This manicotti recipe is Italian sausage with three kinds of cheese, stuffed into pasta then covered with sauce and baked to perfection. A comfort food classic that’s great for feeding a large crowd!
I love to make baked pasta when I’m entertaining, some of my favorites include pizza stuffed shells, chicken parmesan pasta, and this hearty, cheesy, baked manicotti.
Manicotti is a traditional dish that’s served at most Italian restaurants, but it also happens to be really easy to make at home! My version features zesty sausage, plenty of melted cheese and is always a hit with both kids and adults alike. For more amazing Italian dishes, try my slow cooker bolognese sauce and shrimp linguine!
Table of Contents
Baked Manicotti Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need olive oil, sausage, onion, garlic, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, marinara sauce, manicotti shells and parsley.
How Do You Make Manicotti?
The first step is to brown your Italian sausage along with onion and garlic. In another bowl, mix together ricotta cheese with parmesan, mozzarella and seasonings. Mix the sausage into the cheese mixture, then fill each pasta shell with the cheese filling. Place the pasta in a pan with marinara sauce, then add another layer of cheese over the top. Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and browned. Sprinkle with parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Pasta
- It’s best to slightly undercook your pasta. Firmer pasta is easier to fill, and it will continue to cook and soften as it bakes in the oven.
- I use a store bought marinara sauce to keep prep time to a minimum. Choose your favorite high quality sauce. I typically use Rao’s or Newman’s Own brands.
- This dish can be assembled up to 8 hours before you plan to bake it. Cover and store in the fridge, then bake as directed. You may need to add an extra 10-15 minutes to the bake time to compensate for starting with a chilled dish.
- Feel free to use hot or mild sausage, whichever you prefer. Turkey sausage also works quite well.
- Leftover manicotti will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Be sure to break up the meat into small pieces as it cooks, that will it will fit nicely into the pasta tubes.
Quick Tip
I recommend shredding your own cheese for this recipe. The bags of pre-grated cheese at the store are often coated with anti-caking agents and don’t melt smoothly.
Recipe FAQs
There are two methods to fill your manicotti shells. The first is to use a small spoon to fill each piece of pasta. The second is to put the meat and cheese mixture into a piping bag, and snip a large hole in the end. Pipe the filling into each shell. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can also use a gallon sized freezer bag in the same way. I prefer to use the piping bag method because it’s easier with less mess at the end.
This recipe is a great candidate for the freezer. Store the covered dish in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can bake your pasta from frozen, you’ll just need to add about 30 minutes to the cook time.
Both cannelloni and manicotti are stuffed pasta dishes. The difference is simply in the pasta itself. Cannelloni tend to be thinner without ridges.
I recommend serving a salad alongside your pasta. Some of my favorites include panzanella salad, wedge salad, Mediterranean salad and Italian salad. You can also serve bread such as garlic knots.
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Flavor Variations
I love this pasta recipe as-is, but you can switch up the ingredients to customize it to your tastes.
- Protein: Instead of sausage, try ground beef, shredded chicken or ground turkey.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add some veggies to the filling such as cooked spinach, finely chopped mushrooms, grated zucchini or roasted red bell peppers.
- Cheese: Swap out the mozzarella and parmesan for other Italian cheese varieties such as fontina, provolone, asiago or pecorino romano.
- Sauce: You can switch out the marinara sauce for bolognese sauce, Alfredo sauce or even basil pesto.
You can never go wrong with creamy, cheesy pasta and this manicotti recipe is on my regular rotation. The flavor combination just can’t be beat, and it’s the perfect meal for those days when you need a little comfort food.
More Delicious Pasta Recipes
Seafood Pasta Recipe
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Buffalo Chicken Pasta
50 mins
Cajun Shrimp Pasta
35 mins
Mushroom Pasta with Bacon
25 mins
Pasta Carbonara
20 mins
Manicotti Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Manicotti Recipe
Ingredients
For the filling
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage hot or mild, casings removed
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
- 3/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
For assembly
- 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
- 12 manicotti shells
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray.
For the filling
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Place the sausage in the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces.
- Add the onions to the pan. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until onions are softened and sausage is browned and cooked through.
- Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Place the ricotta cheese, egg, mozzarella, parmesan, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Add the meat mixture to the ricotta mixture. Stir until well mixed.
For assembly
- Cook the manicotti in salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes less than the package directions state. Drain and cool slightly.
- Spread 1 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the pan.
- Use a spoon or piping bag to fill each manicotti with the meat and cheese mixture.
- Arrange the manicotti in a single layer in the pan. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top, then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
Notes
- It’s best to slightly undercook your pasta. Firmer pasta is easier to fill, and it will continue to cook and soften as it bakes in the oven.
- I use a store bought marinara sauce to keep prep time to a minimum. Choose your favorite high quality sauce. I typically use Rao’s or Newman’s Own brands.
- This dish can be assembled up to 8 hours before you plan to bake it. Cover and store in the fridge, then bake as directed. You may need to add an extra 10-15 minutes to the bake time to compensate for starting with a chilled dish.
Wow!!! My Italian spouse LOVED it!!! Thank you
Has anyone tried preparing this the day before and then baking the day of?
I think that would be fine!
My husband loved this, but I give it only 4 stars because I think the recipe called for too much sweet Italian sausage. I would cut the sausage by half if I were to make it again, which would result in less filling and fewer cannoli to fill. The amount of sausage over shadowed the lightness and flavor of the ricotta cheese and egg combination which is stuffed into the cannoli. I added about 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves to the ricotta mixture for color and flavor. The uncooked ricotta mixture came alive once I added the fresh parsley: it smelled fresh and vibrant. The proportions of mozzarella cheese (for the topping) to sauceI to filled cannoli was perfect for our taste. We used a delicious (new to us) plain tomato sauce from the jar.
Made this tonight. Followed directions to the letter. DELICIOUS. Even my picky kids that refuse to eat almost anything that’s not chicken fingers or Mac and cheese LOVED it!! New rotation addition for sure. Easy and delicious! Would give it 10 stars if I could. Thank you!
This was delicious and fairly easy to put together. The four of us ate the whole 9×13” pan for supper! My teenage grandsons absolutely loved this!
This was absolutely delicious. I used a Rao’s roasted garlic sauce and it turned out fantastic. My husband was raving about it and said we need to make it for company!!
Very easy to make. Very tasty and filling.
Thank you for sharing.
So yummy! Thanks for this great classic recipe
An easy way to fill the shells is to cut down the back of the cooked shell and fill. Press cut sides together. After filling place cut side down. No one will ever know! I used to hate to make manicotti until I tried this method!
Only thing I would do different is use a garlic spaghetti sauce rather than marinara sauce. Also more sauce is needed than recipe calls for. Very good manicotti.
This is one of those recipes everyone needs to try! So hearty and delicious!
It looks really delicious and amazing! Perfect any night of the week.
This is so incredible, I am making it for dinner. Appreciate the detailed instructions, great for a cook like me.
YUM! This is my favorite kind of comfort food. It was delicious and the leftovers were even better!
Such an amazing comfort food! My family will surely love this!
Such a delicious and fancy dinner! The perfect Sunday dinner!
This is one of my favorite pasta dishes! It looks delicious. 🙂
I love this manicotti ! looks so good!
This is making my mouth water! I love manicotti and these look perfect – on the menu for later this week!!
My whole family could not get enough of this recipe I highly recommend it!