Trying to get 100 grams (or more) of protein daily can be difficult without a lot of meal-prepping and planning. Plus eating chicken breast, drinking protein shakes and eating protein bars gets boring really quick. Enter the Ninja Creami! This kitchen tool can be used to create fun and delicious high protein ice cream that can be eaten as a late night snack when you still haven’t met your daily protein goal, or even for breakfast to start your day with a protein boost.
If you have never used the Ninja Creami, it’s basically a blender or food processor that starts with the blade at the top of the container and then it is slowly pushed through the frozen mixture until a creamy ice cream is created. Making ice cream in the Ninja Creami does take some advance planning because your mixture must be frozen for at least 24 hours before spinning it in the machine, but you can prep several pints at a time and have them ready in the freezer for all your ice cream emergencies! Purchasing extra containers for your machine is a very good idea. I have only purchased the Ninja branded containers because I have heard that some of the knock-offs will warp in the dishwasher.
My mantra when creating high protein ice cream, is triple the protein, triple the flavor! I’ll explain below how this is done.
Triple the Protein
Protein source #1: The base for my ice cream usually starts with a premade protein shake. Fairlife protein shakes are my favorite to use, but they don’t have many flavors and can be hard to find, so I also use Premier Protein shakes as well. If I can’t find a protein shake in the flavor I am wanting, I will just use a vanilla one.
Protein source #2: I add a scoop of flavored protein powder to the premade protein shake. Clean Simple Eats (CSE) is my favorite protein powder because the flavor is yummy and strong and it seems to blend smoother than others. They also have a ton of flavors and you can buy sample packs for single use at my local grocery stores. This way I can try a flavor before I buy a huge bag! I also use Ghost and Dymatize brands.
Protein source #3: I add cottage cheese to all of my mixtures. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, trust the process. Adding cottage cheese adds creaminess to the ice cream and really helps with the texture of the finished product, in addition to adding more protein. Other options include Greek yogurt (but this will add tartness as well), or cream cheese.
So after using all 3 of these protein sources, a typical pint of ice cream would have 56-60g protein! For me it is very difficult to eat an entire pint in one sitting, so I am typically only eating half which gives me about 28-30g protein.
Triple the Flavor (or more!)
Once I decide on the flavor of ice cream I am making, I try to use at least 3 items of the same or similar flavor in the creation. Because ice cream is frozen, it decreases the intensity of sweet flavors, so if you want your ice cream to taste good, you will want to add more flavor than you think necessary because once it’s frozen (and your tongue is frozen too) it will be more difficult to taste. You should taste your mixture before freezing and it should taste overly sweet and have strong flavor.
Flavor source #1: The premade protein shake. There are so many flavor options out there with these premade shakes. It’s fun to mix flavors as well. If I am making chocolate ice cream, I use a chocolate Fairlife protein shake. If I am making a Biscoff ice cream, I use a caramel Premier Protein shake. For banana ice cream, start with a banana Premier Protein shake, etc.
Flavor source #2: The protein powder. Again there are so many flavors out there now, that the possibilities are endless! For coconut ice cream, I use the CSE coconut cream protein powder. For chocolate mint, I use the CSE Mint Chocolate Cookie protein powder. For a chocolate peanut butter ice cream I might use Ghost Nutter Butter protein powder.
Flavor source #3: Pudding mix. I use mostly sugar free (SF) instant pudding mix again in the same or similar flavor as the ice cream I’m making. So for a banana ice cream I use SF banana pudding. For the Biscoff ice cream, I use SF butterscotch pudding. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find SF coconut pudding mix, so I use the regular full sugar one in that recipe. You only need to add 1-2 Tablespoons to a pint. Adding more causes problems with consistency.
.Other flavor sources: Many times I add additional flavor, especially if I started with a vanilla protein shake because I couldn’t find the flavor I wanted. Some of the other items I use for flavor are extracts (coconut extract, banana extract, vanilla, etc. ), sugar free syrups (like Torani or Skinny Syrups), sugar free drink mix packets (Skittles Singles to-go or Sonic drink packets), real fruit, nut butters (or cookie butter) and PB Fit peanut butter powder (this will add more protein as well).
Other ingredients
Sweetener: You will want to add sweetener to your mixtures. Again, this is because once it is frozen, it will lose sweetness. I use powdered monk fruit most of the time. The powdered version is less likely to create granules of gritty sugar in the finished product. If you can’t find powdered monk fruit, you can use the granules, but if you don’t like the texture, you can blend the granules into a finer powder before using it. Another option for sweetener without adding additional calories is to use liquid stevia drops. I am still experimenting with how much to add on these drops and hope to include directions for that in future recipes. If you aren’t concerned with calories, you can also use regular granulated sugar.
Texture: I usually add a small amount of guar gum to my mixtures. Guar gum is a stabilizer that does several things. It helps to prevent ice crystals which makes the ice cream more creamy and it prevents ingredients from separating. A little goes a long way here, so you will only need about 1/8 -1/4 teaspoon. Adding more can make your ice cream kind of gummy and give it a weird slimy-stretchy texture. Pudding mix also had stabilizers in it, so you can omit the guar gum if you want, but I use both in my recipes.
Salt: Some flavors are brought out by using a little bit of salt. I typically add salt to flavors like pistachio, caramel, peanut butter, etc.
Additional liquid: Occasionally I don’t find a protein shake flavor I want to use, or I need some additional liquid to reach the “fill to” line on my container. In this case, I use Fairlife milk to fill the container. Fairlife milk is ultra-filtered milk with a super creamy texture. It has 50% more protein, 50% less sugar, and is lactose-free compared to regular milk. They have options ranging from fat free to full fat, and even chocolate milk. Since we are a household of 3 adults, I have switched to just buying Fairlife milk for all my milk needs. I don’t notice that it tastes any different from regular milk, and it typically doesn’t expire for about 6 weeks or longer, so I am not throwing out half a gallon of milk every 2 weeks anymore. Plus we are getting more protein from the Fairlife. Others use oat milk or almond milk in their mixtures, but I don’t typically have these items in the fridge.
Mix-ins: Mix-ins are optional and usually add calories to the creation, but they can also be used to add more flavor and create more interest by adding texture to your ice cream. Some of the mix-ins I use are nuts, fruit, graham crackers, cereal, toffee pieces, cookies, candy, coconut, magic shell ice cream topping (to create chocolate chips).
How to make your high protein ice cream
- Assemble all ingredients and add them directly to the Creami pint.
- Use an immersion blender to blend all ingredients until smooth. If you do not have an immersion blender, mix all ingredients in a regular blender and pour into the pint container. You may get excessive bubbles doing this, so I recommend tapping it on the counter and waiting to freeze until the bubbles have settled out.
- Taste the mixture and add any additional sweetener or extracts to improve the taste. Remember it should taste overly sweet and strong while in liquid form.
- Place the pint on a flat surface in the freezer without the lid until frozen solid. Freezing without the lid reduces the chance that you will get a large bump in the center of the container, which can damage your machine.
- Add the lid to the pint once the top surface is frozen and freeze for at least 24 hours total.
- Remove the pint from the freezer when you are ready to make your ice cream.
- Run hot water over the outside of the container until you see the container separate from the mixture (this should take no longer than 15-20 seconds).
- Place the pint in the microwave and microwave on HIGH for 20-30 seconds. I do this to avoid having to spin the mixture several times in the machine. The amount of time you microwave will depend on the temperature of your freezer, so try a lower time and if you have to respin the ice cream several times, increase the amount of time in the microwave until you find the perfect amount.
- Place the container in the Ninja Creami outer bowl and attach the lid with the blade attached.
- Place the outer bowl in the Ninja Creami and lock into place. Press the button for LITE ICE CREAM and spin it for 1 cycle.
- Check the consistency and if it looks powdery, put it back in the machine and press the RESPIN button (next time microwave for 10 seconds longer). I usually do not have to do a respin at all. Once you have the correct amount of microwave time, you should rarely have to do a respin. If the consistency looks close and you are adding a mix-in, you can skip doing a respin and just go straight to step 13. If you want more of a soft serve consistency, you can add a SMALL amount (1-2 teaspoons) of liquid such as Fairlife milk before respinning.
- Repeat until you have the desired consistency.
- If you are adding mix-ins, use a spoon to create a well in the center all the way to the bottom. Add your mix-in then return the pint to the machine and press the MIX-IN button.
Freezing the leftovers
You can put any leftover ice cream back in the freezer, however, depending on the temperature of your freezer, it may be too hard to eat when you take it out again. You can microwave it for 20-30 seconds and usually this is enough to be able to eat it. Another option would be to put it back in the machine and spin it again on LITE ICE CREAM. If you plan to do this make sure that you have leveled the remaining ice cream in the container before putting it back in the freezer. If you have added any mix-ins keep in mind that it will pulverize them and create a uniform creamy mixture. It is not recommended to use the MIX-IN button on hard ice cream that came directly from the freezer as this make break your machine. Some people have recommended adding vegetable glycerin to the ice cream to make the leftovers scoop-able directly out of the freezer. I tried this once and was not super impressed, plus I never know if I will have leftovers, and I don’t want to add it to all of my mixtures, so I typically just use the microwave method and it works great!
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