I Couldn’t Recreate the Gelato I Had in Italy—Until I Tried the Nutribullet Chill

The company best known for its compact blenders has brought that tech to the realm of ice cream makers, creating a countertop frozen dessert machine that can whip up sorbet, gelato, smoothie bowls, frozen yogurt and traditional ice cream at the touch of a button. It clocks in at about 10.5 pounds and takes up roughly as much space as a full-size blender (albeit with a somewhat longer base).

It also functions fairly similarly to a blender: You pour ingredients into one of the two 16-ounce pint containers, let it freeze for 24 hours, then pop it onto the machine and press the desired setting (ice cream, sorbet, etc.). Nutribullet’s double-sided blade whips things to the desired consistency, allowing you to scoop and serve it right away. When you’re done, you can pop one of the included storage lids onto the pint glass and put it right back in the fridge.

Over the course of a month, I put the Nutribullet Chill’s presets to the test, creating coffee fro-yo, chocolate gelato, fruit sorbet (which was also repurposed to make a smoothie bowl) and vanilla ice cream. I vetted the ice cream machine for its ease of use, overall functionality (including how it lived up to its marketing claims and influencer raves), noise, bulkiness, convenience, aesthetics and, of course, the final product. How closely could the flavor, texture and overall consistency mirror that of gelato, ice cream and sorbet I could buy elsewhere? Could it match scoop shop quality? Was it creamy, icy or just plain watery?

If you’ve used a personal blender before, you’ll have no trouble using this machine. (Heck, even if you haven’t, you’ll figure this out quickly.) The Nutribullet Chill comes with a few recipes, though there are many more in its library online, and—like any ice cream machine—the real effort is in planning ahead, so you can prep the ingredients the day before you want to savor them. Once they’ve been properly frozen, all you have to do is take off the storage lid, twist on the blade attachment and pop it onto the Chill’s base, twisting to lock it in place. Select the preset you want, and within minutes, your frozen treat is ready.

We’ve tested ice cream makers from Cuisinart, Ninja and other brands, but what made the Nutribullet Chill stand out to me was the texture of the frozen desserts. They were consistently silky, never gritty or icy. That’s due to the 360 DoubleCream Blade Technology, which offers dual-sided rotation to really aerate and whip up ice cream, gelato and the like. The fruit sorbet was light and refreshing; fantastic on its own or topped with a splash of prosecco for a fun cookout cocktail. (I substituted half the pineapple for dragon fruit in the pineapple sorbet recipe, making it a bit sweeter and giving it a bright magenta hue.)

The chocolate gelato transported me to a summer in Venice—it was decadent and velvety, just like the scoops I’d had seven years ago (and had been sadly unable to replicate in the States ever since).

Even the vanilla ice cream was a hit, despite my reservations about making an egg yolk custard—and not having a fine-mesh sieve on hand to strain the mixture before freezing it. It wound up being lump-free without it, earning rave reviews. The vanilla really shone through, coming off stronger than the typical half gallon you’d get at the supermarket.

The only treat that fell short was the coffee frozen yogurt, and that had more to do with ingredients than the device’s results. The yogurt was so tangy that it overpowered the coffee flavor, creating more of a sour taste. But in terms of texture, it was very close to what you’ll pull from a handle at TCBY or 16 Handles. (In fact, it was a bit creamier, which meant that it tended to melt faster—but it also wasn’t as icy.)

To achieve those very smooth results, there is one trade-off: noise. Most in this class are pretty loud, with people comparing it to running a vacuum or microwave, but I’d say this is louder. I found the need to shout over it to hold a conversation, and I would not run it when someone is sleeping in a room nearby (and definitely not at naptime). When it’s really churning, it sounds like a Power Wheels-sized airplane is taking off.

Again, this is comparable to what we’ve found when testing the Ninja CREAMi and similar devices, but it’s something to consider if you were dreaming of whipping up ice cream as a midnight snack.

With its five presets, the Nutribullet Chill is amazingly versatile. I can’t see myself buying a traditional ice cream machine when this exists. Not only is it much more compact—both for your countertops and freezer space—but it really delivers solid results. I can’t stop making the chocolate gelato (which is a bit dangerous, honestly) and is a serious disappointment to my neighborhood Twistee Treat, since I don’t swing by nearly as often.

Plus, the ability to customize your creations—even creating high-protein desserts—really takes this device over-the-top. If you enjoy a scoop or two as a lil’ treat, you’ll want to put the Chill at the top of your wish list.