Cheesy, saucy, and delicious. This cheese-stuffed manicotti is the ultimate dairy comfort food!

Every time I make manicotti, I ask myself why I don’t make it more often. Yes, it does take a little bit of time to stuff the manicotti, but other than that, it’s super easy. Also, it can be prepared in advance, so you don’t have to stuff them last minute. I like to make it in the morning or even the night before and just pop it in the oven an hour before supper.

I used to wrestle with the cheese filling, attempting to stuff into the pasta tubes. Then I got this brilliant idea to use piping bags. It was a real game changer! It goes so much faster. If you don’t have piping bags, you can even use a Ziploc bag and snip off a corner.

I like to make this directly in an oven-to-table dish for nicer serving. But of course if it’s just the family and you don’t care, it works just fine in a disposable 9×13 pan.

Serve this cheese stuffed manicotti with my kale salad with parmesan and lemon dressing.

Click here to watch me make this recipe!

Looking for recipes for the Nine Days? Check out this roundup from 2023 of my most popular dairy and pareve recipes.

Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

Cheesy, saucy, and delicious. This cheese-stuffed manicotti is the ultimate dairy comfort food!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 jar marinara sauce (approx. 24 oz.)
1 box manicotti tubes
2 cups shredded cheese
1 (16-oz.) container cottage cheese
2 tsp dried parsley
3/4 cup milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In an oven-to-table dish or 9×13 pan, pour about one cup of the marinara sauce so that the bottom of the pan is coated. placed about one cup of the marinara sauce making sure the whole bottom is coated.
In a bowl, mix together shredded cheese, cottage cheese and parsley.
Fill a piping bag* with the cheese mixture (you will not be able to fit it all in at once — you'll need to refill the bag a few times.) Pipe filling into each manicotti tube and place it in the dish.
Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Pour the milk around the edges of the pan.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until filling is bubbly and pasta is cooked.

Notes

*If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a Ziploc bag and snip off one corner. Alternatively, you can stuff the manicotti with a spoon, it will just be harder to do.