Dairy-Free Matcha Ninja Creami

The ultimate summertime treat for any matcha lover, this dairy-free Matcha Ninja Creami recipe is a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream with all the green tea goodness in a creamy high protein recipe!

SPONSORED BY SUNBUTTER

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Matcha lovers! You know that sweet moment of joy when you treat yourself to the perfect creamy, slightly sweet, flavorful iced matcha latte and it perks up your entire afternoon? Well I can only imagine ONE thing that could be better, and it’s this ultra creamy, vanilla sweet, frosty, scoop-able matcha latte in ice cream form! Packed with protein too, so it can be a healthy snack but rich and indulgent enough to be dessert too.

How to Make The Perfect Matcha Ninja Creami

Matcha is a delicate flavor, a delicate color, but a dreamy one when you get it right. So this recipe is simple on ingredients to make sure the matcha flavor shines through, with just a little bit of vanilla because it compliments the matcha flavor deliciously well.

Dairy-Free Ingredients Needed For This Protein Ice Cream Recipe

• Organic SunButter. Have you ever tried that little trick where you blend water and nut or seed butter to make a quick plant based “milk” without any straining? Well I decided to apply that same trick to this Ninja Creami recipe in place of the almond milk I would typically use, and it worked beautifully! So a couple of tablespoons of my favorite seed butter, SunButter, plus 1 cup of water blends to make the dairy-free base for this ice cream.
• Canned coconut milk. To achieve a rich, indulgent, just-like-storebought consistency without any gums or thickeners, you do need a slightly higher fat content ingredient too. And canned full-fat coconut milk is the perfect thing! The flavor of coconut goes really nicely with matcha, and it blends to be super creamy for gorgeous non-icy scoops.
• Vanilla protein powder. This is a high-protein ice cream recipe (if you want it to be), so a scoop of your favorite vanilla protein powder is a must. Plant based, grass-fed whey isolate, and grass-fed beef isolate are my favorites. And one scoop of most protein powders will get you to 25-30 grams of protein, which isn’t bad for a pint of delicious matcha ice cream.
• Sweetener of choice. Honey or maple syrup are my favorites, but you can skip it if the protein powder alone is sweet enough for you.
• Matcha powder. Ceremonial grade ideally, or latte grade if you must. But the higher the quality the more delicious and bold the flavor will be.
• Teeny pinch of salt. When it comes to homemade ice cream, it should always be on the list.

Step-By-Step Instructions On How To Make A Matcha Ninja Creami

Step 1: Make the ice cream base. You can do this in the blender, or simply use an electric whisk or even a hand mixer. You just want all of the powders dissolved and the SunButter fully blended with the liquids. I typically choose to use my blender, it’s just fast and easy.

Step 2: Freeze overnight. Freeze the ice cream base in a Ninja Creami pint container for at least 8 hours. So overnight is easy, or make it in the morning to enjoy after dinner.

Step 3: Process into ice cream. Everyone has their own favorite Ninja Creami cycles, but personally I like to start with one cycle of “lite ice cream” followed by one or two cycles of “re-spin” with a splash of milk as needed. Then if I do choose to add toppings, one “mix-in” cycle to evenly distribute those. And dig in!

Tips For Perfecting Your Creami

1. Don’t skimp on fat. This is ice cream made without dairy, eggs, thickeners, gums, pudding mix, or anything like that. So achieving an ultra creamy consistency is possible, but trickier. And the most important factor is not skimping on fat. So don’t leave out the SunButter or reduce the amount of coconut milk, you really do need both in the amounts listed. The only swap I can approve is real coconut yogurt in place of some or all of the coconut milk.
2. Soften or microwave before processing. Make life a little bit easier for your Ninja Creami and reduce the number of “re-spin” cycles required by allowing the base to warm up slightly before processing. I like to microwave for about 15 seconds because I am impatient, but you can also just let it sit out on the counter for 10 minutes or so.
3. Use a high quality matcha. And more of it than you would typically use for a latte. Freezing dulls all flavor, so a little bit more matcha powder than you would use for a warm or even iced drink is necessary to achieve a good matcha flavor.
4. Use a protein powder you love. Not one you only tolerate hidden in a very busy smoothie. Like I said, matcha is a subtle flavor that isn’t going to hide anything so make sure you like the flavor of your vanilla protein powder with just water or milk.
5. Add as small a splash of milk as possible. Or none if it’s already creamy-ish after the first cycle. Only if the texture is really powdery do you need the splash of milk. Skipping it will help achieve a true scoop-able ice cream texture instead of a more soft serve experience.

What If I Don’t Have a Ninja Creami?

Don’t worry I got you. Dairy-free high-protein matcha ice cream is still very much possible without this machine, all you will need is a silicone ice cube tray and a good blender or food processor. You are going to blend the exact same ingredients, but instead of freezing in a pint container you are going to fill a silicone ice cube tray with the ice cream base and freeze that for 8 hours. Once frozen, you can pop out the cubes and process them in a food processor with a splash of milk until creamy. It will take some time and require a few stops to scrape down the sides, but I promise super creamy ice cream will happen!

More Matcha Recipes You’ll Love

• Matcha Cookie Dough Cups
• No-Bake Matcha Cheesecake
• Dark Chocolate Matcha Coconut Bars
• Frosted Matcha Sugar Cookies

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