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This stuffed Manicotti recipe is 5 STARS comfort food right in your own home!
Does it get any better than stuffed and smothered pasta AKA luscious creamy, cheesy meaty filling made with 3 cheeses cocooned in tender shells enveloped in a to-live-for homemade marinara sauce and topped with more cheese? Not in my world. This easy Manicotti recipe tastes gourmet enough for special occasions and company but is also fabulous for weeknights because you can make the entire Manicotti recipe in advance, refrigerate and cook at dinner time!
Why you’ll love this Stuffed Manicotti Recipe
Here are a few more reasons to love Homemade Manicotti:
Family Friendly. Pasta, cheese meat, marinara – even the pickiest eaters will love this comforting combo. Makes a large quantity. This easy Manicotti recipe makes 14 manicotti, so its perfect for everyone to indulge or for large crowds, dinner parties or company. Less Expensive. A casserole of Manicotti feeds the whole family and makes fabulous leftovers for a fraction of the price of dining out. Make Ahead. Manicotti tastes even better if assembled ahead of time. This makes for a hassle free, no fuss dinner! Just pull it out of the fridge and press “bake” when everyone’s ready to eat. Freezer friendly. This Manicotti freezes well, making it ideal for busy days, dinners for new moms or when someone has had surgery. You can also double the batch and eat one manicotti casserole for dinner and freeze one for later.
WHAT IS MANICOTTI?
So, with all this Manicotti talk, what exactly is Manicotti? Manicotti is a popular Italian-American dish inspired by Italian cannelloni. It appropriately means “little sleeve” in Italian. It is made with large, tubular pasta shells (sleeves) that are boiled until al dente, cooled then stuffed with various fillings, usually ricotta mixed with mozzarella, ground beef, Italian sausage and/or spinach. The stuffed manicotti shells are lined in a baking dish and either marinara or bechamel sauce is poured over top. The Manicotti is then covered and baked to bubbly deliciousness.
Stuffed Manicotti ingredients
In this Stuffed Manicotti recipe, we use:
Ricotta – always the main ingredient of authentic Manicotti filling. Sour cream – ricotta mixed with sour cream is culinary changing. It is smooth and lusciously creamy without tasting grainy! Mozzarella – it’s creamy, buttery, and melts beautifully. It’s milky richness cuts through the tangy tomato sauce. Please use freshly grated mozzarella cheese as it tastes far superior and equally important, melts better. Parmesan cheese – infuses the Manicotti filling with its salty, nutty flavor. You don’t want to use the powdered or pre-shredded Parmesan cheese. Beef – we are going to use half ground beef and half Italian sausage. The combination results in a superior texture and flavor. Italian sausage – we are going to use half ground beef and half Italian sausage. The meats are cooked with onions, garlic, salt and pepper for a juicy, tantalizing addition to our filling. Eggs – act as a binding agent and, along with the sour cream, give our ricotta an ideal creamy texture. Herbs – basil, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper to round out the flavor because, like all recipes, every element should be seasoned independently so it is stand-alone flavorful.
Can I use Store Bought MARINARA Sauce?
Other than the filling and pasta shells, the other important element in the best Manicotti is Marinara Sauce. Using quality Marinara Sauce is HUGELY important because it is where most of the flavor comes from. You can use store bought Marinara Sauce for this recipe but I HIGHLY recommend my Marinara Sauce recipe. It is 1000X better than jarred and is done in less than 30 minutes – half of that time is simmering. It boasts rich, bright tomato flavor and is make ahead and freezer friendly so you can even make it days or months in advance! I won’t go into too much detail because I have an entire post dedicated to my Marinara Sauce recipe. In that post, I have included my BEST Marinara recipe with onions, carrots and celery AND super easy, lazy day Marinara Sauce which eliminates the carrots, and celery and uses garlic and onion powders so there is NO chopping – so there is no excuse not to make Marinara Sauce from scratch! That being said, if you use store bought Marinara, you will need about 3 3/4- 4 cups, enough to generously cover the top of your Manicotti. You also might want to spruce up your store-bought Marinara Sauce like I do in my Spaghetti Bolognese. It is amazing what a few seasonings can do.
Can I use No Boil Manicotti Shells?
I do not suggest no boil manicotti shells. They tend to bake up chewy instead of tender and you run the unpalatable risk of crunchy, noodles if they are not adequately submerged in the sauce. Instead, use traditional Manicotti shells and soak them in hot water per directions.
HOW TO MAKE MANICOTTI
SOAK MANICOTTI SHELLS
Cook Beef and Sausage for Filling
Make Marinara Sauce
Make Filling
Assemble
Bake
CAN I MAKE Manicotti IN ADVANCE?
Yes! Manicotti is make-ahead friendly so you can assemble and refrigerate then pull it out of the fridge and bake for a no fuss dinner! Making Manicotti in advance is actually my preferred method because it tastes even better as the flavors have time build and meld further. To make in advance:
Assemble and Refrigerate. You can make and assemble the entire Manicotti a day in advance (without baking). Cover the Manicotti tightly with foil and refrigerate until ready to bake. Make Sauce in Advance. As previously mentioned, I HIGHLY recommend homemade Marinara Sauce. You can make the sauce up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate it or freeze it for up to 3 months. Grab and dump pre-made Marinara Sauce makes this Manicotti recipe come together super quickly. Make Filling in Advance: You can make the filling in advance and keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Stuffed Manicotti Recipe variations
The possibilities are endless when it comes to stuffed Manicotti. The ground beef and Italian sausage in this recipe equal about 3 cups, so you can replace them with anything that equals the same volume. Here are a few ideas:
Chicken Manicotti: substitute the ground beef and sausage with 3 cups shredded cooked chicken or 3 cups ground chicken. You can use marinara sauce or replace it with béchamel/Alfredo sauce. Beef Manicotti: replace the Italian sausage with lean ground beef. Ground Turkey Manicotti: replace the ground beef and sausage with ground turkey. Spinach Manicotti: replace the ground beef or sausage with one 10 oz. package frozen, thawed spinach that has been well drained. Use two 10 oz. packages if omitting all of the meat. You can also use fresh spinach, see below. Spinach and Mushroom Manicotti: replace ground beef and sausage with 12 oz. chopped baby bella mushrooms and 4 cups fresh baby spinach. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot. Add onions and cook 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté 4-6 minutes or until golden. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add spinach and cook on low for 1-2 minutes or until wilted. Vegetable Manicotti: use any variety of vegetables from spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, etc. Chop vegetables and sauté them until crisp-tender. Seafood Manicotti: replace meats with one-pound lump crab meat or a combination of crab meat and cooked, chopped shrimp. Replace Marinara Sauce with Bechamel/Alfredo Sauce. Cheese Manicotti: You keep your manicotti super simple and just stuff with the cheese filling. You will want to increase the ingredients to make up for the 3 cups lost volume of meat. Cottage Cheese Manicotti: keep the sour cream but replace the ricotta with cottage cheese. I love the added texture of cottage cheese if I am skipping the meat and using spinach instead.
How to serve Baked Manicotti
This Manicotti is all you are going to want to eat but you can make it complete meal with a big green salad, Caesar salad and some garlic bread. Manicotti is also great served with:
Buttery Breadsticks (new pics coming soon!) Soft and Fluffy Dinner Rolls Roasted Parmesan Broccoli Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Garlic, Lemon, Butter Tomato Cucumber Salad Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Brown Butter Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Ranch Berry Salad with Honey Mascarpone Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette Winter Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
Stuffed Manicotti storage
Baked Manicotti should be tightly covered with foil or transferred to an airtight container. When properly stored, cooked manicotti will last for approximately 5 days. As in all leftovers, use your best judgement and if it smells off, then toss it.
How do you reheat manicotti?
Full Casserole: cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake at 350° F for approximately 20 minutes or until heated through. Microwave: Add individual servings to a microwave-safe plate and cover with a paper towel so the sauce doesn’t splatter. Microwave 1 ½-2 minutes or until heated through.
CAN you FREEZE uncooked manicotti?
Yes! You can freeze uncooked or cooked Manicotti. Freezing homemade Manicotti is a great way to enjoy a bake-and-eat dinner any night of the week without any prep! For best results, I recommend freezing uncooked Manicotti, but both methods will work.
HOW TO COOK MANICOTTI FROM FROZEN
HOW TO FREEZE LEFTOVERS
If you forget to thaw your Manicotti the night before, it can also be baked from frozen: You can freeze the entire baking dish of Manicotti (see How to Freeze Cooked Manicotti) if you are going to be reheating the dish all at once, or I prefer freezing individual servings of Manicotti. Individual servings are super convenient for on-the-go work lunches or small portion dinners.
Looking for more Italian Recipes?
Fettuccine Alfredo Lasagna Soup Cheesy Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Minestrone Soup Cheesy Skillet Penne
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