The best Ninja Creami ice cream recipes to make in spring

Spring changes things. Strawberries reappear in the markets, the air smells different, and that craving for something fresh and fruity starts to emerge long before the real heat arrives. It's exactly the right time to pull out your Ninja Creami and explore the flavors of the season.

We have selected for you the recipes from the site that best suit this time of year: light, fruity, fragrant, with ingredients that can be easily found from March onwards.

Strawberry sorbet – the essential recipe

Spring strawberries are nothing like the ones you find in January wrapped in plastic. They're sweeter, more fragrant, and sometimes slightly tart. They're what give seasonal sorbets their true value.

This recipe requires only three ingredients and ten minutes of preparation. The Ninja Creami takes care of the rest.

Ingredients :

• 500g of ripe strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar (or honey, or sugar)
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice

Preparation : Wash and hull the strawberries, then halve them to make blending easier. Place them in a blender with the brown sugar and lime juice, and blend until smooth. Pour into the Ninja Creami container and freeze for at least 24 hours. Then, use the Sorbet setting. If the texture seems too firm, a simple Re-spin will do the trick.

The amount of sugar should be adjusted according to the ripeness of your strawberries. The riper they are, the less you need.

See the full recipe for strawberry sorbet

Raspberry sorbet – light and naturally sweet

Raspberries have the advantage of requiring almost nothing to give a lot. A little fruit, an egg white for stability, a drizzle of honey — and you get a super fruity sorbet with a texture worthy of artisanal ice cream.

Ingredients :

• 350g of raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 50 ml of water
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon of honey or agave syrup

Preparation : Blend the raspberries with the water, egg white, and honey until smooth. For a truly silky texture, pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds—it's optional, but it really makes a difference. Pour into a container and freeze for at least 12 hours. Select the Sorbet setting on your ice cream maker. If the sorbet is too firm, add 50 ml of water and run a Re-spin cycle.

See the full raspberry sorbet recipe

Lemon sorbet – simple, vibrant, perfect for the first days of sunshine

There's a reason lemon sorbet is a timeless classic: it's truly refreshing. No frills, no gimmicks—just lemon juice, sugar, and a perfect balance of tartness and sweetness.

Ingredients :

• 150 g of sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons of cane sugar syrup (approximately 2 cl)
• 315 ml of hot water (approximately 80°C)
• 150 ml of lemon juice

Preparation : Mix the sugar and cane syrup in a bowl. Pour in the hot water, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the lemon juice, mix well, and let it cool completely before refrigerating for at least two hours. Pour into the Ninja Creami container and freeze for 24 hours. Select the Sorbet mode.

For an even more fragrant version, add some chopped mint leaves or lemon zest to the mixture before freezing.

See the full recipe for lemon sorbet

Lemon ice cream – when sorbet becomes cream

For those who want something a notch more indulgent than sorbet, lemon ice cream offers that bright acidity in a silky, creamy texture. It's the perfect balance between the lightness of sorbet and the melt-in-your-mouth texture of ice cream.

Ingredients :

• 150 ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 100 ml whole milk
• 150 ml of full liquid cream
• 80 to 100 g of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest

Preparation : Grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the lemon. In a bowl, combine the juice, milk, cream, sugar, and zest. Whisk vigorously until smooth. Pour into the Ninja Creami container up to the Max Fill line and freeze for 24 hours. Select the Gelato or Ice Cream setting as desired. If the texture is too firm, add a spoonful of milk and spin again.

One of our readers tested it with almond milk and a touch of limoncello cream — the result was, according to her, amazing.

See the full recipe for lemon ice cream

Mango sorbet – two ingredients, magical result

Some recipes seem too simple to be good. This one is an exception. Two ingredients, ten minutes of preparation, and a sorbet with the intense flavor of fresh mango, like biting into a frozen fruit.

It's also a good way to prevent slightly overripe mangoes from spoiling.

Ingredients :

• 600g of ripe mangoes
• 1 glass of water (approximately 150 ml)

Preparation : Peel the mangoes, remove the pit, and mash the flesh with a fork to obtain a coarse puree. Stir in the glass of water to thin the mixture. Pour into the Ninja Creami container and freeze for 24 hours. Select the Sorbet setting.

For a creamier texture, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut milk to the puree before freezing. This adds an exotic touch while keeping it very light.

See the full recipe for mango sorbet

Blueberry sorbet – the unexpected texture

Blueberries bring something special to a sorbet: an intense, almost violet color, and a concentrated aroma that surprises with every spoonful. The brief cooking step before freezing the fruit makes all the difference—it results in a rich, aromatic, and deeply fruity purée.

Ingredients :

• 500g of frozen blueberries
• 80 g sugar
• 40 g of water

Preparation : Place the frozen blueberries in a saucepan with 40g of sugar. Heat over medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring regularly. Once the blueberries have softened, blend until smooth. Next, prepare a syrup by bringing the remaining 40g of water and 40g of sugar to a boil. Pour the syrup into the blueberry puree and blend for a few seconds. Transfer to the Ninja Creami container, freeze for 24 hours, then let the container sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before starting the Sorbet mode.

If you find the blueberries too acidic, a drizzle of honey during blending will balance everything out.

See the full blueberry sorbet recipe

Violet ice cream – the most spring-like of all

It deserves special mention. Violets bloom in spring, and ice cream flavored with them has an immediately seasonal quality. It's not an ice cream made year-round—it's precisely a seasonal ice cream, floral, sweet, and slightly nostalgic. It evokes old-fashioned sweets and walks in the south of France.

Ingredients :

• 150 ml of violet syrup
• 150 ml of full liquid cream
• 150 ml whole milk
• 1 egg

Preparation : Pour the violet syrup, cream, milk, and egg into a blender. Blend for 30 to 60 seconds until smooth. Taste and adjust the amount of syrup to your desired sweetness. Pour into the Ninja Creami container up to the Max Fill line and freeze for 24 hours. Select the Ice Cream setting. If the ice cream is too firm, add a spoonful of milk and spin the spin cycle again.

For presentation, a few violet crystals or edible petals on top make all the difference.

See the full recipe for violet ice cream

Three tips for successful spring ice cream

Focus on seasonal fruits. The quality of a sorbet depends directly on the quality of the fruit. In March-April, the first French strawberries begin to arrive. In May, raspberries. Avoid imported, out-of-season fruit that lacks sugar and flavor – the sorbet will be directly affected.

Respect the freezing time. This is the basic rule with Ninja Creami. A base that isn't frozen enough results in a grainy and disappointing texture. 24 hours at -18°C is the minimum for all the recipes in this article.

Don't hesitate with the Re-spin. If your ice cream comes out too firm or a bit compact after the first pass, a 30-second Re-spin usually fixes the problem. That's where the machine really shows what it can do.