Olive Garden Air Fryer Stuffed Ziti Fritta Copycat

This air fryer stuffed ziti fritta recipe is an Olive Garden copycat recipe. It’s made with ziti or rigatoni filled with five-cheese marinara, and then breaded and air fried until golden crispy. Serve with marinara or alfredo sauce.

The term “fritta” in Italian means “fried”. In the simplest terms, this cheesy stuffed ziti fritta is fried pasta.

While traditional frying methods involve submerging the food in hot oil, the air fryer version of this dish offers a healthier alternative by using hot air circulation to achieve the same crispy results without the excess oil.

Check out my other Olive Garden copycat recipes: Olive Garden Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and Air Fryer Lasagna Fritta.

Ziti vs Rigatoni

Now, Olive Garden’s stuffed ziti fritta is of course made with ziti pasta, however, from what I’ve seen in most grocery stores, the ziti noodle opening is so narrow it’d be incredibly difficult to fill.

Not to mention, you’d have a big lack in the filling-to-noodle ratio. Rigatoni is the closest to the ziti shape, the most accessible, and has a wider opening. It was really easy to fill!

Unless you are familiar with making your own ziti and can make the opening wider, I highly recommend going with rigatoni for this recipe.

The photo below shows the difference in size with ziti on the lower left and rigatoni on the upper right.

Air Fryer Stuffed Ziti Fritta Ingredients

• Rigatoni or Ziti
• Ricotta Cheese
• Asiago Cheese
• Romano Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Mascarpone, can substitute cream cheese
• Marinara Sauce
• Large Eggs
• Breadcrumbs
• Grated Parmesan
• Italian Seasoning
• Alfredo Sauce, optional
• Marinara Sauce, optional

How to Make Air Fryer Stuffed Ziti Fritta

Pasta

• Cook rigatoni or ziti pasta according to package directions until al dente, drain, and rinse with cold water for handling.

Filling

• In a food processor, mix together the filling ingredients. Add the cheese mixture filling to a Ziploc bag and snip the corner of the bag or use a piping bag.

• Squeeze the filling from the bag into each noodle.
• I prefer to freeze the pasta for 1-2 hours on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper before breading so that the filling does not come out. However, others have stated they have no issues with the filling and skip the freezing.

Breading

• In a small dish, add egg and scramble. In a microwave-safe dish add breadcrumbs and olive oil. Microwave for 60 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds until lightly browned. Allow to slightly cool before adding grated Parmesan and Italian seasoning, then stir.
• Dip each stuffed pasta noodle in egg and breadcrumb mixture, shaking off any excess after each.

Air Frying

• Spray the air fryer basket with nonstick cooking spray. Add a single layer of breaded stuffed pasta.
• Cook at 370 degrees Fahrenheit for 4 minutes, then shake the basket and cook for an additional minute until they are crispy. Avoid cooking too long because the filling will begin oozing out.

Serving

• Serve with alfredo and/or marinara dipping sauce.

Recommended Recipes

• Air Fryer Lasagna Fritta {Olive Garden Copycat}
• Air Fryer Olive Garden Chicken Kabobs
• Old Chicago’s Italian Nachos Copycat Recipe
• Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo Copycat