Cheesy Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Recipe

Cheesy Ninja Foodi spaghetti will become your new favorite dinner using both your pressure cooker and air fryer functions! Baked spaghetti in a snap!! If you’re new and looking for Foodi recipes for your new machine we have them and pasta with jar sauce is where to start.

How to Make Ninja Foodi Spaghetti

Are you obsessed with your pressure cooker and air fryer too??!! I made Instant Pot spaghetti years ago and it was a hit. Not only with my family but everyone else who tried it. But NOW there’s a new player in town and they can melt that ooey gooey cheese I love right on the top without having to transfer it into a dish and in the oven. 

First – Let’s start with some helpful tips: Now once you’ve tried our cheesy Ninja Foodi spaghetti just go to our tab at the top and find more to try. Then let us know which one was your favorite!

How much water do I put in my Ninja Spaghetti?

You only need 2 cups of water or broth because the jar of spaghetti sauce has liquid in it too. I’m sure that’s how you used to make baked spaghetti but after you try it this way I guarantee it will be a game changer for y’all too! These are the ingredients you will need:

1. 1/2  lb. of hot ground sausage + 1/2 lb. regular – or ground beef
   1. the sausage combo is the bomb!!
2. Onion
3. Olive oil
4. Spaghetti noodles or you can use penne
5. Jar of spaghetti sauce – we use this pasta sauce
6. Water or broth
7. Mozzarella cheese
8. Parmesan cheese if desired
9. Green onion is optional, and red pepper flakes too if you want it spicy
10. Garlic salt and Italian seasonings are good too

Here’s a peek of how to cook pasta in Ninja Foodi step by step with pictures. First off you are going to use the pressure cooker function. This means the lid that is NOT attached is the one you want. What you want to remember when cooking Pressure Cooker Pasta is make sure it is submerged into the liquid or sauce for best results.

How to cook spaghetti in a Ninja Foodi

This is no different than in any other pressure cooker. The difference comes at the end when you melt and lightly brown the cheese on top. That is a game changer y’all!! You just brown the meat, pour in the sauce and liquid, break up the noodles to submerge and cook!

Yes I have other pots and yes I have been using them for years but in order to do this in prior years I had to dirty a baking dish. Transferring everything into a pan, preheating the oven, and waiting for the broil setting to do the work. Not anymore! I love one one pot spaghetti.

Can you cook noodles in tomato sauce?

Absolutely! We actually prefer it now. They soak up the flavors and you can adjust for how al dente you’d like them. You can make it like our Lazy One Pot Spaghetti on the stove this way too. The 9 minute cook time I share here is perfect we say but if you like firmer noodles set to 7 or 8.

Once you have made this you will see how easy it is, and get the feel of the ratio between the two like you’ll need for our Ninja Foodi macaroni and cheese recipe too.

Ninja Foodi Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

If you’d rather make homemade spaghetti sauce you’re free to do so, just use 24 oz in total. I typically use jarred just because I don’t have the time to put it all together but either way is great.

1. Saute the onions, salts, and ground meat together until the pink is almost all gone.
2. If you’re using ground beef you can leave a touch of pink but if I’m using pork Ninja Foodi sausage I cook it all the way through. It will continue to cook in the pressure cooking process too though so don’t stress about it too much.
3. Turn your pot off when this is done. This gives the pot a chance to cool off a bit.
4. Spread your meat on the bottom so it’s evenly spread across.
5. Pour your sauce evenly across that.
6. Then fill that spaghetti sauce bottle with your water or broth. Put your lid back on and shake. You’ll be able to get the rest of the sauce out this way, I hate to waste.
7. This liquid will be poured into your pot now but do NOT stir anything.
8. Grab 1/2 of your noodles out of a 16 oz. box (that is how I measure, seriously) and break them into thirds.
9. SPRINKLE pasta in the pot. If you throw them in as one big chunk they will come out as one big chunk, not separated.
10. Gently submerge noodles with a spoon. Do NOT stir.
11. Then close your lid and steam valve and set to pressure high pressure for 9 minutes. Quick release at the end.

If you wanted to pair this with our Ninja Foodi bone-in chicken thighs, that is a healthy choice. Kids though love chicken nuggets with this. Game changer and so much better than in the oven.

Yes, you could serve it up right then……but it gets WAY better!! In the recipe card below you can go all the way with the browned mozzarella on top or stop once the noodles are tender, that is totally up to you.

Can you cook spaghetti in an air fryer?

Not entirely. You would need to boil the noodles first, toss with the sauce and then follow the air fryer portion to melt the cheese. Looking for other air fryer recipes? We have lots but pasta is a tricky one for sure.

• Stir in 1 cup of mozzarella and let that melt.
• Next you’ll want to sprinkle in 1 more cup of cheese on the top. I use a mix of mozzarella and parmesan but use whatever you love.
• Use the air crisp lid for 4-5 minutes to melt that cheese and lightly brown it.
• Voila!! Done to perfection.

The pressure cooker Mexican casserole we make is similar to this one. You make the pasta and then melt cheese on top. I’d try that next. Then make our Ninja Foodi taco pasta.

To add meat we have Ninja Foodi chicken recipes here that you can pair with it, it is better than combining it all together.