Ninja Creami review: The iced desserts must

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This versatile star buy can make gelato, smoothie bowls, milkshakes and more

From beachside childhood cones to dinner parties rounded off with La Dolce Vita gelato, there are few greater pleasures than a cold scoop of ice cream on a hot day. Enter the Ninja Creami, a versatile ice cream maker that can churn out everything from sorbet to smoothie bowls. In fact, it's proved so popular in the US that it regularly sells out.

Here at the Good Housekeeping Institute, we decided to put it to the test to find out if this sweet treat appliance is truly worth investing in. Read on to see how the viral and versatile Ninja Creami fared – chocolate chips, mango chunks and sprinkles included.

The Ninja Creami is something of a one-machine wonder. It has seven programmes – ice cream, ‘lite’ ice cream, gelato, sorbet, smoothie bowls, milkshakes and mix-in. The mix-in programme is designed to distribute additional ingredients – think nuts, chocolate chips, biscuit pieces – so you can craft the perfect ice cream texture or mimic the recipe of your favourite store-bought brand.

You can also tailor your ice cream to your dietary preferences. Vegan? Swap the whole milk for oat milk. Sensitive to dairy? Opt for a vegan milk or your favourite lactose-free alternative. Spending a small fortune on low-calorie ice cream during the weekly shop? Simply use agave nectar and sweetener, then set the Creami to ‘lite ice cream’ mode. One ice cream maker: a whole host of options.

To give you an idea of how many different things you can make using the Creami, the included Ninja Ice Cream Maker Recipe Guide is 49 pages long. Here’s a snapshot of some of the recipes included: dairy-free mint chip ice cream, salted caramel gelato, dulce de leche frozen yoghurt, pineapple and coconut sorbet, a supersized Oreo milkshake, and a toasted almond-topped strawberry smoothie bowl. Impressed? Us too.

In fact, once you’ve mastered the basics, you can experiment with all sorts of different flavours – “monster shakes” and good morning smoothie bowls encouraged. You can also find endless recipe inspiration on the Ninja Creami Creations Recipes website and on TikTok.

However, it’s important to remember that the Ninja Creami is first and foremost a dessert maker and not a blender. Don’t use it to crush a solid block of ice or to pulverize large, hard ingredients. For best results, chop tougher items such as nuts and pretzels into smaller pieces before adding them with the mix-in programme.

Step one: gather your ingredients!

Depending on how much ice cream you want to make, fill one or all of the three 473ml dessert tubs (included with the Creami) to the ‘MAX’ line with your desired base liquids. Don’t add your chocolate chips or crunchy ingredients yet, though – this happens later.

Next, you’re going to need to practise patience and leave the tub in your freezer for 24 hours. Once frozen, place the tub inside the Creami's outer bowl, which will hold it securely in place for churning. After clipping the churning paddle onto the lid, pop it onto the bowl, rotating it clockwise until it locks.

Now, you’re ready to churn. Place the outer bowl on the Creami’s motor base – it will make a clear clicking noise when it’s properly in place. Tap your programme of choice on the one-touch display and let the Creami do its thing. In a matter of minutes, your ice cream will be ready to enjoy.

If you want to make use of the mix-in programme – and why wouldn’t you? – create a hole at the centre of your ice cream with a spoon and then add in your extras of choice. Clip the outer bowl back into the Creami and select ‘mix-in’ on the display. Et voila, it’s ready to serve.

There are rumours going around on the Internet that you can get away with freezing your ice cream for as little as eight hours before churning. But, sadly, for the best results, we recommend sticking to the 24-hour rule, or you risk ending up with sweet, cold soup. While that may not sound like the worst thing in the world, it’s a far better idea to check the centre of your dessert tub is sufficiently frozen before churning.

If the 24-hour wait time is a dealbreaker for you, there are some ways around it. To ensure you always have delicious ice cream to hand, you can prep a selection of flavours in the three included dessert tubs and store them in your freezer, ready for any ice cream emergencies.

You can also purchase additional Ninja dessert tubs and set aside a couple of hours to create a range of base flavours for the future – remember, you don’t have to add your mix-in ingredients until you churn it.

Yes! All removable parts of the Ninja Creami (outer bowl, outer bowl lid, churning paddle, dessert tubs) are dishwasher safe. Just be sure to follow Ninja’s advice and place them on the top rack.

Good news for anyone with a small kitchen – the Ninja Creami is just over 40cm tall, so there’s a good chance it will fit in your kitchen cupboard.

If you want to proudly display your Ninja on your worktop but are short on space, rest assured that the base is only 16.5cm wide and 27cm in diameter – that’s half the size of some of the other market-leading ice cream makers.

Our GHI expert tested all seven of the Ninja Creami’s settings. Following the brand’s recipes, they made vanilla ice cream, a Malteser and Oreo milkshake, mango sorbet, banana sorbet, coffee gelato, chocolate gelato and a low-calorie ice cream. To put the mix-in programme through its paces, they churned vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips. They also made two smoothie bowls – one with the Ninja recipe and one using a pre-made mix.

They then tried each of their creations – lucky them! – and checked the consistency and flavour, as well as looking for any ice crystals.

They also assessed the Creami’s ability to churn, taking note of any noise or vibration.

The Ninja Creami was awarded an impressive score of 94/100 by our expert testers. Let’s find out why they liked it.

It makes showstopping iced treats

“Creamy” and “smooth” were words that came up time and time again during our iced desserts taste test. From rich coffee gelato to moreish chocolate chip and vanilla ice cream, our expert said the Creami’s results rivalled expensive store-bought versions. We were equally impressed with its ability to make perfectly blended milkshakes, and the delicious smoothie bowl will have you saying goodbye to cereal in no time.

Churning is oh-so quick

On average, it took us a minute and a half to churn our ice cream – that’s some serious speed! Other settings required up to five minutes, but whether you want smooth, homemade ice cream for a dinner party dessert or need to satisfy a Sunday afternoon milkshake craving, you can count on the Ninja Creami to get it done quickly.

The mix-in function is a game-changer

This is what truly sets the Creami apart from other ice cream makers on the market. It worked a treat – chocolate chips were distributed evenly, and the churn blade made quick work of pulverising frozen fruit slices, Maltesers and even Oreo biscuits.

The 24-hour pre-freeze time

Most ice cream makers require a long period of pre-freezing, but 24 hours can feel like a lifetime when you’re in desperate need of an icy scoop. While it's understandable given the nature of frozen treats, it's something to bear in mind.

It's loud

The Ninja Creami requires minimal churning time, but you definitely know when it’s on. Our expert said it was “very loud” when churning and the base vibrates quite aggressively while in use.

The Ninja Creami will set you back a minimum of £200, so it is an investment. However, it produces brilliant, creamy frozen treats and offers plenty of dietary versatility. Thanks to the mix-in programme and seven intuitive settings, you can truly personalise your flavours, with impressive (read: delicious) results time and time again.

The Creami’s compact size means it should find a suitable storage spot or worktop space in most kitchens, and the dishwasher-safe parts means it’s a breeze to clean. Our only minor niggles are how loud it is during the (brief) churning time, and we also spotted the odd ice crystal in our smoothie bowl. Still, our expert tester was impressed with the results. It can turn almost anything into ice cream.

All in all, the Ninja Creami is the perfect present for your favourite ice cream enthusiast and an exceptional addition to any kitchen. Anyone for a 99?

The Ninja Creami is incredibly popular and it tends to sell out fast, but it’s stocked at Amazon, Argos, John Lewis and Ninja UK.

Heidi Lauth Beasley is one of our resident homes writers, specialising in product reviews for everything from smoothie makers and coffee machines to barbecues and bedding. Originally from Dorset, Heidi’s simple pleasures include finding new and unique ways to rid her life of stray pet hairs and telling anyone who’ll listen that tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant. Heidi has an MA in Creative Writing for Brunel University and was previously a restaurant critic for The Infatuation London. Her specialist subjects included natural wine bars, handmade pasta spots and restaurant accessibility. She has also written for The Sunday Times Style and OpenTable. She is currently working on her debut novel. Heidi lives in Tottenham with an exceptionally sassy house rabbit called Gatsby. At the weekend, you’ll usually find her reading on her terrace or attempting to convert her friends to sparkling red wine.

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Senior Homes Tester

Blossom is our Senior Homes Tester. Passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for our readers, she has tested everything from blenders to pizza ovens. Blossom enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols for hundreds of items. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster. In her free time, Blossom openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.

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