Fairlife Protein Ice Cream (Ninja Creami, CreamiFit Program)

This is the lowest-effort protein pint on the site: a Fairlife Core Power shake, half a scoop of whey isolate and a spoon of sugar-free pudding mix. The shake brings ultra-filtered milk protein and a few grams of fat, the whey adds solids, and the pudding mix brings the starch and gum that stop the base freezing into solid ice. We tested it on the Ninja Creami Deluxe NC601, where CreamiFit finished creamy on the first spin with zero re-spins in a 158 second cycle. Per serving, four per pint or six per XL tub, we estimate 60 kcal, 9 g protein, 3 g carbs and 1 g fat.

Tested recipe

Fairlife Protein Ice Cream

The simplest protein pint we make: a Fairlife Core Power vanilla shake thickened with pudding mix and a little whey, processed on CreamiFit with zero re-spins.

CreamiFitNC6010 re-spins

Prep

3 min

Freeze

24 h

Process

3 min

Total

24 h 6 min

Servings

4 per pint

16 oz pint24 oz XL tub

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (360 g) Fairlife Core Power vanilla protein shake (26 g protein version), cold
• 1/2 scoop (15 g) vanilla whey protein isolate
• 1 tbsp (8 g) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 tsp (2 g) vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp fine salt

Equipment

• Ninja Creami Deluxe NC601
• 24 oz Deluxe XL tub

Method

1. Shake the Core Power bottle and measure the shake into a blender.
2. Add the whey isolate, pudding mix, vanilla and salt.
3. Blend for 15 seconds, just until smooth.
4. Pour the base into the XL tub (or pint) up to the max fill line.
5. Lid the tub and freeze it on a level surface for 24 hours.
6. Remove the lid, lock the tub into the outer bowl, fit the paddle lid and press CreamiFit.
7. Scoop and serve, or press Re-spin once if the top looks powdery.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Calories

60 kcal

Protein

9 g

Carbs

3 g

Fat

1 g

Program: CreamiFit · Tested on NC601 · By Mike Lala

Tips

• Freeze level. The flat-top rule matters more for a thin base like this than for a cream base, because there is no fat to forgive a tilted surface. Put the tub on a flat shelf, not on top of a bag of peas, and check the surface before you process. Fill lines and leveling notes are in our base ratio cheat sheet.
• Do not blend hard. Core Power foams if you run a blender at full speed, and the foam freezes into a brittle crust that flakes under the paddle. Fifteen seconds on low is enough to dissolve the pudding mix and whey. If there is foam, wait five minutes before lidding.
• Re-spin only if you see powder. On the NC601 CreamiFit gave us a scoopable result straight away. If the top inch is powdery because your freezer runs below 0 F or the tub sat for several days, press Re-spin once with no liquid added.
• Add 1 tbsp of milk before a second re-spin, never before the first. A splash of Fairlife over the surface loosens a stubborn pint without turning the edges soupy.
• Chill the bottle first. A shake at fridge temperature settles with fewer bubbles and freezes with a tighter crystal structure than one poured at room temperature.

Variations

• Chocolate: use the chocolate Core Power shake, chocolate whey and chocolate pudding mix, or build the richer version in our chocolate protein ice cream.
• Strawberry: use the strawberry Core Power shake and fold 1/4 cup (40 g) of diced frozen strawberries in on a Mix-In cycle after the CreamiFit spin.
• Cookies and cream: keep the vanilla base and add three broken chocolate sandwich cookies on a Mix-In cycle, as in our cookies and cream protein ice cream.

Storage and refreeze

Level the leftovers with the back of a spoon, lid the tub and return it to a flat shelf at 0 F. It refreezes solid overnight. To serve again, run CreamiFit; expect the refrozen base to need one re-spin where the fresh one needed none, because the first processing broke the pudding mix gel and some water refreezes as free ice. Add 1 tbsp of milk only if a second re-spin is required. We eat refrozen Fairlife pints within four days; after that the surface goes grainy and the flavor flattens. Always process the whole tub and refreeze the rest rather than trying to spin a half-full tub, which the paddle cannot reach evenly.

The model and pints we used

We made this in a 24 oz Deluxe XL tub on the Gen 2 Deluxe NC601, which measured 83 dB on the spin and whose CreamiFit program has replaced Lite Ice Cream for every protein tub we make. The XL tubs fit only the NC501 and NC601; see our Deluxe tubs guide for the two-packs, and the pints guide if you are making the pint version on an NC301 or NC351. More bases like this live in the protein recipes category.

Frequently asked questions

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