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Check out our recipe for Ninja Creami Italian Ice!
Italian Ice could not be any easier to make using the Ninja Creami! And..it’s super easy to customize and change up the flavors!
This recipe calls for 1 ingredient…lemonade. You probably already have it in your refrigerator! But, not all lemonade is treated equally when using the Ninja Creami. If you would like, you can use fancy flavored lemonades or add additional flavors to the lemonade on your own to create your favorite flavor of Italian Ice! Since there is no fat in lemonade and it is basically made up of water and lemon, it is imperative that you add something else to the lemonade mixture (or buy lemonade that contains it), like sugar or some form of dairy, before freezing it. Freezing only water and lemon juice will be basically the same as freezing only water and this is not good for the machine and may cause it to break.
DO NOT FREEZE LEMON WATER- the Ninja Creami cannot handle processing water with only lemon juice in it.
Be careful to keep an eye on the sugar content of the lemonade that you are using. If the lemonade is very tart, the Italian ice will also be very tart. If the lemonade is overly sweet, the Italian Ice will be just as sweet.
Because there is no added fat or dairy in this recipe, you will need to re-spin the Ninja Creami to accomplish a fully combined, Italian Ice texture. If you don’t re-spin, the result will be very icy and not consistent throughout. If desired, re-spin once or twice to achieve your preferred texture.
Tips for making Ninja Creami Italian Ice
If the Italian Ice is icy or has a grainy texture, (which it will likely have) put the pint back into the outer bowl and insert it back into the Ninja Creami machine. Select the RE-SPIN function and re-spin one or two times. Due to the Italian Ice not having any fat or dairy in it, it will need an extra spin or two to make it less icy and more consistent throughout.
Yes! You can. After the Italian Ice has completed the sorbet process, take the inner bowl out of the Ninja Creami and add whatever mix-ins you would like to the center of the pint of Italian Ice. If necessary, create a hole or tunnel down the center to make room for the mix-ins. Place the inner bowl with the pint in it, into the Ninja Creami machine and select the mix-ins process.
The thicker and denser the fruit, the creamier the sorbet will be. If the sorbet is made using peaches, pineapples, or bananas, the sorbet will be thick and creamy. If the sorbet is made using less dense fruits like watermelon, raspberries, or grapefruit, the result will be less creamy and icier in texture. For more details, check out this post from Serious Eats.
You sure can! But…you will need to use 2 pint containers instead of one. You always want to make sure that the pint containers are only filled up to the max fill line and not any more than that. In order for the sorbet to turn out creamy, it needs to be mixed by the machine after freezing. If you overfill the pint, the machine is going to have a hard time mixing it and the result will not be as expected.
It depends. If you are keeping the Italian Ice in the Ninja pint container with the lid sealed tightly and are freezing it in a cold freezer (between 9 degrees F and -7 degrees F), your Italian Ice will keep for several weeks, even months. However, if you transfer your Italian Ice to another container or freeze it in a freezer that is not quite as cold (or that is accessed a lot/door opened and closed often), the lifetime of your Italian Ice will decrease greatly to just a few days and you will likely end up with freezer-burned Italian Ice.
Ingredient substitutions and tips for making Ninja Creami Italian Ice:
The full ingredient list is found at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
Lemonade- I used 16 ounces of store-bought lemonade. You can pick any flavor or brand of lemonade that you would like. Make sure that there is some sugar in the lemonade.
Optional:
Sugar and/or Dairy- Because lemonade is basically just water and lemon juice, the mixture needs either sugar and/or some sort of dairy added in. Add in enough sugar to sweeten the lemonade and/or if you would like to add in dairy, I would add a tablespoon or so of lemon-flavored yogurt.
Directions for making Ninja Creami Italian Ice:
1. Pour 16 ounces of lemonade and any additional sugar or dairy that you would like to add into a Ninja Creami pint container and freeze on a level surface in a cold freezer for a full 24 hours.
2. After 24 hours, remove the pint from the freezer. Remove the lid.
3. Place the Ninja Creami pint into the outer bowl. Place the outer bowl with the pint in it, into the Ninja Creami machine and turn until the outer bowl locks into place. Push the SORBET button. During the SORBET function, the sorbet will mix together and become very creamy. This should take approximately 2 minutes.
4. Once the SORBET function has ended, turn the outer bowl and release it from the Ninja Creami machine.
5. Place the outer bowl with the pint back into the Ninja Creami machine and lock it into place. Choose the RE-SPIN function. Once the Ninja Creami completes the RE-SPIN cycle, remove the outer bowl from the machine. (The machine will not allow you to re-spin without first removing the pint from the machine and then re-inserting it).
6. Your Italian Ice is ready to eat! Enjoy!
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Recipe
Ninja Creami Italian Ice
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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
- 16 Ounces Lemonade (Lemonade must contain sugar or you can add dairy of some sort. )
Optional:
- Sugar or your preferred sweetener to taste. (Lemonade must contain sugar or you can add dairy of some sort. )
Instructions
- Pour 16 ounces of lemonade and any additional sugar or dairy that you would like to add into a Ninja Creami pint container and freeze on a level surface in a cold freezer for a full 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, remove the pint from the freezer. Remove the lid.
- Place the Ninja Creami pint into the outer bowl. Place the outer bowl with the pint in it, into the Ninja Creami machine and turn until the outer bowl locks into place. Push the SORBET button. During the SORBET function, the sorbet will mix together and become very creamy. This should take approximately 2 minutes.
- Once the SORBET function has ended, turn the outer bowl and release it from the Ninja Creami machine.
- Place the outer bowl with the pint back into the Ninja Creami machine and lock it into place. Choose the RE-SPIN function. Once the Ninja Creami completes the RE-SPIN cycle, remove the outer bowl from the machine. (The machine will not allow you to re-spin without first removing the pint from the machine and then re-inserting it).
- Your Italian Ice is ready to eat! Enjoy!
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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Brenda says
If I am using a commercially prepared lemonade (we also LOVE the Simply versions!!!), do I still need to add sweetener? We love the way it tastes right out of the bottle and I think adding sweetener would make it not as good. What are your thoughts? Many thanks!!!
Lauren Cardona says
When you say “commercially prepared lemonade,” what do you mean? If the lemonade already has sugar in it, you don’t need to add more. You cannot use a mixture of water and lemon juice.
joe says
love this recipe……………….
Bonnie says
Hi, can you tell me what amount of sugar is needed to make sure it doesn’t break the Creami machine? I made the Lemon Sorbet recipe from the recipe book that came with the machine.. I made the lite version as my husband has diabetes. So I used Monk fruit and agave.. But it often seems problematic, once the machine even made a loud sound as if it would break! What is considered the safe amount of sugar to add to make sure everything goes well?
Lauren Cardona says
Hi Bonnie- That’s a tricky question. I don’t know that there’s a right answer for this as it will depend on the other ingredients that you are mixing with it. The goal is to not process a block of ice. Adding sugar, fat, and dairy can help with this. But, there isn’t a solid “use this much sugar” and the machine will work correctly answer here. I would recommend gradually decreasing the amount of sugar in a recipe and pay attention to how the machine reacts.
Vicki Martin says
When you say the mixture must contain sugar, is that only granulated “real” sugar, or does it work with Splenda, allulose, monkfruit also? Thank you!
Lauren Cardona says
Sugar substitutes freeze differently and can impact how it gets processed in the Creami. I have not tried using a sugar substitute with this recipe as the rest of the ingredients are pretty close to just water. So, it could freeze and be more like frozen water (which is bad for the machine). If you want to use a sugar substitute, I would add something else to it like a little dairy or guar gum to make it easier on the machine.
Michael Press says
My God! I am SO happy to have found this recipe, Lauren! I was looking, HOPING, that it’s possible to make something even resembling Italian Ices in the Ninja Creami, so I was hopeful when I found this recipe. I JUST made it and it turned out EXTREMELY well! Just a few weeks ago, I noticed a new Italian Ices place opening up near me, but my wife bought me the Creami for my birthday (she could tell I was eyeballing it when the television commercial came on) and now I don’t even have to leave my house! I muddled up some fresh raspberries as the mix-in and that added a nice flavor. I paid heed to your notes about the sugar level (I make my own fresh lemonade anyway, so I used fresh, which includes the syrup of sugar and water boiled). I’d say, if anything, it’s just a tad on the tart side, but I’m glad it’s not TOO sweet. Next time I might make it a touch sweeter but I’m incredibly happy with how it turned out. Thank you so much for this upgrade to my life!!
Lauren Cardona says
This is one of my favorite comments ever! I’m so glad that everything turned out great! So happy to hear that my recipe helped upgrade your life! 🙂