I Compared The Ninja CREAMi To A Regular Blender To See If It Is Really Worth The $200+ It Costs To Buy One

If you have made it nearly halfway through 2023 and have not seen — or at least heard of — the Ninja CREAMi, then I am going to assume you are straight-up living off the grid (and good for you). It is essentially a fancy ice cream maker...

That is completely sold out everywhere right now.

The Ninja CREAMi first came out in July of 2021, but once again, the power of TikTok has made this gadget fly off the shelves this year. The regular price is $229.99, but I was able to score one on Amazon for $159.99 before they all sold out.

Doing a quick check online, Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Sam's Club are all out of stock as well. I found some refurbished ones on Amazon, but they all cost close to $200, so purchase at your own risk.

Now, let's get into what you came here for: an honest review. The good thing is you don't have to worry about impulse buying it because you can't. Just let all this info I am about to share marinate in your brain until it gets back in stock.

HBO

Now, I expected this thing to be big and take up counter space — and it did. However, it is slimmer than I thought, so that is a win. I also want to note that it is solid and heavy. Here is what it looks like fresh out of the box for reference:

Right off the bat, one of the most annoying things about this device is that you can't enjoy the recipes immediately. You have to freeze the ingredients overnight and then put them in the machine the next day to ~creamify~ them.

For my review, I decided to test some recipes from @abbyinthegalley, who found her CREAMi at a thrift store for $20!!! She's a chef who has been making viral recipes with it. First, I tried her recipe for berry cheesecake:

It is rare to find measurements to these viral TikTok recipes (and I do best eye-balling anyway), so I added a few heaping spoonfuls of strawberry Greek yogurt and then some milk.

Next @abbyinthegalley's recipe calls for blueberries (I used frozen but I don't think it matters) and some cheesecake Jell-O.

I said a prayer and froze it overnight.

This is what it looked like the next day:

I turned the CREAMi to the sorbet setting and crossed my fingers. THE MACHINE IS LOUD AS HELL, BUT IT IS ALSO QUICK. After about 30–45 seconds, it was done (sorry I didn't time it). I was really, REALLY hoping to pull the lid off to see a beautiful creamy swirl. Instead, I got this:

I decided to add a little milk to see if that would do the trick...

AND HALLELUJAH!

Not only was it perfect, but it tasted FANTASIC. OMG. It was soooooo good. I put some granola in mine too, and I was in heaven. I will be making this on the reg.

Next up was @abbyinthegalley's Pistachio CREAMi. It calls for milk, Greek yogurt, and pistachio Jell-O mix.

I added milk again after it froze — I don't know how people are getting theirs creamy without adding a splash of milk the next day, because I had the same issue I did with the blueberry cheesecake. Anyway, I did the sorbet setting and the presentation was perfection once more! I didn't like this one as much as the berry cheesecake, but if you're a pistachio fan, you'll definitely dig this.

Now, these recipes are great, but the biggest thing I wondered was if my regular Ninja bullet could make a milkshake with a similar consistency. So, I decided to freeze some chocolate milk in the CREAMi cup and then freeze some chocolate milk in my Ninja bullet and compare the two.

Here is what the frozen milk looked like up close in the CREAMi machine if you were curious:

And, as expected, what happened with the prior recipes happened again. I got crystalized chocolate fluff.

So I went in with more chocolate milk (I put it on the ice cream setting for this one, for reference).

And I came out with something that had the exact same consistency as a Wendy's frosty!!!

Now for the Ninja bullet. I had to set it out on the counter to thaw a bit because I am not the brightest light bulb in the box and didn't really think this experiment through 😂.

After it was melted just enough, I blended it and it came out like this:

I tried to add a little bit of milk and it just made it a milky chocolate slush. Nowhere close to what the CREAMi did.

And lastly, just for fun, I decided to make a cocktail:

I froze fresh watermelon and lime juice. The next day, I added some tequila and a splash of OJ. It was FANTASTIC, but I will say this one came out more with a Slurpee-like consistency!

I will finalize my overall thoughts on the Ninja CREAMi with a pros and cons list below:

PROS:

1. Consistency is superb and can't be achieved in a regular blender.

2. There are an endless amount of really delicious recipes you can make with this, especially if you want to try it with protein shakes.

3. It creams things in a minute or less.

4. Cleanup is really easy and it comes with easy-to-store cups/lids.

5. If you eat soft serve, smoothies, or acaí bowls every day, these will eventually save you money in the long run.

CONS:

1. It's expensive.

2. It is heavy and takes up a decent amount of room if you have a small kitchen.

3. You have to wait to freeze the ingredients overnight. There's no instant gratification with this thing.

4. You have to really eat it all in one sitting because if you try to refrigerate it and eat it again later, it won't be good.

5. It is loud as hell.

If you have a Ninja CREAMi, let us know what you think of it in the comments!