Chicken and Spinach Manicotti

I love a good stuffed manicotti recipe, and this one is definitely a good one. It's full of flavor, cheesy and packed with chicken and spinach. It's hearty and homey and perfect for fall and winter. Something about it just warms the soul and feels so right when the weather is cool! My kids devour it and have never complained about the spinach inside. I started making stuffed manicotti a few years ago, but wanted to amp up my recipe. It was a little blah and didn't have much protein in it. So I played around with some seasonings and added shredded chicken and wow, this stuff is so good. Adding the right spices makes such a difference! Try this with some pumpkin snicker doodles or apple dumpling roll-ups for dessert.

Stuffed manicotti is really easy to make! It comes together quickly and easily, it's very simple to make. But it does need to bake for about an hour, so planning for that is a must.

How to Make Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Manicotti:

As I've made this, I've discovered that wringing out all the water from the spinach makes a big difference. I usually squeeze out what I can by hand, then roll it in a paper towel and wring it tightly until it stops leaking water. After doing this, the spinach will be clumped together. Break it up before adding it in. Combine the cheeses, spices, eggs, spinach and shredded chicken into a large bowl and mix well. One of the key ingredients is the red pepper flakes. It's very faint and you don't get much kick of spice, but it amplifies the flavors beautifully.

Place the mixture in a gallon size Ziploc bag and snip a corner off. I've found that around a 1/2" diameter hole works well for me. Too small, and it comes out too slowly, too big and it gets too messy. Pour 2 cups marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9x13 or equivalent sized pan. Place the hole inside one end of the manicotti and fill with the cheese mixture to the end. If it didn't fill the other end, flip it around a fill the other side. Place the manicotti into the pan and repeat until you run out of manicotti or filling.

Top with an additional 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella and parmesan to taste (we like ours cheesy). Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 covered for 45 minutes, then 15 minutes uncovered or until cheese reaches desired doneness.

Tips and Tricks

We also love to use the filling in jumbo shells. If you decide to make this with jumbo shells, boil the shells about 7 minutes, until they are flexible, then drain and do everything else as normal.

Feel free to switch out the meat with an Italian sausage. Yummy!

The filling stores in the freezer beautifully. When I make this, I often make a double batch and store half of it in the freezer to use in the future.

These also make a great freezer meal: Make the whole thing other than baking it and store in the freezer until ready to use. Add an additional 30 minutes of covered baking time.

Leftovers: Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

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