Sticking string cheese in uncooked pasta may seem like an unusual start to dinner but it's the first step of making this easy dump and bake manicotti. Add the stuffed pasta to a baking dish, top with broth and sauce, and bake until tender and bubbly—that's it! The finished dish is a total crowd-pleaser, especially when served with an extra sprinkle of fresh basil. Get the whole family involved in the prep; kids will love unwrapping the cheese and stuffing the pasta.
What Is Manicotti?
Manicotti is both a pasta shape and an Italian dish. The traditional recipe is made with tubular pasta shells stuffed with a ricotta cheese mixture and topped with a tomato sauce. To make the classic, pasta is pre-cooked, stuffed with filling, added to a casserole dish, and baked until bubbly. Here, we're making no-boil manicotti with meat sauce.
Dump and Bake Manicotti Ingredients
This dump and bake casserole relies on a few shortcut ingredients to speed up the prep time. Here's a brief look at what you'll need to make the viral recipe.
- Pasta: You'll need one 8-ounce package of dried manicotti for this dump and bake casserole.
- Filling: Rather than the classic ricotta filling, we're stuffing each pasta tube with one piece of string cheese.
- Broth: To cook the pasta and add flavor, you'll need to add broth to the dish. Our Test Kitchen used low-sodium beef broth, but you could swap in low-sodium chicken broth instead. If you'd like to make a vegetarian manicotti, use vegetable broth.
- Sauce: For a true dump and bake dinner, you can use a 24-ounce jar of meat sauce for this recipe. Our Test Kitchen is also sharing a quick shortcut meat sauce made with Italian sausage, jarred pasta sauce, and seasonings. To make this manicotti recipe vegetarian, use your favorite jarred marinara sauce.
- Cheese: A sprinkle of shredded cheese on top is the perfect finish.
How to Make Dump and Bake Manicotti
There's no need to pre-cook the pasta for this manicotti recipe. Instead we're adding broth to the baking dish to help cook the pasta while it bakes. Here's a quick look at how to make this dump dinner.
- Place one string cheese inside each piece of pasta and place in a greased baking dish.
- Pour broth over the pasta.
- Cover the pasta with the prepared or purchased sauce and cover with foil.
- Bake until the pasta is cooked through. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until bubbly and melted.
Ingredients
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1 (8 ounce) package dried manicotti
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14 pieces string cheese
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1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth or reduced sodium chicken broth
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1 pound lean ground beef and/or bulk italian sausage
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1/2 cup chopped onion
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3 cloves garlic, minced
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1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
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1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
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1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese
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Chopped fresh italian parsley or basil (optional)
Directions
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Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a 3-qt. rectangular baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place one string cheese inside each manicotti tube and arrange stuffed shells in a single layer in the prepared dish. Add broth to the dish.
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In a large skillet cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and discard fat, if needed. Add garlic and crushed red pepper (if using). Stir in spaghetti sauce. Spoon meat sauce evenly over pasta shells. Cover tightly with foil.
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Bake about 40 minutes until pasta is just al dente. Uncover and sprinkle with Italian blend cheese. Return to oven and bake 10 minute more or until cheese is melted and pasta is tender. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with Italian parsley or basil (if using).
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| 685 | Calories |
| 48g | Fat |
| 22g | Carbs |
| 41g | Protein |
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 6 | |
| Calories 684.5 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 47.6g | 61% |
| Saturated Fat 22.3g | 111% |
| Cholesterol 136.8mg | 46% |
| Sodium 1947.6mg | 85% |
| Total Carbohydrate 22.4g | 8% |
| Dietary Fiber 3.1g | 11% |
| Total Sugars 10.5g | |
| Protein 40.6g | 81% |
| Vitamin D 1.2mcg | 6% |
| Vitamin C 4.4mg | 5% |
| Calcium 618mg | 48% |
| Iron 2.8mg | 16% |
| Potassium 840.6mg | 18% |
| Fatty acids, total trans 0.2g | |
| Vitamin D 50.4IU | |
| Alanine 1.6g | |
| Arginine 1.6g | |
| Ash 8g | |
| Aspartic acid 3g | |
| Caffeine 0mg | |
| Carotene, alpha 0mcg | |
| Choline, total 106.3mg | |
| Copper, Cu 0.2mg | |
| Cystine 0.3g | |
| Energy 2862.6kJ | |
| Fluoride, F 7.8mcg | |
| Folate, total 48.7mcg | |
| Glutamic acid 6.9g | |
| Glycine 1.5g | |
| Histidine 1g | |
| Isoleucine 1.8g | |
| Leucine 3g | |
| Lysine 2.3g | |
| Methionine 0.9g | |
| Magnesium, Mg 67.2mg | |
| Manganese, Mn 0.3mg | |
| Niacin 9.4mg | |
| Phosphorus, P 582.5mg | |
| Pantothenic acid 0.4mg | |
| Phenylalanine 1.6g | |
| Phytosterols 3.4mg | |
| Proline 3.2g | |
| Retinol 220.3mcg | |
| Selenium, Se 42.7mcg | |
| Serine 1.4g | |
| Starch 2.3g | |
| Theobromine 0mg | |
| Threonine 1.6g | |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 4mg | |
| Tryptophan 0.6g | |
| Tyrosine 1.5g | |
| Valine 2g | |
| Vitamin A, IU 1718.4IU | |
| Vitamin A, RAE 269mcg | |
| Vitamin B-12 2.9mcg | |
| Vitamin B-6 0.6mg | |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 25.2mcg | |
| Water 288.5g | |
| Zinc, Zn 5.4mg | |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.