! I am sure this can be baked in the oven, but I have not tried this recipe in the oven–nor do I know the size of pan you are using (which would influence the bake time greatly). However, if you do bake in the oven, please let everyone know so they can try it out too. And Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks! I think I’ll do a water bath in oven and see what happens:) I’ll let you know if it works.
I am planning on making this on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. In reading the instructions I read to cook for 45 minutes and in the comments I read your answer to “Brian” telling him that he was correct – that 30 minutes was the correct cooking time. Now I”m really confused. Also surprised at your comment that you don’t like to cover while cooking. Now I don’t know if I should cover it with foil or not.
Hi Pat! I updated this recipe to be more foolproof–as stated in the bottom of the recipe card. So I know find it best to cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. I will make a note to my comment to make it less confusing. Sorry about that!
Hi, I’d like to make this for Thanksgiving, but I only have an 8-inch springform pan. Can I use it instead of 7-inch? My instant pot is 8 quarts, so the 8-inch pan does fit inside it fine. Thanks — love your recipes!
Hi Cyndi! Thank you so much for your kind words–so glad you enjoy my recipe. To make this in an 8 inch pan, you will need to make a few adjustments. You may need to increase the ingredients of the crust–I would use 1 cup of gingersnap crumbs and 3 tablespoons of butter. And the cook time will be different, since the batter will spread differently. I would cook for high pressure on 40 minutes. I have not tried these adjustments myself, but I think those adjustments will work 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
I made a pumpkin cheesecake last Christmas, but used some inadvertently purchased gluten free Annie’s snickerdoodle cookies for the crust and it was SO good! The little bit of cinnamon made it taste like a pumpkin pie and my friend, who has Celiac, was able to eat it!
Hi There. I followed the instructions and set timer for 30 minutes. After rereading I saw that the previous synopsis states to set pressure cooker for 40 minutes. Which one would be correct? I’m half way through so I’m hoping the 30 minutes is correct.
Thanks
Brian
Hi Brian, the cook time is for 45 minutes if covered with foil. If not, 30 minutes is perfect.
I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving and decided to do a test run today. Everything was going to plan until I took the lid off my Instant Pot after doing a 10 minute natural release and saw that there was water on the top of my cheesecake! A small pool of water. I used paper towels to soak it up, and it looks ok, but any idea why the water was there?
Hi Kiki!
I will be sure to address this issue in the post. This pool of water CAN happen when you remove lid if the condensation falls from lid on cheesecake. It can also happen at times when cooking in moist heat (aka pressure cooker) You can cover your cheesecake with foil to prevent that from happening. Anyways, you did the BEST thing by plotting up with paper towel. It should set up perfectly. Enjoy!
You’re right, it set perfectly and was delicious!
I just made it a second time and had another water-related issue. I decided I wanted more crust with my cheesecake, so I doubled the crust and put it up the sides of the springform. I only waited 2 minutes for the natural release bc I was wondering if that’s when the condensation had set in last time. When I took the lid off, I saw that some of my side crust had gotten very wet — in fact, some of it had dissolved on the bottom of my Instant Pot. Other parts of my side crust were very gummy and looked gross. I have decided to scrape off most of the side crust and will try to add it back from a fresh batch of crust I’m about to make. Wish me luck!
Hi Kiki! I am confused, did you cook the crust without the filling? If so, that would be why your crust got gummy, it needs the protection of the filling.
If you were to omit the pecans, would you just substitute extra gingersnaps?
Hi Diana! You need 1 cup gingersnaps + Pecan combo, use any ratio you like, just keep in mind the more pecans you use, the more crumbly the crust will be. Enjoy!!
I’ve made this twice now, and it’s been a huge hit! Very tasty and simple, simple, simple! Thank you.
WAHOO!!!!I am so glad you enjoyed this cheesecake Kristi! It is sure to be a huge hit for Thanksgiving!
Do you know if you can use a glass dish? I try to avoild aluminum and don’t have a stainless cheesecake pan.
Hi Nikki! A glass pan will work, you just may have a harder time slicing and removing from your dish.
I really need to try an Instant Pot dessert and this is going to be my next project – perfect for the season! Loving pumpkin right now.
You will LOVE it Lucy! The way an instant pot cooks cheesecake can’t be beat.
This pumpkin cheesecake looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks so much Marsha. I hope you enjoy!