Manicotti

Manicotti stuffed with melted cheese and smothered in marinara sauce is pure comfort food! This easy dinner recipe satisfies all of your cravings. This vegetarian stuffed cheese manicotti recipe is super easy to make and the step-by-step process photos below will guide you through the entire recipe.

If you want to add a meat sauce, you can make my quick and easy Bolognese Sauce or take the time to make my rich Ragu Sauce.

Why I love this recipe

This easy manicotti recipe is one of those no-fuss picky-eater-approved dinners. It is simply a creamy cheese mixture stuffed into pasta shells and baked with marinara sauce. It’s perfect for a big family dinner or when you need to feed a large crowd.

• Delicious filling: Authentic Italian manicotti recipes sometimes include meat and even vegetables like spinach, but this recipe simply uses three different kinds of cheese along with some herbs.
• Easy recipe: This is extra easy to make because you don’t need to fully cook the pasta tubes first. Just a quick dip in boiling water makes them easy to fill. Dinner prep is done in just a few minutes.
• Make ahead: Homemade manicotti is perfect for busy weeknights because it can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for longer storage. Then, when you’re ready to eat, simply bake it in the oven.

Ingredients needed:

Exact quantities are listed in the recipe card below, but here is the main ingredient list.

• Uncooked manicotti shells – you can find manicotti noodles packaged in a box (to prevent crushing) at most major grocery stores
• Ricotta cheese – I always recommend whole milk
• Garlic – look for big, fresh, flavorful cloves
• Mozzarella cheese – again, always recommend whole milk but skim will work
• Parmesan cheese – you can buy pre-grated, but it tastes best when you grate it yourself
• Eggs
• Dried Italian seasoning, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (for a bit of heat)
• Marinara sauce – just choose your favorite tomato sauce you usually enjoy with spaghetti

How to make cheese stuffed manicotti:

Here is a quick summary, but full directions are in the recipe card below.

Prepare the cheese manicotti filling

1. Par cook pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the manicotti pasta tubes in boiling water for only a minute or so. This process softens them but keeps the pasta rigid enough to easily fill. Think of it as extra al dente. They will finish cooking in the sauce.
2. Mix filling: Combine the ricotta, garlic, half the mozzarella and parmesan, eggs, seasonings, and herbs in a large bowl. The remaining grated cheese is saved for the top of the sauce!
3. Add filling to a piping bag: This makes filling the manicotti pasta tubes extremely easy and mess-free. Add the filling to a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag. This step is totally optional because you can simply fill the manicotti shells with a spoon, but it is much easier to squeeze the filling into the tubes.
4. Stuff manicotti: Snip the corner off the plastic bag and pipe all of the cheese filling into each pasta tube.

Refrigerate for later or bake

1. Add stuffed manicotti: Place the filled manicotti tubes into a large baking dish that has a small amount of marinara sauce on the bottom. Try to choose a casserole dish that is large enough for you to place them in a single layer.
2. Cover manicotti with sauce: Pour the remaining marinara sauce on top to smother the pasta.
3. Top with cheese: Add the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
4. Cover with aluminum foil. Unless making ahead of time, bake manicotti in a preheated oven. You’ll remove the foil at the end to melt all the cheeses.

At this point, you can either store the prepared manicotti in the refrigerator or freezer if making ahead, or you can bake them in a preheated oven.

Make ahead directions

Large Italian dishes like this are my favorite to make ahead of time. It’s easy to do all the prep work and then store it in the refrigerator or the freezer until you’re ready to bake. In fact, I think manicotti, much like homemade spinach sausage lasagna, tastes even better when its made ahead of time.

1. If making within the next couple of days: Prepare everything as if you’re going to bake it, but instead, store it in the refrigerator. Just be sure to let it come close to room temperature before baking, otherwise, you’ll need to increase your cooking time.
2. If making way ahead of time: Prepare the recipe as if you were going to put it into the oven, but instead, stick it in the freezer. This is especially handy if you’re cooking in bulk and want to make a bunch of freezer meals. Just be sure to thaw the manicotti fully before cooking or the cooking time will need to be increased.

Storage and leftovers

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave at 50% power in one-minute increments or cover tightly and reheat in the oven. My kids love reheated manicotti packed in a thermos for their school lunch.

Leftovers can also be frozen.

Recipe variations and substitutions

• Cheese: For the richest, cheesiest, and most delicious baked manicotti, use whole milk cheeses. I prefer to shred the mozzarella and parmesan myself. You can use Lowfat or nonfat cheese, cottage cheese in lieu of ricotta, as well as pre-shredded cheese. I have seen people add cream cheese to the filling as well.
• Add meat: Meat tastes great in manicotti. To make this recipe with meat, cook up to a pound of bulk Italian sausage or ground beef in a large skillet until browned and crumbly. Add the cooked meat mixture to the filling before stuffing the pasta.
• Add vegetables: Spinach manicotti is delicious. Fresh spinach can be finely chopped and added to the ricotta mixture. When serving heavy Italian meals like this, I always love to roast vegetables like eggplant, red onion, mushrooms, etc. on a separate baking sheet and serve them alongside the main dish.

Manicotti FAQs

Other favorite pasta recipes

Love Italian inspired recipes? You’ll definitely want to make these delicious creations.

• Homemade Pasta
• Baked Ziti
• Granny’s Classic Homemade Lasagna
• Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
• Four Cheese Ravioli
• Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce
• Meat and Cheese Ravioli
• Cheesy Baked Rigatoni Pasta
• Dozen Veggie Pasta Primavera
• Cheesy Sausage Pasta Bake

This recipe was originally published in June 2019 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don’t worry – the recipe hasn’t changed!