Directions for making Ninja Foodi Pasta:
1. Add 1.5 cups of water or broth per 8 ounces of pasta. If you are using very large pasta shapes, you may need to add up to 1 cup of additional liquid. Almost all of the pasta should be submerged in the liquid in order to cook properly. 2. Add ½ teaspoon of salt per 8 ounces of water, if desired. Adjust the amount of salt based on your own preference. 3. Pour your choice of pasta into the Ninja Foodi Pot. 4. Close the pressure cooking lid. and move the valve to the sealed position. 5. Calculate the pressure cooking time using this formula:Secret Formula for al dente pasta: Take the recommended cooking time that is on the box of pasta and divide by 2 and then subtract 2. Pressure cook for that many minutes. For example, if the box recommends 10 minutes of cook time, divide 10 by 2=5. Subtract 2. 5-2=3. Pressure cook for 3 minutes. Secret Formula for pasta that is cooked a little more:Take the recommended cooking time that is on the box of pasta and divide by 2 and then subtract 1. Pressure cook for that many minutes. For example, if the box recommends 10 minutes of cook time, divide 10 by 2=5. Subtract 1. 5-1=4. Pressure cook for 4 minutes.Secret Formula for completely cooked and tender pasta: Take the recommended cooking time that is on the box of pasta and divide by 2. Pressure cook for that many minutes. For example, if the box recommends 10 minutes of cook time, divide 10 by 2=5. Pressure cook for 5 minutes. 6. When the timer beeps and is finished pressure cooking, quick-release remaining pressure. If a lot of liquid starts to come out of the valve, do a controlled release by slowly moving the valve to the vent position for a few seconds and then moving back to the sealed position for a few seconds. Continue this process until all pressure has been released. Open the lid and stir. If pasta is not cooked enough for your liking, place the pressure cooker lid back on the pot (does not need to be screwed on to close, just rest the lid on the top of the pot, do not turn the pot on), and let it continue to steam for a couple of minutes. If needed, strain any extra water from the pot and use the pasta as desired.
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Drain any excess water (there shouldn’t be much). Serve your pasta with your favorite sauce and protein, and enjoy!
If you try this recipe, please be sure to leave me your thoughts and a rating in the comments below. Don’t forget to tag me @HookomOnHealth and use the #HookomOnHealth so that I can see your creations online!
My Ninja Foodi is my absolute favorite way to cook pasta–it just comes out perfectly every time! And with minimal effort on my part. I have this bad habit of walking away from my noodles boiling on the stove just in time for them to boil over and make a mess… But you don’t ever have to worry about that when you make pasta in your Foodi! It literally couldn’t be any simpler.
Tips for making this Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Recipe
While this recipe is a dump and cook spaghetti recipe, the order in which you dump the ingredients does matter.
Cooking under pressure: Whenever you are cooking under pressure, you have to have a thin liquid in order for the pressure cooker to be able to build up pressure. Tomato, cream, and cheese based sauces are too thick to use as the liquid alone. To add flavor to any recipe, I suggest using a broth or stock instead of water. That is what we are going to do in this Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Recipe and its delicious!
Avoiding the burn notice: Not only have I had the dreaded burn notice, but Ive had friends calling me in a panic when it popped up for them. You can sometimes fix it by just adding in more of a thin liquid; like broth or water. Other times your food has already burned on the bottom and that can be hard to salvage. It is much easier to avoid the notice than fix it and that is what this Ninja Foodi Spaghetti recipe does.
Dont skimp on the thin liquid: My first reaction when reading an Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe was: Im not using all that water! I think the recipe called for 6 cups of water and I was convinced my spaghetti would be a watery mess. It wasnt watery, but it was very much lacking in flavor. This Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Recipe calls for 4 cups of beef broth (or you could use chicken or vegetable broth) and you need that much, I promise.
Dont overcook the noodles: Ive seen an array of cook times for pasta and they are always overcooked for my liking. Spaghetti noodles should be al dente or have just a bit of a bite to them, not overly bloated and mushy. We dont want them to fall apart in the sauce. This Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Recipe calls for 3 minutes of pressure cooking and you might be tempted to increase the time, but keep in mind that the noodles start to cook while the Ninja Foodi is coming up to pressure
Layer the ingredients as shown: Layering the ingredients is an important part of pressure cooking (for some recipes) and this Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Recipe is an example of that. If we reversed the order of the layers, or stirred everything together like you would on the stove, there is a very good chance that you will end up with the dreaded burn notice.
Criss cross the noodles: When using spaghetti noodles in the pressure cooker, you want to layer them in a criss cross fashion to avoid clumping and to have them cook evenly. You can watch how I do this below or see the whole video on my YouTube video: Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Video.
FAQ
Can you cook in a Ninja Foodi?
How do you boil in Ninja Foodi?
Can you cook pasta in a ninja dual zone air fryer?
How long does it take to make pasta?
