No more missing out on your Italian favorite! A Classic Baked Gluten-Free & Vegan Manicotti recipe with homemade tomato sauce, a creamy dairy-free & soy-free cheesy filling, all topped with a homemade 2-ingredient “parmesan”! A perfect comfort food dinner the whole family will enjoy!
Because what else screams comfort food than a cozy, cheesy, saucy, baked pasta dish? Hm, well, I can think of a few things, but back in the day, this would have been it! Manicotti was just one of those Italian pasta dishes that just melted in your mouth (and melted the heart!). So good and so comforting. Those thin, soft, “crepe-like” noodles filled with ricotta and shredded cheese, smothered in a lovely tomato sauce and baked to perfection. So let’s flip this classic dish on its head and make it a gluten-free and vegan manicotti!
How could you possibly make that classic manicotti gluten-free and vegan? O, don’t worry my celiac and plant-based cohorts! There is a way, a very delicious way! Once you get your hands on these brown rice manicotti noodles, all you need is some luscious almond ricotta, shredded vegan mozzarella, a jar of plain tomato sauce which you’ll be dressing up with spices and herbs, and finally a super quick secret vegan parmesan!
My special dairy-free parmesan is just a quick blitzed combo of raw hemp hearts and NOOCH (aka nutritional yeast)! One can not have a cheesy pasta dish without some nooch somewhere in there! The parmesan on top was the perfect opportunity to throw it in, along with some nutty/seedy hemp seeds for a perfect flavor combo and texture! It essentially is the “cherry on top”!
I just love how fork-soft the manicotti noodles get! A little parcel of delicious cheezy filling that makes you think you’re eating the “real deal” thing! Fooling the celiac (and vegan) mind and taste buds 100%! This manicotti is not only perfect for a cozy (chilly) winter’s night, but a fantastic make-ahead, stow in the freezer, kind of dish! One that I feel would be great to make as a “get well soon” or “new parents” dinner drop off gift. Or, just an emergency meal to have in the freezer for a quick reheated dinner on an unexpected hectic night!
Baked pasta dishes are essentially casseroles, are they not? I guess anything you bake in a ceramic casserole dish is! This isn’t just a dump-and-go casserole though, this is a beautiful labor of love. A little elbow grease is required (you will be filling), stirring a beautiful homemade sauce, making a tightly packed pasta line-up, but you’ll be enjoying the most delicious baked gluten-free & vegan manicotti you’ve ever tasted (or…the first you’ve ever tasted!)
Classic Baked Gluten-Free + Vegan Manicotti
- 1 Box Gluten-Free Manicotti Pasta
- Ricotta Filling:
- 2 Cups Plain Almond Ricotta (I use Kite Hill)
- 1 Cup Shredded Vegan Mozzarella (I use So Delicious)
- 2 TB Chopped Fresh Parsley
- Parmesan:
- ½ Cup Raw Hemp Hearts
- ¼ Cup Nutritional Yeast
- Tomato Sauce:
- 2 (15 oz) Cans Plain Unsalted Tomato Sauce
- ½ Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
- ¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Basil
- ¼ Cup Minced Shallots
- 2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp Minced Garlic
- ½ Tsp Black Pepper
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Boil the box of noodle according to directions for 4-5 minutes, drain, rinse, and set aside.
- Mix all the tomato sauce ingredients together in a large pot on the stove and simmer away for 10 minutes while you assemble the pasta.
- In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta filling ingredients.
- In a small food processor, blitz together the hemp seeds and nutritional yeast. Add ¼ cup of this parmesan to the ricotta filling bowl.
- Get a 9x13 casserole dish out and lightly coat the bottom of the pan with the cooked sauce.
- Fill the cooked manicotti with the ricotta filling using a pastry bag, this filling gun, or a spoon!
- Place the filled manicotti noodles tightly packed together in rows in the casserole dish. Cover the noodles with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle on the rest of the hemp parmesan you made.
- Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove and serve!
If your mouth watering, your stomach growling, your heart and soul just CRAVING the comfort of this gluten-free & vegan manicotti? I know mine is! I (and my Italian family) can attest to the warm and cozy deliciousness even with the manicotti being so “free-from”. There may be a lot of steps to this recipe, but it’s super easy when you break it down! It’s just mixing things together, assembling all the parts, and letting it bake to melt-in-your-mouth perfection! And those leftovers too! So worth the wait!
So tell me:
+ Do you have a go-to “casserole” dish you always keep stocked in the freezer for yourself or make and gift to others?
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I always find that pasta dishes are the best for comfort food, especially on a coldly like today!
They sure are!
That looks so good! So cool that it’s gluten-free, too!
Thanks!
Mmm this looks amazing! I’d never heard of manicotti before, so thanks for the introduction. I have celiac and vegan friends I know would love this, I’ll pass it on!
You need more Italian food then!
Like Pavlov’s dogs, I am salivating! This looks so good, and in my gluten free world I ahve not had something that looks this good in a very long time! MUST TRY! Thank you!
Haha, well thank you so much! I hope you get to enjoy some soon!
This is my kind of meal!! Look so yummy and I am GF and Soy free at the moment!!
Perfect then! You’ll love this 🙂
This looks yummy! Although I’m not vegan, I would totally make this.
Don’t need to be vegan to eat great food!
This looks like something I need in my life!!
I think so!
Yum! That looks really good! I need to try this!
Thank you!
This looks delicious! I will be making this for my daughter. Great recipe
I bet you will, thanks!
I`m a terrible cook but love eating good food,i feel tempted to try this one out and who knows,with the step by step explanation you gave, I might surprise myself.
It’s not too hard! Just boil, the pasta, mix up the “cheese”, stuff, and bake!
That is screaming to be tucked into, it looks so good. Count me in!
Ha, thank you!
This sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try making this!
I hope you enjoy! Let me know!
Wow!! This looks absolutely incredible!! I’m running to the store now to get all the ingredients!!
Haha, awesome! Let me know how it comes out for you!
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks, enjoy!
This looks delicious. i love anything in the pasta family. So I’ll definitely give this a try.
Haha, right? Can’t go wrong!
I’ve made lasagna and cannelloni dishes before, but never tried manicotti. It looks (and sounds) absolutely delicious! I don’t think we have store-bought almond ricotta here in the UK (yet!) so I’ll see if I can find a recipe online. I’d love to give it a try!
Sharon recently posted…Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Maple-Glazed Chickpeas
I’m sure you have some vegan ricotta in the UK, lol!
WOW this looks so good! I’m not vegan but I am lactose intolerant and Manicotti is always one of my favorite Italian dishes. I totally pinned this recipe! Thanks for sharing!!
You’ll never miss a thing here!
This looks amazing and I am definitely writing down this recipe.
Awesome! I hope you enjoy!
Always great to find gluten free AND vegan recipes! I have got to try that Kite Hill ricotta.
The best I’ve found!
Great recipe! Perfect for a meatless night!
Totally!
You sure know how to make my taste buds and tummy happy!
Haha, glad I’m doing my job!
This sounds really good! I have a friend who has a gluten intolerance and I bet she would LOVE this recipe!!
I bet, thanks!
Break me off a piece of that! This looks so tasty and I hadn’t heard of these gluten free manicotti noodles before! I’m very thankful for their existence!
Haha, me too!
This looks unbelievably delicious! I am gluten and dairy free so always on the look out for recipes that are free from both!
Even if you’re not, you will LOVE this!
This looks great! I just had dinner and this is making me hungry again! Love the way you made the parm cheese – great!
Haha, my favorite way to do it!
These looks so gooey and delicious that you’d never guess it’s dairy free.
You wouldn’t 🙂
OMG, this looks absolutely amazing! I need to make this. Haven’t had manicotti in ages actually. Thanks so much for the recipe!
You are in for some cozy food!
I am not on any diet restrictions. I can honestly say I never knew you could make gluten free meals like this! That looks delicious.
Of course! Anything is possible, even with our food allergies!
Looks like a great option for those looking to stay away from specific foods. Love that it’s a good freezer meal option too! Make two – eat one, freeze one!
Yes! Double batch it up!
Looks amazing! I’m always on the hunt for great gluten free pasta options so I will definitely be giving this one a try, thanks!
Jovial is a great pasta brand!
So rich and yummy looking. I’m convinced it’s a doer!
It is a magic meal!
Looks delish! I need to tell my friend about almond ricotta. She has really struggled to find a vegan cheese she likes.
Kite Hill ricotta won’t let you down! (But it can be pricy!!)
Finally!! Something that my pasta loving son can eat. He is allergic to eggs and dairy but absolutely LOVES pasta! It’s been hard trying to find things that will introduce variety but will not compromise his allergies. THANK YOU!!!
THIS is the exact meal he needs then! Enjoy!
Indeed one cannot have a cheesy pasta dish without nooch… it’s the law! Ha ha! I like ‘little sleeves’ a lot… I feel less greedy wolfing down a huge plateful than I do with cannelloni! :-p xx
Nooch is like the greatest thing to ever happen to…”cheese” 😉