Frequently asked questions

What is favorite Protein Powder and Flavor to make Ice Cream with?

PEScience is my favorite. Their flavors are a bit sweeter than other brands and while this would normally be a turn-off for me on their shakes, it makes for good Ice Cream. They also use a 70-30 Whey-Casein blend which makes for the best texture out of the Creami.

My favorite flavor of theirs is Peanut Butter Cookie. It's great with any chocolate mix-in's like Oreos. You can also add dark cocoa powder to make the classic Peanut Butter & Chocolate Flavor. All their flavors are good though and I would recommend getting what sounds best to you.

You recommend Whey-Casein blends for thicker texture. Have you tried 100% Casein for thicker, more scoopable Ice Cream?

Yes, you can buy 100% Casein Powders. I've tried them in the Creami and they make for 'dry' Ice Cream. That sounds like an oxymoron (and maybe it is), but the mouthfeel of it is poor. It pulls the moisture out of your mouth.

I do like having 100% casein around though. Most powders on the market are 100% whey. I often use 3/4 of Whey to go with 1/4 scoop Casein. A recent favorite of mine is Clean Simple Eats Toasted Marshmallow mixed with Legion's Dutch Chocolate to make for a nice S'mores combination.

I'm not sure I want a whole Tub. Where can I get samples?

Unfortunately, your options are limited and hopefully my reviews can help you feel confident buying a larger quantity.

• Clean Simple Eats: 5 flavor sampler on Amazon. 10 flavor pack on their Website.

• PEScience has a 8 flavor (5 serving each) sample pack on Amazon.

• Ghost sells individual Sample Packs on their Website. (recommend using 1.5-2 servings in a 16 ounce pint).

My Ice Cream is Icy and not very smooth. How do I fix it?

If you've already frozen & spun the pint, there's not much you can do other than melting it down and adding a stabilizer or more fat.

Do you have a favorite Mix-in?

Mix-ins are tough to get right. The blade on the Creami usually just pulverizes the mix-in, so something like a graham cracker just doesn't work since it gets turned to dust.

Fresh fruit and flavored rice cakes are the only mix-ins I use this setting for. When adding them, carve out a vertical hole deep into the pint so things are distributed well throughout the pint.

Instead of a mix-in, I do more of a sprinkle-in. Cereal and cookies are always good. Chocolate chips sound like a good idea, but they they freeze up and get hard. Personally, I like using Oreo thins or chocolate cookies like this since they don't have the cream filling that adds calories and not much flavor to ice cream.

What settings do you usually spin on?

Lite Ice Cream or Sorbet. I usually do two spins. I go directly from the freezer and spin once. After the first spin, I rest the Pint in a warm water bath for 2-3 minutes (depending how warm the water is). I add some milk, then respin.

What is an Ice Cream Stabilizer?

An ice cream stabilizer is an ingredient that improves texture by reducing ice crystal formation. Big Ice Crystals = Icy Texture. In lower-calorie recipes, they help replicate the mouthfeel of traditional ice cream without adding fat or sugar.

Corn Starch is a common stabilizer used in cooking for thickening a sauce. Same concept here. While I haven't tried directly as an Ice Cream stabilizer, it is the main ingredient in Instant Puddling Mix.

Instant Puddling Mix makes for a good off-the-shelf stabilizer that's easy to find at the grocery store. It also adds flavor, sweeteners, and a bunch of other ingredients.

Xantham Gum is my preferred stabilizer. It's tasteless and very powerful. 1/4 tsp usually does the job. Guar Gum is slightly less powerful, but a less processed ingredient (extracted from the Guar Bean).

Any ingredients that haven't worked?

While creatine is often associated with protein powder and post-workout shakes for weight lifters, it does NOT make for good ice cream. Creatine tends to have a chalky, gritty texture that works against the creamy, smooth texture that you want in ice cream.

Maybe this a hot take, but I really don't enjoy ripe (brown) bananas in my Ice Creami. After freezing, the rotten banana flavor overpowers what ever I'm making. I eat a lot of bananas, but I don't like flavor after they've been frozen.

Why does everyone use Fairlife in their Ninja Creami recipes?

Fairlife milk is "ultra-filtered" and has better macros than normal milk. For influencers that makes for eye-catching macros like 200 calorie pints with 35 grams of protein!

Any recipe with Fairlife can be swapped for normal milk. It'll have some additional carbs, less protein, and sometimes a few extra calories (maybe 10-20 cal difference per cup).

Fairlife is more processed than regular milk. It has extra chemicals in it that break down the lactose (milk sugar). It's also significantly more expensive than normal dairy milk (~$5 for 56 ounces).

Don't feel like you must buy Fairlife to make Creami creations. The price adds up! I'd still rather have a pint of low calorie ice cream than a high calorie, less satisfying alternative.

Which Ninja Creami Model Is Best?

You can find a comparison at the bottom of this page. In my opinion, the choice between the NC301 & NC501 model comes down to container size. Do you want to make 16 or 24 ounce pints?