Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream (Chocolate)
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Whisk 1 1/4 cups chocolate protein milk with 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder, 2 tablespoons of cocoa, pudding mix and vanilla until smooth, freeze the pint for a full 24 hours, then spin on Lite Ice Cream. The whole pint lands at about 40 g of protein, and one re-spin with a tablespoon of milk fixes a crumbly first spin.
This ninja creami protein ice cream is the chocolate pint for anyone who wants dessert and a serious protein count in the same bowl. It spins up rich and fudgy, lands at roughly 40 grams of protein for the whole pint, and the base takes five minutes to whisk together. Prefer to skip protein powder altogether? Our Ninja Creami Cottage Cheese Ice Cream gets its protein from blended cottage cheese instead, and it tastes like vanilla cheesecake.
Why you’ll love it
- Rich, fudgy chocolate flavor that comes mostly from real cocoa, not just the powder.
- About 40 g of protein in the whole pint, from the protein milk plus a scoop of whey.
- Five minutes of mixing, then the freezer and the machine do the work.
- Mini chocolate chips folded in at the end, so there is crunch in every bite.
Ingredient notes
Chocolate protein milk: ultra-filtered chocolate milk carries around 13 g of protein per cup, which is how this pint reaches its count without tasting chalky. Regular chocolate milk works too, with a slightly lower total (see the substitutions below the recipe).
Protein powder: whey dissolves the cleanest and freezes the smoothest. A whey and casein blend is a good second choice and sets a little firmer. Whatever you use, pick a chocolate flavor you already like drinking, because the pint will taste like it, only colder and less sweet.
Pudding mix: one tablespoon of sugar-free chocolate pudding mix is the quiet thickener here. It gives the spun pint firm, clean scoops instead of a soft, fast-melting texture, and it costs almost nothing in flavor.
Why protein pints spin up powdery first
A regular ice cream base has plenty of fat and sugar, and both work against ice crystals, so it freezes into a firm but forgiving block. A protein base like this one is lean, so it freezes rock hard. When the Creami blade shaves that block on the first pass, it comes out looking like powder or dry crumbs. That is not a failed pint. It is just the halfway point. A tablespoon of milk and one re-spin give the shavings enough moisture to pack together into smooth, dense ice cream. Expect to re-spin this recipe every single time, and judge the texture only after that second pass.
Variations
- Chocolate peanut butter: add 2 tablespoons of powdered peanut butter to the base before freezing, then use a tablespoon of chopped peanuts or a swirl of peanut butter as the mix-in.
- Mocha chip: add 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder to the base. The coffee deepens the chocolate flavor without making the pint taste like coffee, and the mini chips still work as the mix-in.
- Mint chocolate chip: swap the vanilla for 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract and keep the mini chocolate chips. It tastes like the classic scoop shop flavor, just with a lot more protein.
What we learned testing it
- Whey protein gave the smoothest pint. A whey and casein blend was a close second and froze a little firmer, while plant protein powder soaked up more liquid and needed 2 extra tablespoons of milk to avoid a dry, crumbly spin.
- One tablespoon of pudding mix is the firmness sweet spot. Skipping it made a softer pint that melted fast, and doubling it turned the texture gummy.
- Blending for a full 30 seconds mattered more than expected. Pints whisked for only a few seconds had tiny undissolved powder pockets that stayed gritty after spinning.
Read how we test recipes.
Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream (Chocolate)
Makes 1 pint (16 oz) · 24 hr 5 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Blender or whisk · Ninja Creami machine · Ninja Creami pint container with lid
Instructions
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Mix the base
Pour the chocolate protein milk into a blender or a tall jug. Add the protein powder, cocoa powder, pudding mix, sweetener, vanilla and salt. Blend for 20 to 30 seconds, or whisk hard for a full minute, until the powder has fully dissolved and the base looks like chocolate milk with no dry pockets.
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Taste and adjust
Taste the base before it goes into the pint. Frozen desserts taste less sweet, so the liquid base should taste a touch too sweet and a touch more chocolatey than you want the finished pint.
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Fill the pint
Pour the base into your Ninja Creami pint container, staying below the max fill line. If blending whipped up foam, let the base settle for a minute and then top up to just under the line.
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Freeze for 24 hours
Snap on the lid and freeze the pint on a level surface for a full 24 hours. Protein bases freeze harder than regular ice cream bases, and a short freeze gives a slushy, uneven spin.
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Spin on Lite Ice Cream
Take the pint straight from the freezer, remove the lid and load it into the machine. Select the Lite Ice Cream setting and let it run the full cycle.
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Re-spin if crumbly
A powdery or crumbly first spin is normal here, because the base is low in fat and sugar. Add 1 tablespoon of milk, poke it down the center with a spoon, then press Re-spin. It should come together into smooth, scoopable ice cream.
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Add the mix-ins
Make a small well in the center of the pint with a spoon, pour in the mini chocolate chips and run the Mix-in cycle. The chips stay chunky and give every bite a little crunch.
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Serve right away
Scoop and enjoy straight from the pint, or serve it in a bowl with a few extra chips on top. The texture is creamiest in the first few minutes after spinning.
Notes
- Icy pint: it almost always needs the re-spin. Add the tablespoon of milk before you judge it, and next time check that your freezer is at 0 F (-18 C) or colder, since a warm freezer grows bigger ice crystals.
- Powder that will not dissolve: whisk the protein powder into 2 tablespoons of the milk to make a smooth paste first, then stir in the rest. It stops the dry pockets that turn gritty after spinning.
- Foam on top after blending: let the base rest for 5 minutes before filling the pint. Foam freezes into an airy layer that spins up crumbly.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Chocolate protein milk
- Use regular chocolate milk, or plain milk with 1 extra tablespoon of cocoa powder and 1 extra tablespoon of sweetener. The texture stays the same, and the pint still lands in the mid 30s for protein thanks to the powder.
- Protein powder
- Skip it entirely and make our Ninja Creami Cottage Cheese Ice Cream instead. It gets about 30 g of protein per pint from blended cottage cheese, with no powder at all.
- Sugar-free chocolate pudding mix
- Use regular chocolate pudding mix at the same amount, or leave it out and whisk 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into the base for a little of the same thickening.
Storage and make-ahead
Smooth the top flat with a spoon, put the lid back on and return the pint to the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Leftover protein pints freeze very hard, so re-spin on Lite Ice Cream before serving and add a tablespoon of milk if it looks crumbly. Avoid refreezing more than twice, since each cycle makes it a little icier.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best type of protein powder for a Ninja Creami?
A whey protein powder or a whey and casein blend works best, because both dissolve smoothly and freeze without going gritty. Plant protein powders absorb more liquid, so add 2 extra tablespoons of milk if you use one, and expect a slightly denser pint.
Why is my protein ice cream icy?
Protein ice cream bases are low in fat and sugar, and fat and sugar are two of the things that keep regular ice cream soft, so the frozen pint starts out icy and powdery. One re-spin with a tablespoon of milk fixes almost every pint, and a full 24 hour freeze in a cold freezer helps too.
Can I use regular milk instead of chocolate protein milk?
Yes. Use regular chocolate milk, or plain milk with 1 extra tablespoon of cocoa and 1 extra tablespoon of sweetener. The spin and the texture stay the same, and the pint still carries roughly 35 g of protein from the powder.
How do I scale this for the Ninja Creami Deluxe?
The Deluxe pint holds 24 oz instead of 16 oz, so multiply every ingredient by 1.5. Use 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons of chocolate protein milk, 1 1/2 scoops of powder, 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 1/2 tablespoons of pudding mix, then freeze and spin exactly the same way.
How can I make this pint completely sugar-free?
Use a sugar-free sweetener such as a monk fruit blend or allulose, keep the sugar-free pudding mix, and check your protein powder and protein milk labels, since both can carry a few grams of sugar. The chocolate flavor stays rich because most of it comes from the cocoa powder.
