Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream combines all of the things that we love about cheesecake with creamy and delicious ice cream. I’ll show you how to make homemade ice cream that tastes like strawberry cheesecake using instant pudding powder and your Ninja Creami.
The Ninja Creami ice cream maker does a great job of creating super smooth and creamy ice creams out of just about anything! There’s a couple of different ways you can create Ninja Creami cheesecake ice cream. One is by adding cottage cheese (don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like or have the texture of cottage cheese). You can also use actual cheesecake in your base recipe or as a mix-in or you can use cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix. For this recipe, I’ve used the instant pudding mix. If you’re looking for a low-fat cottage cheese recipe, check out my recipe for ninja creami strawberry cheesecake high protein ice cream.
Instant pudding mix is added to Ninja Creami ice cream for a couple of different reasons. The instant (not cook and serve) pudding mix adds flavor and helps create a really great, thick, and creamy ice cream texture. Instant pudding mix is pretty easy to find at any grocery store (in the US), is fairly inexpensive, is shelf stable, and is really easy to use. You don’t need to prepare the pudding before adding it to your Ninja Creami base recipe. All you do is open the package and mix it together with the liquid ingredients in the recipe. The amount of pudding mix varies by recipe but usually a tablespoon or two works great for the 16 ounce containers.
When I make Ninja Creami ice cream, I almost always blend the ingredients together using a small, bullet style blender. I prefer the small blender but you could use a regular blender or food processor if that’s all you have. I have tried using a frother and immersion blender but I find that they make a mess (I ended up with ice cream base all over my counter because it overflowed in the container!) or don’t fully mix all of the ingredients together. When you are using any powder, whether it’s pudding powder, guar gum, protein powder, or drink powders, it’s important that all of the ingredients are fully combined with each other. Oftentimes, blending adds air to the mixture which creates about an inch of foam on the top of the ice cream after it’s been frozen in the Ninja Creami containers. It’s ok, don’t panic. The foam will not impact the taste or texture of the ice cream. The foam gets mixed together when the ice cream is processed. It’s ok if the foam is slightly above the max fill line as it’s mostly air.
Tips for making Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:
While you can add chunks of actual cheesecake to your ice cream base or as mix-ins, there is no actual cheesecake in this recipe. Instead, we are using cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix to create the cheesecake flavor.
Yes, frozen fruit can be used in the Ninja Creami. However, just frozen fruit cannot be used. To use frozen fruit you need to blend the fruit so that it creates a cohesive mixture that can be poured into the Creami container and frozen in that container. When blending you can blend only the fruit or you can add other ingredients like milk, sugar, juice, protein shakes, etc.. Or, you can thaw the fruit and then pour it in the Creami container and freeze. The goal is to have no gaps between the pieces of frozen fruit and no areas where those gaps are filled with plain water. You cannot process frozen fruit straight out of the freezer to make a smoothie. All frozen fruit needs to be refrozen in the Creami container with no gaps and then processed.
Instant pudding powder is used in this recipe. You do not need to cook the pudding according to the directions on the package. Just add the instant (not cook and serve) powder to the Ninja Creami recipe.
No, you do not need to let the ice cream thaw before processing it, assuming you are using the correct ingredients. The Ninja Creami is made to process frozen solid containers of ice cream mixtures. Many people choose to thaw the ice cream because they are afraid that the frozen ice cream is too hard for the machine, they want more of a soft-serve consistency, or they are trying to melt the ice off of the inside ring of the container. This is preference. Do what works best for you.
If you don’t wait 24 hours for your Ninja Creami ice cream to freeze before processing it, it may not be frozen enough and you could end up with a soft serve texture. Or, it could be completely fine and be the perfect texture. Many people process sooner than 24 hours. There are a lot of variables to take into consideration like how cold is your freezer, what is your recipe made of, and what consistency are you looking for in the end product.
Follow the instructions from the manufacturer and freeze for 24 hours. You can start to decrease the freeze time if you are finding that the texture is hard enough for you. But, if the ice cream is too soft, freeze it longer. Just because it “looks” frozen solid does not mean that it is.
Ingredients to make Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:
Ingredient substitutions for making Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:
The full ingredient list is found at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
- Whole Milk- If you prefer, you can use a lower fat milk or milk alternative like unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or cashew milk. The lower the fat content, the more likely the ice cream is to become icy.
- Half and Half- If you don’t have half and half, you can use a combination of heavy cream and milk-about half milk and half heavy cream.
- Cheesecake Flavored Instant Pudding Mix- There really isn’t a good substitute for the cheesecake instant pudding mix. I’ve tried cheesecake liquid flavoring and it doesn’t come close to the same flavor. If you can’t find cheesecake flavored pudding mix, try using vanilla pudding mix and some cream cheese.
- Sugar- You can use your favorite sugar substitute or sweetener that is a 1:1 ratio with sugar.
- Vanilla Bean Paste- I prefer to use vanilla bean paste because it provides a deeper vanilla flavor with the alcohol taste. Vanilla extract can be used if you prefer. If using vanilla extract use the same amount as you would if using the vanilla bean paste.
- Strawberries- Fresh strawberries were used but you can use frozen strawberries as long as you thaw them long enough to get them soft enough to blend together with the other base ingredients. You could even use other fruit like raspberries, blueberries, or peaches or mango. I would not recommend using strawberry extract instead of the fresh strawberries as the extract provides more of a “fake” strawberry flavor.
- Graham Crackers- I used a whole graham cracker and broke it up into little pieces. But you can use graham cracker crumbs, teddy grahams, or small graham crackers.
Directions for making Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:
Make the Ice Cream Mixture
- Pour the milk, half and half, pudding mix, sugar, vanilla bean paste, and strawberries into a small blender and blend until all ingredients are fully combined. Pour the 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 “ICE CREAM.”
- If the ice cream is dry or crumbly looking (like sand), pour in a tablespoon or two of milk and then re-spin. If the ice cream looks like little balls of ice cream, respin without adding liquid. 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 graham crackers down the center of the hole. Process on mix-ins.
- Remove the pint from the machine and enjoy!
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Recipe
Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
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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
Ice Cream Base
- 8 Fluid Ounces (236 ⅗ ml) Whole Milk
- 4 Fluid Ounces (118 2/7 ml) Half and Half
- 2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Cheesecake Flavored Instant Pudding Mix
- ¼ Cup (50 g) Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon (1 Teaspoon) Vanilla Bean Paste
- 4-5 (4-5) Strawberries (Medium Sized- cut in quarters)
Mix-Ins
- 1 (1) Graham Cracker (Broken or crushed)
Optional
- 1-2 Tablespoons (1 Tablespoons) Milk
Instructions
Make the Ice Cream Mixture
- Pour the milk, half and half, pudding mix, sugar, vanilla bean paste, and strawberries into a small blender and blend until all ingredients are fully combined. Pour the 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 "ICE CREAM."
- If the ice cream is dry or crumbly looking (like sand), pour in a tablespoon or two of milk and then re-spin. If the ice cream looks like little balls of ice cream, respin without adding liquid. 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 graham crackers down the center of the hole. 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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