Every recipe on this site has been through the same process: mixed, frozen for 24 hours at 0 F with the lid on and the top flat, then spun on a named model with the re-spins counted. We publish the model it was tested on, the program, how many re-spins it needed, and quantities for both the 16 oz pint and the 24 oz XL tub. If a recipe needed a tablespoon of liquid before its second re-spin, the card says so.
The 14 categories below are sorted by what the base needs rather than by flavor. A protein pint behaves differently from a full-fat gelato in the same machine, and the program, the re-spin count and the best model change with it. Our standard test bases are a full-fat vanilla, a Fairlife and whey protein base, a canned mango sorbet and an oat and coconut cream dairy-free base, and every category page explains how its recipes relate to those four.
Browse by category
Each tile links to a category page with the recipes, the program to use on each model, four to six tips specific to that base and the model we would buy if that category were our main use.
Most popular recipes
These twelve are the recipes readers come back to and the ones we make most weeks. The vanilla protein and chocolate protein pints run on the NC601 CreamiFit program with no re-spin and on Lite Ice Cream with one re-spin everywhere else. The mango and strawberry sorbets came out smooth with zero re-spins on all five models, which makes them the safest first spin for a new machine.
Dairy-Free (Lite Ice Cream plus one re-spin on other models) · NC601
Oat Milk Vanilla Ice Cream
225 kcal · 2 g protein per serving
New this month
New recipes are tested on at least two models before they are published, one from the Creami series and one Deluxe or the NC701, so the card can state the re-spin count on each.
Tip
Base ratio cheat sheet: a full-fat base is about 1 cup heavy cream to 1 cup whole milk with 1/3 cup sugar per 16 oz pint; a protein base is 1 1/2 cups Fairlife skim milk, one scoop whey isolate and 1 tablespoon sugar-free pudding mix; a sorbet is fruit in syrup blended to the fill line. Multiply by 1.5 for a 24 oz XL tub. The full base ratios page lists every ratio we use with the program and re-spin count per model.
Which model you need for each category
Every current Creami shares six core programs, so most categories work on every machine. The differences are in the extra programs: CreamiFit on the NC601 and NC701 saves a re-spin on protein bases, the Dairy-Free program is only on the NC601, Frozen Yogurt is on the NC501, NC601 and NC701, Italian Ice and Slushi are only on the NC501, and the soft serve programs are only on the NC701. The table lists the program we use for each category on each machine and the model we would pick if that category were the main reason to buy. Pint systems do not change the recipe, only the quantity: the NC301, NC351 and NC701 take 16 oz, the NC501 and NC601 take 24 oz, and our pint compatibility guide explains which containers fit which machine.
| Category | Works on | Best program | Best model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | Every model | CreamiFit on NC601 and NC701; Lite Ice Cream elsewhere | NC601 |
| Cottage cheese | Every model | Lite Ice Cream | NC351 |
| Lite | Every model | Lite Ice Cream | NC351 |
| Dairy-free | Every model | Dairy-Free on NC601; Lite Ice Cream elsewhere | NC601 |
| Sorbet | Every model | Sorbet | NC351 |
| Keto | Every model | Ice Cream for cream bases; Lite Ice Cream for lean bases | NC351 |
| Gelato | Every model | Gelato | NC601 |
| Frozen yogurt | Every model | Frozen Yogurt on NC501, NC601 and NC701; Lite Ice Cream elsewhere | NC601 |
| Milkshakes | Every model | Milkshake | NC501 |
| Soft serve | NC701 only | Soft Serve and Soft Serve Lite | NC701 |
| Seasonal | Every model | Ice Cream, then Mix-In | NC351 |
| Smoothie bowls | Every model | Smoothie Bowl on NC301, NC351 and NC601; Lite Ice Cream elsewhere | NC351 |
| Italian ice | Every model | Italian Ice on NC501; Sorbet elsewhere | NC501 |
| Kids | Every model | Ice Cream, then Mix-In | NC301 |
The best model column is a judgement, not a rule. The NC351 appears most often because it is the model we use daily for lean pints and because it scored 8.4 in our tests with a measured 82 dB, the quietest of the five. The NC601 wins the categories where its CreamiFit and Dairy-Free programs removed a re-spin in our tests, and the NC701 is the only pick for soft serve because it is the only Creami with a dispenser. Our which Ninja Creami guide walks through the same decision from the household side rather than the recipe side.
Almost all of them. Every scooped recipe on this site works on the NC301, NC351, NC501, NC601 and NC701, because all five share the Ice Cream, Lite Ice Cream, Sorbet, Gelato, Milkshake and Mix-In programs. Soft serve recipes need the NC701 dispenser. Where a model has a better program for a base, such as CreamiFit or Dairy-Free on the NC601, the recipe card says so.
Multiply every ingredient by 1.5 and fill to the tub’s line. Each recipe card on this site lists both the pint and the XL tub quantities already, so you do not have to do the sum. Freeze the tub flat for 24 hours at 0 F exactly as you would a pint; the Deluxe cycle is longer but the freeze time is the same.
24 hours at 0 F, on a level shelf with the lid on. Every recipe on this site was frozen that way. A base frozen for less time, or in a freezer warmer than 0 F, spins soft and melts fast. A base frozen on a tilted shelf has a sloped top, which breaks the flat-top rule and gives a crumbly first spin.
Usually because the base is low in fat and sugar, which is normal for protein and lite pints. Re-spin once. If it is still crumbly, add 1 tablespoon of liquid and re-spin again. Our protein base needed one re-spin on the NC301, NC351 and NC501, and none on the NC601 CreamiFit program. Our crumbly guide covers the other causes.
The NC601. Its CreamiFit program turned our Fairlife and whey protein base creamy on the first spin with no re-spin, where the Lite Ice Cream program on the NC301, NC351 and NC501 needed one. The NC701 has CreamiFit too and matched that result. The 24 oz tub also holds six servings instead of four.
Yes, on every model, but the result varies. Our oat and coconut cream base needed two re-spins and a tablespoon of oat milk on the NC301 and NC501, one re-spin on the NC351 and NC701, and no re-spin at all on the NC601 Dairy-Free program. If dairy-free is your main use, the NC601 is the model to buy.
You need something that lowers the freezing point and keeps the base scoopable, and sugar is the easiest. Sugar-free recipes on this site use allulose or a sugar-free pudding mix to do the same job, and they rely on a re-spin. A base with no sugar, no sugar substitute and no fat freezes into a block that spins to powder.
Start with the classic vanilla bean or the mango sorbet. Both have enough fat or sugar to come out creamy on the first spin on every model, which lets you learn the lid lock, the cycle time and the flat-top rule without a re-spin. Move to protein and dairy-free bases once you have seen what a good first spin looks like.