My baked hen cannelloni is made with cannelloni pasta tubes filled with a tacky ricotta, hen, and spinach filling, topped with creamy sauce. That is a simple make-ahead dinner that’s family-friendly, customizable, and so tasty!
Tacky Baked Cannelloni With Rooster
Like my do-it-yourself stromboli, baked mostaccioli, and crockpot lasagna, this tacky chicken-stuffed cannelloni is a traditional Italian dish made EASY. Rooster cannelloni is fast and filled with a filling of contemporary spinach, hen, and ricotta, all nestled in pasta sauce and topped with a creamy combination of half-and-half, Parmesan, and Italian seasonings. A facet of air fryer garlic bread is ideal for sopping up all that sauce!
Your entire recipe takes 45 minutes from begin to end. It’s kid-friendly and makes for some nice leftovers.
Reader Overview
“This can be a scrumptious recipe!! Considered one of your longer recipes, however completely value slightly extra effort! I like that your entire recipes permit for adjustments of provides available, including veggies, spices, and totally different proteins!! Thanks 😊” – Lynn Marie
Elements You’ll Want
This hen cannelloni recipe is versatile. I like studying feedback the place you guys have swapped out the pasta, modified up the components, and tailored it in your households with scrumptious success!
Right here’s what I exploit. Scroll to the recipe card for the printable particulars and quantities.
- Cannelloni: These are massive pasta tubes made for stuffing and baking. Manicotti shells are a detailed substitute.
- Olive Oil: Or some other cooking oil.
- Garlic and Onion: Diced yellow onion and minced contemporary garlic.
- Rooster: I exploit shredded hen for the filling, or about 3 cooked hen breasts. You’ll be able to bake the hen, use the air fryer, or chop up leftover rotisserie hen. Alternatively, change the chopped hen with ¾ to 1 pound of cooked floor hen.
- Milk: Any sort (complete milk, 2%, and many others.).
- Ricotta Cheese: I exploit part-skim ricotta, a smooth Italian cheese you’ll discover within the dairy aisle or deli part of most grocery shops.
- Child Spinach: Contemporary or frozen. In case you’re utilizing frozen spinach, thaw it and squeeze out any extra moisture to keep away from a watery filling.
- Pasta Sauce: Use your favourite pasta sauce, do-it-yourself or store-bought.
- Half-and-half: Heavy cream works for an extra-rich cream sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese: I like freshly grated for the perfect taste, however pre-grated parmesan is okay.
- Seasonings: I season the creamy sauce with dried basil, oregano, floor nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Substitute the person herbs with Italian seasoning if wanted.
Cannelloni Alternate options
In case you can’t discover cannelloni tubes, the ricotta and spinach filling can be scrumptious in stuffed shells or lasagna sheets, however the baking instances can differ.
- Jumbo shells. Merely swap cannelloni tubes with jumbo pasta shells and put together the recipe as directed.
- Lasagna sheets. Another choice is to roll the hen filling inside contemporary or pre-boiled lasagna sheets, like lasagna roll-ups. Nestle the roll-ups on high of the pink sauce, pour over the white sauce, and bake!
Ought to I Pre-Prepare dinner the Cannelloni Tubes?
It could be the pasta model I used, however I by no means par-cooked my cannelloni for this recipe till I switched manufacturers. Some commenters stated their tubes wanted to be precooked as a result of they remained crunchy after baking. To keep away from this, I counsel precooking the cannelloni tubes in boiling water for five minutes earlier than filling them with the hen combination.
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Par-cook the cannelloni. Prepare dinner the cannelloni tubes in boiling water for five minutes; rinse and put aside to chill for a couple of minutes, or simply till cool sufficient to deal with.
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Put together to bake. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
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Sauté. Warmth the oil in a big skillet over medium-high warmth. Add the onions and sauté for two minutes; stir within the garlic and hen, and proceed cooking for 4 minutes.
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Make it creamy. Add the milk and let it simmer for two minutes, or till a lot of the liquid has evaporated. Stir within the ricotta cheese till effectively blended.
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Add the spinach. Add the spinach and prepare dinner for 1 to 2 minutes, or till wilted. Take away from warmth and let stand a couple of minutes, or till cool sufficient to deal with.
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Stuff the cannelloni. Spoon pasta sauce on the underside of a 9×13 baking dish and put aside. Utilizing a spoon, your arms, or a piping bag, stuff the ready hen combination into cannelloni tubes.
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Assemble. Prepare the cannelloni in a single layer on the underside of the baking dish, over the pasta sauce. Put aside.
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Make the sauce. In a mixing bowl, whisk collectively the half-and-half, parmesan, basil, oregano, nutmeg, salt, and pepper till totally mixed. Pour the half-and-half combination over the cannelloni.
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Bake. Switch the baking dish to the oven and bake for 18 to twenty minutes, or till the highest is golden brown and the cream is decreased. Take away from the oven and let stand for 3 to five minutes, or till the sauce thickens barely. Spoon the sauce over the cannelloni and serve.
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End and serve. Take away from the oven and let it relaxation for 3 to five minutes, or till the sauce thickens barely. Spoon the sauce over the cannelloni and serve.
Serving: 2Cannelloni Tubes + Sauce | Energy: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 41g | Fats: 18g | Saturated Fats: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 6g | Ldl cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 458mg | Potassium: 784mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 4184IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 309mg | Iron: 4mg
Dietary data is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values could differ in accordance with the components and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
Methods to Make Rooster Cannelloni
Stuffed cannelloni are scrumptious bundles of dinner-joy. Stuffing the pasta tubes takes time, but it surely’s really easy you can even put together this the day earlier than. It’ll be prepared for the oven throughout the week.
- Par-boil the pasta. Prepare dinner the cannelloni tubes in salted, boiling water for five minutes. Then, rinse the pasta and let it cool sufficient to deal with.
- Make the filling. In the meantime, sauté the onions in oil, then add the garlic and cooked hen. After a couple of minutes, stir within the milk, let that simmer, and add the ricotta and spinach. Prepare dinner till the spinach has wilted, then let the filling cool and thicken.
- Assemble. Unfold the pasta sauce into the underside of a casserole dish. Stuff the cannelloni with the tacky hen combination. You are able to do this by hand, with a spoon, or by piping (my most popular methodology).
- Add the white sauce. Nestle the stuffed cannelloni in a single layer over the pasta sauce. Whisk the half-and-half with parmesan, herbs, and seasonings, and pour it over the cannelloni.
- Bake. Bake at 400ºF for 18-20 minutes, till golden and bubbly. Give the cannelloni a couple of minutes to chill and relaxation so the sauce can thicken earlier than serving.
Use a Piping Bag to Fill the Cannelloni
I’ve discovered that is the best approach to fill cannelloni tubes. Add the hen combination to a ziplock bag (or piping bag), snip off the tip, and place the tip contained in the open finish of the cannelloni. Pipe the filling into the tubes. Works like a allure!
Can I Freeze Cannelloni?
This can be a freezer-friendly meal, normally when it’s cooked in a tomato-based sauce. As a result of this recipe has a cream-based sauce, I normally keep away from freezing it, because the sauce can change texture when reheated.
Nevertheless, if you happen to nonetheless wish to freeze it, let it cool, wrap it tightly, and freeze it unbaked. Thaw the casserole within the fridge in a single day. Earlier than baking, add a splash of liquid, like milk, and bake as directed.