Oven baked Chicken and Spinach Manicotti is a delicious Italian pasta recipe where manicotti is stuffed with a chicken, spinach and cheese filling then topped with creamy Alfredo sauce and more cheese. Such a hearty and yummy comfort food!
25ozcanned chickendrained, or 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken or any cooked chicken
2cupsfresh spinachchopped in smaller pieces
15ozricotta cheese
1 1/2cupmozarellashredded
1/2cupparmesangrated
3-4clovesgarlicminced
1/2tsporegano
1/2tspbasil
15ozAlfredo sauce~1 jar
1tspparsleychopped, garnish
Instructions
Fill a large pot with water and bring to boil. Add manicotti pasta and cook based on package instructions. When done, drain and set pasta on a dish lined with wax paper (See Note 1) to cool. Do not overlap pasta on top of each other.
Grease a 9' x 13' baking dish, then layer with a thin layer of Alfredo sauce.
Pre-heat oven to 375℉.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, spinach, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese (set 1/2 cup aside as topping), parmesan cheese, garlic, oregano, and basil. Mix to combine.
Stuff manicotti pasta with chicken and spinach mixture (see Note 2), then place on baking dish layered with Alfredo sauce.(See Note 3)
Smother the top of the manicotti with more Alfredo sauce, then top with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Bake manicotti in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and let manicotti rest for 5 minutes before garnishing it with parsley and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Note 1: Wax paper is used to prevent manicotti from sticking to the dishNotes 2: Easy ways to stuff manicotti with chicken spinach mixture:1) Use a teaspoon to gently scoop out the filling and stuff the manicotti. Teaspoons should be small enough to insert into the manicotti without tearing it.2) Fill ziplock bag with filling and cut out one of the corners. Squeeze the filling out into the tube to stuff it. Make sure the corner you cut out is smaller than the opening of the pasta tubeNote 3: Should be able to fill ~14 manicotti. Only 10-12 can fit into a 9x13 baking dish. The rest can go into a small dish to be baked at the same time. 15 oz Alfredo sauce (~1 jar) should be enough for all 14 manicotti.