Oh….My….Goodness…..!! Ninja Foodi Mostaccioli is a cheesy, beefy, noodlie (pretty sure that’s not a word!) delicious goodness! This is a super easy, super quick dinner recipe that your whole family will enjoy! Did I mention that it is super cheesy!

I am so impressed with how evenly the pasta cooks in the Ninja Foodi and how well the cheese browns on the top. Seriously, how have I lived this long without a Ninja Foodi?
I have made similar dishes in my Instant Pot but have made them using the pot in pot method and then transferring to the oven to brown the cheese. The broiler lid on the Ninja Foodi makes this process even easier!

Tips for this recipe:
1.It's tempting to want to stir this recipe before starting to cook under pressure. Don't do it! Resist the temptation! If you stir this recipe after you have added the pasta, you will end up with a burn or error message.
2.Buy lean ground beef when cooking under pressure in the Ninja Foodi. If you buy a higher fat content, you will need to drain the grease if you don't want to end up with a greasy finished product. That's a lot of extra work in my book, so I buy 93% lean ground beef and skip the grease draining step. Saves time and is much easier.
3.To make this a quick meal, use jarred sauce and frozen onions. If you have more time, you can make the sauce from scratch and use fresh onions. But, if you are looking for a quick weeknight meal, jarred sauce and frozen onions work great!

Looking for more recipes? Check out some of our favorites!
- Ninja Foodi Sweet and Savory Pork Tenderloin
- Ninja Foodi Crack Chicken
- Ninja Foodi Lazy Lasagna
- Ninja Foodi Beef and Noodles
- Ninja Foodi Chili

Ninja Foodi Mostaccioli Ingredients:
- 1 Teaspoon olive oil
- ยฝ Cup diced onions
- 1 Pound lean ground beef
-
- For a less meaty and more cheese and noodle option- only use ยฝ pound of ground beef
- You can substitute the ground beef with ground turkey, ground chicken or Italian sausage
-
- 1 Tablespoon garlic- minced
- 1 Teaspoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ยฝ Teaspoon red pepper flakes
- If you prefer, you can omit the red pepper flakes. It gives a nice little kick to the dish though!
- 2 Cans beef broth- 29 ounces total
- 1 Cup water
- 1 24 ounce jar of your favorite pasta sauce
- 1 Pound dried mostaccioli noodles-also called penne pasta
- 2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese

How to make Ninja Foodi Mostaccioli:
1.Turn Ninja Foodi on Saute- Hi and add Olive Oil.[one_third_last][one_third_last]
2.Add onions, ground beef, and garlic. Continue to sauté until beef is evenly browned. If you use lean ground beef, you do NOT need to drain the grease from the pot. If you use a high-fat content ground beef you will need to drain the grease. You can do so by either using a ladle to scoop the grease out or you can CAREFULLY remove the inner pot and pour the grease out. I HIGHLY recommend using low-fat ground beef to avoid this step altogether.
3.Turn off the Ninja Foodi. You no longer need to sauté anything in the pot. Add sugar, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Pour in pasta sauce.
4.Pour 1 cup of water into pasta sauce jar- shake- pour the water mixture into Ninja Foodi pot. This will help you get all of the sauce goodness out of the jar! No waste! Pour 2 cans of beef broth into Ninja Foodi pot. Stir beef and liquid until well combined
5.Pour in mostaccioli pasta. DO NOT STIR! If you stir, you are likely to get a burn or error message.
6.Make sure that all pasta is covered by the liquid (or as much as possible). I just pushed down on the noodles with a spatula until they were covered with liquid.
7.Close the pressure cooker lid, turn Ninja Foodi back on, and cook on high for 3 minutes. Once the timer goes off, natural release pressure for 3 minutes. Quick-release remaining pressure. Turn off Ninja Foodi. Open the pressure cooker lid and stir pasta together. Be sure to stir well and ensure no pasta is clumped together.
8.Add in 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and stir. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Using the broiler lid, close the lid and broil on high for 5 minutes or just until cheese is melted and golden brown.

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Recipe
Ninja Foodi Mostaccioli
Rate this Recipe Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 Teaspoon olive oil
- ½ Cup diced onions
- 1 Pound lean ground beef
- For a less meaty and more cheese and noodle option- only use ยฝ pound of ground beef
- You can substitute the ground beef with ground turkey (ground chicken or Italian sausage)
- 1 Tablespoon garlic- minced
- 1 Teaspoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ Teaspoon red pepper flakes
- If you prefer (you can omit the red pepper flakes. It gives a nice little kick to the dish though!)
- 2 Cans beef broth- 29 ounces total
- 1 Cup water
- 1 24 ounce jar of your favorite pasta sauce
- 1 Pound dried mostaccioli noodles (also called penne pasta)
- 2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
- Turn Ninja Foodi on Saute- Hi
- Add Olive Oil
- Add onions, ground beef and garlic. Continue to sauté until beef is evenly browned. If you use lean ground beef, you do NOT need to drain the grease from the pot. If you use a high fat content ground beef you will need to drain the grease. You can do so by either using a ladle to scoop the grease out or you can CAREFULLY remove the inner pot and pour the grease out. I HIGHLY recommend using a low fat ground beef to avoid this step all together.
- Turn off the Ninja Foodi. You no longer need to sauté anything in the pot.
- Add sugar, Italian seasoning an red pepper flakes
- Pour in pasta sauce
- Pour 1 cup of water into pasta sauce jar- shake- pour water mixture into Ninja Foodi pot. This will help you get all of the sauce goodness out of the jar! No waste!
- Pour 2 cans of beef broth into Ninja Foodi pot.
- Stir beef and liquid until well combined
- Pour in mostaccioli pasta
- DO NOT STIR! If you stir, you are likely to get a burn or error message.
- Make sure that all pasta is covered by liquid (or as much as possible). I just pushed down on the noodles with a spatula until they were covered with liquid.
- Close the pressure cooker lid, turn Ninja Foodi back on and cook on high for 3 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, natural release pressure for 3 minutes. Quick release remaining pressure. Turn off Ninja Foodi.
- Open the pressure cooker lid and stir pasta together. Be sure to stir well and ensure no pasta is clumped together.
- Add in 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and stir.
- Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.
- Using the broiler lid, close lid and broil on high for 5 minutes or just until cheese is melted and golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only.







Siobhan says
Absolutely delicious ๐
Lisa says
Followed to a tee delish.
Matthew says
Followed exactly but kept getting WATR message when trying to pressure cook.
TheTastyTravelers says
Hi Lisa- usually when I get the watr message it’s because something is burning on the bottom of the pot. A couple of things could have happened here. When you sauteed the ground beef to brown it, was there a lot of stuck-on brown bits on the bottom of the pot? If there was, those stuck on pieces will burn as the food pressure cooks. When the food starts to burn, the watr message will come up. Did you stir the pasta after adding it? I’ve also had pasta burn to the bottom of the pot when I’ve stirred it before pressure cooking.
Taylor says
This was delicious! Super easy and barely any dishes to wash. Thanks!
Judy Schneider says
This turned out perfectly. It was delicious!
Robin Miller says
This looks delicious. I am making it tonight. Do you think I could double the recipe in my 8 qt?
TheTastyTravelers says
Hi Robin! This recipe already makes a lot of food but I think you might be able to double it if you have an 8-quart pot. If you do decide to double it, don’t adjust the cooking time. Just double the ingredients.
Sherri says
Curious if you tried doubling this Robin, as Ivan also interested in trying it. Please let me know.
Thanks!!!
Long says
For a simple recipe was fabulous! My son loved this recipe as well.
B W says
Thank you for your help with this it looked really good however I add some extra & omitted some so just keeping fingers crossed.
Ivana says
Hi! Itโs only 2 of us and Iโm new to foodi. Could you please tell me how much liquid to use for 1/2 lbs pasta?
Thank you!
TheTastyTravelers says
Hi Ivana! To make 1/2 of the recipe, I would recommend cutting all ingredients in half. But, you might need a little extra liquid to make sure that the pasta cooks. The pasta needs to be mostly covered by the liquid. Try it out by just cutting the liquid in half. If a lot of the pasta is still out of the water, add another 1/4 of water before pressure cooking it and see if that does the trick. There is no need to adjust the cooking time with a smaller portion.
Jamie G says
What type of pasta sauce did you use your your recipe?
TheTastyTravelers says
I usually buy a jar of Barilla pasta sauce but any premade sauce will work great!
Ash says
This is a fantastic recipe. I altered it a little:
I used fresh sweet peppers, onion, and garlic. Ground turkey and turkey broth. I also used large shell pasta and a combination of mozzarella and parmesan.
I added fresh basil with the cheese.
Delicious!
TheTastyTravelers says
Awesome! Iโm so glad that you were able to make the recipe your own and it turned out great! :).
Trisha says
Wow! What an amazing pasta dish! Simple and full of flavor. Everyone loved it! Thanks so much for posting your recipe.
Lena says
Looks and tastes amazing! Took around one hour but it was definitely worth it!