Check out our recipe for Ninja Creami Strawberry Ice Cream!
Strawberry ice cream is one of the most popular…and easiest to make! For this recipe, you can choose to use fresh or frozen strawberries.
Our strawberry ice cream recipe is made up of a creamy, rich vanilla bean base with the addition of strawberries. We added in the strawberries during the base creation process instead of at the end because we wanted the strawberries to be completely combined with the vanilla bean base instead of the vanilla bean ice cream with strawberry chunks added in. The result is a creamy, strawberry ice cream that will keep you coming back for more!
How great does this strawberry ice cream look?!? Seriously…it’s one of my favorites so far. I know, not everything can be my favorite…but it’s REALLY good!
Tips for making Ninja Creami Strawberry Ice Cream
Yes! You can add additional strawberries after you have completed the ICE CREAM process. Just create a little tunnel down the sent of the ice cream in the pint and add in chopped-up strawberries. Place the pint and the pint holder back into the Ninja Creami and push MIX-INS. Now, you’ll have strawberry ice cream with strawberry chunks! Yumm!
If you have made gelato and it just isn't quite as creami as you would like, you can very easily get it super creami by using the re-spin function on the Ninja Creami. Simply place the pint into the outer bowl and snap it into place. Choose the RE-SPIN function. Once the cycle completes, remove the pint and enjoy! Your gelato should be nice and creamy again. ***Use re-spin on already spun ice cream. If the ice cream has been spun and then frozen again, do not use re-spin, Instead, use the original process (ice cream, gelato, etc.)
For this recipe in particular, I found that the bottom of the pint was not as frozen solid as the top. I’m not sure if the strawberries in the pint had anything to do with that or if my freezer wasn’t as cold this time. But, if you process your ice cream and it’s not an even consistency throughout or is just not hard enough…don’t panic. Just put it back in the coldest part of your freezer for another 12-24 hours. For some reason, after I completed the ICE CREAM process and then refroze the ice cream…it was frozen solid all the way through.
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 ice cream 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’s ok if you go over the max fill line a little bit when adding in the mix-ins after the ice cream has already gone through the ice cream function.
It depends. If you are keeping the ice cream 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 ice cream will keep for several weeks, even months. However, if you transfer your ice cream 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 ice cream will decrease greatly to just a few days and you will likely end up with freezer-burned ice cream.
You sure can! You can use fresh or frozen strawberries for this recipe. If you use frozen strawberries, make sure that they are mixed in well with the other ingredients and not sticking out the top of the mixture. Do not use frozen strawberries as mix-ins.
Ingredient substitutions and tips for making Ninja Creami Strawberry Ice Cream:
The full ingredient list is found at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
Cream Cheese (Room temperature)– Be sure that the cream cheese is room temperature otherwise it will not combine well with the other ingredients. If needed, you can microwave the cream cheese for 5-10 seconds to soften it up. You can use low-fat or regular cream cheese for this recipe.
Sugar– Feel free to reduce or increase the sugar based on how sweet you would like the ice cream. You can use honey or another sugar substitute instead of sugar.
Vanilla Bean Paste- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste (although I HIGHLY recommend buying it….it really makes a big difference), you can use equal parts vanilla extract.
Heavy Whipping Cream– The heavy whipping cream helps to add to the creaminess of the ice cream. If you prefer, you can use half and half or a lower fat option. The results will be less creamy.
Milk– I used whole milk but you can use lower-fat milk or a non-dairy option like oat milk, coconut milk or, almond milk.
Strawberries (Cut in quarters)– Fresh berries mix in really well but you can use frozen or substitute with a different fruit of your choice.
Directions for making Ninja Creami Strawberry Ice Cream:
Make the Ice Cream Mixture
1. Pour the whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, sugar, cream cheese, and strawberries into a small blender and blend until all of the ingredients have combined together. Pour the mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container.
2. 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
3. After 24 hours, remove the pint container from the freezer.
4. Place the pint container into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and then process on “ICE CREAM.”
5. 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.
6. Remove the pint from the machine and enjoy!
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Recipe
Ninja Creami Strawberry 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.
Original and Deluxe Ingredient Measurements
Use the multiplier below to adjust quantities based on the machine that you own. 1X=Original 16 ounce 1.5X=Deluxe 24 ounces
Ingredients
Ice Cream Base
- 6 Fluid Ounces (177 3/7 ml) Whole Milk
- 4 Fluid Ounces (118 2/7 ml) Heavy Whipping Cream or Half and Half
- 1 Teaspoon (1 Teaspoon) Vanilla Bean Paste
- 3 Tablespoons (3 Tablespoons) Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Cream Cheese (Room temperature)
- 6 (6) Strawberries (Medium Sized)
Instructions
Make the Ice Cream Mixture
- Pour the whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, sugar, cream cheese, and strawberries into a small blender and blend until all of the ingredients have combined together. 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.
- Remove the pint from the machine and 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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Sandy says
Was a great recipe. I actually used strawberry cream cheese instead of plain and used more strawberries! Was so delicious!!
Tee Jay says
I made this as the first ice cream in the new machine and it was so good. aster I made it I took half out and respun the bottom to make soft serve at it was better than store bought and I knew every thing that was in it.
Lauren Cardona says
That’s great to hear! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
LMN says
I’m so confused about the frozen berry thing. The recipe says to freeze the liquid with the strawberries. But you are to not use frozen berries in it. Is that not now frozen berries?
Lauren Cardona says
You cannot use just frozen fruit/berries. You need to either thaw them, blend them or mix them with a liquid so there are no gaps between the frozen berries/fruit. Adding berries to the rest of the base mix and freezing it is fine.
Michael Press says
I can’t rate it yet but I like your idea of incorporating the strawberries into the base as opposed to treating them like mix-ins. And I don’t have vanilla bean paste and trust you when you say it makes a difference compared to vanilla extract so I’ll make after I get the paste and then let you know. Looks great! I’m going fresh on the strawberries.
Kai says
i’m gonna try this recipe! have you or any other ninja creami owners duplicated the strawberry ice cream recipe that came in the book? we did and it was very “greasy” i think it was the karo? has anyone used liquid sugar vs granulated?
Lauren Cardona says
Hi Kai, The heavy cream is what tends to make a waxy or greasy feel. Reduce the heavy cream and use half and half instead to reduce this mouth feel.
diane says
the ice creme was respun twice. I followed the recipe to the tea. It was criumbly even after two respin cycles. ANY IDEA
Lauren Cardona says
Your freezer might be a little too cold. Dig a little well down the center and add a tablespoon of milk and respin it. That should do the trick.
Whitney says
The taste was excellent, but I ended up with waaayyyy too much liquid. Still had half the liquid leftover when pouring into the base. Not sure how that happened since I followed the directions. Maybe recheck your measurements?
Lauren Cardona says
Hi Whitney- I’m so glad that the ice cream tasted great but am sorry to hear that you had way too much liquid for the pint. I just reviewed the recipe and there was an error in the amount of whipping cream needed. It should have read 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup. So sorry about that! Thanks so much for pointing that out! 🙂
Mary Blanchette says
Is there a recipe for blueberry ice cream, made in the Ninja Creami?
TheTastyTravelers says
Hi Mary- I don’t have a blueberry recipe yet. But, you can use the vanilla base recipe and add in a bunch of blueberries and blueberry extract. I would think that would turn out pretty good! 🙂
Robert Giustra says
This recipe just didn’t make the grade. Flavor was excellent but the machine did not incorporate the strawberries adequately, leaving layers of vanilla on the bottom and chunks of strawberries on top. I ran the re-spin function but that didn’t help much. So, I removed the ice cream from the container and stirred it up with a spatula until all the ingredients were well combined, placed it back in the container and refroze 24 hrs. Then re-spun on the original cycle and all is well. As stated , excellent flavor. I did use frozen strawberries and noticed that they set on top of the container, so next time I will try fresh, or perhaps let the frozen one thaw and then smash them up before combing into the mixture. Have a Happy Ice Cream Day!
TheTastyTravelers says
Hi Robert! I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out quite right for you. Usually, I’ll just re-spin the ice cream if it doesn’t combine well the first time. Did you use frozen strawberries in the base, as mix-ins or both? I don’t recommend you use frozen strawberries for the mix-ins because they are too hard to get broken down and mixed in. Fresh strawberries (or thawed) work best for the mix-ins. I’m glad the flavor was excellent! 🙂 Let me know how your next batch of ice cream goes.