Our Easy Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Manicotti recipe is so simple you will love it and so tasty that your dinner guests won’t even realize there is no meat in it!
If you are anything like me then you have no time (or energy) to make homemade spaghetti sauce or pasta. No worries! I’ve got you covered with this easy manicotti recipe.
Use your favorite store bought sauce, pre-shredded cheeses and voila! this Italian comfort food will be on the table in no time. No one has to know how easy this dish is to make, it can be our little secret.
Table of contents
- Why you’ll love this recipe
- Grocery Shopping Tip
- Ingredients
- Ingredient Notes
- Do you have to pre cook manicotti shells?
- How to make spinach and cheese manicotti
- How do you keep manicotti shells from sticking together?
- How do you fill manicotti easily?
- What’s the difference between manicotti and cannelloni?
- More pasta casseroles
- Easy Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Manicotti Recipe ↓
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s a delicious meal the whole family will love (I have never met anyone that didn’t love pasta).
- It is an easy recipe that doesn’t call for a long list of ingredients.
- Easy enough for a busy weeknight yet fancy enough for special occasions.
- Leftover spinach ricotta manicotti is perfect for lunch the next day.
Grocery Shopping Tip
This is one of my favorite recipes to make towards the end of the week because all of the ingredients needed to make it have a fairly long shelf life. We make all the recipes that have fresh produce and meat towards the beginning of the week so they don’t go bad before we use them. Then we make recipes like this that have more shelf stable ingredients the days right before we go grocery shopping again.
Ingredients
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Ingredient Notes
Just a few simple ingredients that you can keep on hand are all you need to make this Italian recipe.
pasta sauce – any brand and variety is perfect. We use store bought but homemade marinara sauce works great too.
manicotti noodles – we buy regular manicotti noodles and cook them first. I have not made this with uncooked manicotti shells and I haven’t seen oven ready manicotti pasta.
mozzarella cheese – I like to make this dish as easy as possible so I buy pre-shredded cheese. It comes in a package that is the exact right amount, so why not? You can shred your own from a block of mozzarella if you want.
ricotta cheese – we get the part-skim type unless it isn’t available. Full fat ricotta works great too.
Parmesan cheese – either pre-shredded or freshly grated off the block will work.
spinach – I buy frozen spinach, we have not made this with fresh spinach.
spices – dried oregano, salt and black pepper.
cooking spray – regular vegetable oil, canola oil or olive oil spray is perfect.
Do you have to pre cook manicotti shells?
For this particular recipe we cook them first to make the baking process faster.
How to make spinach and cheese manicotti
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, once boiling add the pasta and cook 4 minutes less than the least time on the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water then spread the noodles out on a rimmed baking sheet so they don’t stick together.
- While the pasta cooks combine ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, spinach, Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper together in a large mixing bowl.
- Spray a 9″ X 13″ casserole dish with cooking spray and spread enough sauce in the bottom to cover it, roughly one cup.
- Fill pasta shells with the ricotta mixture using a spoon, piping bag, or Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Place the stuffed manicotti shells in the baking dish in a single layer.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and return it to the oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes.
- Let stand about 5-10 minutes before serving so that some of the excess water from the spinach is absorbed.
Tips
- Make sure to squeeze as much water as possible out of the spinach. We use a clean tea towel that we only use for food.
- This dish comes out of the oven with a bit of water in the bottom of the casserole dish, this is from the spinach. Most of the water will be absorbed into the dish while it is resting (for about 5-10 minutes) after you take it out of the oven.
- I have a fairly new oven and it seems to cook food very efficiently and quicker than the last oven I had. If you find your dish isn’t hot enough after 30 minutes then let it cook with the foil on it a little longer. You want it to be hot and bubbly when you take it out of the oven.
Storage & Reheating
Store leftover pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Warm in the microwave.
How do you keep manicotti shells from sticking together?
Cook manicotti shells al dente, 4 minutes less than the package directions. Rinse the shells with cold water then spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet so they don’t stick together.
How do you fill manicotti easily?
Fill manicotti shells using a spoon. A pastry bag with a large tip can be used to pipe the filling into the manicotti tubes. Or a large zip top plastic bag with a small part of the corner cut off works great too.
What’s the difference between manicotti and cannelloni?
Manicotti is the American version of large pasta tubes. Manicotti are slightly larger, thicker and has ridges. The Italian version, or cannelloni, are slightly smaller, thinner and smooth.
Cannelloni is made with a cooked sheet of pasta that is spread with meat or vegetables and cheese, then it is rolled up and baked with a sauce on top. Manicotti is cooked and stuffed with a cheese based filling and it is also baked with a sauce on top of.
More pasta casseroles
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Easy Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Manicotti Recipe ↓
Easy Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Manicotti
Ingredients
- 10 manicotti shells
- 1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese plus additional for topping
- 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
- 10 oz frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 jar pasta sauce 24 ounces
- Cooking Spray
- 1/2 cup mozzarella
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Cook manicotti shells for 4 minutes less than package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Spread them out so they don't stick together.10 manicotti shells
- Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese, 10 oz frozen spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Spray a 13" X 9" baking dish with cooking spray and put enough sauce in the bottom so that it covers the surface.1 jar pasta sauce, Cooking Spray
- Carefully spoon cheese mixture into manicotti shells, place in baking dish in a single layer. Top with remaining sauce.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.1/2 cup mozzarella
- Let stand for 10 minutes.
Notes
Bookmark this page to find it quickly when you are ready to make this recipe!
Nutrition Facts
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.
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Vincent E. Summers says
I like the idea of blending (or, rather, thorough mixing of) spinach with the other filling, rather than overpowering the manicotti with spinach alone. I may soon need to establish a diet…
Mindy Boyd says
We just replaced the meat in traditional meat manicotti with spinach to make it healthier. Thanks!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
Sounds delicious Mindy and I absolutely agree about using the full fat dairy products..I never use low fat! Oh and love the personalized pan 🙂
Mindy Boyd says
Thanks!
josh says
Sounds delicious! I entirely agree about the “lite” dairy products all jacked up with extra sodium/sugars to make them taste better. Ricotta is a much, much, better alternative. See ya’ in the twittersphere.
Mindy Boyd says
Thanks for stopping by!
Lee Boyd says
These are as good or better than you can get at any restaurant. The whole family loves these.