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Indulge in a comforting Spinach Manicotti For One, featuring two manicotti or cannelloni noodles generously filled with creamy ricotta, spinach, and a blend of cheeses. This easy-to-make dish offers a deeply satisfying, cheesy delight in every bite!
This spinach manicotti recipe is what dinner dreams are made of! It’s pure comfort food and so easy to make.
Table of Contents
What is Manicotti
Manicotti is one of the oldest shapes of pasta. Years ago, pasta dough was prepared and cut into large rectangles, then filled with flavorful stuffings, rolled and baked in the oven. Today, dried manicotti can be purchased at grocery stores.
Manicotti and cannelloni noodles are very similar. Cannelloni is a smooth tube shaped dry pasta mostly found in Italy. Manicotti is the Italian-American version and is also a dried pasta tube which is a bit larger and with ridges.
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Why This Recipe Works
- This single serving of spinach manicotti is a delicious meatless meal that comes together quickly.
- The pasta is stuffed with cheese and spinach then smothered with marinara sauce. It’s absolutely delicious!
- I’ve been making spinach manicotti for years for my family. I’ve scaled down the ingredients in my family’s recipe to create a recipe that yields a small batch of manicotti.
- Although this is a single serving recipe, if you’re serving two, just double the ingredients to make more.
Ingredients
- Manicotti tubes: I use 2 manicotti tubes in this recipe. Dried pasta has a long shelf life. The best way to store dried manicotti tubes (or other dried pasta) is to keep them in an airtight container in a cool, dry location such as a pantry or cupboard. I do not recommend using no-boil manicotti shells. These tend to become rather chewy when baked instead of tender. They can also remain crunchy if not adequately submerged in sauce.
- Olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil in this spinach ricotta manicotti recipe as well as in every other recipe on One Dish Kitchen that calls for olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is the least processed form of olive oil. It is an unrefined oil and the highest-quality olive oil you can buy. Because of the way extra virgin olive oil is made, it retains more true olive taste. It also contains more of the vitamins and minerals found in olives. It’s my favorite type of olive oil to use but you may use a lighter olive oil instead.
- Spinach: I recommend using 1 cup of packed fresh spinach in this recipe. Feel free to use a little more if you prefer more spinach in your manicotti. You may also use frozen, thawed spinach that has been well drained. If using thawed and drained spinach, use about 1/2 cup.
- Garlic: One garlic clove adds tremendous flavor.
- Salt and black pepper: For flavor.
- Nutmeg: Optional, but adds a lovely touch.
- Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese: I use mozzarella and Parmesan in both the filling and as a topping.
- Ricotta: I recommend using full fat ricotta.
- Marinara sauce: I use jarred Marinara sauce which is found in the tomato sauce aisle of most grocery stores. You can use homemade tomato sauce or pomodoro sauce, if preferred.
Note: Many manicotti recipes are made using eggs. I do not use eggs in this spinach manicotti. I found that using 1 egg was just too much and really wasn’t necessary. This manicotti is made without egg.
How To Make This Recipe
See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally.
- Add the spinach to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until the spinach is wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together ricotta, cooked spinach, salt, pepper, nutmeg, half of the shredded mozzarella, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.
- Place 1/4 cup of Marinara sauce in the bottom of a small baking dish.
- Fill the manicotti with the ricotta mixture. Divide the mixture between the 2 manicotti tubes and place in the dish.
- The easiest way to stuff manicotti shells is the put the filling into a plastic bag. You can use either a frosting piping bag or a small zip-top bag. To fill: add the filling to the bag, snip the corner of the bag, gather the top and squeeze the filling into the corner. Hold the cooked manicotti shell in your hand and squeeze the filling inside the shell.
- Alternatively, you can use a spoon to carefully fill the shells.
- Pour remaining Marinara sauce over the shells and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Bake and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- You can add additional spinach to your filling, if you’d like.
- Be careful when you spoon the filling into the noodles, the manicotti will tear easily. Instead of using a spoon, you can make your own piping bag with a Ziplock (or other zip-top bag). Just add the filling to the bag, squeeze out the air, and seal. Using a scissors, snip off the corner of the bag and squeeze the filling into the tubes.
- I recommend shredding your own mozzarella cheese and using freshly grated Parmesan for this recipe. Pre-grated or pre-shredded cheese often contains preservatives meant to keep the shreds from clumping together in the bag. This means the cheese won’t melt as well when cooking.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
Frequently Asked Questions
Store spinach stuffed manicotti in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in either the microwave or the oven.
Absolutely! I love making chicken and spinach manicotti by adding in 1/2 cup of cooked chopped chicken to the filling.
Yes! This is a great make-ahead meal.
* Prepare the spinach manicotti as directed in the recipe.
* Cover and refrigerate the unbaked dish.
* Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking so that you are not pudding a cold dish into a hot oven which can cause the dish to break.
* Bake as directed in the recipe.
In the photos shown, I am using a 6.5x5x2-inch baking dish. A 5×7-inch dish will work well too. For best results, use a dish of similar size or one that can comfortably hold two stuffed manicotti shells without overflowing.
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If you’ve tried this spinach manicotti or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
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Spinach Manicotti For One
Ingredients
- 2 uncooked manicotti shells
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 cup fresh spinach , packed
- ½ cup ricotta
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese , divided
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese , divided
- ½ cup Marinara Sauce
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (177° C).
- Cook manicotti pasta in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain and set aside.
- Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally.
- Add spinach to the pan and cook, stirring frequently until the spinach is wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from the heat.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together ricotta, cooked spinach and garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg, ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, and 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan.
- Place ¼ cup of Marinara sauce in the bottom of a small baking dish.
- Fill the manicotti with the ricotta mixture. Divide the mixture between the 2 manicotti tubes and place in the dish.
- Pour remaining ¼ cup of Marinara sauce over the stuffed manicotti and top with ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil from the baking dish and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until cheese has melted.
- Remove baking dish from the oven and enjoy hot.
Video
Notes
- You can add additional spinach to your filling, if you’d like.
- Be careful when you spoon the filling into the noodles, the manicotti will tear easily. Instead of using a spoon, you can make your own piping bag with a Ziplock (or other zip-top bag). Just add the filling to the bag, squeeze out the air, and seal. Using a scissors, snip off the corner of the bag and squeeze the filling into the tubes.
- I recommend shredding your own mozzarella cheese and using freshly grated Parmesan for this recipe. Pre-grated or pre-shredded cheese often contains preservatives meant to keep the shreds from clumping together in the bag. This means the cheese won’t melt as well when cooking.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hi Joanie, I haven’t made this recipe yet…
I ordered a couple of boxes of dried cannelloni pasta online & have just received them, only to find that they are to be used “uncooked” But you say not to use this type…
Do you think if I put the two “snugly” in a smaller dish so that they can be totally covered in sauce it might be ok?
(On the box it says to cook for 30mins)
Tonight, it’s the chicken& rice casserole for tea..😊🏴
Hi Lorna, I think they should be fine to use, especially if covered in sauce.
Finally got round to making this Joanie& it was absolutely delicious.. The no cook Cannelloni shells were great . I did add some cooked chicken to the filling.. I had quite a bit of the filling left over because the Cannelloni are smaller than the Manicotti..
Like the “Ziti” recipe, I baked in my Ninja.. I did cook it for 30 mins as pasta I used was no boil type, at 180° then foil off & up to 190° for about 10 mins..
I will certainly be making this again.. Tomorrow it’s Slow Cooker Italian Chicken..
Yum Yum…😊🏴
The addition of chicken sounds wonderful, Lorna. Thank you so much for your feedback.
I doubled the recipe, used frozen spinach (microwaved to squeeze out water) added an egg and used pasta shells. Delicious for 3 meals over 4 days.
Do you think this could be made and frozen? Freeze it unbaked and cooked at a later time?
Yes! This is a great make-ahead meal.
* Prepare the spinach manicotti as directed in the recipe.
* Cover and refrigerate the unbaked dish.
* Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking so that you are not pudding a cold dish into a hot oven which can cause the dish to break.
* Bake as directed in the recipe.
Hello. I’m not a fan of spinach, but I love manicotti. If I omit the spinach, would I increase the ricotta, parmesan or mozzarella?
If you’re not into spinach, that’s totally fine. You can simply omit it from the recipe without needing to increase the amounts of ricotta, parmesan, or mozzarella. The dish will still turn out delicious.
I didn’t have any manicotti shells or tubes so I just cooked 2 lasagna noodles. Mixed the ingredients together and spread it thick on the noodles then rolled them up. Then topped with the sauce and cheese. Worked great
What a great idea … thanks for sharing!
A very easy dish to make.
OMG! These were so good and so cheesy. I doubled the recipe as it was one of the rare times that my Husband was home for dinner and he loved them.
I’m so happy you both enjoyed the manicotti. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know.
It was easy to make and delicious! I’ll definitely make it again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know.
I’ve made this twice and enjoyed, however I would not use cod again. Too salty and flavor is overpowering. I’ll keep experimenting. Thanks for great recipes.
Hi Maureen, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. I’m a little confused though – you mention using cod. Are you referring to a different recipe?
That looks delicious and I have been wanting some manicotti! Have you been able to locate whole-wheat or whole-grain cannelloni or manicotti noodles? I would love to find some.
I’ve seen brown rice manicotti shells made by a company called, Jovial in my local Whole Foods and WalMart. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve seen whole wheat manicotti. You could use whole wheat lasagna sheets instead of manicotti tubes and layer the ingredients similar to a lasagna.