The Ninja Swirl by Creami is a new twist on a popular ice cream maker, and I put it to the test

Ninja Swirl by Creami: one-minute review

If you've been wanting to make your ice cream at home but you've been holding out for soft serve, you'll be thrilled with the Ninja Swirl by Creami. You can make real soft serve ice cream or healthier soft serve treats tailored to your own personal tastes and dietary considerations. You're not limited to soft serve; you can also make all of the frozen treats you can make in other Ninja Creami models or other ice cream makers. There are 13 different settings for all manner of frozen delights. The Ninja Swirl by Creami even has a special setting specifically for high protein, low fat, low sugar creations called CreamiFit.

There's definitely a learning curve when you unbox the Ninja Swirl by Creami. Once you have made a few pints, muscle memory kicks in and it's actually quite easy. You do have to freeze your pints for 24 hours before processing them, so you'll want to have some pints made, frozen, and ready to go for when ice cream cravings hit. The Ninja Swirl by Creami comes with two pint containers, so you can always have at least one pint deep frozen and ready to process.

All of the Ninja Creami machines are essentially drills that turn your solid frozen pints into a beautiful ice cream texture. With the Ninja Swirl, you start by making regular ice cream first. You can eat that as is, or you can add mix-ins, or you can proceed to the soft serve mechanism. In a few minutes, you'll have lovely soft serve just like you get at your local ice cream or frozen yogurt shop.

Ninja Swirl by Creami: price and availability

• List price $349.99 / £272.90 / AU$572.77
• Comes with two model-specific pint containers
• Nearly double the price of the original Ninja Creami

The Ninja Swirl by Creami retails $349.99 / £272.90 / AU$572.77. You can buy it directly from Ninja, or from the usual third-party retailers such as Amazon, where it currently sells for a slight discount.

The Ninja Swirl is substantially more expensive than the other Creami models. The Ninja Creami Deluxe retails for $249.99 while the original Ninja Creami retails for $199.99. The older models can also be had for a significant discount at third-party retailers.

Note that the pint containers that you use with the Ninja Swirl are different from the ones that come with the other models and are not compatible at all. If you like to have extra pint containers on hand, they will run you $34.99 for a two-pack or $64.99 for a four-pack.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Ninja Swirl by Creami: design

• Large in every dimension
• Designed for ideal ice cream texture
• Loud and delicate

The footprint of the machine is fairly large at 15.16 x 10.04 inches. Additionally, the 17.52 inch height means that you'll need to measure to make sure the machine will fit under your cabinets. The Ninja Swirl actually doesn't fit under mine, so I had to place the machine near my sink, the one spot in my kitchen where there are no upper cabinets. Plus, you'll need some elbow room to the right of the machine, in order to operate the soft serve dispensing handle.

There are 13 different programs on the Ninja Swirl. When you put your frozen pint into the machine to process it, you'll first select Scoop or Soft Serve, because certain programs are only compatible with one or the other. If you're making Scoop ice cream, you can use the Ice Cream, Light Ice Cream, Sorbet, Gelato, Frozen Yogurt, Milkshake, or CreamiFit buttons. If you're making Soft Serve, you can select Ice Cream, Lite Ice Cream, Fruit Whip, Frozen Custard, Frozen Yogurts, or CreamiFit buttons. The different settings run the blade at different speeds for varying amounts of time. If you're using the Ninja recipes, you'll be told which setting to use. If you're not sure, the recipe book includes a description of each setting so you can make the best choice.

After the initial spin, which is generally 4-6 minutes, you can eat it as is or you can select Re-spin or Mix-In. You'd choose to re-spin if the texture is too crumbly or snowy. If you're not doing soft serve, you can add a mix-in such as candy, cookies, or fruit for a chunky ice cream treat.

Note that the machine is quite loud; it triggered the "Loud Environment" warning on my Apple Watch. It got up to 96 decibels in my testing. The Creami, after all, is drilling through a solid block of deep-frozen ingredients. You don't actually have to stand over the machine while it spins, however. You can step out of the room while it does its thing to avoid the noise.

The Ninja Swirl by Creami is not a blender, it's a drill. Be sure to follow the instructions in the included booklet or on Ninja's website. For example, the surface of your frozen ingredients must be flat. An uneven surface can result in blade damage. Don't process a solid block of (water) ice or ice cubes. Don't try to make a smoothie or process hard, loose ingredients. Because of the nature of drilling through a solid frozen mass, if you do incur damage, it may ruin the machine entirely.

That said, this machine is designed to make legit ice cream. The taste of your creations depends entirely on what you put in it, but the texture and looks are pretty amazing every time. Once you have your pint frozen, and a little practice under your belt, the processing is pretty quick and easy.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Ninja Swirl by Creami: performance

I started with some very simple ideas from Ninja's recipe booklet. For the bright orange fruit whip above, I just tossed two mango fruit cups with the juice included into the pint container and froze it. I processed it on the Fruit Whip setting and then through the Soft Serve mechanism. It was a super simple, healthy, and incredibly delicious treat. I did the same thing with pear fruit cups; you can do it with any fruit cups or canned fruit you like.

I made over two dozen recipes. I started with recipes from Ninja's booklet but soon found other recipes online and then created my own recipes. For me, the main reason to buy a machine like this is to make healthier treats, so that was my focus. My son wanted real ice cream, you can see him making the standard vanilla soft serve from the booklet in the image near the top of the article.

Another super easy "recipe" is simply freezing your favorite yogurt. Just transfer it from the cup in comes in to your Ninja Swirl pint, flatten the top, and freeze. The image above is just strawberry frozen yogurt with nothing added. I scooped it out rather than putting it through the soft serve mechanism and then added some toppings, which you can see below. I ate that for breakfast!

I experimented with various protein "ice creams" using ready-made protein drinks and protein powders mixed with milk. There are many ideas in the recipe book and countless more online. While the Ninja Swirl does a fabulous job giving these frozen protein concoctions an authentic ice cream consistency, they tend to taste like, well, frozen protein drinks. I had the best luck mixing protein powders with yogurt, pudding mixes, and other more flavorful ingredients. Below you can see one of my healthier concoctions (if you don't count the chocolate on top.)

After you run the initial cycle, the results are often crumbly or snowy. This is easily remedied by running a Re-spin cycle. You may need to re-spin it more than once, or add a bit more milk or other liquid before re-spinning. If you're not going to make soft serve, you can add mix-ins at this step for a chunkier treat. If there isn't a hole in the ice cream already, you'll want to create a hole with your spoon for your mix-ins in order to ensure they make it all the way to the bottom of your pint.

Particularly after making soft serve, you're going to have a lot of dishes to wash. Every part of the Ninja Swirl is dishwasher safe, but I found myself washing the parts by hand anyway since I wanted to make more ice cream right away. After all, the pint must be frozen for 24 hours before processing.

The image below also shows that there is some product stuck in the various parts that doesn't make it into your cone or cup. Of course, you can have at it with a spoon, but I wouldn't bother. The sides and bottom tend to be quite icy.

This leads me to a tip for avoiding icy chunks in your ice cream. The sides and bottom of the pint do get icy, it seems no matter which recipe you use. After the initial spin, scrape down the sides and bottom of the pint before running the Re-spin cycle.

What if you don't finish the pint in one go? Certain recipes will leave you with an ice cream that is scoopable even after re-freezing but this is rare. After you eat your portion, use a spoon or spatula to pat down the surface of your leftovers in the Ninja pint container. Once fully re-frozen, you can just process it again on the same cycle you used before. Just as before, you'll need to process the ice cream before putting through the soft serve mechanism.

Remember that the Ninja Swirl is not a blender. If your ingredients include chunks, you'll want to blend your mixtures before freezing to ensure uniformity. For example, if you're making cottage cheese ice cream, you'd probably want to blend that first. If you want to upgrade your current blender, check out our list of the best blenders.

You can check out some of my creations by clicking through the gallery below.

Image 1 of 15

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Ninja Swirl by Creami

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Ninja Swirl by Creami: also consider

Ninja Creami Deluxe

Don't really need the soft serve feature? Save about $100 with the Ninja Creami Deluxe, which has nearly all of the features of the Ninja Swirl minus the soft serve. It also has 50% larger pint containers. Save even more with the original Ninja Creami, which has fewer cycle options but still the same basic functionality.

Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker

If you've got to have that soft serve but you don't want to spend the money on the Ninja Swirl by Creami, take a look at the Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker. Read our full review to learn all about it.

How I tested the Ninja Swirl by Creami

I ate a lot of ice cream in the name of science. I used the Ninja Swirl by Creami for several weeks and made dozens of ice cream treats. I made a handful of recipes from Ninja's recipe booklet as well as recipes I found online and others I made up myself. I used various cycles including Ice Cream, Fruit Whip, Frozen Yogurt, CreamiFit, Re-spin, Mix-in, and of course the Soft Serve cycle.

For more details. see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.

First reviewed April 2025