Strawberry Slushie

The advantage of making your strawberry slushie in the Ninja Slushi rather than a blender is getting intense fruit flavor without diluting it with ice cubes. No more watery texture from blenders: here, no ice cubes are needed, the fruit expresses its full fragrance. You get a perfectly homogeneous and refreshing frozen drink to sip quietly. The result is deliciously fruity, ideal for hot days when you want true freshness without the fuss.

Strawberry Slushie

Recipe by Camille Roos

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Slush / granitaCuisine: Difficulty: Easy

Servings

4

people

Prep

5

minutes

Freeze time

45

minutes

Total time

50

minutes

An intense strawberry slushie without ice cubes, easily made in the Ninja Slushi for a perfect texture for a straw.

Ingredients

• 500 g strawberries (fresh or thawed frozen)

• 80 g granulated sugar (or cane sugar syrup)

• 350 ml filtered water

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• In a classic blender, blend the strawberries, water, sugar and lemon juice until perfectly smooth. The sugar prevents the mixture from freezing into a solid block of ice.
• Optionally strain the mixture through a sieve if you want to remove the tiny strawberry seeds for a smoother final result.
• Pour the mixture into the Ninja Slushi bowl, making sure the level is well between the min and max lines.
• Select the Slush program and let the machine run until the drink reaches a frosty, straw-sippable texture (about 45 minutes).

Strawberry-mint slushie

Strawberry-mint slushie : Add about ten fresh mint leaves to the blender during the first step for a very refreshing summer version.

Sugar and fruit balance for an ideal texture

I am often asked why I add sugar when strawberries are already naturally sweet. This is the golden rule for countertop slush machines: sugar primarily serves as an antifreeze. Without its presence in the liquid, the water in your preparation will simply turn into a hard block against the metal walls of the bowl, instead of forming those tiny crystals we love to sip through a straw. For this specific recipe, I always aim for about 10 to 12% sugar relative to the total volume of the drink. If your fruit is extremely ripe at the end of the season, you can slightly reduce the granulated dose, but never remove it completely. This is literally the secret to moving from a simple cold watery juice to a true Strawberry granita in the Ninja Slushi that holds up well, worthy of a specialty shop.

The art of filtering and filling the bowl

Should you filter this preparation or not? It is primarily a matter of personal taste, but from experience, the small achenes (the tiny yellow seeds on the surface of strawberries) often tend to concentrate at the bottom of the bowl during churning. Personally, I always take the time to pass my mixture through a fine sieve after the blender step, as it gives a much silkier mouthfeel when tasting. Then, when pouring the mixture, be careful: always strictly follow the min and max markings drawn on your bowl. On my FS301 for example, if I exceed this maximum line, the drink cannot churn properly because the motor struggles, and the center remains completely liquid. If you are looking for a slightly creamier alternative to use up overly ripe fruit scraps, don’t hesitate to test a Homemade strawberry milkshake in the Ninja Slushi: the program used is different, but it is just as delicious for a snack.

Do you prefer using fresh or frozen strawberries for your frozen drinks?

Frequently asked questions

Can I use sweetener instead of sugar?

It is strongly discouraged. Classic sweeteners do not have the antifreeze properties of real sugar: your drink will freeze into a hard block and strain the Slushi motor.

My frozen strawberries are releasing a lot of water, what should I do?

Let them thaw completely beforehand and slightly reduce the amount of filtered water in the recipe. This maintains a very intense fruit flavor without diluting the drink.

Why is the machine beeping and flashing after 20 minutes?

This is often a sign that the mixture is freezing too quickly due to a lack of sugar, which blocks the auger. Stop the machine, add a bit of liquid cane syrup, mix well and restart the Slush program.