Easy Meatless Manicotti Recipe (2024)

Easy prep. Tasted great. I doctored the pasta sauce up with garlic, Italian -style tomatoes, and red pepper flakes. I also used low fat cottage cheese instead of fat free. So, We didn't think it was bland at all. I spent more time than I would've like trying to spoon it in to the shells. That's after I tried to pipe it in and it was to chunky. Next time I think I will food process it and try again. A keeper for sure! The whole family liked it and I didn't feel guilty at 328 calories!

added shredded zucchini, diced carrots and red pepper to spinach and cheese mixture. pre cooked my manicotti. added some red wine to pasta sauce at bottom of pan. sorta took ideas from others, and we thought it was a very good dish. used the ziplock baggie idea, was still a little messy but quicker than my old method of using a baby spoon !!!!! probably wouldn't make for guests, just from the way it looked sorta crazed....i'm not used to making manicotti. maybe more mozzarella would hold things together better.....used an egg too.

I have been making this for years, and never get tired of it. Every time we eat it, my whole family compliments me on the delicious meal.

I used 2% cottage cheese, Newman's Own tomato-basil marinara, and cooked fresh spinach but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Found the dish bland and dull---healthier than Stouffer's I guess, but no better in flavor. If we still had little kids this might be a popular favorite, but I won't be making it again.

My whole family loved it. Stuffing the noodles was a little messy and time consuming but my 6 year old really enjoyed being able to help. He did one for every two I did. And even though he is a picky eater, he was actually willing to eat it. We will definitely make this again.

I loved loved loved not having to boil the noodles. I thought filling them was super easy and fast using a ziplock bag for piping. My only issue was they oozed out and were kinda flat when they were done. I will try again using ricotta. Worth repeating.

Delicious but a lot of work. My daughter requested this as one of her last meals before she left for college. I made the recipe as written but added some fresh garlic with the cottage cheese in the blender. Blending the cottage cheese makes it more the consistency of ricotta (I have been doing this method for years). I also reduced the amt of water added to the sauce as one cup seemed way too much. I did make the manicotti early afternoon and let it sit in the refrigerator until an hour before I baked it. I also used a baggie with a corner snipped off to stuff the pasta. This was good but I will not be making it often. Lasagna with no boil noodles is a lot easier and faster to make.

Overall, this was easy, but slightly time-consuming nonetheless due to having to hand stuff each individual piece of pasta. Tasty and worth the effort, but the prep time and the long baking time make this not "easy" enough for my easy recipe file.

Amazingly good. This is the first time I made this so I wasn't sure about the cottage cheese. I had to make two batches anyway so I made one with ricotta and one with cottage cheese that I ran through the food processor like another reviewer suggested. Both were so good. In the future I would only use cottage cheese because there wasn't that much of a difference. The only other changes I made were that I used fresh spinach that i cooked myself and only half of the water. I baked both batches in the same pan so when I poured in the first 1 cup of water it really looked like enough so I didn't add the second cup. It was perfect! One final note was that this recipe makes more than enough filling for the 14 manicotti that come in a box. I filled them with a piping bag and large decorating tip and was just barely filling the pasta because I didn't want to run out. No worries though I had plenty left and actually went back through and put extra in each. You can really fill them up!

Exceptional! I went with the suggestions listed below.. Instead of frozen spinach I wilted down two cups of fresh spinach in the frying pan and seasoned with lemon and salt. I did stick with the cottage cheese since I don't like ricotta normally, I wouldn't miss out on anything. I put the tub of fat free cottage cheese in the food processor with a clove of garlic. It gave it a creamier texture and it tasted great. I could have eaten just that. Also subbed dried basil for oregano since its all I had. Other than that I followed the recipe. I can't wait for leftovers! Will make again! --- oh, they should really make a note for people like me who've never worked with manicotti shells before. After 2 failed attempts with just aspoon and then a ziploc bag with he corner snipped, I ended up just placing a gob on top of the end and stuffing it in with a chopstick.. Took me 30 minutes to stuff all 14 shells. :(

I love this recipe! Made it last night for healthy lunches for the week. I was a little concerned, because someone noted that it doesn't reheat well, but had it today reheated and was super yummy. I made it as noted in the recipe, except I only added a little bit of water and followed the suggestions of other reviewers and sauteed fresh spinach. Was such quick to make and filling. Highly recommend!

My husband loved this! I wasn't the hugest fan of the spinach, but it was good.

I substitute low-fat ricotta for the cottage cheese and we really enjoy this recipe. I just wish I could find whole wheat manicotti shells!

Made this recipe several times, sometimes substituting ricotta for the cottage cheese. Very easy, very good!

i make this for friends who've just had babies and for our family all the time. it's super easy and so yummy. can also substitute ground meat for the spinach if you want something different!

Easy to make and very good. I used fresh mozzarella, next time will use regular mozzarella. I also sauteed fresh spinach in garlic before mixing in with ricotta.

Very good! Not the best leftover though. Used fresh spinach sauted with garlic and olive oil! Will make again!!

So surprisingly wonderful! I used fresh spinach, oregano & added basil.

This was delicious, I'm definitely making this again, and again. It leaves you full and completely satisfied.

Awesome recipe! Thanks for the tips, sauteing fresh spinach was a great idea and the ziplock method saved me some time. Will put it on the rotation!

I was skeptical at first but this turned out to be a great dish! Followed some of the recommendations of other reviewers by sauteing garlic and fresh spinach, added some additional Italian seasoning, and used 1/2 c. red wine - 1/2 cup water. I also processed the cottage cheese in the food processor to give it a ricotta-like texture which actually turned out really good. Big hit with dinner guests!

We make this dish all the time and everyone in my family loves it! Our kids love it... my husband and I love it. It's easy and delicious. I sometimes add a touch more marinara sauce, but otherwise I follow the recipe as written.

Love this recipe. I changed it up a bit and used ricotta instead. Overall it's a very easy recipe and very tasty.

Very good. Very easy. I use Ricotta instead of cottage cheese, since I prefer the flavor. It was delicious. I've made it several times and everyone loves it. Great as leftovers too.

This meal was delicious and will def make again! It was easy to make and great for a special occasion or everyday meal. I did add garlic, garlic powder, and some italian herbs seasoning. Served with a pecan/cranberry salad. Will try the ziplock bag next time cuz it was messy to do with fingers, although quite therapeutic :)

I sauteed my own spinach instead of using frozen, and had to substitute lasagna noodles since my grocer was out of manicotti noodles. It turned out great and my 2 year old and husband both liked. I added an egg to the cheese mixture so it wasn't so dry and didn't add the water like the recipe called for. It was not dry at all and tasted like I spent a lot of time on which I didn't. Definitely worth fixing again.

Easy, but a little too dry. Needs more cheese to it.

I used "jumbo shells" that were about 2" long. Made half the recipe and it stuffed 20 of these which filled an 8 x 8 glass pan. Put filling in ziplock and cut off corner to fill-very quick & easy. Used light ricotta in place of cottage cheese as that's what I had on hand. Will add garlic next time, but will definitely make again. Half the batch served 4 easily.

This dish is wonderful, and amazingly very quick/easy to prepare; easily fill shells with long iced tea spoon. Leftovers reheat well. I add garlic to the filling and occasionally add sauteed veggies (shredded carrots, zucchini, whatever else I have on hand), but these addtions are not necessary. Simply delicious!

My family loved this recipe! I made a few minor changes. I sauteed fresh spinach rather than using frozen, added some garlic and a little more cheese. I'll definitely be making this one again!