This oven baked 4-ingredients lazy stuffed manicotti is exactly the kind of weeknight trick I wish I’d known in my 20s. My college roommate showed me a shortcut for stuffing manicotti without piping bags or fussy fillings: you simply pour a loose, cheesy mixture over the dry pasta and let the oven do the work. The tubes soften as they bake, soaking up the sauce and cheese from the outside in. It’s not traditional Italian by any stretch, but it delivers all the cozy, red-sauce comfort with a fraction of the effort and a very short grocery list.
Serve this manicotti straight from the baking dish with a simple green salad dressed in a sharp vinaigrette to cut through the richness, and some warm crusty bread or garlic toast to swipe through the extra sauce. A light Italian red such as Chianti or a medium-bodied Zinfandel pairs nicely, or keep it easy with sparkling water and lemon. Because the dish is hearty, you don’t need much else—maybe a bowl of roasted vegetables or steamed broccoli on the side if you’d like to round out the meal.
Oven Baked 4-Ingredients Lazy Stuffed ManicottiServings: 4
Ingredients
1 (24–26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
8 ounces ricotta cheese
12 dry manicotti shells
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese and 6 ounces of the shredded mozzarella (reserve the remaining 2 ounces for topping). Mix until evenly combined; the mixture will be thick but spreadable.
Spread about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish to lightly coat it.
Arrange the dry manicotti shells in a single layer in the dish. It’s fine if they fit snugly; just keep them in one layer so they cook evenly.
Using a spoon, dollop the ricotta-mozzarella mixture over and into the manicotti shells, nudging some of the mixture into the openings and over the tops. You don’t need to fully pipe or stuff each tube; the mixture will settle around and into the pasta as it bakes.
Pour the remaining marinara sauce evenly over the manicotti, making sure all the pasta is well covered. Add a spoonful of water to the empty jar, swirl, and pour over the dish if any pasta is peeking out; the extra moisture helps the dry shells cook through.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 35–40 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the pasta feels tender when pierced with a fork.
Remove the foil, sprinkle the reserved mozzarella evenly over the top, and return the dish to the oven, uncovered, for 8–10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, browned in spots, and bubbly.
Let the manicotti rest for 5–10 minutes before serving so the sauce thickens slightly and the pasta sets enough to scoop out clean pieces.
Variations & Tips
If you’d like a bit more flavor while still keeping the spirit of this 4-ingredient recipe, choose a robust marinara with garlic and herbs and a good-quality mozzarella; those two choices alone make a big difference. For a slightly saucier dish, add an extra 1/2 cup of water around the edges before baking, especially if your marinara is thick. If your baking dish is very large and the shells are spread out with more exposed surface, tuck a small spoonful of the cheese mixture into each end of the manicotti to help them stay moist. You can prep the dish a few hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate; add 5–10 extra minutes to the covered bake time if it goes into the oven cold. Leftovers reheat well, covered, in a 325°F oven until warmed through, or in the microwave in short bursts so the cheese doesn’t toughen.
