I am a vanilla girl at heart – always have been, always will be. A lot of the store bought vanilla ice creams these days, however are made with a suspiciously long list of ingredients and unpronounceable additives. Less of a fan of that. After I bought my Ninja Creami and got on Creami TikTok, I realised I could make an easy vanilla ice cream at home. So, without further ado: my Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream recipe. This recipe is incredibly simple but makes an amazing vanilla ice cream – it’s thick and creamy and rivals any store bought ice cream I have had.
Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream recipe
This recipe uses four ingredients – sweetened condensed milk, thickened cream (heavy cream) vanilla and vanilla bean paste or extract. From there, you can add whatever mix ins you like (or eat it plain for a delicious vanilla ice cream Ninja Creami). As we will go into below, you can use lactose free dairy here (not dairy free, although I am working on a vegan recipe). This makes it suitable for those with lactose intolerance or those on a low FODMAP diet.
My inspiration for this recipe comes from TikTok. I saw the idea for condensed milk there, and tweaked the recipe to make it according to my preferences. I am not 100% sure who the original creator is, but I have tagged the TikTok I saw and was inspired by.
Honestly, this is my new go-to vanilla ice cream. Incredibly easy, no weird ingredients, no cooking required and no eggs.
And if you’re after more flavours? I have a recipe for Ninja Creami chocolate ice cream here (it is also egg free and uses similar ingredients). I also have a recipe for Ninja Creami strawberry ice cream here.
More Ninja Creami recipes
- Ninja Creami cookies and cream ice cream
- Ninja Creami strawberry ice cream
- Ninja Creami chocolate ice cream
- Ninja Creami high protein ice cream
- Ninja Creami vegan vanilla ice cream
- High protein Ninja Creami recipe e-book (including a high protein matcha ice cream recipe and a high protein strawberry matcha recipe)
Ingredient notes
The most important one is to ensure you buy sweetened condensed milk. This is the only source of sweetener in our vanilla Ninja Creami, so you need to ensure it actually contains sugar. Evaporated milk is not suitable, nor is any condensed milk without sugar.
If you don’t have a particularly sweet tooth, I recommend using 150g sweetened condensed milk. 200g makes for quite a sweet vanilla ice cream.
For those who don’t want to use sweetened condensed milk, see my Ninja Creami cookies and cream recipe. It uses white sugar instead.
Thickened cream contains around 35% fat here in Australia. The equivalent in America is heavy cream. The UK equivalent is whipping cream.
I don’t know about other countries but in Australia most creams have thickeners added. Very annoying for sure. With that said, a lot of Ninja Creami recipes use xanthan gum to improve consistency, so using a cream with thickener might have a slight benefit.
I don’t currently have any dairy free substitutes for any ingredients. This recipe is designed to taste like rich and delicious classic vanilla ice cream. I am working on a vegan version but I don’t want it to taste like coconut so its definitely a work in progress.
Lactose free and low FODMAP Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream
When I first published my lactose free condensed milk recipe, I figured a company would bring one out at any minute. The demand for ‘free form’ has grown, so I assumed it was a matter of time.
Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case here in Australia. Condensed milk is literally milk that is condensed by having the water component of the milk cooked off. As such, it is condensed lactose and very high lactose.
However, my lactose intolerant friends still have options! Firstly, you can simply add lactase drops to your condensed milk around 24-48 hours before you use it. The lactase enzyme will consume most of the lactose, making the lactose content much lower. Intoleran, where I bought my drops, recommend 10 drops per 250ml.
If you don’t have lactase drops, I have a recipe for lactose free condensed milk. It starts with lactose free milk which you will condense and caramelise yourself along with sugar.
You can also use the vanilla ice cream base of my Ninja Creami cookies and cream. It uses sugar instead of sweetened condensed milk.
Next, you’ll need to decide how to make the other elements lactose free. You can use either store bought lactose free thickened cream and milk or make your own with lactase drops. Lactose free thickened cream will require about 10 drops per 250ml. I have a guide to making your own lactose free milk here.
The last thing to keep in mind is any mix ins. Use lactose free mix ins to keep the ice cream lactose free.
Can I use light products for a lower fat vanilla ice cream?
Yes, you can (with a caveat). I have successfully used light condensed milk, light thickened cream and light milk in this recipe. However, I found that it came out of the machine quite soft – more like soft serve.
If you want to make light ice cream with a firm texture, I recommend processing it an hour or so before you intend to eat it. After time in the freezer it will firm up to become a traditional ice cream consistency.
I personally process most of my ice cream on the ice cream setting. I haven’t been able to find any concrete evidence on what the different functions do. However, I am sure you would get similar results by processing it on the light ice cream function.
Can I make a vegan version?
I haven’t tested this recipe with vegan counterparts, but I do have a recipe for Ninja Creami vegan vanilla ice cream here.
McFlurry Ninja Creami
This recipe for Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream just so happens to make an excellent McFlurry inspired ice cream. Personally, m’n’ms were always my McFlurry add in of choice. Of course, you can also use Oreos (gluten free or regular) or any mix in you fancy. You could also top your ice cream with fudge sauce instead.
In my limited experience of using the machine, I find chocolate mix ins get too cold when added for a respin. You can’t really taste the chocolate anymore because they are so cold. As such, I prefer to add them to a bowl of the ice cream after I scoop it. I daresay Oreos or crumbled biscuits would fare better as I assume you can still taste them when they are cold.
Tips for your Ninja Creami
- After a while, you’ll get a sense of how cold your freezer is and how long you need to freeze a Creami tub for. Overnight seems to be fine for me for most recipes, although we are currently in winter in Australia.
- I have found that higher fat ice creams need less processing than low fat ones.
- Lots of people say that xanthan gum has a positive impact on Ninja Creami ice cream texture. Most store bought cream in Australia already contains xanthan gum, so I don’t add any. If your cream doesn’t have any added, you could experiment with a tiny pinch.
- This particular ice cream makes a fair bit of noise when processing. I’m not sure why, but it really rattles around. If you are a nervy cook, I recommend leaving the room haha. I promise it’s worth it and it shouldn’t damage your machine. I suspect it might just be the viscous nature of sweetened condensed milk.
- Personally, I find that adding chocolate for a respin just makes for cold and tasteless chocolate. I would prefer to scoop out the ice cream and serve it sprinkled with fresh chocolate chips (or whatever else you plan to use).
Recipes to serve with your Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream
- Easy gluten free mug cake
- Gluten free fruit crumble
- Gluten free sticky date pudding
- Low FODMAP, gluten free ‘apple’ pie
- Gluten free blueberry cobbler
Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream recipe
Ingredients
- 200g thickened cream (heavy/whipping in US/UK) or double cream for an even creamier ice cream
- 150-200g sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk or any other product)
- 100g full fat milk
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla bean extract
Instructions
- Weigh the ingredients directly into your Ninja Creami tub.
- Mix thoroughly to combine, ensuring you have incorporated all the condensed milk.
- Place the mixture into the freezer without the lid for up to 24 hours. I find around 15-16 hours is enough for me, but your freezer might be warmer or colder.
- When you are ready to use it, process your ice cream using the ice cream function. If it looks a bit balled up after the first spin, spin it again.
- Serve alone, with mix ins or with a dessert of your choice. You can place the lid on leftovers and process again when you need more vanilla ice cream. The Ninja Creami machine will successfully spin a half tub. If it is only a few hours later, I find you don't need to respin this recipe – it remains creamy and scoopable.
Notes
- Use 150g sweetened condensed milk for a less sweet version and 200g for a sweeter version.
- Evaporated milk or anything that is not sweetened condensed milk will not work here. The condensed milk is the only sweetener added to this ice cream, so you cannot omit it.
- If you want to make vanilla ice cream with sugar instead of sweetened condensed milk, use the vanilla base of my cookies and cream Ninja Creami recipe.
- This recipe also works with light dairy products.
- For a lactose free/low FODMAP version, see the notes in the body of the post.
- You could add a tiny pinch of salt for flavour, if you like.
I have found this recipe to give me the best tasting, best consistency ice cream so far. I appreciate the ingredients listed as weight, rather than volume. I find it gives me the greatest ability to control changes. I prefer less sweet, so I added 125g sweetened condensed milk (recipe calls for 150-200g). For comparison, this results in approx. 12.3g sugar per 88g serving. Breyer’s vanilla ice cream is 14g sugar per 88g serving (2/3 cp). I also added 1/8 tsp salt, and 1 tsp Wild Vanilla Powder (Wild Foods). Again, wonderful recipe, and I plan to try your others!
So glad you enjoyed it Steve! And great to know that you customised it with ease, I love to hear that.
Thanks for sharing your edits too, I’m sure people will find them very helpful in the pursuit of their own perfect ice cream 🙂