How Many Calories In A Slice Of Strawberry Cheesecake?

So, you are about to cut yourself a slice of strawberry cheesecake, and you want to know what you are getting into. Fair enough!

The honest answer is that it depends enormously on where the slice came from. A homemade one sits somewhere around 350 calories. A slice at a restaurant can be nearly three times that.

How Many Calories Are In A Homemade Slice?

For a normal slice cut from a nine-inch cheesecake, so roughly 140 grams, we are looking at about 350 to 400 calories. Smaller supermarket slices of 85 to 95 grams come in lower, at around 280 to 320.

Now, the portion size is really the whole story here. “One slice” tells you almost nothing on its own, because a generous wedge can easily be double a modest one. So, if you are counting, it is worth knowing the weight rather than the number of slices.

What About The Cheesecake Factory?

Well, brace yourself. Their Fresh Strawberry cheesecake comes in at 1000 calories for a single slice, with 69 grams of fat and 66 grams of sugar. That is from their own published nutrition guide, so there is no arguing with it.

Their plain Original is a little gentler at 830. But, these are famously large portions, closer to 220 or 250 grams, which is where all those extra calories are hiding.

Why Is Cheesecake So Calorie Dense?

Three things, really, and they all stack up.

First, cream cheese is the main ingredient, and it is high in fat, much of it saturated. Then, the crust is crushed biscuits held together with melted butter, so that is more fat again plus carbohydrates. And, of course, there is sugar, both in the filling and in whatever fruit topping goes on top.

So, you end up with a dessert where the calories come mostly from fat, roughly 55 to 60 percent, with most of the rest from sugar. There is very little water or fiber to bulk it out, which is exactly why a fairly small piece carries so much.

Does No-Bake Cheesecake Have Fewer Calories?

A little, but honestly not as much as people hope. A no-bake slice lands somewhere around 250 to 400 calories, so it overlaps almost completely with the baked kind.

It skips the eggs, which helps slightly, but it often makes up for that with extra sugar and cream to help it set. So, if you were hoping no-bake was the lighter option, we are sorry to be the ones to tell you!

A Sensible Way To Think About It

None of this means you should not have the cheesecake. If the calorie side interests you, we have more on whether cheesecake is fattening. But, if you want to keep it reasonable, we would cut smaller slices at home rather than switching to a “lighter” recipe that tastes disappointing.

And, when you are eating out, remember that one restaurant slice can be half a day’s worth of calories. That is fine as an occasional treat, which is exactly what a good cheesecake should be.

Watch This Video: