When I found out that I was going to be sent a Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ to try out, I was pretty excited.
In fact, I may have said a few times how I couldn’t wait until my Ninja arrived so that I could make lots and lots of smoothies and milkshakes.
And I definitely said stuff like, “OH MY GOSH, if I had my Ninja right now I wouldn’t have all these chunks of ice in my shake!” and “My Ninja is coming soon!”
Yeah, I was pretty excited.
And Jack got pretty excited too, which was pretty cool.
However, I didn’t realize until my Ninja arrived that he thought I was getting an ACTUAL NINJA to make us milkshakes…
I’m not going to lie, that does sound pretty cool. But I’m not sure it could be any better than the Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ that now lives on my counter top. And I’m pretty sure that an actual ninja would need more space. And care. And fresh ninja outfits to wear after making me smoothies and milkshakes every day.
The Nitty-Gritty
The Nutri Ninja Auto-iQ™ Compact System includes a powerful 1100-watt motor base that has the ability to crush whole fruits, vegetables, and ice into deliciously drinkable super juices or whip up frozen smoothies in seconds. It also includes the multi-functional Blend & Prep Bowl, allowing one to make anything from frozen smoothies to cookie dough, in one versatile bowl. The system just came out in September and is available at major retailers nationwide starting at $159.99 MSRP. For more information on where to buy, click here.
My Thoughts
I’ve used plenty of blenders in my lifetime and they all kind of sucked. I’ve been making shakes recently and started using a small food processer (originally bought when I was planning to make Jack baby food…) because it left the least amount of lumps. But there were still PLENTY of lumps of ice and frozen fruit that it just couldn’t bring itself to chop.
Well, after I tried the Ninja for the first time I immediately became one of those odd people who tried to entice people over to her house to blend stuff.
Really.
Ask my sister.
And most of my co-workers.
Take this little mix: I threw in full handful of spinach, frozen strawberries, fresh blueberries, greek yogurt, honey, a little orange juice and some ice cubes. I pressed the Auto-IQ Blend button and HOLY CRAP, my world was rocked. The smoothie was SO SMOOTH that you couldn’t even find a strawberry seed in there. It was incredible!
Jack has finally gotten over the fact that it’s not an actual ninja and loves his banana “milkshake” — which is actually just a full banana, a handful of ice cubes, some milk and a squirt of chocolate syrup. YUM!
In the past few weeks since my Ninja came, I’ve left the base on my counter top because I’ve been using it so often. Luckily, it doesn’t really take up much room. I especially like that my set came with a 24 oz double-walled stainless steel cup, because I can make my morning shake and sip it the whole way to work without it getting warm and gross.
The best part is that with all the attachments that come with this system, I haven’t even scratched the surface of what this thing can do! People use it to make soup, homemade nut butters like this almond honey butter which sounds amazing, cookie and bread dough, and more. You can check out some of the recipes here: Ninja Kitchen Recipes.
So, all in all I am super impressed with my Ninja and am so happy that I was able to try it out!
Do you have a favorite smoothie or shake recipe I should try?
Disclosure: I received a Nutri Ninja Auto-iQ™ Compact System for the purposes of my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love my Ninja!
I hate having stuff on the kitchen counters, but my Ninja earned a space there. I love it. I had a blender before and it sucked a lot. I threw it away before I even got a Ninja because I couldn’t stand to have it in the house. I use my Ninja almost every day to make kale juice (kale + cold water). I also use it to make “nice cream,” which is just frozen bananas with some unsweetened almond milk to make it creamier (sometimes I add peanut butter and/or cocoa powder).
I think I’d be a great spokeswoman for the Ninja. I think you and I would make awesome infomercials!
I like that your system has the prep bowl. They should have a trade-in system for upgrades.
I totally like the idea of ‘nice’ cream… but you lost me on the Kale water. BLEGH! lol You and I would make a pretty hilarious infomercial though… Ninja should jump on that opportunity!
Ninja should have a trade-up program! I love my ninja blender, but this handy system sounds amazing.
You should try homemade peanut butter. It’s one of my boys’ favorites (read mine!) All you do is throw about a pound or so of your favorite peanuts in the blender and/or food processor for 4 minutes or until your desired consistency.I usually leave a few to the side and throw those in last second because we like chunky peanut butter. Paired with homemade grape jelly (which I recently learned is SUPER EASY) and you’ve got a winning combo for lunch!
Oh wow, I’ve never even thought about making my own peanut butter before and that sounds so good AND easy! And I’m all for a Ninja trade-up program!