How to Make the Best Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream

Hello fellow ice cream lovers! Chances are if you made it to this page, you recently bought a Ninja CREAMi or are considering buying one. Over the past few months, I’ve tested dozens and dozens of recipes, techniques & hacks for making the best Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream! From the good, to the bad & even the recipes that just don’t make any sense.

I’m going to help you guys unleash your inner ice cream ninjas. Hold on to your cones, we’re going to dive into the viral world of the Ninja CREAMi ice cream maker!

What’s the Scoop on the Ninja CREAMi?

The Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream Maker is a magical little machine that brings the joy of ice cream making right into your kitchen. But does it live up to the hype? There are so many TikTok videos claiming they’ve performed miracles with the machine, which automatically made me skeptical.

So I decided to order a Ninja CREAMi machine and recreate the most popular recipes and give you guys honest reviews. Plus, work on some of my own recipes that I actually like and recommend making!

How Does it Work?

Out of the box, it’s super user-friendly, making it easy for beginners to use. There’s no setup required & the machine comes assembled. You’ll get the machine & three plastic pints. You use the pints to freeze your recipe & can make sorbet, gelato, ice cream, smoothies, milkshakes, etc.

You’ll also get a recipe book – this is a great place to start because you’ll get a better idea of how it works & the different combinations you can build on. The recipes vary from a one ingredient can of fruit sorbet to more advanced versions.

After you combine your ingredients, you have to freeze your pint container for 24 hours. This is a required step. Kind of annoying, but necessary. So I recommend doing a few different pints at a time.

Once your batch is fully frozen, you remove the lid, place it into the outer bowl attachment & screw on the lid. Load it into the machine & select the type of frozen dessert you’re making.

So far, I haven’t made a recipe that doesn’t require “re-spinning” at least 2 or 3 times. So it takes about 5 minutes.

Tips for Making the Best Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream

Now that you know the basics, here are a few tips to help you make the best Ninja CREAMi ice cream.

1. Chill, Chill, Chill: Ensure your pint is properly frozen before starting.
2. Embrace the Creaminess: Adding a touch of heavy cream to your recipe will result in smooth & creamy ice cream.
3. If your ice cream is kind of crumbly after spinning once, respin it. If it’s still not the right texture, add a splash of liquid. Cream is going to work best, but juices and protein shakes also work.
4. Get Creative: Experiment with different flavors, mix-ins and toppings. Adding mix-ins can transform any recipe. If your base is feeling kind of boring & lacking flavor, you can fix it by adding a mix in!
5. Pre-Freeze Your Mix-Ins: If you’re adding solid mix-ins like chocolate chunks or nuts, pre-freeze them before adding them to the machine.
6. Ingredients matter: I don’t care what TikTok claims, you can’t transform something you don’t like on it’s own with the machine. It’s an awesome gadget, but it’s not going to turn water into wine. For instance, a can of peaches in water tastes like metallic water when frozen. You’d need to add sugar or some other ingredient to actually change the way it tastes.

How Does the Ninja CREAMi Compare to Other Ice Cream Makers

I also have the KitchenAid Ice Cream maker attachment. The main difference is that it requires you freeze the metal bowl, not the mixture. It works, but it’s hard to find space in my freezer for a giant KitchenAid Bowl.

The CREAMi requires the ice cream mixture be frozen, but you don’t have to freeze any part of the machine. Which means you can make multiple recipes a day. You can even buy extra containers to use & freeze.

Other ice cream makers and machines also take a lot longer – think 20 to 30 minutes! While the Ninja only takes 3-5 minutes.

A Few CREAMi Notes

The Ninja CREAMi has become kind of a viral hack for making healthy, diet ice creams. While I don’t personally subscribe to a specific diet culture or promote a specific diet, I am all for finding healthy options & healthier recipe alternatives! But I also don’t promote deprivation or the idea of not “treating yourself” in moderation.

There are a ton of low-calorie, dairy free, high protein ice creams on the market. But if you’ve ever tried them, you know they can end up with freezer burn. That’s because they aren’t usually full-fat milk based and contain more water. When the ice cream changes temperature, meaning it melts and is frozen again, you end up with freezer burn / icy ice cream.

With the Ninja, you’re making freshly churned ice cream. So if you’re using a dairy free, non fat or low fat recipe, you wont’ get that freezer burn effect. This is the “miracle’ you’re hearing people talk about on the internet! The texture and consistency is better – you could use the same exact ingredients or recipe as a brand like Halo Top & the result would be different because you won’t get that freezer burn!

I think it’s really cool that you can come up with your own recipes and mix in creations. You can use your favorite sweeteners, fruits, dairy or non dairy bases, etc. Meaning you are in control of the ingredients that fit your taste and lifestyle.

Most of the recipes I have tried have been great. And I’ll make sure to create a hub for all of the recipes at the end of this post. So be sure to save this page & come back for updates.

But a lot of the “best Ninja Creami” recipes I’ve tried from TikTok have been pretty terrible. I blame this on people wanting views and follows vs. actually liking what they make. It’s kind of a shock value reaction – people sharing their hacks in hopes that people will engage.

For instance, I was not a fan of the can of peaches in water recipe. It tasted terrible. But I was able to fix it by doctoring the recipe. I added coconut creme to it and the creaminess / sweetness made it decent. The claim is that it’s low calorie – so adding juice, sweetened condensed milk, cream, etc will increase the calories.

Using a bottle of chocolate milk like Fairlife or True Moo, not terrible but not as amazing as people claim. I honestly think you need to add something to thicken it like sugar free pudding mix. On it’s own it’s a little watery.

I made a batch of sorbet using Starbucks Paradise Drink & a splash of coconut coffee creamer and actually loved it – surprisingly it was under 200 calories too.

I’ve shared other recipes and recipe reviews over on my TikTok & have a dedicated CREAMi highlight reel on my Instagram you can check out for less official ideas!

If you want to play it safe, I recommend trying pre made mixes like these from Amazon:

BEST NINJA CREAMI COMBINATIONS

• CHAI ICE CREAM: 1 BOTTLE OF BOLTHOUSE VANILLA CHAI PROTEIN DRINK + A SPLASH OF CARAMEL COFFEE CREAMER
• EASY PINEAPPLE ICE CREAM: 1 CAN OF PINEAPPLE IN JUICE + A SPLASH OF COCONUT CREME COFFEE CREAMER
• EASY COFFEE CREAMER ICE CREAM: 1 TBS CREAM CHEESE + 1/3 CUP SUGAR OR SUBSTITUTE + 1 TSPN VANILLA + 3/4 CUP COFFEE CREAMER OF CHOICE + 1 CUP MILK OF CHOICE

• Chocolate Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream: 1 3/4 cups Fairlife Chocolate Milk + 2 tbs sugar free chocolate pudding mix + a few tablespoons of heath bar bits
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream: 1 1/2 cups Fairlife Vanilla Protein Shake + 2 tbs sugar free cheesecake pudding mix + 1/2 cup pumpkin puree + a few tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs
• Berry Cheesecake Ice Cream: 1 1/2 cups Fairlife Vanilla Protein Shake + 2 tbs sugar free cheesecake pudding mix + a handful of fresh berries or 2 tbs sugar free jam + a few tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs
• Cookies & Cream Ice Cream: 1 3/4 cups Fairlife Chocolate Milk + 2 tbs sugar free chocolate pudding mix + a few Oreos
• Cookie Butter Ice Cream: 1 cup whole milk + 2 tbs vanilla pudding mix + 1/2 cup cookie butter + 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Orange Dreamsicle Ice Cream: 1 cup orange juice + 3/4 cup milk + 2 tbs vanilla pudding mix + 1/8 cup sugar
• Miami Vice Sorbet: 1 cup pineapple juice + 3/4 cup coconut water + 3 oz Strawberry Jello Mix
• Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream: 1/2 cup red velvet cake mix + 1/4 cup cream cheese + 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup cream + 1/4 cup sugar

Best Ninja CREAMi Essentials