Ninja Swirl Review

Make soft serve ice cream at home with the new Ninja Swirl by Ninja Creami! Full review, unboxing, and cleaning tips.

As soon as I saw the Ninja Swirl for preorder on Crate and Barrel I snagged one! It is quite the investment, but if you love ice cream and you love making your own ice cream, you’re going to love this machine!

On our youtube channel we shared a full unboxing, review, cleaning tips, and even made chocolate soft serve and vanilla soft serve. We think the Ninja Swirl is a great buy and that your entire family will really enjoy this new creami gadget.

► BUY THE NINJA SWIRL ► Extra Swirl Pints

We altered two recipes from the recipe booklet to make them safe for our allergens and they turned out delicious. We manage a dairy and nut allergy in our home and even with swaps, the soft serve was SO good! We all preferred the chocolate, but we all naturally prefer chocolate ice cream.

How to use the Ninja Swirl

For an in-depth how to use, please see our Ninja Swirl video in the recipe card below.

The Ninja Swirl is extremely easy to use and if you’re used to the creami, it’s just learning the additional swirl option and attachments.

First you’ll need to prepare your preferred mix and pour it into the swirl container.

Next you’ll need to freeze the mixture for 24 hours. We recommend buying some extra Swirl Pints if you like having ice cream ready to blend.

Once the mixture is frozen, blend in the creami portion by selecting soft serve or scoop. For Swirl, you’ll hit soft serve.

Once it’s blended, you can then place the Ninja Swirl lid onto the Ninja Swirl Pint.

Now you’re ready to dispense the soft serve ice cream.

How to clean the Ninja Swirl

We recommend cleaning the Ninja Swirl removable parts promptly, do not let them sit with residual mixture.

Previous Ninja Creami devices have had see-through lids. The Ninja Swirl does not. Please pay extra attention to these by washing and rinsing after using to prevent ice cream build up in these areas.

While Ninja says the Ninja Swirl is dishwasher safe, I do not feel comfortable using the dishwasher due to the crevices, and the chance of water sitting in the lids, we recommend hand washing all parts.

If there is ice cream remaining in the pint, press the retract button and then press the release button to remove the the swirl pint by turning it counter clockwise.

You can refreeze by using the storage lid but remove the front gasket and rinse to remove any ice cream on the outside.

If there is no more ice cream, you can clean the pint (expand the pint base) and all used removable parts.

For a deeper clean you can remove the rubber gaskets and plunger seals, per Ninja, but we recommend cleaning these each time.

We are unsure how to thoroughly clean and dry the base of the Ninja Swirl pint jar. We are waiting to hear a response from Ninja and will update once we hear back.

All removable parts (not the machine) should be washed with each use.

Comparison to Ninja Creami

I will be doing a full comparison of the Ninja Swirl and the Ninja Creami on my youtube, so be sure to subscribe to stay tuned for that.

So far I’ve noticed that the Ninja Swirl creates a smoother and creamier blend and no need to respin for the two we’ve made. I’ve had to often respin in the Creami Deluxe.

Why you’ll love the Ninja Swirl

This isn’t just another Ninja Creami. It has more options like Fruit Whip, Frozen Custard, Creami Fit, and of course you can make Swirled Soft Serve. It’s extremely easy to clean, very easy to use, and fun for the whole family.

I think it would be great for parties if you have extra pints already made and ready to go in the freezer. It would make a great gift as well if someone has been wanting the Ninja Creami.

You want to control the ingredients in your ice cream. If you have a flavor preference, dietary reasons, food allergies, or intolerances, you can make your own custom blends and enjoy ice cream at home.

Dairy free ice cream is made easy in the Ninja Swirl rather than in something like an ice cream machine. The Ninja Swirl and Ninja Creami make the creamiest blends of ice cream we’ve seen.

This also goes to lower fat and lower calorie blends, they’re creamy and dreamy!

Why you may not love the Ninja Swirl

Cleaning the Ninja Swirl is a big concern for us. Not only is the blending lid for the Ninja Swirl an open system, so is the swirl lid that pushes the ice cream. You’ll need to thoroughly rinse them, wash, rinse, and then shake to remove excess water inside and then air dry.

We found a major issue with the Ninja Swirl pint itself. You cannot clean the black circular piece and you cannot air dry it without it wet stacking or wet nesting. It’s in constant contact with the plastic.

If you’re a scoop and go, you may not need the Ninja Swirl. However if you want the option to swirl, you can scoop or swirl with the Ninja Swirl.

You don’t have the space. It takes up a significant amount of space. It does not fit under our cabinets but we’ve made room in our dining room on our coffee bar.

How to make dairy free ice cream in the Ninja Swirl

We have found that Country Crock Plant Cream is the best alternative to heavy cream.

For whole milk we recommend using Full Fat Oatly.

You can also use full fat coconut milk, but we find that it alters the flavor and isn’t as pleasant as using our recommend swaps.