Easy Ninja Foodi Butter Noodles

Ninja Foodi butter noodles cooked perfectly tender using pressure cooker function is here. Use macaroni, penne, egg noodles or other type. If you love our Ninja Foodi macaroni and cheese recipe you’ll love this as a simple side dish some night.

Pressure Cooker Butter Noodles

I mean you can use any brand of machine you might have at home. I too have a few, a crockpot express as well as the Instant Pot of course. You will only use the pressure cooker function this time so there are several choices as far as that goes.

We have shared a lot of different pressure cooker pasta recipes on our site. This is the most basic though. Yes my children have been known to eat this as an entire meal at times when I just didn’t want to cook. Most of the time it is served on the side though with some sort of meat.

How Long to Cook Butter Noodles Ninja Foodi

Let’s talk about the type of pasta you can use for this. Almost all the shapes in small or medium form will turn out the perfect texture. You can make egg noodles but note that even at 0 minutes they will turn out softer than others. I do like a bit of al dente to any shape I choose so I generally like elbow macaroni or penne.

My girls love these though so I have included the difference below in the printable recipe card. I would just allow for 1 less minute of natural release so they don’t get too too soft. Leave as is or toss with some of our cajun alfredo sauce and enjoy as a side or main meal with chicken.

TIP for cooking pasta in Ninja Foodi – It does like to spray a bit of water when the steam valve is released. The best way to deal with this is to release and then throw a tea towel over the top of it. That will help absorb it and make sure the hot water doesn’t hit your skin. You can also gently move it just a bit so it doesn’t flow out quite so quickly.

Tips for Cooking Pasta in Ninja Foodi

Another few tips to remember. If you add a little bit of olive oil that will help them to not stick together quite as much once drained. I don’t always remember that and if I am adding butter at the end it is not entirely necessary. If you want a dairy free option you can find vegan options (that are quite good).

When done other than salt and pepper we like to sprinkle some garlic salt and a bit of shredded parmesan on the top too. Any which way you top it this is a quick and easy side dish. Now let’s talk about the cook time and just how you do it;

1. Ninja Foodi noodles only take 0 minutes.
2. What is a zero minute pressure cooking time?
   1. That means you open the lid, add your water and dry pasta with a pinch of salt
   2. Seal the lid and steam valve
   3. Turn the pot on
   4. Push pressure for high pressure
   5. Adjust time to 00:00
   6. Press start

What does natural release mean?

That means that once the machine reaches pressure it will beep, since you are only at zero minutes it will immediately start counting up. That means you’re naturally releasing pressure at this time. So if it says 3 minute natural release that means wait until it says 3:00 on the screen then, release remaining pressure left in the pot.

If you had cooked let’s say our Ninja Foodi spaghetti you would quick release meaning that you would flip the steam valve immediately once the timer was up. Hope that makes sense to you so going forward you won’t scratch you head and know immediately what those two terms mean.

Instant Pot butter noodles would work this same way, there isn’t a difference at all. We are not using the air fryer function at all for this so any brand would work. In fact you can use any of our easy Instant pot pasta dishes in this machine. Pure comfort food in a fraction of the time it would take on the stovetop.

Super easy and even a favorite of toddlers who are beginning to eat yummies. 😉 I like to share how to save leftovers when it comes to any sort of recipe. I’ve gotta’ be honest with you on this one, it doesn’t save all that well. You would have to cook noodles quite al dente to be able to reheat the next day and not be mush.

How to serve

BUT if you do go a step further and make a sort of quick mac and cheese with it by folding in dollops of Velveeta sauce then it would keep better. If you did that then make sure it reaches room temperature first. Then transfer into a container that can be sealed, or a freezer bag so you can suck out the air.

How to save leftovers

Store in the refrigerator overnight and then I’d heat again the next day for the best result possible. In the microwave in 30 second increments stirring after every stint rotates the contents enough to make it nice and warm all the way thru the dish.

The timing below is for small or medium sizes. If you chose to use large I would change the timing to 1 minute and depending on their size you might want to add more liquid. It is important that it is submerged so you don’t get areas that are raw or still stiff when done.

Best of all for this is macaroni noodles or small shells. For kids they tend to like shapes so the small squiggly ones are sometimes fun too. You can actually find those in different colors, which taste the same, that make them smile. I’ve found alphabet pasta too.