Strawberry Sorbet (Ninja Creami, Sorbet Program)

Fresh fruit sorbet is harder than canned because the sugar has to come from you, and this ratio gave us a smooth scoop with no re-spin. Two and a half cups of strawberries bring the pectin and color, a third of a cup of sugar lowers the freezing point enough for the paddle to shave the block cleanly, and lemon juice and salt sharpen the flavor. We tested it on the original Ninja Creami NC301 with the Sorbet program, which finished in 140 seconds with zero re-spins. Per serving, four per pint, we estimate 95 kcal, 1 g protein, 24 g carbs and 0 g fat, with no dairy.

Tested recipe

Strawberry Sorbet

A bright, dairy-free strawberry sorbet made from fresh berries with just enough sugar to scoop smooth on the Sorbet program without a re-spin.

SorbetNC3010 re-spins

Prep

10 min

Freeze

24 h

Process

3 min

Total

24 h 13 min

Servings

4 per pint

16 oz pint24 oz XL tub

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (375 g) fresh strawberries, hulled
• 1/3 cup (67 g) granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp (30 g) water
• 1 tbsp (15 g) fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp fine salt

Equipment

• Ninja Creami NC301
• 16 oz Creami pint

Method

1. Put the hulled strawberries, sugar, water, lemon juice and salt in a blender.
2. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes so the sugar draws juice from the berries.
3. Blend for 30 seconds, until completely smooth.
4. Pour the puree into the Creami pint up to the max fill line.
5. Lid the pint and freeze it on a level surface for 24 hours.
6. Remove the lid, lock the pint into the outer bowl, fit the paddle lid and press Sorbet.
7. Scoop and serve, or press Re-spin once if the surface looks grainy.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Calories

95 kcal

Protein

1 g

Carbs

24 g

Fat

0 g

Program: Sorbet · Tested on NC301 · By Mike Lala

Tips

• Freeze flat. Set the pint on a level shelf at 0 F and look at the surface before you process. A tilted block is the most common cause of a sorbet that is smooth on one side and grainy on the other, and the fill lines and leveling notes for all three pint systems are in our base ratio cheat sheet.
• Let the sugar draw the juice first. Ten minutes of standing before you blend dissolves the sugar into the berry juice so no crystals settle at the bottom of the pint. Blending immediately works but leaves a sweeter, icier bottom inch.
• Re-spin once if needed, then add water. On the NC301 this base came out smooth on the first Sorbet pass. If your berries were underripe or your freezer runs cold, the surface may look grainy; press Re-spin once without adding anything, and pour 1 tbsp of water over the top only before a second re-spin.
• Taste the berries before you measure the sugar. Sweet summer strawberries can take 1/4 cup (50 g); pale winter ones need the full 1/3 cup (67 g). The goal is a base that tastes slightly too sweet at room temperature, because freezing dulls sweetness.
• Fill to the max line, not above. Fruit puree expands slightly as it freezes, and a pint filled past the line domes above the rim and hits the paddle before the lock engages.

Variations

• Strawberry banana: replace 1 cup (150 g) of the strawberries with 1 medium ripe banana (120 g) and reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup (50 g).
• Strawberry basil: add six fresh basil leaves to the blender for a sorbet that tastes like a summer garden.
• Strawberry frozen yogurt: swap the water for 1/2 cup (120 g) of whole-milk Greek yogurt and run Lite Ice Cream on the NC301, or follow our Greek yogurt frozen yogurt on a model with the Frozen Yogurt program.

Storage and refreeze

Level the leftover sorbet with the back of a spoon, lid the pint and return it to a flat shelf at 0 F. It refreezes hard within a few hours. To serve again, run Sorbet and check the surface; a refrozen fruit pint usually needs one re-spin because the first processing released water that refreezes as free ice. Add 1 tbsp of water only before a second re-spin. Refrozen strawberry sorbet keeps its texture for about five days, slightly less than mango because fresh fruit has less sugar to protect it. Process the whole pint each time and refreeze the remainder; a half-full pint sits below the paddle’s reach.

The model and pints we used

We tested this recipe in an original 16 oz pint on the Gen 1 Creami NC301, which measured 84 dB on the Sorbet cycle and scored our sorbet base 5 out of 5 for texture. The same pints fit the NC351 and NC299AMZ; the pints guide covers the two-packs and four-packs and explains why Deluxe tubs and Swirl pints will not lock in. More fruit bases are in the sorbet recipes, dairy-free recipes and kids recipes categories.

Frequently asked questions

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