Homemade manicotti is made with homemade crepes that are filled with creamy and rich ricotta cheese, vegetables then topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.
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This is a hearty vegetarian dish that both carnivores and vegetarians will just love.
Homemade manicotti with homemade crepes is the best tasting manicotti ever. If you have ever made it at home, you know that it takes time, so why not make the best version that you can?
Not to mention, those pre-made pasta tubes aren’t all that easy to fill with cheese.
I usually make up double batch of this and freeze it. Manicotti re-heats easily and it’s perfect to grab for a busy weeknight. This is also a great dish to serve to guests,make it ahead of time, and pop it in the oven when your guests arrive.
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What You Will Need
- Flour – I use a mix of whole wheat and white flour, you can use just white or whole wheat
- Eggs
- Olive oil or butter for the crepes, plus olive oil for cooking the crepes
- Milk or Water for the crepe batter – it’s up to you. I personally think the milk adds more flavor to the crepes.
- Ricotta cheese – whole milk or part skim will work
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh baby spinach – If fresh spinach is not available use frozen chopped spinach that has been heated and drained
- Mushrooms – We like baby bella or white mushrooms for this recipe
- Garlic
- Onions
- Red bell pepper
- your favorite marinara sauce.
Here is How to Make Stuffed Manicotti
This recipe is worth the time it takes to make. The crepes are so light and you will feel delightfully full and not weighed down after eating these.
Total Estimated Time Needed to Make this Recipe is 90 to 110 Minutes
First make the manicotti crepes
- Whisk the eggs and milk or water together
- Stir in the flour and melted butter or olive oil
- Refrigerate the batter until it thickens
While the crepe batter is in the refrigerator, make the filling
- Cook the mushrooms, onions, garlic and peppers
- Cook the baby spinach briefly in a sauté pan until it wilts and drain it
- Add the spinach to the bowl with the vegetables and sprinkle with nutmeg
- Mix together the eggs, ricotta and Parmesan and then combine with the vegetable filling
Cook the Manicotti Crepes
- Heat a skillet or crepe pan over medium heat and coat it with olive oil
- swirl portions of batter around the pan to cover the bottom of the pan and cook for about 1 minute and flip cook one minute more
- Stack the cooked crepes on a plate
Fill the Crepes
- Fill each crepe with the cheese and vegetable filling and roll them up.
- Place the filled crepes into a baking dish, pour on the sauce and bake them.
- Just before serving add the mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese melts.
Tips For Making the Best Homemade Crepes
- Make sure the pan is coated generously with oil to avoid sticking, you may have to add more as you cook all of the crepes.
- As the crepes complete cooking, stack them on a plate separated with parchment or waxed paper to keep them from sticking together.
Manicotti Variations
- Leave the vegetables out and use only cheese, or add 1/4 pound of ground beef or Italian sausage to the cheese mixture
- Change up the vegetables, and use diced and sauteed zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and red pepper
- Replace the ricotta cheese with cottage cheese
- Use Bolognese Sauce in place of marinara sauce
Make Ahead Tips
- Make the crepes ahead of time – stack them up, and cover them tightly and store in fridge for up to 2 days or store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and stuff them with your favorite filing.
- Make the filling ahead of time – You can store it in the fridge for a day
- Meal planning tip – Freeze un-baked manicotti for another day. Assemble the manicotti in an oven proof casserole, cover and place in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and allow to thaw in refrigerator overnight. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Freeze left-over baked manicotti – Store it in an oven proof container with a cover in the freezer. Allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. When it’s time to eat, cover the manicotti and place it in a 350 oven and cook until it’s heated through.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve baked manicotti with a salad or try these eggplant meatballs
Have you Tried These?
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Homemade Manicotti
- Prep Time: 50
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
Description
Homemade manicotti is made with homemade crepes that are filled with creamy and rich ricotta cheese, vegetables then topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
Pre-heat the oven to 350
For the Crepes
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil
Filling
- 6 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons diced onions
- 1/2 bell pepper chopped
- 8 ounces baby spinach
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
- 4 ounces (or more or less of grated mozzarella cheese)
Instructions
Crepe Instructions
- Whisk the eggs and milk together, then stir in the flour and melted butter
- Refrigerate for 20 minutes which will allow batter to become thick
- Now it’s time to make the filling while batter is in refrigerator jump to the next heading
- Heat an 8 inch skillet over medium heat and coat with olive oil
- Pour 2 tablespoons of batter into skillet and swirl the batter around the pan to cover evenly and cook for about 1 minute and flip cook one minute more
- Stack the cooked crepes on a plate
Filling
- Cook the mushrooms, onions, garlic and peppers until they begin to soften, and set them aside in a bowl
- Cook the spinach briefly in a sauté pan until it wilts and drain it
- Add the spinach to the bowl with the vegetables and set aside to cool, and finish making the crepes
- Mix together the eggs, ricotta and Parmesan and then combine it with the vegetable filling
Fill the Crepes
- Fill each crepe with ¼ cup of filling and roll up
- Cover the bottom of an oven proof baking dish with sauce and place each filled crepe into the dish
- Top with more sauce, cover and bake for 30 minutes, uncover and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake for 10 minutes more or until cheese has melted
Notes
Nutrition information is provided by Nutrifox, an online calculator and is meant to be used for informational purposes only. Even though I try to provide accurate information, these figures should still be considered as estimates.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Homemade manicotti, manicotti
Mmmmm I love Manicotti! I usually make them for the holidays!
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I’m going to cook these manicotti very soon…I love your recipe!
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Homemade pasta is the best. I love the sound of this delicious recipe. What a great way to feed a family. Works as a great dish for entertaining too.
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Manicotti is something I usually leave for the restaurants to make for me. Your instructions are very clear and make it doable. Thanks!
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Thanks Jade, It really is easy – just takes time!
Love this recipe…so happy to see that you made your own crepes too. Can’t wait to add this to our monthly menu rotation. YUM!
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Thanks Wendy, Enjoy!
These turned out sooo good! My kids kept asking for more! Will be adding to our menu rotation for sure.
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I am glad you liked them!
I love that you used crepes instead of the usual manicotti noodles. My mom used to use crepes for lots of different Italian dishes instead of the appropriate noodle. She was a bit of a rebel. LOL. I love all of the great tips for changing up this recipe and making it ahead.
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This recipe brings me back! My Italian American mom makes manicotti like this, except without the mushroom and spinach filling which I think is a nice addition, I will have to try this!
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We also do crepes – we love them and it is such a great idea of rolling up the filling. A great recipe that the entire family will go crazy over. Nice to make up ahead and no boiling pasta.
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Such a wonderful comfort food, my mouth is watering just looking at your lovely manicottis’! 🙂 thanks for sharing
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What an amazing comfort food! My family would LOVE this recipe.
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I seriously need to make these! Every single ingredient has my name on it lol! Super easy to make as well. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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Thanks Ana! I hope you like them!
My husband and I don’t often agree on very many meals, but this manicotti would definitely be one we would enjoy making and eating together! Looks delicious!
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Have fun making it!
I’ve always admired my vegetarian friends for their sheer willpower! I like eating meat too much — and finding good vegetarian recipes can be hard! 😉 But this one looks so tasty, I’m sure I won’t miss the meat at all!
We have a crepe pan that is sadly, underused. Have to give this a recipe a try. It looks likea great date night recipe!
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I never heard about manicotti before, but looking at your recipe it sounds so wonderful, healthy and filling. It would work for breakfast or lunch.
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I love that you make the manicotti crepes,…you are so right, you might as well make them since the rest of the dish is homemade as well! I’ve never tried to do that before, but that is definitely on my list to tackle one Sunday afternoon. Thanks for this delicious recipe
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wow, i never have seen anything like this! I love the combination of flavors and colors. Healthy, filling, and delicious.
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This recipe brings me back! My Italian mom makes manicotti like this, except without the mushroom and spinach filling which I think is a nice addition, I will have to try this!
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