Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Blend 1 cup milk with vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt, cream cheese, strawberries and sweetener until smooth, freeze the pint for a full 24 hours, then spin on Ice Cream, re-spin once if crumbly, and run the Mix-in cycle with crushed graham cracker. The pint carries roughly 37 g of protein from label values, about 9 g per serving across 4 servings.
Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream is the pint I make when fresh strawberries are in season and I want dessert to taste like a bakery case. It is just milk, vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt, cream cheese, strawberries and sweetener, blended smooth, frozen solid and spun into tangy pink scoops, finished with a crunchy graham mix-in. Real strawberries, real cheesecake tang, and a proper high protein base underneath.
Why you’ll love it
- Tastes like strawberry cheesecake in ice cream form, not like a protein shake that got frozen.
- About 9 g of protein per serving from label values, about 37 g per pint.
- Five minutes of hands-on work, then the freezer and the machine do the rest.
- Spins thick and creamy, with one re-spin fixing the crumbly first spin.
- The graham mix-in gives a real cheesecake crunch in every bite.
Ingredient notes
Strawberries: the flavor and the color. Fresh berries work beautifully, and thawed frozen berries blend even smoother, as long as you drain them well first. Undrained berry juice is the fastest route to an icy pint.
Cream cheese and Greek yogurt: together they make the cheesecake tang. Cream cheese brings richness, yogurt brings body and a little extra protein, about 6 g per 1/4 cup from standard labels. With only one of them the pint tastes like strawberry ice cream, but with both it tastes like cheesecake.
Milk: whole milk gives the creamiest pint, and 2% is a close second. The milk adds about 8 g of protein per cup from standard labels and keeps the base from freezing rock hard. Skim milk is the one version I would skip, since it made the test pint icy.
Protein powder: vanilla is the best match here, since it lets the strawberry and cheesecake flavors lead. One scoop adds about 20 g of protein on most brand labels, but check yours, since scoops vary.
Graham cracker: the crunch that sells the cheesecake idea. One crushed sheet through the Mix-in cycle is enough, and it has to go in right before serving or the pieces soften within the hour.
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. Fruit 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. Then run the Mix-in cycle with the graham cracker and serve right away, while the crunch is still crunchy.
Variations
- Strawberry shortcake: swap the graham cracker for crushed vanilla wafers and finish each bowl with a spoonful of whipped cream for a shortcake style pint.
- Mixed berry cheesecake: replace half the strawberries with raspberries or blueberries for a mixed berry cheesecake pint. The color deepens and the tang gets a little sharper.
- Chocolate strawberry: after the re-spin, drizzle 1 tablespoon of chocolate sauce over the top and fold twice with a spoon before the graham mix-in, for a chocolate covered strawberry twist.
- No graham version: skip the mix-in entirely and serve the plain spun pint with fresh sliced strawberries on top. It is still cheesecake flavored, just without the crunch.
What we learned testing it
- Draining thawed strawberries was the difference between creamy and icy. The undrained pint froze with visible ice crystals, while the drained pint spun smooth.
- Cream cheese plus Greek yogurt gave the real cheesecake tang. With only one of them the pint tasted like strawberry ice cream, but with both it tasted like strawberry cheesecake.
- Graham timing mattered. Mixed in right before serving, the pieces stayed crunchy, but mixed in an hour early they went soft and disappeared into the pint.
Read how we test recipes.
Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake 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 base until the strawberries break down
Add the milk, protein powder, Greek yogurt, cream cheese, strawberries and sweetener to a blender, leaving the graham cracker aside. Blend for 45 seconds until the strawberries are fully broken down and the base looks smooth and pink, with no fruit chunks left.
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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 Re-spin. That one re-spin is what turns this base from crumbly to creamy.
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Mix in the graham crunch and serve right away
With a spoon, dig a hole about 4 cm wide down the center of the pint, add the crushed graham cracker and run the Mix-in cycle. Scoop into bowls right away, since the graham pieces soften within the hour.
Notes
- Thaw frozen strawberries and drain them well first. The extra juice makes the pint icy instead of creamy, so drain until no liquid pools in the bowl.
- Serve right after the Mix-in cycle. The graham pieces stay crunchy for about an hour, then soften into the pint, which still tastes good but loses the cheesecake crunch.
- 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.
- If your freezer runs very cold and the pint is too firm to load, let it rest on the counter for 2 to 3 minutes before spinning, no longer.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Graham cracker
- Use crushed vanilla wafers or shortbread instead. Both give the same buttery crunch, and shortbread leans the pint a little more toward a baked cheesecake flavor.
- Fresh strawberries
- Use thawed frozen strawberries, drained very well. They blend smoother than fresh berries, so the base needs the full 45 seconds to break them down evenly.
- Cream cheese
- Use an extra 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt instead. The pint will be tangier and a little less rich, but it still reads as cheesecake.
Storage and make-ahead
The texture is at its best in the first few minutes after spinning, and the graham crunch only lasts about an hour. 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, and add fresh crushed graham at serving time. Eat refrozen leftovers within 3 days for the best texture.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use frozen strawberries for this ninja creami strawberry cheesecake ice cream?
Yes, and they blend very smoothly. Thaw them first and drain them well, since the extra juice makes the pint icy instead of creamy. Drain until no liquid pools in the bowl before blending.
Why is my strawberry pint crumbly after the first spin?
That is normal, not a failure. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin once. One re-spin fixes almost every pint, and a second makes it softer, almost like soft serve.
When should I add the graham cracker?
After the spin and re-spin, right before serving. Dig a hole down the center, add the crushed graham and run the Mix-in cycle. The pieces stay crunchy for about an hour, then soften.
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 37 g of protein in total, about 9 g per serving across 4 servings. Check your milk, yogurt 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, and add fresh crushed graham at serving time since the old pieces will have gone soft.
