This slow cooker manicotti delivers tender, cheese-filled pasta with just four main ingredients—and no boiling required. The dry manicotti cooks right in the marinara, so dinner turns out cozy and saucy with minimal prep. Start it early and let the slow cooker do the work; you’re going to love how easy it is.
Why You’ll Love It
- Just four main ingredients — ricotta, marinara, cheese, and dry manicotti make a cozy pasta dinner.
- No-boil pasta — the manicotti softens right in the sauce for tender, plump results.
- Hands-off cooking — the slow cooker does the heavy lifting while dinner quietly takes care of itself.
- Easy to serve — add a sharp green salad and garlic toast for a complete meal.
Ingredient Notes
Use a marinara sauce you genuinely enjoy, because it is doing a lot of the flavor work here. Choose a plain tomato-basil kind, something not too sweet. If you like heat, an arrabbiata sauce is terrific. Try our 4-Ingredient Slow Cooker Baked Mostaccioli next.
Whole-milk ricotta makes the filling creamier and richer. Part-skim will work, yes, but it is a little less dreamy. Not bad. Just less lush. This recipe already keeps things simple, so whole-milk ricotta is the best choice.
For the cheese on top, mozzarella is perfectly good, and an Italian blend gives you a little more flavor. Use whichever bag is in the refrigerator. Smoked mozzarella is lovely if you happen to have it, although specialty cheese is not necessary every time. This is not a trattoria. If you like this, you'll love our Italian Parmesan Chicken Skewers.
And please use dry, uncooked manicotti tubes. This recipe depends on the pasta hydrating in the sauce over low heat. Do not boil them first. That sounds like a harmless shortcut, but it turns this easy dinner into a slippery mess.
Ingredients
- 1 (24- to 26-ounce) jar prepared marinara or pasta sauce, whichever one your family doesn’t complain about
- 1 (15- to 16-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese or mozzarella, divided—I usually eyeball the last half-cup a little
- 12 to 14 dry manicotti tubes, uncooked
- Nonstick cooking spray or a thin swipe of oil for the slow cooker, not really part of the four ingredients but it saves you some scrubbing, bless it
Instructions
Lightly coat the inside of a large 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray or a thin film of oil. This helps prevent sticking and makes cleanup easier.
Spread about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the slow cooker. This little layer keeps the manicotti from sitting directly against the hot surface and helps it cook evenly. Don’t stress over measuring exactly; a thin coating is what you’re after.
In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and 1 cup of the shredded cheese until it’s nicely combined. No egg, no herbs, no extra seasoning needed here—the sauce is carrying the flavor, and sometimes simple is not only enough but better.
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Spoon the ricotta mixture into a large zip-top bag and push it down toward one bottom corner. Seal the bag, snip off a small piece of that corner, and there you go: an extremely unglamorous piping bag. Don’t cut the hole too large or the filling will come out like toothpaste during an earthquake.
Hold one dry manicotti tube over the ricotta bowl and pipe filling into one end until it is about halfway full. Turn the tube around and fill from the other end, meeting in the middle. You want it full but not bursting at the seams. Repeat with the remaining tubes, refilling your bag as needed. For another easy option, see our CAPRESE CHICKEN.
Arrange the filled manicotti in a snug single layer over the sauce in the slow cooker. If your cooker is deeper rather than wide, you can angle a few tubes gently on top, but try not to make more than two layers or the pasta may cook unevenly. This is not Jenga.
Pour the remaining marinara over the manicotti, making sure every tube is covered well. Nudge some sauce down between them with a spoon if you need to. Any exposed pasta can stay tough, and crunchy manicotti is where the line is drawn.
Cover and cook on LOW for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, until the manicotti are very tender when pierced with a fork and the sauce is bubbling around the edges. Slow cookers vary wildly.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese over the top once the pasta is tender. Cover again and cook on LOW for 15 to 20 minutes, just until the cheese melts and gets a little bubbly.
Turn the slow cooker to WARM and let the manicotti rest for about 10 minutes before serving. This helps everything settle so you can lift out portions without creating a tomato-sauce landslide. Serve it straight from the crock with plenty of sauce spooned over each piece.
Variations
A spicy arrabbiata sauce makes a bolder version.
A basil-heavy marinara is especially nice, and smoked mozzarella or provolone gives the dish a deeper flavor that feels almost like it came out of a brick oven. Almost. Let’s not get carried away.
Reduced-fat ricotta and reduced-fat cheese will still work, but the filling won’t be as creamy and satisfying. Whole-milk ricotta gives the best results. You might also like our Chicken Mozzarella Skillet.
If you have a smaller slow cooker, use fewer manicotti tubes and don’t cram them in like you’re packing for a beach trip. Keep them in a mostly single layer so the sauce can surround them properly.
If you like manicotti, try Spinach and Cheese Manicotti with ricotta, spinach, and mozzarella baked in marinara.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to three days, tucked into a covered container once they’ve cooled. Get them chilled within two hours, especially on a warm day.
Reheat individual portions in the microwave until steaming hot all the way through—165°F is the safe target. Add a spoonful of extra sauce if you have it, because the pasta will drink up some of it overnight. Reheating in the slow cooker on LOW also works, but it takes longer than you think and can make the edges a little too soft.
Final Notes
There’s something comforting about a dinner that doesn’t need constant attention.
Make a salad if you feel like it. Put out olives, marinated vegetables, maybe some cured meat while dinner finishes. Or don’t. Garlic toast from the freezer is perfectly respectable. Try our Homemade Spaghetti Sauce next.
By the time you lift that lid, the whole thing is bubbling and saucy, the cheese is melted, and the pasta has done its quiet little transformation. It feels like a meal from another era somehow—red sauce and soft cheese. If you like this, you'll love our Chicken Piccata Meatballs.
Those are the parts worth remembering.
4-Ingredient Slow Cooker Manicotti
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Ingredients
- 1 24- to 26-ounce jar prepared marinara or pasta sauce Divided
- 1 15- to 16-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese or mozzarella Divided
- 12 to 14 dry manicotti tubes Uncooked
- nonstick cooking spray or oil For coating the slow cooker
Instructions
- Lightly coat the inside of a large 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray or a thin film of oil.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and 1 cup of the shredded cheese until combined.
- Spoon the ricotta mixture into a large zip-top bag, push it toward one bottom corner, seal the bag, and snip off a small piece of the corner.
- Hold each dry manicotti tube over the ricotta bowl and pipe filling into one end until it is about halfway full, then turn the tube and fill from the other end until the filling meets in the middle.
- Arrange the filled manicotti in a snug single layer over the sauce in the slow cooker, angling a few gently on top only if necessary.
- Pour the remaining marinara over the manicotti, making sure every tube is covered well and nudging sauce between them with a spoon if needed.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, until the manicotti are very tender when pierced with a fork and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese over the tender pasta, cover, and cook on LOW for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese melts and becomes slightly bubbly.
- Turn the slow cooker to WARM and let the manicotti rest for about 10 minutes before serving with plenty of sauce spooned over each portion.
Notes
Nutrition
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Nutrition values are estimates based on the listed ingredients and serving count. Actual values vary with brands, cuts and portion sizes.
