Cherry Cheesecake Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Blend 3/4 cup pitted cherries with whole milk, vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt, softened cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and salt until silky. Freeze the pint 24 hours, spin on Ice Cream, and re spin once with a tablespoon of milk if crumbly. Mix in crushed graham crackers and serve. The pint carries roughly 40 g of protein, about 10 g per serving across 4 servings.
Cherry Cheesecake Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream tastes like the middle of a cherry cheesecake, spun into thick pink scoops. Real sweet cherries and soft cream cheese blend into a silky base, and crushed graham crackers go through the mixin cycle at the end for that crust crunch. About 10 g of protein per serving from label values, about 40 g per pint, and a proper high protein dessert at the same time.
Why you’ll love it
- Tastes like cherry cheesecake in ice cream form, with real cherries in every spoonful.
- About 10 g of protein per serving from label values, about 40 g per pint.
- Five minutes of hands on work, then the freezer and the machine do the rest.
- The cream cheese makes it spin extra thick and creamy, with no pudding mix needed.
- Graham cracker crunch in every bite, folded through the mixin cycle.
Ingredient notes
Sweet cherries: the flavor and the pink color. Fresh or frozen both work, and frozen are often cheaper, just thaw fully and drain the juice first. About 3/4 cup gives a strong cherry flavor without watering down the base.
Cream cheese: the cheesecake in cherry cheesecake. Two ounces of fully softened cream cheese blends silky and gives the pint its tangy richness. Cold cream cheese is the trap here, since it leaves white flecks.
Protein powder: vanilla is the only right choice, since it builds the cheesecake flavor instead of fighting it. One scoop adds about 20 g of protein on most brand labels, but check yours, since scoops vary.
Greek yogurt and milk: the texture team. Yogurt adds tang and body, about 6 g of protein per 1/4 cup from standard labels, while whole milk keeps the pint creamy instead of icy. The milk adds about 10 g of protein per 1 1/4 cups from standard labels.
Graham crackers: the crust. They go in after spinning through the mixin cycle, so they stay crisp and give that cheesecake base crunch in every spoonful.
The freeze and spin rule that makes or breaks it
Two rules decide this pint, and both are about patience. First, freeze for a full 24 hours on a level surface, with the top smoothed flat. A pint frozen for only a few hours, or frozen at a slant, spins soft and uneven. Second, do not judge the first spin. Protein bases often look crumbly after the first cycle, and that crumbly look sends a lot of people to the conclusion that the recipe failed. It did not. One tablespoon of milk and one re spin turns it thick, creamy and scoopable. A second re spin takes it softer still, toward soft serve, so stop after the first re spin if you want proper scoops. Then make your well, add the graham crackers and run the mixin cycle last, so they stay crisp.
Variations
- Chocolate cherry: add 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips through the mixin cycle with the graham crackers for a black forest style pint.
- Lemon lift: add 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest to the blender. It brightens the cherries and makes the cheesecake flavor pop without tasting like lemon.
- Double cherry: after spinning, fold in a spoonful of chopped fresh cherries with a spoon, just twice, so juicy pieces ripple through the pink base.
- Cookie crust swap: use crushed chocolate graham crackers or vanilla wafers through the mixin cycle instead of plain graham crackers for a different crust flavor.
What we learned testing it
- Softened cream cheese beat cold cream cheese clearly in the side by side test. The room temperature pint blended silky, while the cold cream cheese pint had tiny white flecks even after a long blend.
- Two tablespoons of sweetener was the right amount. Three made the pint taste like candy, and one left the cherries tasting flat once everything was frozen.
- Whole milk gave the thickest spin, and the cream cheese already adds body, so 2% milk still worked well here. Skim milk made the pint noticeably icier, so I do not recommend it.
Read how we test recipes.
Cherry Cheesecake Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream
Makes 1 pint (about 4 servings) · 24 hr 10 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Blender · Ninja Creami machine · Ninja Creami pint container with lid
Instructions
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Blend the cherry cheesecake base until silky
Add the cherries, milk, protein powder, Greek yogurt, softened cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and salt to a blender. Blend for 45 to 60 seconds until completely smooth and a pretty pink, with no cream cheese lumps left. The base should look like a thick cherry milkshake.
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Pour into the pint and freeze for 24 hours
Pour the base into your Ninja Creami pint container, staying below the max fill line. Smooth the top with a spoon so it freezes level, which helps the machine spin evenly. Snap on the lid and freeze the pint on a level surface for a full 24 hours. A shorter freeze gives a soft, slushy spin.
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Spin on Ice Cream, then re spin if crumbly
Take the pint straight from the freezer, remove the lid and load it into the machine. Select the Ice Cream setting and let it run the full cycle. If the pint looks powdery or crumbly after the first spin, add 1 tablespoon of milk and press the re spin button once. That one re spin is what turns this base from crumbly to creamy.
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Mix in the graham crackers and serve
Use a spoon to make a deep well in the center of the spun pint, add the crushed graham crackers and run the mixin cycle so they fold through the pink ice cream. Scoop into bowls right away, while the texture is thick and the graham pieces are still crisp.
Notes
- Use fully softened cream cheese. Cold cream cheese will not blend smooth and it leaves tiny white specks in the finished pint, so let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes first.
- Frozen cherries work just as well as fresh here, and they are often cheaper. Thaw them fully and pour off the juice before blending, or the base gets too thin.
- Taste the base before freezing. A frozen pint always tastes a little less sweet than the liquid base, so the base should taste just slightly sweeter than you want the finished ice cream.
- Do not add the graham crackers before freezing. They go in after spinning through the mixin cycle, which keeps them crisp instead of soggy.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Sweet cherries
- Use frozen dark sweet cherries, thawed and drained. Tart cherries work too, but add an extra tablespoon of sweetener to balance their sharper flavor.
- Cream cheese
- Use an extra 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt instead. The pint loses a little of the cheesecake tang but keeps a thick, creamy body and the protein stays about the same.
- Graham crackers
- Use crushed vanilla wafers or shortbread cookies instead. They fold through the mixin cycle the same way and add a buttery crunch.
Storage and make-ahead
The texture is at its best in the first few minutes after spinning. If you have leftovers, smooth the surface flat, put the lid back on and refreeze. Re spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, adding a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. Eat refrozen leftovers within 3 days for the best texture.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make this cherry cheesecake ninja creami without protein powder?
You can, but the pint changes. Without the powder you lose about 20 g of protein per pint and the base spins a little thinner. If you want a no powder pint with more protein, add an extra 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt instead.
Why is my cherry pint crumbly after the first spin?
That is normal, not a failure. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and run one re spin. One re spin fixes almost every pint, and a second makes it softer, almost like soft serve.
Can I use frozen cherries instead of fresh?
Yes, frozen sweet cherries work just as well. Thaw them fully and pour off the juice before blending so the base stays thick enough to spin well.
How much protein is in this ice cream?
These are label based estimates, not lab tested numbers, and they vary by brand. The pint carries roughly 40 g of protein in total, about 10 g per serving across 4 servings. Check your milk, yogurt, cream cheese and powder labels for your exact numbers.
Can I refreeze and re spin the leftovers?
Yes. Smooth the surface flat, lid the pint and refreeze it. Spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, with a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. The texture is best within 3 days.
