This Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti is a favorite family recipe. Watch the video in the post showing you how to make manicotti, then scroll all the way to the bottom of this post and print out a clean copy of the recipe so you can make it at home.
Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti
Manicotti is a dish of great comfort. It makes plenty, it’s filling, it’s completely family-friendly, and the leftovers are even better than the freshly made batch. We make this when we have a handful of friends or family around. It’s a nice, no-fuss recipe that everyone seems to love. Make it ahead, keep it in the fridge and toss it in the oven when everybody is ready to eat.
If you didn’t know, manicotti is a pasta noodle shaped like a tube. It’s about 4-inches long, and 1-inch in diameter. Usually it’s boiled until al dente, then cooled, filled with some kind of cheese filling, covered with sauce and baked. In this recipe, you don’t have to bake the noodles before filling them. They’ll cook in the sauce when you bake the manicotti in the oven.
🛒Ingredients needed:
- ricotta cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- cream cheese
- parmesan cheese
- frozen spinach
- eggs
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- manicotti noodles
- marinara sauce
✏️How to make Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
The filling is very simple to make. Just mix it all up in a bowl until it’s well-blended. If you (or your kids) don’t like spinach, you can always leave it out… though I’ve found that you don’t really detect it all that much with all of the other wonderful things and sauce in the recipe.
You might consider it a good way to “sneak” some good stuff into dinner.
A layer of sauce goes into the bottom of a 13×9-inch pan.
The easiest way to stuff manicotti shells is the put the mixed filling into a plastic bag. You can use either a frosting piping bag or a gallon zip bag. Snip the corner, gather the top and squeeze the filling into the corner.
Hold an uncooked manicotti shell in your hand and squeeze the filling inside the shell. Let it overflow on both sides.
Place the filled shell into the sauce-lined pan.
Repeat with remaining manicotti and fill the pan with the stuffed shells, until you run out of shells and filling.
Cover with a generous layer of marinara sauce.
Sprinkle cheese on top. At this point, you can cover with foil, refrigerate and then bake when you’re ready. It’s ok to leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
Cover and bake for about an hour.
Pop open a bottle of red wine and eat! This Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti recipe will feed 6 or 7 hungry people- 2 stuffed shells each is plenty when served with salad and garlic bread. And lighter eaters will be plenty full with just one shell.
★How to Store:
Store leftovers in the refrigerator and enjoy over the next few days. I guarantee they won’t last long. Manicotti also freezes well. Just place leftovers in an airtight container and you can keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
❤️Why I love this recipe:
- My family has been loving this recipe since I was a kid. At our house it’s always been our traditional Christmas Eve meal.
- It’s a crowd pleaser. Even people who say they don’t like spinach love these manicotti!
- I love that it can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until I’m ready to bake it. Makes getting dinner together so simple.
The Best Manicotti Recipes:
- Pumpkin Manicotti with Bechamel Sauce
- Chicken Manicotti
- Ham and Cheese Manicotti
- Chicken Manicotti Alfredo
Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Manicotti
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 15 ounces part skim ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 box (12 to 14 shells) manicotti noodles
- 4 cups marinara sauce (jarred or homemade)
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a large bowl, mix the cheeses, spinach, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir together until well blended.
- Place about 1½ cups of marinara sauce in a 9x13-inch pan. Spread it around to cover the bottom.
- Place the mixed filling into a plastic bag. You can use either a frosting piping bag or a gallon zip bag. Snip the corner, gather the top and squeeze the filling into the corner. Hold an uncooked manicotti shell in your hand and squeeze the filling inside the shell. Let it overflow on both sides. Alternately, you can stuff the uncooked noodles with a small spoon or fork. Place the filled shell into the sauce-lined pan. Repeat with remaining manicotti and fill the pan with the stuffed shells, until you run out of shells and filling. You should be able to fill 12 to 14 shells- if you run out of room in your pan, use a separate smaller pan to accommodate the extra.
- Cover the pasta completely with marinara sauce, using about 2½ cups of sauce. Sprinkle ½ cup Parmesan on top. At this point, you can cover with foil and refrigerate until you're ready to bake, or you can cover with foil and place it in the oven immediately.
- Bake, covered with foil, 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Video
Notes
- It's perfectly okay to use low fat ricotta and low fat cream cheese.
- If you don't wish to use the spinach, it's ok to leave it out and just turn this into a cheese-stuffed manicotti.
- If you don't wish to use the plastic bag method of squeezing the filling into the shells, you can use a very small spoon or fork to stuff the filling-- it will just take a bit longer and might be a little messy.
Actually made this exact recipe tonight. Was delish. The only thing I would suggest is a thinner sauce.
I noticed the pasta was a bit aldente. I had them snug in the pan, next time will make sure there is space to allow sauce to boil and cook all over the pasta.
Made this for dinner tonight – awesome and easy. I used my homemade sauce but am sure I would love it with Prego too! I also added a little fresh ground nutmeg to the cheese mixture. Yummy……thanks for the recipe! P.S. Pastry bag worked great for me.
Just have to tell you that the recipe is awesome!!! My family loved it.
I made this with 2 jars alfredo sauce and I added finely minced chicken and basil instead of the spinach. This recipe is great as it is written and I love that it can be tweaked for individual tastes. Thanks!
They were super yummy. >^.^<
This is the second time I’ve made manicotti using your recipe and it is beyond delicious. Of course, I’ve changed it up a bit. I use a meat marinara sauce made with ground beef, hot sausage, and bacon. I use a few different chilies in the meat sauce for flavor. I make the filling per recipe. With a salad and crunchy sourdough garlic bread, this is one of the best meals on this planet!! Thanks!!
Made this the other night. It was a hit. Chopped up button mushrooms and saute them in olive oil. Added fresh spinach on top of the mushrooms, sautéed till just cooked. Let the veg mixture cool. This was delish! Love the no boil method.
Just made this. Super fantastic! No complaints at all! (Will use a smaller bag next time but it was still a breeze, even with the big one).
I had some leftover sauce and lasagna filling that I had frozen from Christmas. Similar to yours, but with chop meat added to the filling. Used the zip lock method with ease. Got ’em in the oven now. Very simple to put together. If the manicotti shells (Ronzoni) get to al dente, I’m sure it will be a homerun.
These look amazing…I would love to make them but I despise Ricotta cheese…is there anything that I can use as a substitute?
Hmmm, some people use cottage cheese, but using all cottage cheese might be too much.
I made this and it was delicious. Little trouble with the bag method, but it was a great fun and an awesome bonding experience with my girls. This is not only super yummy but very easy to prepare. It made enough for two meals. Highly recommend.
I wish I’d seen your recipe before seeing the one that told me to parboil the cannolini. :/ And I think I’ll opt for a frosting bag next time I try! (though with the hard noodles, and a smaller hole in the bag, it may not be an issue.)
Gotta say that 45 min prep time is a lie!! 🙂 I think it only took me 15 mins to get everything mixed and piped into the shells. Couldn’t believe how easy it was with the ziploc. I accidentally started boiling the noodles and pulled them after 3.5 minutes. Actually worked out pretty well. I also browned some ground venison and added it to the marinara. Can’t wait to eat this!
I’m so glad you thought it was easy. Sometimes it takes me a while to stuff the shells, so I played it safe w/ a 45 min. prep time!
Your recipe is very similar to my veggie lasagna, except I use spaghetti sauce.
But why the jar sauce? It takes only 5 minutes to make a great sauce!
And you can certainly do that!
I made this today and it was absolutely DELICIOUS! I made some error and it didn’t turn out GREAT, but even though I made the error and it still tasted awesome meaning making it the right way will be even more fabulous! One mistake I made is using fresh spinach. I wilted it in a pan without using any oil, afterwards I totally forgot to squeeze the excess water out and that made the filling runny. The second mistake I made was not boil the shell before hand. Yes it cooked and everything (add another 10-15 min. since the 60 min wasn’t enough), but the powdery smell linger. Next time I plan to boil it slightly, not fully to get rid of the smell. Other than that the whole thing is WONDERFULLY DELISH!
If you are using the frozen spinach (thaw) or fresh (cooked) then use your potato ricer to squeeze the excess liquid out. Works wonderfully and far drier and easier than the towel wringing technique. You also get the added bonus of not putting the spinach and juice still in the towel in your laundry. I have never made riced potatoes in my life but I have used the tool many times for squeezing spinach.
Terrific tip- thank you!
Thank you for this recipe! I like how you used the pictures, it allowed making this recipe so simple!
It’s been ages since I made manicotti, so I needed a refresher on what cheeses to use. I never thought of cream cheese, thank you. And thank you especially for the baggie idea, why did i never think of that!
Can fresh spinach be used? I find frozen tastes funny.
Yes, but you’d probably want to heat it and wilt it and squeeze the liquid out of it first.
Thanks! This was easy and fun to make.
Made this last night. Subbed feta for the cream cheese and it was fantastic! Easy and everyone loved it, I’ll definitely make it again.
My father a professional chef always taught me to use a pinch of nutmeg in my stuffed shells , manicotti’ or lasagne stuffing found it to make a tasteful difference
good tip!
Just finished eating this, fed me and my roommates and they all said this needs to be a once a week meal. Simple to make and deffinitly a good idea to prepare a day in advance.