Sausage Manicotti

If you’re going for comfort food, there’s not much better than tucking into a steamy bowl of ricotta-packed sausage manicotti, smothered in a zingy marinara sauce and showered with parmesan. 

This delicious weeknight dish also makes for excellent leftovers, and it reheats beautifully. Working-from-home lunch, I gotchu covered. 

You can also play around with the ingredients; add some wilted or thawed, frozen spinach to the ricotta mixture. Just make sure that the spinach is well-drained first (see more ideas for ingredient swaps below)

There are a ton of variations you can do with this easy weeknight dinner recipe!

1. Stuff the manicotti with something other than sausage

Here are some easy variations you can stuff inside those delicious little pasta shells:

• Cream cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach
• beef or turkey sausage
• seasoned ground beef
• roasted, mashed butternut squash

2. Top with a different type of cheese

If you’re not feeling the shredded parmesan, or you’re out of it, here are some different cheeses that would be excellent on top of this manicotti:

• shredded mozzarella
• provolone, either sliced or shredded
• one of those “Italian mix” of cheeses

Or simply jazz up the parmesan called for in the recipe by combining it with shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese. then you’ll still get that umami-packed parmesan cheese on top, but you’ll get a yummy cheese pull from the melted mozzarella!

Honestly, just let your cheese love be your guide here. 

3. No manicotti shells? Here’s other pasta variations to try:

• Stuffed shells
• Ravioli (stuff it yourself if you’re feeling adventurous!)
• Layer the sausage, cheese, and another type of pasta like rotini for something like a Baked Ziti

4. Change up the sauce you’re using

I love this marinara sauce that I make in the slow cooker and then store in the freezer til I need it

You can absolutely use your favorite jar of packaged marinara, too. 

Or go rogue and try a jarred or homemade Alfredo sauce! The richness of an afredo would be delish with the flavor of sausage in this dish.

Here are some products I recommend to make this Sausage Manicotti even easier to throw together

First up, if you’re starting with my recipe for Easiest Ever Crockpot Marinara, you gotta use a slow cooker. I love my Hamilton Beach slow cooker, but really- any type will do. The recipe also includes way you can make it in an Instant Pot or on the stovetop, so it’s super customizable to your own kitchen.

If you’re using crumbled beef or sausage to stuff the manicotti shells, I can’t get by in life without my meat chopper. Seriously, what did I ever do in the kitchen without this thing!? It’s so cheap and SO handy.

And of course, you’ll need a dish to bake this in. I prefer using something like a classic Pyrex 9×13″ baking dish, but you can use something ceramic or metal. As long as it fits the ingredients and won’t be spilling over the sides of the pan, you’re good to go!

Try this Sausage Manicotti for your next weeknight dinner meal!

It’s super easy to prep ahead of time and store in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. And it makes a great freezer meal, too.