A single-serve coffee maker makes sense when you want one fresh cup without brewing an entire pot—but choosing between coffee pods and freshly ground beans can feel like an unnecessary compromise.
The Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker solves that problem by letting you use both.
For most coffee drinkers, the model to look at is the Ninja PB051 Pods & Grounds Specialty Single-Serve Coffee Maker. It works with coffee pods and loose grounds, offers multiple cup sizes and brew styles, makes iced coffee, and even includes a fold-away milk frother for homemade lattes and cappuccinos.
That makes it considerably more flexible than a basic pod brewer while still maintaining the small footprint that makes single-serve machines appealing.
But is all that versatility actually useful—or does it simply make the machine more complicated?
Here’s what to know before buying one.
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⚡ Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker at a Glance
| Feature | Ninja PB051 |
|---|---|
| Coffee Type | Ground coffee or coffee pods |
| Pod Sizes | 6, 8, 10, 12 oz. |
| Ground Coffee Sizes | 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 24 oz. |
| Brew Styles | Classic, Rich, Over Ice, Specialty |
| Water Reservoir | 56 oz., removable |
| Milk Frother | Built-in fold-away frother |
| Travel Mug Compatible | Up to 8 inches tall |
| Dimensions | 13.07 × 5.51 × 13.31 in. |
| Power | 1,550 watts |
| Best For | Single-cup coffee, pods, grounds, iced coffee, lattes |
| Model | PB051 |
Check the Ninja PB051 Single Serve Coffee Maker on Amazon
☕ What Is the Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker?
The Ninja PB051 sits somewhere between a basic K-Cup brewer and a full specialty coffee machine.
Instead of locking you into one type of coffee, it provides two brewing systems in the same compact machine:
- Coffee pods when convenience matters
- Ground coffee when freshness and bean choice matter more
The PB051 also offers four brewing styles—Classic, Rich, Over Ice, and Specialty—along with seven available serving sizes when using grounds.
Ninja’s current specifications give the brewer a remarkably narrow footprint of about 5.5 inches wide, although it extends farther back on the countertop.
Its removable 56-ounce water reservoir also means you don’t need to refill the machine every time you make a cup.
🏆 Our Verdict
The Ninja PB051 is one of the more compelling single-serve machines for people who don’t want to commit entirely to pods.
We especially like it for:
- Households that use both K-Cups and fresh coffee grounds
- People who frequently make iced coffee
- Latte and cappuccino drinkers
- Kitchens with limited counter width
- People who sometimes need a travel-mug-sized coffee
- Coffee drinkers who want more control than a basic pod machine provides
You may want something else if:
- You only want the cheapest possible single-cup brewer
- You primarily brew full pots of coffee
- You want true espresso rather than concentrated coffee
- You already own a separate milk frother
- You prefer a very simple one-button appliance
The PB051’s biggest strength is versatility.
You can make a quick pod coffee before work, brew freshly ground beans on the weekend, make an iced coffee in the afternoon, and froth milk for a latte without switching appliances.
🫘 Coffee Pods or Grounds: You Get Both
This is the feature that separates the Ninja from many traditional single-serve brewers.
Using coffee pods
Insert the Ninja pod adapter, add your preferred compatible coffee pod, and choose from:
- 6 oz.
- 8 oz.
- 10 oz.
- 12 oz.
Pod brewing is the obvious choice when speed and cleanup matter most.
You can keep several coffee varieties on hand without opening multiple bags of beans, and there’s virtually no measuring required.
Shop K-Cup coffee pods on Amazon
Using ground coffee
Switch to the brew basket and you can use your own ground coffee.
Ground-coffee sizes include:
- 6 oz.
- 8 oz.
- 10 oz.
- 12 oz.
- 14 oz.
- 18 oz.
- 24 oz.
That last option is particularly useful if you commute with a larger travel mug.
You also aren’t restricted to coffee available in pod form. Buy beans from your favorite roaster, grind them yourself, and use them just as you would with another drip brewing system.
Ninja includes a permanent filter and Smart Scoop with the PB051, so you don’t necessarily need disposable filters for everyday brewing.
🎛️ Four Different Brew Styles
The Ninja isn’t simply changing cup size when you press different buttons. You can also select the style of coffee you’re trying to make.
Classic
Classic is the everyday setting.
Use this when you want a straightforward cup of hot coffee with a familiar drip-coffee character.
It’s probably the setting most people will use for their first morning cup.
Rich
Rich produces a more concentrated, fuller-flavored cup.
This can be useful if you like stronger coffee or regularly add milk, cream, or flavored creamer.
A richer brew helps the coffee remain noticeable once other ingredients are added.
Over Ice
Over Ice is designed for brewing directly over a cup filled with ice.
This matters because simply pouring ordinary hot coffee over ice can quickly produce a weak drink as the ice melts.
Ninja’s Over Ice option intentionally creates a concentrated brew that accounts for some dilution.
If iced coffee is part of your regular routine, this setting alone may make the Ninja more attractive than a basic single-serve machine.
You might also like our guide to the Ninja Hot and Iced Coffee Maker.
Specialty
Specialty produces a small amount of highly concentrated coffee designed to form the base of café-style drinks.
You can combine it with frothed milk to make drinks such as:
- Lattes
- Cappuccinos
- Macchiato-style drinks
- Flavored coffee drinks
- Iced lattes
One important distinction: Specialty coffee is not espresso.
The Ninja isn’t generating the high pressure used by an espresso machine. Instead, it’s brewing very concentrated coffee that works well in many drinks normally made with espresso.
If you want genuine espresso shots with crema and traditional espresso extraction, you’ll need an espresso machine instead.
🥛 Built-In Fold-Away Milk Frother
The PB051’s integrated frother is one of the biggest reasons to choose the Specialty version over a simpler Ninja single-serve machine.
The frother swings out from the side when you need it and folds back against the brewer afterward.
It can froth hot or cold milk and milk alternatives, which makes it useful for both hot and iced drinks. The whisk itself is removable for cleaning.
This gives you a simple routine for making a latte:
- Brew using the Specialty setting.
- Add milk to a separate cup.
- Froth the milk.
- Pour it into your concentrated coffee.
- Add syrup or another flavoring if desired.
The frother doesn’t heat the milk, so you’ll need to warm it separately when making a hot latte.
Still, having the frother attached to the coffee maker is far more convenient than storing another appliance on the counter.
🧊 Is the Ninja Good for Iced Coffee?
Yes—iced coffee is one of the PB051’s strongest use cases.
Fill a sturdy glass or travel mug with ice, choose the Over Ice setting, and let the brewer dispense directly over the ice.
From there, you can keep it simple or add:
- Milk
- Cream
- Cold foam
- Vanilla syrup
- Caramel syrup
- Chocolate
- Cinnamon
- Sweet cream
If you drink iced coffee frequently, consider using larger ice cubes because they tend to melt more slowly.
And remember that Over Ice coffee isn’t the same as cold brew.
Cold brew extracts coffee in cool water over many hours. The Ninja’s Over Ice setting still uses hot brewing—it simply creates coffee intended to taste good after being poured over ice.
📏 A Surprisingly Compact Coffee Maker
One of the PB051’s more unusual characteristics is its shape.
At approximately:
13.07 inches deep × 5.51 inches wide × 13.31 inches high
it is remarkably narrow.
That can be extremely useful in:
- Apartments
- RVs
- Dorm rooms
- Office kitchens
- Small coffee bars
- Kitchens with crowded counters
Ninja also says the machine accommodates travel mugs up to 8 inches tall.
The tradeoff is depth. Although it occupies little horizontal counter space, it extends more than 13 inches from front to back.
Measure your space before buying, particularly if the coffee maker will sit beneath low cabinets.
💧 56-Ounce Removable Water Reservoir
A tiny reservoir would undermine much of the convenience of a single-serve brewer.
Fortunately, the PB051 includes a 56-ounce removable reservoir.
That gives you enough capacity for several cups before refilling, depending on the sizes you brew.
Because the reservoir lifts away from the machine, you can carry it directly to the sink instead of awkwardly pouring water into the brewer from another container.
The removable design also makes routine cleaning easier.
☕ Does the Ninja Make Better Coffee Than a Keurig?
“Better” depends on what you value.
A basic Keurig excels at one thing: quick, convenient pod coffee.
The Ninja PB051 is aimed at someone who wants more flexibility.
| Feature | Ninja PB051 | Typical Basic Pod Brewer |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee Pods | ✅ | ✅ |
| Loose Grounds | ✅ | Sometimes |
| Multiple Brew Strengths | ✅ | Model dependent |
| Dedicated Iced Setting | ✅ | Model dependent |
| Specialty Concentrate | ✅ | Usually no |
| Built-In Frother | ✅ | Usually no |
| 24-oz. Grounds Brew | ✅ | Usually no |
If you use nothing but K-Cups and simply want coffee as quickly as possible, you may not need everything the Ninja provides.
But if you like experimenting with fresh grounds, iced coffee, milk drinks, and different serving sizes, Ninja gives you considerably more room to experiment.
For another option, see our guide to the Keurig Iced Coffee Maker.
🆚 Ninja PB051 vs. Basic Ninja Pods & Grounds Brewer
Ninja also sells simpler Pods & Grounds single-serve machines without all of the PB051’s specialty features.
The less expensive versions can make sense if your routine is mostly:
coffee + cup + drink.
The PB051 becomes more worthwhile when you’ll actually use:
- Specialty concentrate
- The built-in frother
- Homemade lattes
- Cappuccinos
- Flavored café drinks
If those features don’t interest you, buying the simpler Pods & Grounds model could save money without sacrificing the basic ability to alternate between pods and ground coffee.
See current Ninja single-serve coffee makers on Amazon
👍 What Owners Like
Current owner feedback for the PB051 is generally strong.
Best Buy currently lists the model at 4.7 out of 5 stars from more than 1,100 reviews, with 93% of reviewers saying they would recommend it to a friend. Ease of use and coffee quality are among the most frequently mentioned positives.
Commonly praised features include:
- Ability to switch between pods and grounds
- Compact width
- Easy controls
- Multiple coffee sizes
- Built-in frother
- Iced coffee option
- Flavor compared with simpler pod machines
That aligns well with the machine’s main appeal: it offers more possibilities without becoming a huge countertop appliance.
👎 Potential Downsides
No coffee maker is perfect, and the Ninja PB051 has a few considerations worth knowing before purchasing.
It isn’t an espresso machine
The Specialty setting produces concentrated coffee, not pressure-extracted espresso.
For many homemade lattes that’s perfectly adequate, but espresso enthusiasts should look elsewhere.
More parts mean more cleaning
Switching between pods, grounds, and milk drinks involves more removable pieces than a simple one-button pod brewer.
The brew basket, pod adapter, reservoir, permanent filter, frother whisk, and drip area all need routine cleaning.
The frother doesn’t heat milk
It froths hot or cold milk, but you must heat the milk separately if you want a hot café-style drink.
Some owners report reliability or brewing issues
Although most feedback is positive, recent owner reviews also include reports of coffee grounds getting into cups, leaking, and units failing prematurely. These complaints aren’t universal, but they’re worth considering when comparing the Ninja with other machines.
Ninja currently lists a one-year limited warranty for the PB051.
🧼 How to Keep Your Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker Clean
Routine maintenance will help keep any coffee maker performing properly.
After brewing grounds
Empty the used grounds and rinse the permanent filter and brew basket.
Allow the parts to dry before reinstalling them.
After using the frother
Remove and wash the frother whisk promptly.
Milk residue becomes considerably more difficult to remove after it dries.
Empty the drip tray
Remove and wash the tray periodically, especially if you frequently switch between cup sizes.
Wash the reservoir
Don’t assume the water tank never needs cleaning simply because it contains water.
Remove it periodically and wash it according to Ninja’s care instructions.
Descale the machine
Minerals from your water can accumulate inside the brewer over time.
Follow the manufacturer’s descaling procedure whenever indicated rather than waiting until the machine’s performance deteriorates.
💡 Tips for Better Coffee from the Ninja
The coffee maker matters, but your beans and technique still make an enormous difference.
Grind fresh when possible
If you’re using loose coffee, grind the beans shortly before brewing.
A good coffee grinder gives you much more control than buying one universal grind for every brewing method.
Don’t overload the filter
More grounds do not automatically mean better coffee.
Use the included Ninja scoop and follow the recommended amounts for your selected serving size.
Use fresh water
Coffee is mostly water, so stale or strongly chlorinated water can affect the finished cup.
Try Rich before simply adding more coffee
If Classic tastes too mild, switch to Rich before dramatically increasing the amount of grounds.
Use Specialty for milk drinks
A normal cup of coffee can disappear underneath a large amount of milk.
Specialty brew gives you the concentration needed for coffee-forward lattes and cappuccino-style drinks.
💰 Is the Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker Worth It?
For the right coffee drinker, yes.
The PB051 isn’t compelling because it performs one extraordinary trick. It’s compelling because it performs several useful functions without taking over your entire countertop.
Instead of owning separate equipment for pods, loose-ground single cups, iced coffee, and milk frothing, you can handle all four with one relatively compact machine.
That versatility is particularly valuable if two people in your household have different coffee habits.
One person can drop in a pod and leave for work.
Another can grind fresh beans and make a Rich brew.
Later, someone can make an iced coffee or froth milk for a latte.
That’s a lot of flexibility from a machine barely wider than many travel mugs.
Check current Ninja PB051 prices on Amazon
❓ Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker FAQ
Does the Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker use K-Cups?
The PB051 is designed to brew compatible single-serve coffee pods using its removable pod adapter.
It can also brew loose ground coffee, so pods aren’t required.
Can you use regular coffee grounds in the Ninja?
Yes.
That’s one of its biggest advantages. Use the ground-coffee brew basket and permanent filter instead of the pod adapter.
Does the Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker make espresso?
No.
The Specialty setting makes concentrated brewed coffee intended for drinks such as lattes and cappuccinos, but it does not produce genuine pressure-extracted espresso.
Can the Ninja make iced coffee?
Yes.
The PB051 has a dedicated Over Ice brew style designed to create coffee that retains stronger flavor after being brewed over ice.
Does the Ninja frother heat milk?
No.
The built-in frother aerates hot or cold milk, but it doesn’t heat the milk itself.
How large is the water tank?
The PB051 has a 56-ounce removable water reservoir.
What is the largest cup size?
When using coffee grounds, the PB051 can brew up to 24 ounces.
Pod brewing is available in sizes up to 12 ounces.
Can you fit a travel mug under it?
Yes. Ninja says the machine accommodates travel mugs up to approximately 8 inches tall.
Is a permanent coffee filter included?
Yes.
Ninja currently includes a permanent filter along with the brew basket, pod adapter, scoop, adjustable cup tray, reservoir, and frother.
❤️ Final Thoughts
The Ninja Single Serve Coffee Maker PB051 strikes an appealing balance between convenience and flexibility.
It gives pod drinkers the quick single-cup experience they want without forcing them to give up freshly ground coffee. The Over Ice setting makes it particularly useful for iced-coffee fans, while the Specialty brew and fold-away frother open the door to homemade lattes and cappuccinos without requiring another machine.
It won’t replace a true espresso machine, and someone who only wants a basic K-Cup every morning could spend less on a simpler brewer.
But for the coffee drinker who regularly thinks, sometimes I want a pod, sometimes I want fresh grounds, and sometimes I want something more interesting, the Ninja makes a lot of sense.
That’s what makes it one of the more versatile single-serve coffee makers currently available.
🔗 Related Articles
- The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Best Ninja Coffee Maker for Your Morning Brew
- Ninja K Cup Coffee Maker
- Ninja Hot and Iced Coffee Maker
- Ninja Coffee Maker with Frother
- Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker
- The Keurig Iced Coffee Maker: Everything You Need to Know
- Perks of the Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Coffee Maker
📚 Sources
- Ninja — Ninja Single-Serve Pods & Grounds Specialty Coffee Maker PB051
- Best Buy — Ninja PB051 Customer Reviews
- Lowe’s — Ninja PB051 Ratings & Reviews
