How the Ninja Creami Stacks Up Against 4 Other Ice Cream–Making Options, Plus Ninja Creami Recipes - Forks Over Knives

By Lisa Esile,

Ice cream is kind of a big deal in our household. The treat holds an extra special place in my husband's heart. As a native of New England, where the scoops are big enough to drive a lobster boat through, and as an ex-manager of a chain of ice cream stores, ice cream, for him, is one of the most challenging aspects of maintaining a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle.

So when my 17-year-old niece bought herself a Ninja Creami and started whipping up really good vegan ice cream that was “healthy enough to eat for breakfast,” I took note. Could this new machine really be that great? Would it satisfy my husband’s ice cream cravings? I decided to give it a try in a side-by-side comparison with other tools for making healthy vegan ice cream at home.

The age-old way to make ice cream—slowly churning a mix of cream, milk, sugar, and egg yolks in a frosty environment, incorporating air and ice crystals (two of the most important ingredients)—is difficult to replicate using low-fat, plant-based ingredients.

With the advent of the high-speed blender came the ability to blend frozen chunks of fruit into soft-serve-like nice cream—a must-try for healthy vegan cooks. There are some limitations: Nice cream is best eaten right after it’s made because leftovers freeze solidly into a block that’s hard to scoop, and the texture isn’t the same as store-bought vegan ice cream or sorbet.

Enter the Ninja Creami, which promises the best of both worlds—the ability to transform a wide range of healthy ingredients (not just fruit) into creamy, scoopable ice cream. We decided to test the Creami against other common tools for making nice cream and vegan ice cream at home, to get a sense for whether the buzzed-about new device is worth the hype. Two weeks and 25 pints later, the short answer is… yes.

Read on to see what we found.

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The Ninja Creami takes a frozen canister of home-blended ingredients and mills it using a “creamerizer blade,” which shaves off fine layers and adds air as it goes, so you can make creamy ice cream out of all kinds of low-fat ingredients in 4 minutes or less. Previously, this technology was only available to professional chefs, with machines costing upwards of $6,000.

Pros:

Cons:

The Vitamix and other high-speed blenders have strong blades and powerful motors that can quickly blend frozen fruit into soft-serve style nice cream.

Pros:

Cons:

The Yonanas is one of a number of appliances dedicated to making soft-serve-style sorbet or nice cream from frozen fruit. You push chunks of frozen fruit down a chute using a plunger, where it’s forced past a spinning blade. In addition to the Deluxe model pictured above, Yonanas also offers the 902 Classic model at $39.

Pros:

Cons:

If you don't have a high-speed blender, a food processor such as the tried-and-true Cuisinart, can be used to make nice cream.

Pro:

Cons:

In my forays into making healthy vegan ice cream, I found this popular home ice cream maker to be the least useful of all the methods. It uses a large bowl, with water-filled sides, that must be frozen before use. To make ice cream, you pour liquid into the bowl, add the paddle and a cover, and leave it to churn for 20 minutes.

Pros:

Cons:

Our top pick for making vegan ice cream and nice cream at home was the Ninja Creami. The ease of use plus the creamy texture of the ice cream made it a clear winner. But if you’re just looking to make soft-serve-style nice cream with frozen fruit, the Vitamix (or another high-speed blender) is an excellent option. The low cost of the Yonanas, and the fact that kids love using it, is appealing to families as a gateway appliance to experience the magic of nice cream. Traditional home ice cream makers, modeled after the old-fashioned churn method, aren’t ideal for making healthy vegan ice cream.

The following recipes make about 3 cups of ice cream and fit the Ninja Creami Deluxe. If you’re using the Ninja Creami Classic model—which uses a smaller, 16-ounce canister—reduce the volume of ingredients by about a third (or just make the full 3 cups and process it in two batches).

With a silken tofu base and cocoa powder adding rich chocolaty flavor, this Ninja Creami vegan chocolate ice cream rivals any boutique chocolate ice cream at a fraction of the cost and with no animal products or processed sugar. Enjoy plain or with frozen raspberries mixed through. (Frozen berries are better than fresh as they hold their shape.) Use less cocoa for a less intense chocolate flavor. Makes 3 cups

The secret to this fragrant strawberry ice cream is to cook the strawberries for a few minutes to intensify the strawberry flavor. Baked white sweet potatoes add creaminess and natural sweetness. Be sure to use ripe, in-season strawberries. Makes 3 cups

Adapted from a recipe by Carla Christian, RD, LD

Made with silken tofu and pumpkin puree, and sweetened with a combination of dates and maple syrup, this fall-flavored ice cream has just a handful of ingredients and tastes surprisingly like the “real deal.” My husband said it was the best pumpkin ice cream he’s ever had. Makes 3 cups

Sweet, light, and creamy, this easy four-ingredient cantaloupe ice cream tastes decadent and refreshing. For best results, use a very ripe cantaloupe. Makes 3 cups

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Instructions

Perfectly scoopable and instantly refreshing, this sweet watermelon sorbet is the perfect way to cool down on a summer’s day. Makes about 3 cups

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This fruity peach ice cream recipe takes the classic Ninja Creami “can of peaches” recipe (where you process two cans of peaches) a step further, with plant-based milk adding extra creaminess. Makes 3 cups

Ingredients

Instructions

If you’ve been whipping up nice cream in a blender or food processor, you might be wondering if you can use the same recipes with the Ninja Creami. Most nice cream recipes would be easy to adapt for the Ninja Creami and are a great place to start. Feel free to get creative, adding plant-based milk or water if extra volume is needed. Just remember to make sure that the mixture in your Ninja Creami canister is level across the top before processing it, with no bits of hard frozen fruit sticking up. You want a solid block of ingredients to spin.

Happy ice cream making!

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