The Ninja Creami Is My Tech ‘Upgrade of the Year’

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While I often review laptops and other computer-related things, I'm most excited about the gadgets that I actually use regularly in my daily life. This year I've gotten into a passion for showcasing important memories with a digital photo frame and a passion for nostalgic handheld gaming with my first Anbernic device. But of all the updates I've made to my life this year, Ninja Creami has been my favorite.

What is Ninja Creamy?

The Ninja Creami is different from a more traditional ice cream maker, which sits on the counter and continuously churns and freezes the liquid ice cream mixture until it is ready. Instead, you make and freeze the liquid ice cream mixture overnight, then process it (in just a few minutes) whenever you want. This means you'll need to make the ice cream at least 24 hours in advance, but if you have a few pints of ice cream in the freezer at any time, I actually think it's more convenient than the alternative and makes a great spontaneous snack.

Plus, you can get a little more creative with the ingredients than with a traditional ice cream maker since the mixture doesn't have to thicken while churning. In short, this is a great machine for making custom desserts whenever the need arises. Read here to learn more about how exactly this all works, but for now let's look at how much it has changed my life this year. It was given to me as a gift, but it quickly became indispensable in my kitchen.

Why Ninja Creami is my tech update of the year

Explanations aside, there are a few specific use cases that really made Ninja Creami shine for me this year. Here's why this is my favorite gadget given to me in 2025, in no particular order.

It's easy to use

I've already mentioned that using Ninja Creami usually takes less time than making ice cream with a more traditional ice cream maker, as long as you remember to keep a supply of Creami pints in your freezer that you've frozen at least 24 hours before. But let's walk through the actual process of making ice cream with Creami, just to really bring it home.

• Feel the urge to eat ice cream

• Remove the pre-frozen pint of Ninja Creami from the freezer.

• Place the pint glass into the holes of the Ninja Creami jug, insert the blade into the lid of the jug and place the lid on top of the jug.

• Press the button for your preferred ice cream program and wait two to five minutes.

That's all. It's much faster than going out for ice cream, not to mention cheaper. And Creami can even make mix-ins, just like in your own home in Coldstone: simply dig a hole in the center of the ice cream after processing, add the mix-ins, and snack on the scooped ice cream while you wait for the mix-in program to incorporate your goodies into your ice cream.

As far as cleaning goes, the pint, lid and blade are dishwasher safe, so that's an afterthought.

It's customizable

Perhaps the biggest reason to own a home ice cream maker is the ability to create your own ice cream flavors, and the Ninja Creami is no exception. Besides the standard vanilla and chocolate cream, I've also experimented with more unusual flavors in my Ninja Creami. Good examples are milk tea ice cream and Dulce de Leche chocolate ice cream (stay tuned for updates). You can't find them at Baskin-Robbins!

It's great (uh)

What really made me buy Ninja Creami was the protein ice cream or ice cream where the protein powder is the main flavor factor. This is more difficult to do in a more traditional ice cream maker, but the way the Ninja Creami mixes the ice cream makes it very easy to do. That's actually 90% of what I use Creami for. This allows me to satisfy my sweet tooth while keeping the calories lower than full-fat ice cream. You can still make this in Ninja Creami, but I have achieved satisfactory results using just 2% milk, protein and my secret ingredient, sugar-free jelly.

Jell-O contains xanthan gum, which acts as a binder and, when mixed with milk and protein powder, produces a texture almost indistinguishable from full-fat ice cream after processing. You can actually buy xanthan gum separately, but Jell-O is a little easier to find and can add extra flavor. Of course, I usually add some additives and whipped cream, which is a little unhealthy, but it's still not uncommon to get a pint that's under 400 calories. And a full pint usually serves both me and my husband and is a great addition to a small dinner, which means it can also help with portion control.

It saves milk

I'm not always good at using up milk before it expires, but I hate the idea of ​​throwing it down the drain. Ninja Creami makes it easy to freeze milk that's about to go bad since each recipe requires about 2 cups of it. Of course, I like to use 1 cup cow's milk and 1 cup almond milk since the almond milk adds some flavor and creamy texture, but you can get away with both. Overall, Ninja Creami has made me much less wasteful with my milk, even though I use it more often.

Drunk milkshakes!

Finally, Ninja Creami can be used to make light milkshakes. Yes, I know making milkshakes in a blender isn't that hard, but I hate washing out the whole blender just for the sake of it. With Ninja Creami, you simply pour the ice cream into a pint or process specialty ice cream and stir it around a bit, then dig a hole in the center and add a little milk and alcohol. Run it through a milkshake program and the resulting texture will almost always be perfect, without any guesswork using a blender. My husband and I love to do this before watching a movie, and it's an easy way to save on boozy milkshakes that cost over $15 at our local Alamo Drafthouse.

Plus, there are also programs for making other desserts like sorbets, so while my favorite way to use Creami is for ice cream, there are plenty of other ways to get creative with this thing.

My favorite ninja cream recipe.

My iPhone Notes app is filled with dozens of recipes at the moment, but to give you a quick idea of ​​what I want to do with my Ninja Creami, let's run through my favorites. You won't find it at Baskin-Robbins, but once you try Dulce Chocolate, you won't be able to go back.

Dulce Chocolate

My husband is a big fan of Häagen-Dazs' Dulce de Leche ice cream, and by using a special type of Dulce de Leche protein powder that only one company seems to make, we were able to make a pretty convincing but much healthier copycat (for this, use vanilla jelly instead of what I'm about to suggest). However, we've found that Dulce de Leche also pairs very well with chocolate, and it's a mixture you're unlikely to find unless you make it yourself. This is the recipe that really attracted me to Ninja Creami, and once you try it, I think you'll understand.

For processing, use the Lite Ice Cream setting. After processing, add admixtures of your choice if desired. My favorites from Dulce chocolate ice cream are Kit-Kats and Reese's Thins. It is better to pre-shred both products before adding them to ice cream.

Which ninja cream to choose?

If I've convinced you to get your own, you have a few options.

The one I have is standard ninja creamyand it usually costs $200 and does everything I need. A pint is two cups and there are fewer program presets than other models, but I would recommend this to most people.

But if you need a few more programs and more pints, you can also choose Ninja Cream Deluxewhich usually costs $250. Here you can make three-cup pints, and you can also process only part of a pint at a time, making leftovers easy.

Finally, if you like soft serve ice cream, there is Ninja Creami Swirl. Typically priced at $350, it's very similar to the standard Ninja Creami, but it also comes with a dispenser that lets you pour the ice cream into a cone or bowl, just like you would at an ice cream store. It also has several additional programs that make it easier to make soft-serve ice cream, but with the right know-how, you can also do this with every Creami model.