A smoothie bowl base takes its sugar and body from fruit rather than cream, so this recipe leans on a ripe banana and two tablespoons of maple syrup for sweetness, a cup and a half of frozen mixed berries for flavor and pectin, and a tablespoon of almond butter for the small amount of fat that keeps the texture from going grainy. Everything is blended smooth first, because the Creami shaves a block rather than crushing fruit. We tested it on the Ninja Creami NC351 in a 16 oz pint frozen 24 hours at 0 F, and the Smoothie Bowl program gave a thick, spoonable bowl with zero re-spins. Each serving is an estimated 110 kcal, 2 g protein, 20 g carbs and 3 g fat.
Tested recipe
Berry Smoothie Bowl
A thick, spoonable mixed berry smoothie bowl with banana and almond butter that is dairy-free and about 110 kcal per serving.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Freeze
- 24 h
- Process
- 3 min
- Total
- 24 h 8 min
- Servings
- 4 per pint
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (210 g) frozen mixed berries
- 1 medium (120 g) ripe banana
- 3/4 cup (180 g) unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tbsp (40 g) maple syrup
- 1 tbsp (16 g) almond butter
- 1 tsp (5 g) lemon juice
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (315 g) frozen mixed berries
- 1 1/2 medium (180 g) ripe banana
- 1 1/8 cups (270 g) unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tbsp (60 g) maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tbsp (24 g) almond butter
- 1 1/2 tsp (7 g) lemon juice
Equipment
- Ninja Creami NC351
- 16 oz Creami pint
Method
- Add the berries, banana, almond milk, maple syrup, almond butter and lemon juice to a blender.
- Blend on high for 45 seconds until completely smooth with no seeds visible.
- Pour the puree into the pint, stopping at the max fill line, and tap the pint on the counter to release air bubbles.
- Lid the pint and freeze it for 24 hours on a level surface.
- Lock the frozen pint into the outer bowl, fit it to the machine and press Smoothie Bowl.
- If the surface is crumbly, press Re-spin once.
- Spoon into bowls and add toppings.
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
- Calories
- 110 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 20 g
- Fat
- 3 g
Tips
- Tap the pint on the counter before it goes in the freezer. Blended fruit traps air bubbles, and a pint full of bubbles froze with a pitted, uneven top that broke the flat-top rule even on a level shelf.
- Freeze on a level surface. A sloped smoothie block gave us a wedge of soft fruit on one side and a crumbly patch on the other, and the Smoothie Bowl program runs only once.
- If the top is crumbly, press Re-spin once before adding any liquid. Fruit bases with low sugar crumble more often than cream bases; only before a second re-spin add 1 tbsp of almond milk. The crumbly results guide explains why low sugar is the usual cause.
- Keep the maple syrup in. We tried the recipe with no added sweetener and the block froze hard enough that the NC351 needed two re-spins and a tablespoon of liquid to reach a texture score of 3.
- Add toppings after processing, never before freezing. Granola frozen into the base went soft, and the paddle shredded whole berries into the puree.
Variations
- Tropical bowl: swap the berries for 1 1/2 cups (210 g) of frozen mango and pineapple, closer in flavor to our mango sorbet.
- Green bowl: replace half a cup of the berries with a packed cup of baby spinach and add 1/4 avocado for fat.
- Protein bowl: add one scoop (30 g) of vanilla protein powder and 2 tbsp more almond milk, in the style of our strawberry sorbet protein variation.
Storage and refreeze
Smooth the remaining base flat with a spoon, lid the pint and put it back on a level shelf at 0 F for 24 hours before the next spin. Fruit bases lose more texture on refreezing than dairy, because there is no fat to coat the ice crystals, so plan on the Smoothie Bowl program plus one Re-spin on the second day. Our test pint scored 4 after the second spin and 3 after the third, with noticeable iciness, so this is a base to make in single pints and eat within three days. If you want a week of bowls, freeze several pints of puree at once rather than refreezing one; the 4-pack on the pints page is sized for that.
The model and pints we used
We made this in the original 16 oz pints that ship with the NC351 and also fit the NC301 and NC299AMZ; the Deluxe XL tubs and Swirl pints are separate systems that do not interchange. The NC351 measured 82 dB at 1 m. The Smoothie Bowl program is on the NC301, NC351 and NC601; on the NC501 and NC701 use Sorbet and expect a slightly softer result. The sugar and fiber targets for fruit bases are in the base ratios cheat sheet, and our other bowls are in the smoothie bowls hub.
Creami · Gen 2
Ninja Creami 7-in-1 Gen 2 (NC351)
Model NC351 · Our score 8.4/10
- Same 7 programs as the NC301 in the 2026 housing
- Measured 82 dB, two decibels quieter than Gen 1
- Uses the same 16 oz pints as the NC301
Accessory
Ninja Creami Pints 2-pack, grey lids
Model XSKPNTLID2
- Two 16 oz pints with grey storage lids
- Same pint shipped with the NC301
- Fits NC299AMZ, NC301 and NC351
Frequently asked questions
The Creami paddle shaves a solid block; it is not a blender. Whole frozen berries in a pint leave air gaps, the block freezes unevenly, and the first spin on our test pint produced chunks and powder. A smooth puree freezes into a uniform block that the Smoothie Bowl program turns into a thick, even bowl in one pass.
Yes, replace the banana with 1/2 cup (120 g) of mango or 1/3 cup (80 g) of silken tofu for the same body. The banana supplies sugar and pectin that keep the bowl from freezing into ice, so without it raise the maple syrup to 3 tbsp. The mango version was our favorite of the swaps.
Smoothie Bowl runs a shorter, gentler cycle designed for bases with fiber and low sugar, so the result is thicker and less aerated than Sorbet. On the NC351 this base on Sorbet came out softer and more like a sherbet, while Smoothie Bowl gave a dense, spoonable texture that held toppings on the surface.
Yes, one scoop (30 g) of vanilla plant or whey protein blended in with the fruit. It thickens the base, so add 2 tbsp more almond milk, and expect one re-spin. Our protein version needed a single 70 second re-spin on the NC351 and raised the protein to about 8 g per serving by our estimate.
