Million Dollar Manicotti

Baked Million Dollar Manicotti – loaded with tons of cheese and tastes as good as any restaurant! Ready to eat in about an hour. Manicotti shells, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, egg, Italian sausage, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. SO much amazing flavor! Serve with some garlic bread and a salad for a meal the whole family will enjoy!

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Easy Cheese Manicotti Recipe

This Million Dollar Manicotti is a new favorite! Manicotti stuffed with three kinds of cheese and baked in a quick meat sauce. Comfort food at its best! We ate this pasta for dinner and fought over the leftovers for lunch. It is equally delicious, if not better, the next day. Whip up some garlic bread and a green salad and you have a meal better than any restaurant! Give this a try the next time you need an easy meal the whole family will enjoy!

How to Make Homemade Manicotti

This classic recipe is easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook manicotti noodles for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet cook Italian sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain excess grease. Stir in a jar of marinara sauce. Spread a little meat sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Add cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, egg, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder to a large bowl. Stir to combine. Season with salt and black pepper. Place the cheese mixture into a piping bag and stuff it into the partially cooked manicotti shells. 

Place stuffed manicotti into the baking dish in a single layer. Top with remaining sauce.  Bake in a preheated oven until the pasta is tender. Sprinkle the casserole dish with shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Garnish the pasta with parsley or basil.

Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

• I only cook the pasta for about half of the time listed on the box. It is a little more than al dente, but it finishes cooking in the oven perfectly.
• If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can use a plastic bag or freezer bag and cut the tip off of a corner. You can also spoon the filling into the pasta shells.
• Can substitute ground beef.
  • Can substitute turkey sauce for a lower-calorie dish.
  • Omit sausage for a vegetarian dish.
• Can add fresh spinach and mushrooms to the cheese filling.
• My favorite jars of store-bought spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, Carbone, and La Famiglia DelGrosso.
• Can I use ricotta cheese? I haven’t made this recipe with ricotta, but it should be just fine.
• Can I make manicotti in advance? Yes! You can assemble the pasta and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake.
  • You may need to add an extra 10-15 minutes to the cooking time if baking cold straight from the fridge.
• Can I freeze manicotti? Yes. Assemble the pasta. Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
  • When ready to bake, thaw the pan in the refrigerator and bake as directed.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • Reheat in the microwave.

What to Serve with Baked Stuffed Manicotti

This has quickly become our go-to baked manicotti recipe! It is so simple to make and tastes great! I made this for a dinner party a few weeks ago and it was gone in a flash. Everyone loved it! I should have made two pans so we had some leftovers! 

We like to serve this with a salad and some garlic bread. It is equally delicious with some vegetables – Baked Parmesan Squash or our Italian Green Bean Salad. I am counting down the days until we make this again!! SO good!

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Steph