One of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors is mint chocolate chip. The trickiest part is getting just the right amount of mintiness to the ice cream. Too much, and it tastes like toothpaste. Too little and it tastes bland and flavorless. I’ve experimented with a lot of different mint flavors and amounts and have come up with just the right mint flavor! For this recipe, I used a protein shake and a sugar substitute to keep the protein high and the added sugar low. This is the perfect Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Ice Cream!
This recipe comes in at 312 calories, 30 grams of protein, 4 grams of sugar, 13 grams of fat, 50 carbs, 26 net carbs (total carbs-allulose) for the ENTIRE pint. See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all nutrition facts.
Using the Ninja Creami frozen treat ice cream maker is a great way to make all of your favorite ice cream flavors! You can use just about anything to make ice cream. You can make the traditional ice creams that use whole milk or heavy cream to get a thick and creamy texture or you can use protein shakes, fruit, dairy substitutes, or sugar substitutes to make sorbets, milkshakes, and keto or low-calorie treats. Regardless of your diet, you can modify just about any recipe to fit your needs.
For this recipe, I use a protein shake and sugar substitute, but you can swap out the protein shake for dairy and the sugar substitute with real sugar.
You’ll notice that I recommend that you chop up the chocolate chips before adding them in as mix-ins. I’ve tried numerous recipes with chocolate chips and no matter the brand, they always come out VERY hard and they are hard on your teeth. I’ve used magic shell (which works GREAT!!!) as a mix-in and recently started just chopping up the chocolate chips. The chopped chocolate chips are my favorite way to get bits and pieces of chocolate mixed throughout the ice cream, while still being able to eat it without hurting your teeth. It’s quick and easy to chop them up by hand (no high speed blender or food processor needed) but it really does make a huge difference in my ice cream recipes.
What’s the Best Mint Flavor to use in Ice Cream?
There are lots and lots of different mint extracts and oils available for purchase. But, you really need to be careful with which one you are using in your ice cream. If you pick the wrong one or use too much of it, the ice cream becomes almost inedible. I prefer to use peppermint extract over spearmint or mint extract. Peppermint tastes less like toothpaste to me. I have also found great success with the Lorann Oils and they make one called mint chocolate chip. That's the one I used in this recipe and it turns out great every time! If you don't have the mint chocolate chip one, you can use peppermint extract instead. And, remember that a little goes a VERY LONG WAY! It might not look like you are using enough of the extract or oil, but always stir the mixture and taste it before adding more. You can always add more but it's very difficult to take away the flavor.
You’ll notice that some mint chocolate chip ice creams are green and some are white. And, there’s really no benefit or difference in flavor between the two. It’s a matter of preference. A lot of ice cream manufacturers have started eliminating food dyes in their recipes or just prefer white ice cream over green. So, if you like your mint ice cream to be white, don’t add the food coloring. If you like it to be darker green, add more food coloring. Feeling festive? Add blue or red food coloring!
Tips for making Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Ice Cream
Ice cream can be icy if there is little or no fat, dairy, sugar, or stabilizer/thickener in the recipe. If you are making a recipe that is low in sugar, fat, dairy, etc., you can let the ice cream sit on the counter for a few minutes, microwave it for a few seconds, or run the outside of the container under warm water before processing it. This can help cut down on the iciness of the ice cream.
It is recommended to freeze Ninja Creami bases for 24 hours so that it is frozen solid evenly throughout. Some have frozen for less time and have had good results. The ingredients in the base recipe could also impact the actual required freezing time. But, as a rule of thumb, 24 hours is recommended.
Yes! You can!! But, just freezing a protein shake and making ice cream out of it does not provide the best texture or flavor. I recommend adding additional things like extracts, pudding mix, guar gum, fruit, etc. to help with the flavor and texture of the ice cream.
It can be green or white, or any color really. The ice cream turns green from food coloring. There is no difference in flavor between green mint chocolate chip ice cream and white mint chocolate chip ice cream.
A lot of Ninja Creami recipes that come from the book that comes with the machine use heavy cream. When overmixed, the heavy cream starts to turn to a butter-like consistency. This results in a greasy or waxy feel on the spoon and in your mouth. To eliminate this issue, use half and half instead of heavy cream in all recipes from the book.
Looking for more Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream Recipes?
Ingredients to make Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Ice Cream:
Ingredient Substitutions for making Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Ice Cream:
The full ingredient list is at the bottom of this post in the recipe card.
Vanilla Protein Shake– I used a premier protein vanilla shake. But, you can use any brand protein shake that you would like. I would recommend tasting the shake first to make sure you like the flavor.
Swerve Sugar Substitute (Granulated)- I use Swerve with allulose sugar substitute. You can use your favorite sugar substitute.
Mint Chocolate Chip Lorann Oil (or peppermint extract)- I recommend the lorann oil but if you don’t have access to it, you can use peppermint extract instead. Use the same amount of peppermint extract as the recipe calls for with the Lorann Oil. Do not use spearamint extract.
Vanilla Bean Paste– vanilla extract can be used instead of vanilla bean paste.
Green Food Coloring– A little goes a long way! Use as much as you would like (or none at all) to achieve your desired color for the ice cream.
Guar Gum– Guar gum is a thickener/stabilizer. You can use ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum or 2 tablespoons of cream cheese instead, although the results may not be quite the same.
Zero-Sugar Chocolate Chips (Chopped)- Regular or sugar-free chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, or chocolate bars can be used in this recipe. Make sure that the chocolate pieces are chopped up into small pieces as they will get very hard in the cold ice cream
Unsweetened Almond Milk-You can use any milk or milk substitute. The chocolate adds more flavor but it also adds more sugar and calories. So, if you would prefer, you can use unsweetened milk.
Directions for making Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Ice Cream:
Directions for Making the Ice Cream Mixture
- Pour the protein shake, sugar substitute, extract, vanilla bean paste, food coloring, and guar gum into a small blender and blend until all of the ingredients have combined together. Pour this mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container.
- Freeze on a level surface for 24 hours. Your freezer should be between 9 and -7 degrees Fahrenheit. To avoid getting a bump on the top of the frozen mixture, freeze with the lid off of the container.
Directions for Processing the Ice Cream Mixture
- After 24 hours, remove the pint container from the freezer.
- Place the pint container into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and then process on “LITE ICE CREAM.”
- If the ice cream is dry or crumbly looking, pour in a tablespoon or two of unsweetened almond milk and then respin. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times.
- Dig a well down the center of the ice cream and pour in the chopped chocolate chips. Process on mix-ins.
- Remove the pint from the machine and enjoy!
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Recipe
Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Protein Ice Cream
Rate this Recipe
Equipment
Add Food Grade Vegetable Glycerin To Make Leftover Ice Cream Scoopable Right Out of the Freezer
Per 16 ounce pint: *Add 1 Teaspoon to full fat/full sugar bases *Add 1.5 teaspoon to high protein bases *Add 2 teaspoons to low sugar/low fat lite bases. Freeze and process per the recipe. Take the leftovers out of the freezer and scoop without having to reprocess. ***This is a guideline and adjustments may be needed based on your recipe.
Original, Breeze, Swirl, and Deluxe Ingredient Measurements
Use the multiplier below to adjust quantities based on the machine that you own. ***If you have the Original, Breeze, or Swirl machine, which use 16 ounce containers, choose the 1X option. ***If you have the Deluxe or XL machine, which use 24 ounce containers, choose the 1.5X option.
Ingredients
Ice Cream Base
- 11.5 Ounces (326 g) Vanilla Protein Shake
- 2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Swerve Sugar Substitute (Granulated-Allulose Blend)
- ½ Teaspoon (½ Teaspoon) Mint Chocolate Chip Lorann Oil (or peppermint extract)
- 1 Teaspoon (1 Teaspoon) Vanilla Bean Paste
- 4 Drops (4 Drops) Green Food Coloring
- ¼ Teaspoon (¼ Teaspoon) Guar Gum
Mix-ins
- 2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Zero-Sugar Chocolate Chips (Chopped)
Optional
- 1-2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Unsweetened Almond Milk
Instructions
Make the Ice Cream Mixture
- Pour the protein shake, sugar substitute, extract, vanilla bean paste, food coloring, and guar gum into a small blender and blend until all of the ingredients have combined together. Pour this mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container.
- Freeze on a level surface for 24 hours. Your freezer should be between 9 and -7 degrees Fahrenheit. To avoid getting a bump on the top of the frozen mixture, freeze with the lid off of the container.
Process the Ice Cream
- After 24 hours, remove the pint container from the freezer.
- Place the pint container into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and then process on "LITE ICE CREAM."
- If the ice cream is dry or crumbly looking, pour in a tablespoon or two of unsweetened almond milk and then respin. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times.
- Dig a well down the center of the ice cream and pour in the chopped chocolate chips. Process on mix-ins.
- Remove the pint from the machine and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. Optional ingredients are not included in the nutrition information.
Recipes that use allulose:
Allulose is a low calorie sweetener that your body doesn't fully digest, so it provides only 0.4 calories per gram instead of 4. That's why the calorie total doesn't match what you'd expect from the carb count. Calories from allulose are calculated based on metabolized carbohydrates. Allulose contributes fewer calories than standard carbohydrates.
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Husky mama says
Made this and even added less mint flavoring and the mint was so strong I couldn’t even take a full bite of it and mint everything is my favorite!
Lauren Cardona says
Hi there. How much mint flavoring did you use and did you use peppermint flavor, spearmint flavor, mint flavor, or mint chocolate chip Lorann oil?
Molly says
Where do I access my favourites?
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Carole says
In step one, the directions say to add pudding mix. I don’t see any pudding mix listed in the ingredients list. Can you clarify that? I can’t wait to try this but want to do it right the first time.
Lauren Cardona says
Hi Carole- There is no pudding mix in this recipe. Originally, there was a typo that included pudding mix but that has been corrected. Try refreshing the page as it was updated a couple of days ago and should no longer include pudding mix in the instructions.
Jenifer Aragon says
Hi. The narrative of the recipe says to add pudding mix but it is not in the ingredient list. Please clarify
Lauren Cardona says
Oops. That was a typo. I’ve updated the recipe. There is no pudding mix in this recipe. Instead, I used guar gum and Lorann oils to thicken and flavor the ice cream.
Karri says
What flavor pudding mix? And how much of it? It’s not included in the ingredient list.
Lauren Cardona says
Oops. That was a typo. I’ve updated the recipe. There is no pudding mix in this recipe. Instead, I used guar gum and Lorann oils to thicken and flavor the ice cream.