My family uses our air fryer for almost everything, since turning on the oven can quickly heat up our house, and we live in Florida.
Luckily, I’m convinced that my two-basket Ninja Foodi air fryer can do it all. I decided to test its limits by using it to make three of my family’s favorite weeknight dinners.
I found air-fryer recipes for spaghetti and meatballs, tacos and Mexican rice, and mac and cheese with chicken nuggets to make for my family.
Here’s how they turned out, and which dishes I’d make again.
I felt confident about making meatballs, since I’ve cooked them in my air fryer before.
I’ve made meatballs in my air fryer before and had good luck, so I wasn’t super worried about trying it again.
This time, I chose a recipe for air-fried meatballs that called for a blend of ground pork and ground beef. I hoped the fat content would keep them moist and tender.
First, I formed large meatballs.
I mixed my ground meats with breadcrumbs, an egg, seasonings, and Parmesan.
Then, I formed the mixture into large balls. I preheated my air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, then turned the temperature down to 380 F and added the meatballs.
Cooking the meatballs required little effort.
The meat was cooked perfectly after about 12 minutes, but I ended up having to leave the meatballs in the air fryer while the spaghetti cooked. This dried them out a little more than I would’ve liked.
The biggest challenge of preparing pasta in the air fryer was finding the right pan.
The recipe I found for air-fried baked spaghetti called for the dish to be cooked in a baking pan. After returning two different ones that didn’t fit, I discovered a disposable loaf pan at Target that slid perfectly into my air fryer’s basket.
I precooked the spaghetti by boiling it on the stovetop and straining it, then added jarred sauce before pouring it into the pan.
I layered the cheese in the pan, so the dish had a more lasagna-like vibe.
I layered ricotta cheese and fresh mozzarella with the pasta to create a lasagna-type dish. The recipe didn’t specify a temperature for baking my pasta dish, so I chose 375 F and cooked it for the suggested 15 minutes.
The pasta was off to a good start, but I accidentally overcooked it.
When I peeked in the basket halfway through, the cheese looked like it was starting to bubble perfectly.
Unfortunately, when the 15 minutes were up, the top of the spaghetti dish had gotten burned and a bit dry. Since the pasta was precooked, I probably should’ve lowered the temperature to 350 F and only left it in for 10 minutes.
This was a good reminder that cook times in different appliances can really vary — even air fryers. We ended up eating around and scraping off the more charred bits on top.
I’d make the meatballs in an air fryer again, but not the spaghetti.
The meatballs turned out pretty tasty, and it was easy to cook a bunch at once in my air fryer.
Although the spaghetti bake tasted fine, making it this way felt like way more work than boiling pasta and combining it with store-bought sauce.
The hassle paired with the meal’s unfortunate dryness wasn’t worth it — I don’t think I’d make spaghetti this way again. I’d make meatballs in my air fryer again, though.
Next, I made chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.
I love breaded chicken nuggets in the air fryer, but my family tries to keep dinners as healthy as we can.
With that in mind, I found a homemade, non-breaded chicken-nugget recipe and an air-fried mac-and-cheese recipe for our next meal.
The chicken was so easy to prepare.
The air-fryer chicken-bites recipe made it super easy to turn store-bought chicken breasts into nuggets.
After cutting the breasts into bite-sized pieces, I combined spices like garlic powder, paprika, and salt with olive oil and marinated the pieces for a few hours.
In about 10 minutes, we had air-fried chicken nuggets.
Per the recipe’s instructions, I cooked the chicken pieces at 380 F for about 10 minutes, shaking the air-fryer basket halfway through.
When my timer went off, they looked perfectly cooked.
The mac and cheese was not as simple.
I prepped my mac and cheese in another disposable loaf pan. The recipe specifically said not to precook the elbow macaroni, and although I was doubtful, I followed that step.
I cooked the dish at 360 F for 15 minutes, stirring the noodles every five minutes.
The dish took longer to cook than I expected.
After 15 minutes, the pasta was nowhere near cooked. I ended up having to cook it for 30 minutes before it was fully done and tender.
The mess from the mac and cheese didn’t end up being an issue for my air fryer.
Although this mac-and-cheese dish got a little messy from constantly opening the air fryer, it was easy to clean up because my baskets are dishwasher-safe.
I could see this being a big hassle if you had a model where you had to wash the parts by hand, though.
I would definitely make this dish again.
The mac and cheese took a lot longer than the chicken, but luckily, the meat maintained its tenderness and juiciness.
My kids can be picky with spice combinations, but they enjoyed the flavor of these nuggets.
They also loved the mac and cheese. After going back for seconds and thirds, they even asked when I could make it again.
I absolutely will, but I’d definitely precook the elbow macaroni before putting it in the air fryer next time to help reduce cook time.
The last recipe I chose was for air-fried tacos.
Taco Tuesday is a weekly tradition in my house, so I wanted to try tacos for the last meal. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to cook ground meat in an air fryer, but I was determined to find out.
I also wanted to make Mexican rice, as it’s one of our favorite taco-night sides.
I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make taco meat in the air fryer.
When I found an air-fryer recipe for taco meat, I was surprised by how simple it looked. I started by mixing together ground beef, taco seasoning, diced onion, minced garlic, and a bit of water.
Then I spread the mixture in the bottom of my air-fryer basket and cooked it for 10 minutes at 380 F.
To my surprise, the meat cooked perfectly.
I opened the basket halfway through to stir the taco meat and couldn’t believe what I saw — it was browned to perfection.
It looked identical to when I sauté ground meat on my stove.
Like the elbow macaroni, I should’ve precooked my rice.
The biggest lesson I learned is that starches, like pasta and rice, should be precooked before they’re put in an air fryer.
The recipe for Mexican rice said to put the uncooked rice (along with ingredients like vegetable stock) into my loaf pan. However, I ended up having to cook it at 400 F for almost an hour, rather than the 30 minutes the recipe suggested.
Although it took longer than expected, it was some of the best Mexican rice I’ve made.
The rice had an incredible flavor, and generally, I liked everything about the recipe — except I wish I’d just cooked the rice in advance.
Ingredients like fresh onion, cherry tomatoes, and scallions gave the dish an authentic feel. Plus, the seasonings and spices, like cumin and chili powder, added a perfect punch.
Taco night still seems a little easier on the stove.
I don’t know if I’d prepare another Taco Tuesday with my air fryer, simply because it’s so easy to brown ground beef and cook Mexican rice on the stove.
Although the meal was delicious, it felt like more work than the process I currently use to get tacos on my family’s table.
I learned some handy tricks for preparing proteins — but I’ll stick to making rice and pasta on the stovetop.
I’ll probably take that extra step to make the mac and cheese since my kids loved it so much, but I won’t be doing it again for spaghetti or Mexican rice.
I could save time and mess by making those dishes on my stove. Plus, the air fryer is an unnecessary step if I have to pre-cook carbs beforehand.
I’ll continue to use the air fryer for proteins, especially when I’m trying to keep my oven usage to a minimum. Being able to make meatballs or chicken nuggets in the appliance was a major plus and something I’d definitely consider for future dinners.
The taco meat was also tasty, and I could see this air-fryer method being great for someone who doesn’t want to or can’t stand over a stovetop for a prolonged period.
This story was originally published on September 24, 2023, and most recently updated on July 20, 2026.
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