Keto Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake: 20g Protein

Dessert with 20 grams of protein sounds like a trick. It isn’t.

It’s a full-sized cheesecake with a buttery almond crust, a silky filling, and a glossy strawberry rhubarb topping that makes it look like it came from a bakery case. It’s also keto, which means the sugar spike your 4pm energy crash usually bills you for doesn’t come with it.

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📊 The Macros

🥩 PROTEIN: 20g

Calories 385 · Carbs 8g · Fat 32g · Fiber 2g Protein density: 5.2g protein per 100 calories Serves 8 · ~3 hours (mostly hands-off) · low-sugar, keto-friendly

Most desserts pull their protein number from the garnish. This one gets to 20g per slice honestly, from the filling itself.

The original recipe logs 12g of protein over 10 servings. Two filling swaps and cutting into 8 generous slices gets you to 20g.

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🍳 The Recipe

Keto Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake. Serves 8. About 30 minutes of active work, then the oven and refrigerator do the rest.

The crust is an almond flour press-in, golden and slightly sweet. The filling is rich and velvety. The topping is a barely-sweet strawberry rhubarb compote that cuts through the richness perfectly.

Ingredients

Almond Flour Crust

• 2 cups finely milled almond flour
• ½ cup melted unsalted butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar substitute (like erythritol or Swerve)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Cheesecake Filling

• 8 oz (1 block) full-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup full-fat cottage cheese (blends smooth, lifts protein significantly)
• 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (replaces sour cream, adds protein)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar substitute
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Strawberry Rhubarb Topping

• 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen rhubarb, sliced
• ½ cup granulated sugar substitute
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch tart pan well.
2. For the crust: combine almond flour, sugar substitute, salt, and cinnamon. Add melted butter and mix until incorporated. Press evenly into the bottom of the pan using the flat bottom of a glass. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until lightly golden. Let cool completely.
3. Reduce oven to 325°F.
4. For the filling: in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, blend cream cheese and cottage cheese together at medium-high speed until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. Add sugar substitute and beat until incorporated. Reduce to medium-low and add eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl between each. Add vanilla, salt, and Greek yogurt. Beat until velvety and smooth, about 5 minutes total.
5. Pour filling into the cooled crust. Spread evenly.
6. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until the edges are set but the center (about 2 inches) still jiggles slightly. Do not overbake.
7. Turn off the oven. Crack the door and let the cheesecake cool inside for 1 hour. Transfer to a cooling rack for another hour. Wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours.
8. While cheesecake bakes, make the topping: bring water, lemon juice, and sugar substitute to a boil. Add strawberries and rhubarb. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until strawberries have broken down and sauce thickens. Stir in butter. Cool completely before using.
9. Before serving, spread the topping evenly over the chilled cheesecake. Slice into 8 portions.

Storage: refrigerate up to 5 days. Freeze (with or without topping) up to 3 weeks. To remove from tart pan, center on a small sturdy object smaller than the base hole and slide the ring down.

Making this? Reply and tell me if you snuck a taste of the filling before it went into the oven. I always do.

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🔄 The Swap

Replace the sour cream with plain nonfat Greek yogurt, and replace half the cream cheese with cottage cheese. Same silky texture in the finished cheesecake, and the protein nearly doubles.

Cream cheese delivers about 2g of protein per ounce. Cottage cheese delivers 3g per ounce, but more importantly it blends smooth (at medium-high speed for 3 minutes) so there’s no texture tell. Greek yogurt brings 22g of protein per cup versus sour cream’s 7g. Neither swap changes the flavor profile in the finished cheesecake.

The 8-slice cut (instead of 10) means a proper dessert portion while the macros stay honest.

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🔬 The Science

Why does a dessert with 20g of protein behave so differently from a regular slice of cheesecake?

Protein slows the absorption of everything around it. Even in a rich, fat-forward dish like cheesecake, a strong protein hit moderates how quickly the carbs register. For a keto recipe where net carbs are already low (about 6g per slice), that matters less. But the protein payoff, especially for evening eating, matters more than most people realize.

The muscle-maintenance window doesn’t close at dinner. Your body continues muscle protein synthesis (the repair and maintenance process) throughout the evening and night. A protein-sufficient dessert contributes to that window rather than sitting outside it.

Almond flour is doing quiet work. Compared to all-purpose flour, it adds healthy fat and protein from the almonds themselves, roughly 6g per cup, and comes with a low glycemic index. The crust isn’t just a texture decision here. It’s a macro decision.

“A cheesecake with 20 grams of protein per slice isn’t a compromise. It’s a better version of the original.” [QUOTABLE]

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💡 The Takeaway

You don’t have to eat around dessert to hit your protein targets. This is a dessert that hits your protein targets for you.

Bake it once, refrigerate overnight, and you’ve got 8 slices of something genuinely indulgent that happens to be low-sugar and protein-forward.

Send this to someone who’s doing everything right during the day and then blowing the macros at 9pm because there’s nothing satisfying to eat. This is the solution.

Want to see how seven full days of this kind of eating comes together?

Download the free 7-Day 120g-Protein Meal Plan → Seven days of meals, snacks, and yes, desserts, every day hitting 120g of protein, with a grocery list and honest macros on every plate.

Written by Annette. Real food, honest macros, not medical advice.