Welcome to Part Three of my in-depth look at the new Ninja Mega Kitchen System. Instead of one super long review, I decided to break up the review and create a variety of items that use all aspects of the system to really “kick the tires,” so to speak.
- Part One: Whole Food Juicing
- Part Two: Making Cookie Dough
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I have made plenty of nut butters in the Ninja Professional blender (most popular: peanut butter) so, today I sought out to make something I haven’t made before: Cashew Butter. And, to make it even more complex, I used raw cashews. This would also provide a fairly decent comparison between making nut butter in the 72 ounce blender jar (all I had before) to using the smaller, more food processor-type jar that comes with the Ninja Mega KS. For this project, I made sure to use the 24 ounce “mini prep” bowl, so I could give that a good shake-down.
I have to say, making nut butter is faster – by a lot – in the Ninja Mega with the food processor blade/jar. Of course, some of this is to do with I was using cashews, which are a bit of a softer nut. I also think some of it is due to the blade design (closer together blades) and the smaller volume of the jar.
Here’s a little tutorial on how I went from raw cashews to creamy cashew butter in less than 90 seconds. (82 seconds, to be exact). If you want to do this with a food processor or Ninja Professional or Ninja KS, just follow the steps with what you have available!
Homemade Cashew Butter
- 1 cup cashews of your choice
- 1 tablespoon oil of your choice (I would recommend coconut, light olive oil, or walnut for the healthiest choice)
- 1 teaspoon sweetener of your choice (I went with unrefined coconut sugar)
Directions:
1. Soak cashews. This step is optional, to be honest. But, since I was working with raw cashews, I went ahead and soaked them for a couple hours in the morning so they would be ready when I wanted to blend in the afternoon. Simply put one cup of cashews in a small bowl, cover with water, and walk away.
2. Assemble the 24-ounce mini prep bowl
If you are doubling or tripling the recipe, skip this step and just use the 64 ounce bowl and blade.
| Place the 64 ounce bowl on the base and insert the plastic spindle. |
Place the 24 ounce bowl in the 64 ounce bowl, making sure to seat it well |
Place the blade for the 24 ounce bowl over the shaft, again, making sure it is seated well – you should see all of the metal portion of the shaft once it’s inserted. If you don’t, wiggle it around to get it seated. If you’re not sure, do a test fit with the lid before you add your ingredients.
3. Add Ingredients (1 cup cashews, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon sweetener).
Note the fully visible metal portion of the shaft! This is critical to making sure the lid will lock.
4. Pulse to combine, then blend on “2” (Blend) for about 90 seconds, or less, until you get a consistency you like.
The key is to use speed “2″ and no higher. Blending on “3” does not make it go faster and doesn’t get you a creamy result. Trust me, I tried this speed first and had one batch that didn’t come together at all.
Want to see it in action? I made a short video that picks up about halfway into the blending, to save you the madness of watching the whole thing. It is not a good video, but it is a video nonetheless! I left the volume true to how it really sounds so you can get a feel for loudness.
As a side note, I made this while 2Chili was out on a bike ride, and he came back as I was filming this video. He had a lot of questions:
- Why are you filming?
- Why are you timing and filming?
- What is that?!
He also noted, “I always know I’m at the right house when the whir of the blender welcomes me back home.”
Indeed.
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Just So You Know: I have absolutely no affiliation with the Ninja Kitchen folks. I bought this system for my own purposes and to share my honest thoughts with you about its performance. I receive no compensation or consideration for my opinions.
View Comments (35)
Hi,
I just read your neat website. I found it quite informative and thank you for providing an option to leave a message. I actually have a question. I am thinking of buying the Ninja Mega KS but was wondering if you’ve experienced something. I presently have a Vitamix, and it pulverizes the fruits and vegetables just fine, but it also always heats up the produce in the canister which is why Vitamix is able to makes soups right in the canister but I don’t want my juicing to be heated. Does the Ninja Mega KS heat up your juicing the longer you operate the machine? This is the main reason I don’t like juicing in my Vitamix. I also love the fact that you get both a blender and food processor with the NMKS.
And thank you for providing the nut butter recipes!
Hi Eva,
Glad you find the site helpful!
The Ninja blenders do not heat up the produce in the canisters (none of them do this). So, you can make whole food juices just fine without the contents becoming heated.
Hope that helps,
Angela
Hi!
I was wondering which model of the ninja you used in this. Mine has the more square shaped containers and has failed so far to butterize any nut besides peanuts! It works marvelously for that but it can’t handle almonds, cashews, or seed butters like sunflower. I believe mine is the kitchen system 1100 – any tips on getting these other nuts into butter with it?
Hi Katie!
I used the Ninja Mega Kitchen System, but have made cashew cheese (similar to cashew butter) in the Ninja Professional 1100.
A few things that might help:
-Soak the cashews (or almonds) for 4 hours or up to overnight. This softens them up but also releases the toxic enzyme inhibitors that protects the nuts and makes them easier to digest
-Add 1 tbs oil to 1 cup of nuts to help it blend
-If you are still having issues, try adding a little bit of water, in 1 tbs increments, until you get it to blend
Almond butter is definitely possible to make, but it takes a lot longer than peanuts or cashews. Just keep blending and scraping the sides – you’ll get there. I’d say almond butter is in the 8-9 minute range. You’ll need to scrape down the sides every so often to push down the build up in the corners. Lastly, speed is important. In this case, slower is actually better. Use speed 1 or 2, but not 3. 3 is too fast and you’ll never get butter (trust me on that one!)
I hope that helps, and good luck!
Angela
I used the old square ninja to make almond butter. You have to blend it for about 20 minutes and scrape the sides often.
I have the Ninja Mega Kitchen BL770 series(1500 watts)
Can I use the single cups to make nut butter using sunflower seeds?
I only want to make 1 cup at a time and this system has the larger bowl.
Already making smoothies and juice drinks like a pro after only a few days but a little nervous
about attempting nut butters.
Hi Charlene,
Yes, I think you can, with a caveat. I’ll write up a post on this for next week.
The single serve cups are more than capable of making nut butter, but you may find it kind of annoying do to the screwing/unscrewing of the blade that you might have to do in the process. I’ll be the tester here and will make a batch over the weekend with step-by-step and publish next week. Stay tuned!
Angela
I was wondering about making jut butters in a Ninja 1500 watt blender. Not sure if it’s the Mega. I read some reviews that they overheat. As a daily use blender/smoothie maker, do you recommend it? I want a Vitamix, but need a blender that I don’t have to save up to purchase. Purchasing nut butter is expensive, and I prefer making it.
Hi Melissa,
Oh yes, this is absolutely doable and it does not overheat. Go with a ratio of 1 cup nuts to 1 tablespoon oil. For the 72 ounce pitcher, you’ll want at least 2 cups of nuts as it does better with volume. Pulse to begin to combine, then blend on 2, scraping the sides down as needed. Hard nuts like almonds take a while, but soft nuts like peanuts blend very quickly.
Angela
The Ninja Kitchen System is absolutely the WORST for making any type of nut butters or doughy textured concoctions. It overheats very repaidly and stops working until it cools. This means it takes an hour to make 1.5 cups of almonds into almond butter ( it should take less than 10 minutes). If your are thinking about getting this thing, DON’T. The frustration will make you insane!
Hi Lauren,
This is surprising, as I have never had an issue! It takes me about 90 seconds to make cashew butter and 10 minutes to make almond butter. I wonder if you have a defective unit? You may want to reach out to the Ninja folks and see if they will send you a replacement — that definitely doesn’t sound right!
Angela
Thanks for your reply.
i am having the same issue. and i soaked the almond skinned them and dehydrated them!
getting so frustrated! i think i actually cooked the butter. it was steaming each time i opened it.
i did try peanut butter and it did do what they claim in about 3 minutes. why are almonds so hard??
Hi Erica,
It’s exactly what you stated – almonds are hard! I would rank almonds the hardest of the nuts to turn into butter than any others. Are you adding any oil or water to help move it along? Almond butter generally takes me about 10 minutes to make…
Angela
I am in the process of purchasing this machine can you advise if it is really worth the money or the time?
I have purchased other machines in the past and was not satisfied. A real one waste of money.
Hi Gloria,
It all depends on what you want it for. Have you read my full review, located here? https://testkitchentuesday.com/2012/12/10/ninja-mega-kitchen-system-full-review/
I really like and it use it daily, from single serve smoothies, to food processing, to blending in the large jar. It is different than other blenders though, and with that comes pros and cons. Check out my review and hopefully that will help.
Angela
Hi there
Just purchase The Ninja Kitchen Pulse which I’m not sure if you’re familiar with since your review has been just for the Mega Ninja Kitchen System which is more powerful than the Kitchen Pulse.
I am confuse as to which model Ninja to get, I chose the above mentioned unit because it was cheaper than the other models which states it function as a blender and a food processor.
I would like your opinion on this particular model b/4 I actually start to use it whether you think it’s worth the trouble or not to use it. It is a 700 power unit.
Thank you for your time
Sandra Rowley
Hi Sandra,
Here is my review on the Ninja Pulse: https://testkitchentuesday.com/2012/01/03/product-review-ninja-pulse-blending-system/
I quite like the Pulse, but it truly depends on what you want it for. It is perfectly fine as a blender and food processor, and more powerful than most standard blenders/food processors. However, if you do a lot of blending and need a bigger volume container, you probably would be better off with the Mega KS. Hopefully that above review will help.
Angela