Name: Ninja Creami Shirley Temple Ice Cream
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 12-oz Sprite, semi-flat (see notes below); 2 Tablespoons grenadine syrup; 1/4 cup cottage cheese; 2 Tablespoons vanilla instant pudding mix; Maraschino cherries for garnish

Jump to Recipe

This easy ice cream recipe is modeled off the classic Shirley Temple drink–combining lemon lime with grenadine and cherries!

You’ll love how refreshing this Ninja Creami Shirley Temple ice cream is. It’s your favorite beverage, but in dessert form!

scoops of Ninja Creami Shirley Temple ice cream in a glass dish, garnished with a maraschino cherry.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. You can read our full disclosure policy here.

If you’ve ever had the nonalcoholic beverage commonly known as a “Shirley Temple,” you know what a refreshingly drink it is.

It typically combines a lemon-lime soda with grenadine syrup, finished off with maraschino cherries. It has just the right amount of sweetness, with a little bit of zing from the soda.

After using soda in other Ninja Creami ice cream recipes, I knew I wanted to try creating an ice cream version of this classic drink.

Not only was it really easy to make, but it was super tasty–my kids loved it!

More Ninja Creami Recipes Using Soda:

a Ninja Creami pint container of Shirley Temple ice cream, garnished with cherries. An ice cream scoop is in the pint container.

Shirley Temple Ice Cream in the Ninja Creami

Using soda in the Ninja Creami machine isn’t difficult, but because it contains carbonation, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

After all, we don’t want your pint container exploding in the freezer!

To start, it’s best to use semi-flat soda. It doesn’t have to be completely flat, but you don’t want it to contain a lot of carbonation.

You can either let it sit out for a while and go flat on its own, or you can jumpstart the process by hand, which is my preferred method.

I like to stir the soda for a few minutes, which causes the bubbles to come to the surface of the soda, where they pop.

Then when you’re freezing the base, just be sure to not close the lid too tightly–I leave it loose so there’s room for expansion if needed.

Once your soda is partially flat, you’re ready to mix up the base of the Shirley Temple ice cream.

I used cottage cheese in this ice cream, because it’s an easy way to give it some creaminess while keeping it a low fat Ninja Creami recipe.

But if you’re not a fan of cottage cheese, don’t worry–you won’t be able to taste it!

More Ninja Creami Recipes Using Cottage Cheese:

How to Make Ninja Creami Shirley Temple Ice Cream

It’s easy to make this frozen treat!

Ingredients You’ll Need:

Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda)
Grenadine syrup
Cottage cheese
Vanilla instant pudding mix
Maraschino cherries

overhead view of a pint of Shirley Temple flavored cottage cheese ice cream, with cherries and an ice cream scoop in it.

How to Make it:

Mix the base. In a liquid measuring cup, combine your semi-flat Sprite and the grenadine syrup.

Stir it to combine.

two photos; one shows a liquid measuring cup with Sprite and a spoon in it; the other shows the Sprite with grenadine syrup mixed in.

Add in the cottage cheese and instant pudding mix, then use an immersion blender to blend it up until it’s smooth.

two photos; one shows cottage cheese and pudding mix added to Sprite mixture; the other shows the ingredients blended together.

Freeze. Loosely place the lid on the pint container, then transfer to a level surface in your freezer. Allow the base to freeze for at least 24 hours.

Spin. Remove the pint from the freezer and place it into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami machine, then secure the outer bowl lid.

Lock the outer bowl into place in the machine, then press the Lite Ice Cream button. Allow the cycle to complete.

two photos; one shows the frozen base for Shirley Temple ice cream in the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami; the other shows a finger pointing to the Lite Ice Cream button on the machine.

Re-spin if needed. Remove the pint from the machine and check the ice cream’s consistency.

If it’s a little crumbly or powdery, insert it back into the machine and use the Re-spin button to cycle it again.

If it’s still crumbly after that, add a tablespoon of water, Sprite, or milk and Re-spin once more.

Once it’s nice and creamy, you’re all set! Be sure to serve this ice cream garnished with some maraschino cherries to get the full Shirley Temple effect!

scoops of Ninja Creami Shirley Temple ice cream served in a glass dish, garnished with maraschino cherries.

Notes and Adaptations:

If you are using regular grenadine syrup and regular instant pudding mix (not sugar-free), you can use Diet Sprite. I wouldn’t recommend using all sugar-free ingredients.
The cottage cheese is a low-fat way to get a nice creamy texture in the ice cream–plus it gives it some extra protein! But you won’t be able to taste the cottage cheese itself. I use low fat cottage cheese, which I recommend instead of fat-free.

Recommended Equipment:

Yield: Approx. 1 pint