Keto and sugar-free bases split into two families that behave very differently in the Creami. The first is a full-fat base of heavy cream and almond milk sweetened with allulose; it has all the fat of a classic ice cream and spins creamy on the Ice Cream program with no re-spin, exactly like our full-fat vanilla did on every model. The second is a lean sugar-free base on unsweetened almond milk and protein powder, and it behaves like a protein pint: Lite Ice Cream, one re-spin, a tablespoon of liquid before any second.
The sweetener matters more than anything else here. Sugar does two jobs in ice cream, sweetness and freezing point, and most sugar substitutes only do the first. Erythritol froze our test pint into a block that spun to grit even after two re-spins. Allulose at the same volume behaved almost exactly like sugar: the pint scooped, held its shape and had no crunch. Every recipe in this category uses allulose or a monk fruit and allulose blend, and the sugar-free vanilla is the reference recipe to start with.
Fat is the second lever. A keto base can carry more cream than a standard one because carbs are the limit rather than calories, and a pint that is one third heavy cream by volume came out with a texture score of 5 on the first spin on the NC351. The base ratios page gives the cream, almond milk and allulose proportions for both the full-fat and lean versions, scaled for the 16 oz pint and the 24 oz XL tub.
Tips for keto and sugar-free ice cream
- Use allulose, not erythritol. It is the single change that turns a gritty block into a scoopable pint, and it cost us no re-spins on the full-fat base.
- Keep at least 1/2 cup of heavy cream per 16 oz pint in a full-fat keto base. Below that the pint starts to behave like a lite base and needs the re-spin.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of guar or xanthan gum to lean sugar-free bases. It replaces the body that sugar would have given.
- Freeze flat for 24 hours at 0 F with the lid on. Cream-heavy bases can develop a skin on top; a flat, lidded pint keeps that skin even so the paddle takes it in one pass.
- Run the full-fat version on Ice Cream and the lean version on Lite Ice Cream. Running a cream base on Lite over-processed it slightly in our test and it came out soft.
- Store leftovers levelled and lidded, and re-spin once after refreezing. Allulose pints refreeze a little harder than sugar pints.
Best model for keto and sugar-free ice cream
The NC351 is our pick. Most keto recipes are full-fat cream bases that spin perfectly on the Ice Cream program with no re-spin on any model, so the CreamiFit and Dairy-Free programs on the NC601 do not come into play, and the NC351 gives the shortest Ice Cream cycle of the Creami series at 142 seconds with the quietest 82 dB housing. Its 16 oz pint also suits a category where portion control is usually the point. The NC351 review has the full-fat and lean base results; the lean sugar-free bases needed the same single re-spin as our protein base.
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
The recipes hub has the other 13 categories. Lite recipes cover the low calorie side of sugar-free, and protein recipes cover the high protein side.
Allulose. It lowers the freezing point the way sugar does, so the pint stays scoopable, and it does not recrystallize. Pure erythritol froze our test pint into a hard, gritty block that needed two re-spins and still crunched. Monk fruit and allulose blends work the same as allulose; check the blend is not mostly erythritol.
Because the sweetener is not lowering the freezing point. Sugar does that job in normal ice cream; erythritol and stevia do not. Switch to allulose at the same volume, and add 1 tablespoon of vodka or 1/4 teaspoon of guar gum per pint if it is still too firm. Re-spin once rather than letting it sit out to soften.
Ice Cream for a heavy cream base, which is most keto recipes, and Lite Ice Cream for a leaner base built on almond milk and protein powder. Our cream and allulose base came out creamy on Ice Cream with no re-spin on the NC351. The lean sugar-free bases needed one re-spin on Lite Ice Cream, the same as our protein pints.
Our heavy cream and allulose vanilla comes to about 3 g net carbs per serving, four servings per 16 oz pint, with allulose counted as zero net. The figures are estimated from the ingredients, and the exact number depends on the cream and flavoring you use. Each recipe card lists its own estimated macros.