I compared the Ninja Creami to 2 popular alternatives, and while it made the best ice cream, it's not the only one I liked

If I could choose my last meal, it would be ice cream. And lots of it. I eat it every day, all year round, and even own a traditional electric ice cream maker so that I can make large batches of unique flavors like spicy chocolate chili ice cream.

The only problem? My two-quart machine is bulky and cumbersome to lug out every time I want to make homemade ice cream. So I’m not surprised that the Ninja Creami was such a huge hit when it was introduced in 2021. It’s compact (and attractive) enough to keep on most countertops, can whip up a variety of frozen desserts, and, unlike a traditional ice cream machine, it doesn’t eat up freezer space. Instead of freezing a massive empty bowl overnight to churn your ice cream base the next day, you freeze ingredients directly in a pint container and a high-speed blade system "shaves" the frozen block into a perfectly smooth, frosty treat in minutes.

While Ninja pioneered this category, cheaper, more compact competitors have emerged to challenge its dominance. I spent weeks testing the Ninja Creami 7-in-1 against alternatives like the nutribullet Chill and Cuisinart FastFreeze to find out who each one is best for and which machine iced out the competition. The Ninja Creami systems remain the most versatile option, but Nutribullet and Cuisinart whipped up some delicious novelties, too. Here’s the scoop.

How we tested

I made the same recipes in the Ninja Creami, nutribullet Chill, and Cuisinart FastFreeze, then evaluated each machine using the following criteria.

• Ease of use: First, I looked at how easy the ice cream maker is to set up and how steep its learning curve is to operate. I also considered whether the interface is intuitive and if the presets do all the heavy lifting, or if the user needs to lend a hand.
• Dessert quality: I made dairy-based vanilla ice cream, dairy-free vanilla coconut ice cream, juice-based lemon sorbet, and pink lemonade slushies, and I added candy mix-ins to the dairy-based vanilla ice cream. Then, I judged each dessert’s creaminess, iciness, and, when applicable, consistency after re-spin.
• Ease of cleanup: Making ice cream is fun, and cleanup should be as simple as possible. I looked at how many parts needed to be washed, how much effort it would take to clean them, and whether any pieces were dishwasher safe.
• Size: Since you want an ice cream maker you’ll actually use, I considered how much space the appliance takes up on the counter or in a cabinet, as well as how heavy it is.
• Noise: Each blade-style machine makes some noise, so I thought about how tolerable and apartment-friendly it is and whether it is too loud for whipping up a late-night treat.

Ninja Creami

What I liked

In my tests, I found the Creami 7-in-1 to be superior to the Chill and the FastFreeze. It made the creamiest, densest vanilla ice cream of all the machines, and my lemon sorbet had a thick, rich texture like premium ice cream, despite containing no dairy. The non-dairy vanilla coconut was very good (though the Chill's was better — more on that below), and the pink lemonade slushy initially came out like dry, powdered snow, then melted into a wonderfully sippable consistency.

The Creami is a dream for creative home cooks who like to experiment. It has an easy-to-navigate user interface, and there are tons of recipes available on TikTok, blogs, Ninja's site, and in cookbooks. But you can also go rogue with the Mix-in setting, which lets you incorporate ingredients like cookie dough, crushed Oreos, and fruit into the pint. When I added my favorite Unreal peanut butter drops to my vanilla ice cream, a single spin on the Mix-in cycle distributed them perfectly, yielding the consistency of a thick shake or blizzard. (This was also the case with the FastFreeze.) The silky, remixed ice cream produced by the Creami was absolutely edible as is, but if you prefer a firmer scoop, return the pint to the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

What to know

Ninja sells several Creami models with different capacities, programs, and accessories. In addition to the base Ninja Creami 7-in-1, there's the Creami Deluxe 11-in-1, which makes 24-ounce servings and has 11 presets, including Italian Ice and Creamiccino. The newer, slimmer Ninja Creami XL 11-in-1 gets an interface upgrade, yields 24-ounce batches, and features 11 presets, including dairy-free, smoothie bowl, and CreamiFit programs. For those specifically craving soft-serve consistency, the specialized Ninja Creami Scoop & Swirl features a dedicated handle for dispensing perfect soft-serve swirls.

What I didn't like

The biggest drawback is the size. The Creami is bulky and about as tall as a coffee maker, so it may be a tight fit on some countertops or in cabinets. It also has several parts to wash after each use, including the outer bowl, lid, blade, pints, and pint lids. They are dishwasher safe, but it's still lots of parts. The outer bowl and lid were also a little clunky to insert and remove at times.

The bottom line

The Ninja Creami is definitely a smooth operator. It remains the best overall machine I tested for texture, customization, and recipe flexibility. It's bulky and has more parts to clean than the others, but it produced the smoothest dairy ice cream and is the strongest choice for anyone who wants to experiment with ingredients.

nutribullet chill

What I liked

My New York City apartment has a small kitchen with limited cabinet and counter space, so I appreciated the nutribullet Chill's narrow design. It is slimmer and shorter than the Creami and has fewer parts (two pint cups with lids, a blade block, and a blade block cover). The machine is sleek enough to keep on my countertop, but its base and accessories also fit into my cabinet.

The Chill's dairy-free vanilla coconut ice cream was the best of all the machines I tested. It was extremely smooth and rich, with a velvety mouthfeel and no detectable ice crystals. My lemon sorbet had a texture similar to a frosty puree, and my pink lemonade slushy started off snow-cone-like before melting slightly and becoming perfectly sippable.

What to know

Setup was relatively easy, although I overlooked the instruction manual's note that the retractable blade must be touching the top of the blade block before twisting it onto the pint cup. When I locked the cup into the Chill's motorized base, a "Check Blade" light alerted me to my error. Otherwise, the nutribullet Chill is incredibly easy to operate. After securing the cup in the machine, you select a program on the touchpad, then hit start. Dessert is ready in under five minutes.

The Chill also has a smaller recipe community than the Creami, and recipes designed for one brand's machine may not work well in another. Such was the case when I made a FastFreeze vanilla ice cream recipe in the Chill that turned out like a melted milkshake. I had better luck using nutribullet's recipe, which has a higher fat content thanks to the addition of egg yolks. It yielded a firm, custardy vanilla ice cream with hints of ice crystals.

What I didn't like

The Chill isn't as versatile as the Creami—there's no Mix-in feature—and it's noisier, too (think blender-level), but it does a fine job at making frozen treats.

The bottom line

The nutribullet Chill is compact, cute, and easy to use. It's a strong pick for casual dessert makers who want a sleek machine that won't dominate the counter. It also excels at non-dairy dessert options.

Cuisinart FastFreeze

What I liked

Retailing at a modest $120, the FastFreeze is a great entry-level gadget for those new to ice cream making. It's the cheapest alternative to the Ninja Creami, is ridiculously easy to use, and takes up little space. It completely reimagines the form factor by swapping the bulky motorized housing of its competitors for a slim, wand-style power handle that locks directly onto a cylindrical mixing assembly.

After freezing the dessert base for 24 hours, you let the half-pint container sit on the counter for 10 minutes, attach the mixing mechanism, select a dessert setting, and push down to engage the blade. The entire process takes seconds and involves much less noise than the Creami or the Chill.

For a simple tool, the FastFreeze does a wonderful job at making desserts. The texture of my dairy and non-dairy ice creams, lemon sorbet, and pink lemonade slushy was noticeably icier than those made with the Creami and Chill, but it got smoother with a few stirs. As with the Creami, the dairy-based vanilla ice cream became looser and silkier when mix-ins were added.

What to know

I live alone, so I found the half-pint containers ideal for creating individual servings, but those wanting larger batches will need to double or triple most recipes, freeze multiple containers, or consider buying the FastFreeze Max, which comes with pint containers.

Of all the machines tested, the FastFreeze was the easiest to clean. The mixing assembly's blade just needs a rinse with warm water, and the containers and lids can be hand-washed or placed in the dishwasher.

What I didn't like

My one gripe with the FastFreeze is that the icons representing the program settings on the dial are confusing. Do I use the soft-serve icon or the ice-cream dish icon to make ice cream? And which of the two drink icons should I use for a slushy? I found myself referring back to the instruction manual to find out.

The bottom line

The Cuisinart FastFreeze is a low-cost, low-effort way to make tasty frozen treats, especially if you want small individual portions and don't need the versatility of the Creami.

Which one should you get?

All three ice cream machines are excellent, but there was a noticeable difference in the texture of the desserts they produce. The Ninja Creami 7-in-1 was the overall best at churning out smooth, creamy ice creams, sorbets, and slushies. Most drinks and dairy-based desserts made with the nutribullet Chill had a hint of ice crystals, but they're so minuscule that they didn't impact the texture. That said, the Chill is exceptional at non-dairy desserts like vanilla coconut ice cream, which had no noticeable crystals whatsoever. The Cuisinart FastFreeze's ice creams and sorbets had larger ice crystals that I could feel on my tongue, but they weren't gritty or unpleasant. Those larger crystals were actually a plus for my pink lemonade slushy, as the ice melted to a refreshing texture faster than those slushies made in the Creami and Chill.

Ultimately, I was pleased with each machine's performance, so choosing the best ice cream maker for your home really comes down to your personal needs.

• Choose the Ninja Creami if you want the smoothest texture, the most recipe flexibility, and the ability to customize with mix-ins.
• Choose the nutribullet Chill if you want a smaller countertop machine and especially care about dairy-free ice cream.
• Choose the Cuisinart FastFreeze if you want the most affordable, easiest-to-store option and mostly make single servings.

What to know before buying

The Ninja Creami 7-in-1, nutribullet Chill, and Cuisinart FastFreeze differ from traditional electric ice cream machines in that they create desserts using a frozen base and a steel blade rather than a liquid base and churning mechanism. "These machines have very sharp blades that rotate extremely fast and 'shave down' a pre-frozen block of ice cream base," says Trung Vu, a pastry and baking arts chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. "This type of machine can be slightly more versatile than traditional ice cream makers, which are uni-taskers."

More presets don't mean better results, however. The dessert's quality depends on your recipe. "Fat and sugar play a large role in the creaminess, texture, and mouthfeel of ice cream and sorbet," says Vu. "Don't expect these machines to be miracle workers and churn something great out of almost nothing." For best results, stick to recipes that are specific to your machine.

Lastly, expect some noise while these machines are running. Because they use high-speed blades to break down solid ice, none of them is silent. The nutribullet Chill is by far the loudest (sounding like a blender tackling tough ingredients), the Ninja Creami is slightly muffled by its outer bowl assembly, and the Cuisinart FastFreeze is the quietest, emitting a brief whir similar to an immersion blender.

The post I compared the Ninja Creami to 2 popular alternatives, and while it made the best ice cream, it's not the only one I liked appeared first on Business Insider