I've been making this ice cream for a while now, and it's the one I keep coming back to. It has the same tangy cream cheese and sweet strawberry combination as a DQ Strawberry Cheesecake Blizzard, made at home with real strawberries.
This Ninja Creami strawberry cheesecake ice cream starts with strawberries macerated in a little sugar, which pulls out their juice so the whole pint tastes like strawberry and turns naturally pink. Cream cheese gives it the cheesecake tang, and crushed graham crackers go in at the end for the crust. There are no gums or pudding mix.
For a lighter version made with cottage cheese and allulose, see my cottage cheese strawberry cheesecake ice cream. If you love cheesecake ice cream, my blueberry and blackberry versions use the same idea with different berries.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- The Macerating Technique (Big Strawberry Flavor)
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- Substitutions and Additions
- How to Make Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Mix-Ins and Toppings
- Serving Size and Pint Size
- Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
- Tools You’ll Need
- Recipe Tips and Troubleshooting
- Recipe FAQs
- More Cheesecake-based Ice Cream
- Did you try this recipe?
- Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Why You'll Love This Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Real strawberry flavor: Macerating the strawberries pulls out their juice, so the strawberry flavor runs through the whole pint, not just the fruit pieces.
- Tastes like cheesecake: Cream cheese brings the tang, and the graham crackers bring the crust, both mixed into every scoop.
- Naturally pink: The color comes from the strawberries and their juice, with no food coloring.
- No pudding mix or gums: The cream cheese and condensed milk give it body, so it doesn't need stabilizers.
- Make it ahead: Freeze the base up to a few days early, then spin and add the graham crackers when you're ready to serve.
- Less than a Blizzard: One pint makes four servings for about what you'd pay for a single Blizzard at DQ.
The Macerating Technique (Big Strawberry Flavor)
Macerating is a simple trick that boosts strawberry flavor. Tossing sliced strawberries with sugar pulls out their juice and turns it into a syrup. That syrup makes the whole base taste more like strawberry, turns it pinker, and helps it blend smoother.
To do it, hull and quarter the strawberries, toss them with the sugar from the recipe, and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes. You can go up to 30 minutes for more juice. They're ready when they look glossy and there's pink juice in the bowl. Add the berries and all the syrup to the blender.
If you're using frozen strawberries, thaw them first so the sugar can draw out the juice.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Half and half: The main liquid. It has enough fat to spin creamy, but not so much that it turns waxy the way heavy cream alone can when you respin.
- Strawberries: Fresh or frozen. If you use frozen, thaw them first so they macerate properly. Riper berries give you more juice and more strawberry flavor.
- Sweetened condensed milk: It sweetens the base and keeps it soft. The sugar lowers the freezing point, so the pint scoops instead of freezing rock hard.
- Cream cheese: This is what makes it taste like cheesecake. Let it come to room temperature first, because cold cream cheese doesn't blend smooth and leaves lumps in the pint.
- Vanilla extract: It rounds out the cream cheese and strawberry flavors.
- Granulated sugar: It's used to macerate the strawberries. It draws out their juice and balances the tang of the cream cheese.
- Graham crackers: Crushed and added at the end with the Mix-In setting for the cheesecake crust.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions and Additions
- No half and half? Mix equal parts heavy cream and whole milk. Together they come close to half and half. Don't use heavy cream on its own, since it can turn waxy when you respin.
- Want it lighter? Swap the half and half for Fairlife 2% milk. It's less rich but adds protein. For a version built to be lighter from the start, see my cottage cheese strawberry cheesecake ice cream.
- Instead of condensed milk: Honey or maple syrup work, but the pint freezes harder without the condensed milk, so expect an extra respin.
- Brighter flavor: Add ½ teaspoon of lemon juice to the blend. It balances the sweetness and makes the strawberry taste stronger.
- Instead of cream cheese: Ricotta works, with a milder, less tangy flavor and a slightly grainier texture. Blend it well.
How to Make Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Macerate the strawberries. Toss the hulled, quartered strawberries with the sugar and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes, until they look glossy and there's pink juice in the bowl.
- Blend the base. Add the strawberries and all their syrup to a blender with the half and half, condensed milk, room-temperature cream cheese, and vanilla. Blend until completely smooth.
- Freeze the pint. Pour the mixture into a Ninja Creami pint, keeping it below the max fill line. Cover with the lid and freeze on a level surface for 24 hours.
- Spin on Ice Cream. Place the frozen pint in the machine and use the Ice Cream setting. If it's crumbly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk and respin.
- Add the graham crackers. Once the ice cream is smooth, make a hole down the center, add the crushed graham crackers, and run the Mix-In setting.
- Serve. Top with extra graham cracker crumbs, strawberry sauce, or fresh berries.
Mix-Ins and Toppings
- White chocolate chips: Their sweetness plays off the tangy cream cheese. Chop them small and add them with the Mix-In setting so they spread through the pint.
- Dark chocolate shavings: For a chocolate-covered strawberry version. Shavings melt on your tongue in a way big chunks don't when they're frozen.
- Strawberry sauce or lemon curd swirl: Spoon it into the hole after the final spin and swirl by hand. The Mix-In setting would blend it in completely, so swirling by hand keeps the ribbons.
- Lemon zest: Blend a little into the base before freezing. It brightens the cheesecake flavor without adding liquid.
- Crushed pistachios: Crunch and a green color against the pink. Add them with the Mix-In setting.
- Crushed Oreos: For a cookies-and-cream cheesecake. Crush them into pieces, not crumbs, so they don't turn the pink base gray.
- Fresh berries: Strawberries or blueberries work best on top when you serve. Fresh fruit freezes into icy chunks inside the pint.
For more ideas and when to add each one, see my Ninja Creami mix-ins guide.
Serving Size and Pint Size
This recipe fills one Ninja Creami Deluxe pint (24 ounces) and makes 4 servings.
If you have a model with a 16-ounce pint, use two-thirds of each ingredient, which makes about 3 servings. The steps and settings stay the same. Either way, keep the base below the max fill line on the pint, because an overfilled pint won't spin properly.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
- Storing leftovers: Keep the ice cream in the pint with its storage lid. Smooth the top flat with a spoon before refreezing so it doesn't freeze into a dome, which makes the next spin uneven.
- Serving stored ice cream: Respin on the Ice Cream setting for the smoothest texture, or let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before scooping.
- Mix-ins in leftovers: Respinning grinds up the graham crackers that are already in the pint. For crunch, add fresh graham crackers after respinning and run the Mix-In setting again.
- How long it keeps: Best within 2 to 3 weeks. After that, ice crystals start to form.
- Make ahead: Freeze the base up to a few days early, then spin and add the graham crackers right before serving.
Tools You’ll Need
- Blender: Blends the macerated strawberries, syrup, and cream cheese into one smooth base. A high-powered blender gets the cream cheese fully smooth fastest.
- Ninja CREAMi Deluxe: This recipe is sized for the Deluxe's 24-ounce pint. Other models work too, using the two-thirds conversion above.
- Extra pint containers: Worth having if you want to freeze a base ahead and keep a pint ready to spin.
- For the rest of my equipment, see my Ninja Creami tools list.
Recipe Tips and Troubleshooting
- Crumbly after spinning? That's normal for fruit-based pints. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk and respin. One respin usually fixes it.
- Lumps of cream cheese? It was too cold when it went in the blender. Let it come to room temperature first, or microwave it for about 15 seconds to soften it.
- Pale or weak strawberry flavor? Macerate the strawberries longer, up to 30 minutes, and add every bit of the syrup to the blender. The syrup is where most of the flavor is.
- Icy texture? Frozen strawberries add extra water as they thaw. Thaw them completely before macerating, and use riper berries when you can.
- Taste before freezing: Cold dulls sweetness, so the base should taste slightly sweeter than you want the finished ice cream to be.
- For problems beyond this recipe, see my Ninja Creami troubleshooting guide.
Recipe FAQs
Like a cheesecake with strawberry topping, frozen. The cream cheese gives it a tangy, rich base, the macerated strawberries add sweet fruit flavor all the way through, and the graham crackers bring the crust.
This one is the classic version, made with half and half, condensed milk, and sugar. The cottage cheese version swaps those for cottage cheese and allulose to make it lighter and sugar-free. If that's what you're after, see my cottage cheese strawberry cheesecake ice cream.
Yes. Thaw them completely first, then macerate them like fresh berries and keep all the juice. Frozen berries are often more flavorful than out-of-season fresh ones.
You don't have to, but it makes a real difference. Macerating pulls out the berry juice, which gives you more strawberry flavor and a pinker color. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Yes. Use gluten-free graham crackers, or leave them out. Everything else in the recipe is naturally gluten-free.
More Cheesecake-based Ice Cream
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Did you try this recipe?
Share how it turned out in the comments below, and if you loved it, share it on Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram.
Thank you! - Rose
Ninja Creami Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ninja Creami Deluxe
- Blender
- Ninja Creami Pint Container
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups half and half
- 1 cup strawberries
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk add more if you wanted it sweeter
- ½ cup cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup crushed graham crackers
Instructions
- Hull and quarter the strawberries. Toss them with the sugar in a bowl and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes, until they look glossy and there's pink juice in the bowl.1 cup strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar
- Add the strawberries and all their syrup to a blender with the half and half, sweetened condensed milk, room-temperature cream cheese, and vanilla. Blend until completely smooth.1.5 cups half and half, ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk, ½ cup cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container, keeping it below the max fill line. Cover with the lid and freeze on a level surface for 24 hours.
- Remove the lid, place the pint in the outer bowl, and lock it into the machine. Spin on the Ice Cream setting. If it looks crumbly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk and respin.
- Make a hole down the center of the ice cream, add the crushed graham crackers, and run the Mix-In setting.¼ cup crushed graham crackers
- Serve right away, topped with extra graham cracker crumbs, strawberry sauce, or fresh berries if you like.
Notes
- If too crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and respin.
- Flatten leftovers before freezing to prevent damage to the blade.
- Taste the ice cream base before freezing – it should be slightly sweeter than you prefer since freezing dulls the flavor.
- Flatten the surface before refreezing so the Ninja Creami blade doesn’t get damaged.
- To enjoy later: Let thaw for a few minutes or microwave (on ice cream setting).
- Re-spin if needed for a fresh, creamy texture.
- If you used mix-ins, note that nuts, cookies, or chocolate chips will get pulverized.
Rose Sioson says
I'm so glad to share this Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream with you all! It’s rich, creamy, and packed with the perfect balance of sweet strawberries and tangy cheesecake flavors. I hope you enjoy it just as much—let me know if you give it a try!