I have tried your code in a new project and the second way seems to work well after installing the package Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.NewtonsoftJson firstly for 3.0
services.AddControllersWithViews()
.AddNewtonsoftJson(options =>
options.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
);
Try with a new project and compare the differences.