The Ninja SLUSHI is a pro-grade frozen drink maker scaled back for consumer use. It has been so popular that it sells out when it hits the shelves. Slushi on tap – what is not to like?
We purposely mentioned ‘scaled back’ for consumer use, as decent-quality commercial machines sell for $2000 for a single bowl to over $7000 for a three-bowl model. What do you get for $499.99, and what are its limitations?
Ninja SLUSHI Brief Specs
| Vessel capacity | The vessel holds up to 2.6 litres (Slushi contents expand when chilled) Minimum fill 475ml to maximum fill 1.89 litres (commercial machines have 5 to 10 litre capacity). |
| Colour | Artic Blue and Grey |
| Continuous operation | 12 hours (commercial machines can operate longer) |
| 1-10 Freeze settings | Five presets: Slush, Frappe and Frozen Juice 2, Milkshake 4, and Frozen Cocktail 9 |
| Chill time | From 15 to 60 minutes |
| Rinse setting | Empty, add warm water to 1.89 L, dispense |
| Cleaning | Vesel, Auger, Drip tray, and condenser tray wash in warm water. |
| Bench space | 413.5 (D) x 175.77 (H) x 165.6 (W) x 11kg A 240V power socket is required. 200W maximum. |
Our testing has shown it to be foolproof, with promising initial results, but the best results are yet to come as we continue to refine our recipes.
Australian Review: Ninja SLUSHI frozen drink maker Model FS301 (prices as of 31/8/25)
| Website | Ninja Company site Product page Quick Start Owners Guide |
| Price | RRP $449 |
| From | Ninja Online, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Bing Lee, Myer, Appliances Online |
| Warranty | 2-year ACL |
| Made in | China |
| Company | Ninja is a kitchen brand developed by SharkNinja, a pioneer in small household appliances and cleaning. Its headquarters are in Needham, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Mann&Noble is the exclusive distributor for SharkNinja in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia. |
| More | CyberShack kitchen appliances news and reviews CyberShack Ninja news and reviews |
Ratings
We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards a score between 70 and 80/100 as a fit-for-purpose pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.
- Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
- Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
- Pass (meets expectations).
- Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
- Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).
First Impression – I did not know I needed one until we started testing it
The Ninja Slushi is not something I have on my must-have kitchen list. In fact, it will end up somewhere they will have more use for it. You see, no matter how good it is (and it is), I just can’t see it taking pride of place on my limited kitchen benchtop space. Sure, if we had wall-to-wall parties, this would be a real hit. So, my first piece of advice is that if you truly have a need for it, you won’t be disappointed.
Unpacking revealed only a few parts (no complex assembly required). The Plastic 2.6L vessel, a blue plastic auger, a clip-on drip tray and a slide-in condenser drip tray. The setup was straightforward.
Now what to make?
Warning #1: My wife and I simply can’t drink enough non-alcoholic or alcohol infused slush, let alone up to 2.6 litres it can make. It’s not for casual drinking. Think of it as a small keg you need to drink in one go. Perfect for a family or party.
Warning #2: It will run continuously for 12 hours (commercial machines can run for longer). Yes, you can let it rest and restart it to slush again, provided the contents are safe to refreeze.
We used half of a fresh pineapple (about 500g) to make Pina Colada with Bundy Rum (200ml for 500g) and a similar-sized dash of coconut cream.
Out with the trusty Ninja Auto-IQ blender to puree the pineapple – perfect. Although in hindsight, you don’t need to puree (right image) it so much as pulp it (middle image).
Next, we added it to the SLUSHI. Open the top flap and glug! The puree was too thick to ‘flow’, and the easy-fill cover has a baffle that needs more liquid. No problems, so we went back to the blender and added 500ml of water to loosen the mixture. Now it poured in, and we had about 1 litre of liquid. We will come to the alcohol and sugar content indicators later, but for now, the pineapple had enough natural sugar to slush!
In about 40 minutes, the mix had slushed and was all augured to the front of the vessel. We used the ‘comfort handle’ to pour a test, and nothing came out!
The manual offered two hints. Either reduce the chill level or add more liquid. As the frozen juice preset is set to level 2 (with a maximum chill level of 10), we lowered it to level 1. About 15 minutes later, the liquid had more evenly covered the auger and was ‘soft serve’ pourable. By that stage, our 1 litre had grown by about a further 50%.
The final frozen juice was pleasant, creamier than slushi, and not quite as sweet as the raw pineapple (the manual advises that sugariness decreases when frozen).
Next, we added rum and cream and mixed for a further 15 minutes. The mix was far more consistent, showing that a perfect slushi has the right mix of water, flavouring, sugar and optionally alcohol.
We later learned that alcohol (minimum 2.8 to 16%) slows freezing, and its preset is 9, the setting we could have used if we had added alcohol at the beginning.
What was I going to do with nearly two litres of Pina Colada? My headache the next day is an indication.
What we learned from the first test
- The base liquid needs to be easily pourable into the easy-fill cover.
- Experiment with temperature settings
- Ensure sugar content is correct – at least 5g per 100ml
- I think it is best to add alcohol to the glass than the vessel.
What is it about sugar – at least 5g per 100ml?
If you like diet drinks, Ninja offers some simple hacks. You can add Erythritol, lemon juice (30ml per litre) and a pinch of salt.
Erythritol is a 100% natural corn-derived polyol sugar alcohol and zero-calorie sweetener used in various sugar-free and keto-friendly foods. Woolworths Everyday Market online sells a 500g bag for $13.92. Shop around online.
The manual provides quantity guidelines, but Erythritol is used at about 10g per litre. The recommended human intake is 0.5 g per kg or 40g per 80 kg person – safe.
Yes, you can slushy soft drinks and diet drinks
You can use any carbonated soft drink (or cordial), but take care that some have extremely strong artificial colouring that can stain the vessel and auger.
We tried Coke, and it was excellent – just like the frozen Coke you buy. The ‘fizzy effect’ dissipated fairly quickly, which means store-bought Frozen Coke must contain an effervescence ingredient.
Frappé and milkshake
Let me warn you that I don’t think ice and milk work well together. Ice cream – yes, but it is not recommended to add ice cream through the Easy Fill cover.
For a Coffee Frappé, you premix 500ml of milk, 500ml of black coffee (made with 5-6 teaspoons of coffee powder), and 100ml of caster sugar. It takes about an hour.
While it was smooth enough, it still had a crunchy ice crystal texture and mouthfeel.
Milkshakes don’t use water – just milk, flavouring, cream and a pinch of salt (to aid frothing). We repeated the Coffee Frappé with coffee powder, omitted the vanilla essence (for sweetening), and the mouthfeel was velvety smooth. It’s a milkshake, and you can optionally add scoops of ice cream to the glass.
Now the benefit here is that if you have kids, you can make shakes of one flavour in bulk – up to 1.89L or five large shakes.
They offer dairy-free recipes (Almond, Oat, Soy, and Macadamia milks), but these may require up to 100g of sugar per litre to achieve a slush consistency.
Alcohol
Despite the popularity of frozen margaritas, they are typically made by mixing tequila and other ingredients in a blender and serving them immediately.
Most alcohol is water plus a distilled spirit. You can add alcohol to almost any slush, but be aware that freezing alcohol can seriously dull its taste and lower the alcohol content over time.
You can add a minimum of 2.8 to 16% by volume, but that is nowhere near a 30ml shot per glass.
Vodka freezes OK, but in all cases, it is advisable to drink the Slushi as soon as possible.
Our take: Use the slushi for the mixer and add alcohol to the glass.
Noise
Around 50dB – not quiet but not too loud as to stop everyday conversation.
Power use – Minimal
It costs approximately 7 cents per hour (peak rates). It has a 200W motor/compressor.
Cleaning – OK
The Rinse cycle is quite effective, but it does not entirely remove food fats/oils and requires you to drain the vessel of the remaining slush. Great if you drank it all – hic!
The tank slips forward and off, but you must take extreme care to tilt it down to avoid spilling any residual liquid. The Auger slides off, the condenser tray slides out, and the drop tray clips off.
I would not risk the dishwasher for these (they may be OK), but warm water and dishwashing detergent is best. The pour spout needs special attention. Overall, it is not onerous.
While it is well-made, the vessel and auger are made of plastic and could easily break if dropped.
Spare Parts – Fail
At this stage, Ninja Australia does not list the FS301 vessel as a spare part. It does offer the Auger for A$19.99, but it is out of stock. Additionally, generic parts are available on eBay, etc.
The vessel is listed on the UK site for £39.99 (approximately A$85 plus freight and customs), but user comments suggest that it is difficult to obtain.
Foibles
- You can’t make a single serve! 475ml is the minimum.
- All recipes require sugar (in some form) or a sugar substitute, such as maple syrup.
- Liquid must be ‘liquid’ enough to pour through the easy-fill cover and get past the baffle.
- If the auger moves the liquid to the front and leaves the refrigerant tube bare, you need to add water and/or reduce the temperature.
- Experimentation will get the best results.
- Texture can range from velvety to icy – experiment to get the best mouthfeel
- 12 hours of continuous use.
- Only makes one flavour at a time- no issue.
- Parts: We recommend buying a spare vessel and auger at least.
Ninja Test Kitchen and Facebook groups
Ninja Test Kitchen is an excellent resource, featuring over 100 recipes, including many sugar-free options.
Facebook Groups has a Ninja Slushi group, and there are tonnes of recipes online.
CyberShack’s view: Ninja SLUSHI frozen drink maker is perfect if you have the volume for it.
As a reviewer, we test against established benchmarks. One benchmark is that there are only two of us, and we quickly found it too big for our benchtop, and it produced too much to drink, even in 12 hours.
Our only concern is the availability of the vessel as a spare part, as it appears that you may need this during its lifetime.
To its credit, it does precisely what it promises in a quick, no-fuss way. If you have a large family or frequently entertain guests, it is a no-brainer.
Rating
As we have no Slushi benchmarks, we won’t formally rate it out of 100. Suffice it to say that it’s well above a pass mark – good for what it does.
- Features: It has all the slushi features.
- Value: It offers pro-grade scaled back for consumer use.
- Performance: Every drink was more than acceptable, although some store-bought ones must contain an effervescing agent.
- Ease of Use: Exceptionally easy, but you need to experiment to achieve the perfect mouthfeel and ingredient mix. It comes with a 2-year warranty, but we are concerned that replacement parts may be difficult to obtain.
- Design: Overall, the design is well-designed; however, we believe there is room for improvement. For example, you can’t lift the lid to use a spatula to redistribute ingredients that may be stuck in the corners. While we understand the rationale behind the easy-fill cover and baffle being designed to stop larger hard objects, it is pretty restrictive and only suitable for right-handed pours.
Pro
Does what it claims with a minimum of fuss
Easy to use
Pretty quick – 15 to 60 minutes
Relatively easy to clean
2-year warranty
Con
Alcohol separates and dissipates quickly – best added to the glass
Big!
Sugar!
You need to monitor the temperature – presets are a starting point
Only for those with a genuine need and a big thirst
Spare parts may be an issue
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