If you love manicotti, you’ll die over this Chicken Manicotti with Mushrooms. A delicious chicken and mushroom mixture is stuffed in manicotti shells and serve with a creamy white sauce that is irresistible.
If you love manicotti, you also need to try this Ground Beef Stuffed Manicotti!
One of the things I like the best about the weather getting colder is being able to enjoy comfort foods like this again. This meal is perfect for a Sunday supper, or prep it early in the day or the day before, and then just bake it up before dinner.
If this is what cold winter comfort looks like, bring it on!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Manicotti: Manicotti shells are usually pretty easy to find at your local grocery store, but you can also order them online. If you want to change things up, use jumbo shells instead of manicotti!
Olive Oil: The oil is for cooking the mushrooms – you can sub in another neutral oil, if desired.
Mushrooms: I usually use white mushrooms, but baby bella mushrooms tend to have a little more flavor.
Onion: A white or yellow onion will be best here.
Cream Cheese & Sour Cream: This is what your creamy center is made up of. I have only used full fat ingredients here, but low fat should work.
Chicken: My favorite time saving trick is to have cooked chicken on hand. I usually freeze it, but it makes recipes like this a breeze. You can also pick up a rotisserie chicken to save time, as well.
Parsley: I like to use fresh, but if you want to use dried, use about 2 teaspoons of dried parsley.
Salt and Pepper: Always important for seasoning!
Butter: The butter will the the fat for the creamy sauce. I like to use unsalted butter, since the cheese is salty.
Flour: I use all purpose flour.
Milk: Whole milk will be ideal for a thick sauce, but 2% will work.
Monterey Jack Cheese: If you want to use a different cheese, mozzarella is a great substitute.
Parmesan: Freshly grated parmesan is the best, as it will melt the best.
Tips and Tricks
- I usually like to use a ziplock bag with the corner cut off to fill manicotti shells, but that doesn’t work as well with this recipe because of the chunks of chicken. Using a spoon to stuff the filling in has worked the best for me.
- This can easily be made the day before or even in the morning and then refrigerated before baking. You may need to add on a few extra minutes of bake time if it is coming from the refrigerator though.
- Have leftover turkey? Use that in place of the chicken!
More Comforting Pasta Dinners
Slow Simmered Short Rib Sauce with Pasta
Creamy Mac and Cheese
Baked Ravioli
Baked Spaghetti
Chicken Stuffed Shells
Chicken Manicotti with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 7-8 manicotti shells*
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 3/4 cup diced onion
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 oz 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 cups cooked shredded or cubed chicken
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
- 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the manicotti shells and cook until al dente according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms. Cook until they start to soften, then add the onion and cook until both are cooked down and softened.
- Combine the cream cheese and sour cream in a large bowl. Add in the chicken, mushroom and onion mixture and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stuff the cooked pasta with the filling.
- In a pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and allow to cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and continue to cook until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in 3/4 cup of the Monterey Jack and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan. Stir until the cheeses are melted.
- Spread a small amount of the sauce in the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish. Top with the stuffed shells and pour the remaining sauce over the top. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and top with the remaining cheeses, then bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 10-15 minutes longer. Top with additional minced parsley, if desired.
Brandy says
Can I substitute parsley with something else?
Jennifer says
I see that this can be made ahead, which is awesome and I’ll try that first. Just wondered if this is something that could be frozen and stored? I’m looking for some good freezer meals.
Deborah says
I haven’t tried freezing it, but I’m guessing that it would freeze well.
Barbara says
The recipe sounds delicious. It leaves out the part where you stuff the shells though.
Deborah says
Oh my goodness – I can’t believe I missed that! I have fixed it. Thanks!