Decadent, creamy chocolate ice cream in the Ninja Creami using protein-packed cottage cheese. This ice cream is so delicious that you’d never guess it was made with an entire cup of cottage cheese! Let’s dive into making it.

Looking for more fun ways to use cottage cheese? Check out these Blended Cottage Cheese High Protein Breakfast Bowls!

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Why you’ll love it

Ninja Creami ice cream makers and cottage cheese are both taking the social media world by storm, and for good reason!

Cottage cheese is nutrient-packed and versatile because of its mild, super creamy flavor. It’s impressively high in protein and essential vitamins and minerals like calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin B12.

Whether you’re making traditional homemade ice cream, or “nice cream” with lighter ingredients, the Ninja Creami is seriously amazing. After seeing my millionth TikTok video, I knew I had to get it ASAP.

By now you’ve probably seen the viral cottage cheese ice cream. If you’ve been browsing recipes and you’re looking for *the one*, this is it! This chocolate cottage cheese ice cream tastes like a decadent chocolate ice cream with a frozen custard-like flavor and has an impressive 16 grams of protein per pint.

It’s super easy to make using the Ninja Creami ice cream machine, uses simple ingredients, and you can easily customize it to fit your nutrition needs.

And PS- if you’re someone who isn’t a fan of the texture of cottage cheese, don’t worry- you’d never even know it was in there! This ice cream has a perfectly creamy texture, just like regular ice cream.

Ingredients

• Cottage Cheese: To get the creamiest ice cream possible, I recommend using full fat cottage cheese, but you can experiment with low fat cottage cheese if you want to! My favorite is Good Culture.
• Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix: You can use sugar-free pudding mix if you prefer a low carb version or regular if you don’t mind a bit of added sugar.
• Cocoa powder: Adding extra cocoa powder deepens the chocolate flavor.
• Honey: There’s only 1 tablespoon of honey in this entire pint, but you can use your sweetener of choice. If you prefer sugar-free, you can omit the honey or choose sugar substitutes like stevia.
• Vanilla extract
• Milk: You can use whatever milk you have on hand. Fairlife is my personal favorite because it’s a bit higher in protein.
• Heavy cream: One of my favorite things to do with the Ninja Creami is to add a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream to my recipes. Since I’m typically using milk versus heavy cream as the base, it adds back a bit of full fat creaminess.

How to Make Cottage Cheese Ice Cream in the Ninja Creami

1. First, add all of your ingredients to a large bowl. (You can also do this directly in the Ninja Creami pint container if you prefer).
2. Using an immersion blender, blend the ingredients until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a tabletop blender or whisk rigorously by hand.
3. Next, transfer your blended mixture into the pint container and freeze for 24 hours.

4. Time to spin! Remove the frozen mixture from your freezer and put into the Ninja Creami machine. Spin using the ice cream setting one time. Each spin takes a couple of minutes.

5. Run again using the re-spin button.

6. Run a final third time using the re-spin button until your mixture is smooth and creamy like the picture below. Before the final spin, you can add a splash of milk if your mixture is looking a bit dry, too crumbly, or you want a creamier texture.

When you’ve finished your final spin, test out the creaminess using a spoon. When your ice cream is smooth, creamy and no longer crumbly, it’s finished and ready to eat!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to blend the cottage cheese beforehand?

To get the creamiest texture possible, I think it’s best to blend the cottage cheese first. If you don’t have a blender available, make sure to use small curd cottage cheese. The Ninja Creami machine will make it smooth enough that it will still be creamy, but may not be quite as smooth!

Is cottage cheese ice cream healthy?

Yes! Cottage cheese ice cream is a great option for making a higher protein, lower sugar ice cream that still satisfies your sweet tooth. Cottage cheese is packed with nutrients, making it a great ice cream base for a “healthy” ice cream recipe.

Is cottage cheese ice cream actually good?

Also yes! Personally I think this cottage cheese recipe is the best that I’ve tried. Adding plenty of flavorful additions makes a big difference. It’s definitely a little different than traditional ice cream, but still delicious and a great way to get a little extra protein.

Variations

• Make it vanilla! Swap the chocolate pudding mix for vanilla and omit the cocoa powder. Add a full teaspoon of vanilla instead of half.
• Add fun mix-ins. Mix-ins are a great way to try different variations. To do this, choose the “mix-ins” setting after your ice cream is smooth. Here are some of my favorites:
  • Crushed Oreo thins
  • Peanut butter cups
  • Fresh fruit like fresh strawberries or raspberries
  • Nuts
  • Chocolate chip cookies
  • Graham crackers
  • Chocolate chips
  • Shaved chocolate
  • Coconut flakes
• Make it even higher protein by adding a scoop of protein powder. Note: you will need to add more liquid.

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