Learn how easy it is to make vanilla ice cream in the Ninja Creami with this simple recipe.

You’ll love this easy Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream recipe–it takes minimal effort to enjoy a cool and creamy treat.

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I’ve been making homemade ice cream for many years now.

First, I purchased an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, which has served me well now for almost twelve years.

In the last few years, I’ve begun making no-churn ice creams, which don’t require an ice cream maker at all.

But this summer, I invested in a Ninja Creami ice cream maker, which uses a different method for preparing cool and creamy frozen treats.

First on my list of ice creams to make was a classic Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream, which is my daughter’s favorite!

Since it’s so versatile, I think it’s one of the best Ninja Creami recipes…and I think you’ll agree!

More Ninja Creami Recipes You’ll Love:

• Decadent Ninja Creami Chocolate Ice Cream
• Easy Ninja Creami Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Ninja Creami Copycat Chunky Monkey Banana Ice Cream
• Ninja Creami Pineapple Sorbet

Making Ice Cream in the Ninja Creami

Let’s start off by talking about how traditional ice cream is often made, then I’ll share how the Ninja Creami works.

Many of us are familiar with ice cream that’s made with a custard-style base. These ice cream bases are typically made with eggs, sugar, and milk, and cooked on the stove top.

Then after the base cools in the fridge for a while, it’s churned in an ice cream maker. This churning not only helps it freeze, but also aerates it and breaks up ice crystals, so it ends up nice and smooth.

Then there’s no-churn ice cream, where the sweetness is provided by sweetened condensed milk, and the creaminess is provided by fluffy whipped cream, so it is an easy way to make eggless ice cream that doesn’t require any cooking!

The Ninja Creami reverses the process! Instead of churning or whipping ingredients and allowing them to freeze, you prepare an ice cream base and freeze it for at least 24 hours.

Then you pop it into your Ninja Creami, which “creamifies” the base with one of seven settings, by finely chopping or shaving the frozen concoction.

It’s worth noting that the Ninja Creami is not a blender–in fact, the blades aren’t even sharp!

Surprisingly, the result is rich and creamy ice cream!

How to Make Vanilla Ice Cream in the Ninja Creami

It’s really easy to make this simple ice cream.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• Cream cheese
• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Whole milk
• Heavy cream

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. First, you’ll warm up the cream cheese in the microwave. This gets it nice and soft (you can also let it soften at room temperature if you’d like).

Mix that with the sugar and vanilla extract, using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, to make a pasty mixture.

Add liquids. Next, you’ll add in the whole milk and heavy cream gradually. I add a couple tablespoons at a time, mixing well, to avoid lumps and to help the sugar dissolve.

Continue stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Pour mixture into a Ninja Creami pint and close its lid.

Freeze. Next, you’ll transfer the pint to a flat location in your freezer (you want it to freeze nice and level) and freeze for 24 hours.

Creamify. After 24 hours, remove the lid from the pint and insert into the bowl of the Ninja Creami. Lock the lid and click the bowl into place.

Select the Ice Cream function and let the Ninja do the rest!

Notes and Adaptations:

• If your ice cream is crumbly after the first round of churning, you can put it through a Re-Spin cycle. If that doesn’t result in a nice, creamy texture, I like to add a tablespoon of milk and Re-Spin again, which usually does the trick.
• If you need to make this dairy free, you can use unsweetened oat milk instead of milk, unsweetened coconut cream instead of heavy cream, and vegan cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese.