High protein Ninja Swirl soft serve

Another day, another Ninja Swirl recipe! Today we’re making a high protein Ninja Swirl soft serve (or scoop, if that’s what you prefer). The measurements have been specifically designed for the Ninja Swirl tub size and machine, so let’s dive straight in.

This recipe can contain up to 67g protein per tub with the right ingredients. It is lovely and creamy and doesn’t taste overly protein powdery, either. You can make it lactose free and/or low FODMAP as well.

Ingredient notes

This recipe uses banana, high protein Greek yoghurt, protein powder and powdered peanut butter (or real peanut butter) for the base. These ingredients work together to bump the protein content right up, but also to add flavour and creaminess.

The protein powder is an important piece of the equation here for a few reasons. It will have a huge impact on the taste and consistency of your high protein ice cream but also on the sweetness. A lot of store bought protein powders contain sweeteners like stevia or monkfruit. While these don’t have any impact on the freezing point of an ice cream, they are a variable in terms of how sweet your ice cream will be.

I use Bare Blends Vanilla WPI for all of my personal protein needs. This isn’t sponsored, it’s just the name the product I have used here. WPI is lower lactose and thus lower FODMAP than WPC (whey protein concentrate). I love the texture it gives high protein ice cream – creamy, chewy and smooth. Personally, I also prefer a powder with very minimal ingredients.

If you are using a protein with lots of added sweetener, I would recommend omitting the maple syrup. I’d also consider using a firm banana as opposed to a riper one.

If your protein powder has a strong taste, your ice cream will have a strong taste. If your protein powder is unsweetened, you will need to add more maple syrup – maybe 50-75g. Personally, I really recommend a whey protein isolate here.

In terms of the yogurt, I also recommend an unsweetened variety. This is because the volume of protein tends to add a good amount of sweetness along with the banana.

Dietary notes

I have only tested this recipe as it stands – not a plant based version. Stay tuned for that, though, because I will get there at some point.

To make this recipe low FODMAP, choose a high protein lactose free yogurt. Lots of the high protein varieties contain lactase if you check the ingredient list, even if they don’t advertise the product as being lactose free. Chobani Fit is one of those brands.

Although the quantity of banana we are using shouldn’t be an issue, you can choose firm banana or sugar banana (ripe or firm) to keep the FODMAP content down.

Peanut butter is low FODMAP in serves of up to 50g, according to Monash.

If you need a peanut free version, I’d recommend cashew butter or maybe even tahini. Coconut butter might also work well. Keep in mind that adjusting the ingredients will adjust the amount of protein in the ice cream.

Notes on the Creami Fit setting

I tested this recipe using the ‘soft serve’ and ‘Creami Fit’ settings, which processed the mixture for 6 minutes. The result was akin to frozen protein fluff. Whey protein isolate has a habit of frothing up with extended blending and I found that 6 minutes had this effect. The texture was interesting as an ice cream but I wasn’t as thrilled with it as a soft serve.

Speaking of soft, it was also very soft after the first processing. If you intend to use this setting, I’d recommend budgeting for an extra 30 or so minutes of time in the freezer after you process it. This will ideally firm it up enough to make soft serve.

See the pictures below – on the left is a mixture processed with Creami Fit. On the right is a mixture processed with light ice cream. You can see that it is much less fluffy and more of a soft serve consistency.

You can absolutely make this recipe and use the Creami Fit setting. I’d be intrigued to see the time difference between the soft serve and scoop settings. The next time I make it, I will try processing the ice cream with the scoop and Creami Fit settings and update the post.

Tips for the Ninja Swirl machine

• The soft serve setting processes mixtures for longer than the scoop setting. So far, I have not noticed a difference in texture other than that the soft serve setting is much softer (unsurprising, given it is processed for longer).
• I highly recommend processing cream-based Ninja Swirl recipes using the scoop function, regardless of whether you intend to make soft serve or ice cream. The soft serve setting processes mixtures for far too long and starts to split the cream. This forms an unpleasant film in your mouth with every spoonful. Cream-based recipes process nicely as soft serve using the ‘scoop’ and ‘ice cream’ settings.
• Thoroughly wash every piece of the lid immediately after using. I recommend taking the blue rubber ring off the soft serve lid and washing all around that, too. I found a lot of old gunk in there despite only having my machine for a month and always washing the lid.
• Expect to lose some ice cream in the soft serve nozzle and at the bottom of the tub. The machine doesn’t seem to be able to process that last part of the mixture.
• Needless to say, you don’t need to make soft serve! The scoop ice cream is just as creamy and delicious as one made in the original Ninja Creami.

More Ninja Swirl recipes

• Ninja Swirl vanilla soft serve or ice cream
• Ninja Swirl Dole Whip
• Ninja Swirl strawberry soft serve or ice cream
• Ninja Swirl chocolate soft serve or ice cream
• Ninja Swirl frozen yogurt