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Lunch Dinner One Pot Casseroles Vegetarian Pasta Italian
4.6 from 26 votes

Stuffed Manicotti

Jump to RecipeVideoPrintRate
By: Joanna Cismaru •8/5/23 13 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti is what dinner time dreams are made of! We’ve got Italian comfort food at its best with these vegetarian stuffed manicotti filled with perfectly seasoned spinach and ricotta, then finished with lots of stretchy cheese and marinara sauce.

Table of Contents

  • Easy Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti
  • Why We Love This Stuffed Manicotti
  • Ingredients You’ll Need
  • How To Make Stuffed Manicotti
    • Prepare The Cheese Filling
    • Fill Manicotti, Assemble And Bake
  • What’s The Difference Between Manicotti And Cannelloni?
  • The Secret To Stuffing Manicotti Without Breaking
  • Serve Stuffed Manicotti With
    • Easy Garlic Bread
    • Easy Tossed Salad
    • Mini Caprese Salad Bites
    • Skillet Green Beans
  • How To Store Leftovers
  • How To Freeze
  • Other Delicious Pasta Recipes To Try
  • Recipe: Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti
    • Video
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions 
    • Notes
    • Nutrition Information
  • Did You Make This?
a white plate with  two stuffed manicotti with spinach and ricotta garnished with basil

Easy Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti

Everyone knows I’m passionate about anything pasta. Stuff my pasta with cheese? Well I can’t picture anything better than that! This one is for all of us out there who just can’t get enough of a good saucy and cheesy meal.

While this recipe may look like it took hours to slave over and make, it actually only takes a few really easy steps. Whip up the ricotta mixture, stuff the shells, and toss everything into a baking dish. It’s worthy of a special Sunday dinner, but still easy enough to be enjoyed on a weeknight!

overhead shot of stuffed manicotti in a white casserole dish

Why We Love This Stuffed Manicotti

  1. No Cooking Pasta Required! Just use uncooked manicotti, stuff it with the filling, top it with marinara, cheese and bake! The manicotti will cook as you bake the casserole!
  2. Super Easy And Quick To Prep! Since there’s no boiling required, the prep time couldn’t get any easier! Plus very little cleanup is required, making this dish a fantastic easy weeknight dinner.
  3. Perfect For Make-Ahead! Simply prep the stuffed manicotti over the weekend, cover it up and refrigerate it. When you’re ready to bake it, just transfer it to the oven directly from the fridge and bake as instructed.

Ingredients You’ll Need

overhead shot of all the ingredients needed to make stuffed manicotti
  • Ricotta cheese – Cream cheese or mascarpone can be used as well.
  • Frozen spinach – Make sure it’s fully thawed and squeezed of all excess water before using it.
  • Onion – Chopped or grated, for extra flavor.
  • Egg – I used a large egg. This will bind the ricotta mixture together.
  • Garlic – Use as much or as little as you like!
  • Seasoning – I love to use some Italian seasoning in my cheese mixture and salt and pepper to taste.
  • Nutmeg – This will add a really nice warm flavor to the manicotti. You can leave it out if you wish.
  • Mozzarella – Freshly grated is best. Provolone will also work.
  • Parmesan – Freshly grated tastes best!
  • Manicotti – Uncooked.
  • Marinara – Grab your favorite type or use homemade.

How To Make Stuffed Manicotti

process shots showing how to make spinach ricotta mixture for stuffed manicotti.

This stuffed manicotti recipe couldn’t get any easier because you don’t even have to cook the manicotti. You just stuff them uncooked, they cook beautifully in the oven. Less work, more time to enjoy with your loved ones.

Prepare The Cheese Filling

There are basically 3 steps to making this. First, you’ll need to make the ricotta spinach mixture, which is super simple. All you have to do is mix all the filling ingredients together and then transfer the cheese mixture to a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping back, simply use a ziploc bag as you can see in the pictures, then just snip a corner off.

Fill Manicotti, Assemble And Bake

Next, you’ll need to spread some of the marinara sauce in the casserole dish and then simply stuff cheese mixture into each manicotti and place it in the casserole dish in a single layer. Top with more marinara sauce and the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

All that’s left to do is cover with foil and bake for about an hour covered, and another 20 minutes uncovered. That’s it, super easy and no boiling pasta required.

process shots showing how to assemble stuffed manicotti.

What’s The Difference Between Manicotti And Cannelloni?

I know sometimes these words can be confused or interchanged. I’m here to help those who are unsure of the difference!

Manicotti are simply large tubular noodles. They are most often used to make cannelloni by filling them with a ricotta mixture, and baked away with marinara and cheese. Cannelloni can also involve stuffing crepes, pasta shells or rectangular sheets of pasta.

The Secret To Stuffing Manicotti Without Breaking

The secret is don’t boil them. You can if you want, soak them in some hot water for a few minutes, but I find that even that is not necessary. Simply stuff them right out of the box, they will cook in the oven. There is enough sauce in this recipe to cook them properly.

Serve Stuffed Manicotti With

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Easy Garlic Bread

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overhead shot of 2 stuffed manicotti on a white plate

How To Store Leftovers

You can either transfer leftover stuffed manicotti to an airtight container, or leave it in the baking dish covered well with plastic. The leftovers will last 3-5 days refrigerated.

To reheat, microwave at 30 second intervals until heated through. You can also reheat leftovers in the oven, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until hot.

How To Freeze

You can freeze your stuffed manicotti cooked or uncooked. This is the perfect opportunity for a busy weeknight freezer meal! If you’re freezing the manicotti in a dish that does not have a lid, wrap it well with both plastic wrap and foil.

Let the manicotti thaw overnight in the fridge before you want to serve it. For uncooked manicotti, bake for an extra 10 minutes covered. For pre-cooked manicotti, bake covered for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

pulling out 2 stuffed manicotti with a spoon from a casserole dish

Other Delicious Pasta Recipes To Try

  • Easy Beef Lasagna
  • Baked Spaghetti Casserole
  • Spaghetti Bolognese
  • Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
  • Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno
  • Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Shells
  • Skillet Lasagna

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

side view shot of stuffed manicotti on a plate
4.58 from 26 votes

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti

Prep 20 minutes minutes
Cook 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Total 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
14
Rate Recipe Print Recipe
Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti is what dinner time dreams are made of! We've got Italian comfort food at its best with these vegetarian stuffed manicotti filled with perfectly seasoned spinach and ricotta, then finished with lots of stretchy cheese and marinara sauce.
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Video

Ingredients

Filling

  • 15 ounce ricotta cheese ((1 container))
  • 10 ounce frozen spinach (chopped, thawed and squeezed dried (1 10 oz package))
  • 1 medium onion (chopped)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

Stuffed Manicotti

  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded, divided)
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated, divided)
  • 8 ounce manicotti shells (uncooked)
  • 4 cups marinara sauce

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F°.
  • In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, onion, egg, garlic, Italian seasoning, nutmeg, salt, pepper, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
  • Spread about 1 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
  • Transfer the filling to a piping bag or plastic ziploc bag, cut off a little from one end, this will make it easier for stuffing the shells.
  • Stuff each manicotti shell with ricotta mixture and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. There should be enough sauce to fully cover the manicotti.
  • Top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
  • Transfer the dish to the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour covered, then 15-20 minutes uncovered, or until the noodles are soft.
  • Serve garnished with basil if preferred and more grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

  1. You can either transfer leftovers to an airtight container, or leave them in the baking dish covered well with plastic. The leftovers will last 3-5 days refrigerated.
  2. To reheat, microwave at 30 second intervals until heated through. You can also reheat leftovers in the oven, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until hot.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1manicottiCalories: 222kcal (11%)Carbohydrates: 19g (6%)Protein: 14g (28%)Fat: 10g (15%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Cholesterol: 48mg (16%)Sodium: 712mg (31%)Potassium: 406mg (12%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 2999IU (60%)Vitamin C: 7mg (8%)Calcium: 274mg (27%)Iron: 2mg (11%)

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.

side view shot of stuffed manicotti on a plate

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Joanna Cismaru

Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Through Jo Cooks, I invite you to join me in my kitchen as we explore delicious recipes from around the globe, celebrate the joy of cooking, and make every meal a memorable one. Happy cooking!

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13 Comments
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Tammy
Tammy
Posted: 1 year ago

I can’t believe how easy this was! We all enjoyed it, and I’ll definitely be making it again! Thank you for sharing it!

0
Reply
Holly
Holly
Posted: 1 year ago

5 stars
This recipe was fast and easy with soul warming taste!!!! We will make this one again!

1
Reply
Robin Caffrey
Robin Caffrey
Posted: 1 year ago

Hi, Jo. I’ve never used a piping bag or zip bag as you describe, so I was looking forward to the video. But the Jump to Video only gave me a blank area of the site. Is there another way to view? This looks so easy to make. I’m going camping and I could easily premake this baby.

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Robin Caffrey
Posted: 1 year ago

Usually that happens when you have ad blocker turned on. If you turn it off the video should play just fine.

0
Reply
Kathy Hopkins
Kathy Hopkins
Posted: 1 year ago

Can this be made in advance and baked several hours later?

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Kathy Hopkins
Posted: 1 year ago

Yes, absolutely, just wrap it up and refrigerate it.

0
Reply
Teresa Muñoz
Teresa Muñoz
Posted: 2 years ago

Can fresh spinach be used in this recipe

1
Reply
Jo Cooks Team AMJ
Jo Cooks Team AMJ
Reply to  Teresa Muñoz
Posted: 2 years ago

Hi Teresa,

Yes, you can definitely use fresh chopped spinach as well.
Let us know how you like it!

1
Reply
Norma Dooley
Norma Dooley
Posted: 3 years ago

5 stars
It was quite tasty! HOWEVER, it would really help to know how much water to add to the marinara sauce. Also, I added fresh chopped parsley to the cheese mixture and would’ve added chopped mushrooms if we had had some.

0
Reply
Jo Cooks Team
Jo Cooks Team
Reply to  Norma Dooley
Posted: 3 years ago

Fixed! No water needed for this recipe.

0
Reply
Diane P.
Diane P.
Posted: 3 years ago

5 stars
I loved this recipe. Quick and easy to make. Loved the hint of nutmeg.,

0
Reply
Julie
Julie
Reply to  Diane P.
Posted: 2 years ago

So we don’t cook the pasta before?

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Julie
Posted: 2 years ago

Nope, not needed.

0
Reply

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I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is the place where I share my passion for easy and delicious recipes. From comforting classics to global flavors, I believe that cooking should be fun, approachable, and most importantly, rewarding. Join me on this culinary journey and let’s get cooking!

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