This Crockpot Manicotti Recipe is surprisingly simple and so delicious – you will not believe it came from your slow cooker!
For some reason, I was always intimidated by crockpot manicotti.
How do you stuff them? But the truth is, it’s so easy! This crockpot recipe is just as easy as stuffing them. It takes just a few minutes to make, and dinner is done before you know it.
Serve with a salad and garlic toast (or garlic cheesy bread). It’s an easy, delicious Italian night meal!
Slow Cooker Manicotti Makes Sense
Making this meal in the slow cooker makes much more sense than making manicotti in the oven. It takes a minute to stuff the manicotti, so being able to make the manicotti in the crockpot makes life so much easier.
You can dedicate time to getting the stuffed pasta ready the night before. Put the pasta and other ingredients in the slow cooker sleeve, cover it, and have it ready for when you get home the next day.
Quick Crockpot Meal
One of the things that I find remarkable about this cheese manicotti recipe is that even though it’s a slow cooker meal, it only takes a few hours to cook.
That means you can place the manicotti in the crockpot as soon as you get home, and after winding down from your day for a few hours, dinner will be done.
For busy moms, this is a great go-to weeknight meal. It’s cheap, easy, and delicious. You can’t go wrong with a meal like that.
Add More Vegetables
While the spinach is optional, I highly recommend you add it to the meal. You can even add zucchini, chopped broccoli or peppers to the mix. Add in that salad I mentioned earlier, and you are serving a cheap and healthy meal.
I hope you enjoy this manicotti recipe, and put it into your meal plan rotation for fall, winter and spring!
Crockpot Manicotti Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 Family Size jar of marinara sauce (I like Classico!)
- 1 box of manicotti pasta
- 15 oz Ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- Spinach, washed and dried (optional)
- Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic Powder
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
You will also need a ziploc bag, scissors and a slow cooker liner (optional).
Instructions:
- Spray your slow cooker with nonstick spray or line it with a slow cooker liner.
- Pour in half of a family size jar of marinara sauce.
- In a bowl, add ricotta cheese, egg and parmesan cheese. Mix well.
- If desired, cut up some fresh spinach and add to the cheese mixture.
- Season with salt and pepper as well as a bit of Italian seasoning and garlic powder.
- Transfer your cheese mixture from bowl to a ziploc baggie.
- Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag.
- Pipe the cheese into an uncooked manicotti shell.
- Layer your shells over the sauce in the Crock-Pot.
- Cover the shells with the remaining marinara sauce.
- Cook on high for 2 hours.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top of the pasta and cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
What’s your favorite way to make manicotti? Let us know in the comments below, so we can give it a try!
How many hours in low?
You cook it on high. If you cook it on low, the pasta will end up overcooked and gummy.