Manicotti substitute

Best substitute

Cannelloni tubes

1 tube for 1 manicotti tube

Best for baked stuffed pasta

Close match

Cannelloni tubes are a direct swap for manicotti, one tube for one tube. Boiled lasagna noodles rolled around the filling are just as good and often easier, because a rolled sheet cannot split the way a stuffed tube can. Jumbo pasta shells hold the same filling with no rolling at all. Manicotti contributes nothing but structure: it is a container that softens in sauce, so anything that can hold ricotta and bake through will do the job. Whatever you use, spread sauce under and over it, because any pasta not covered in sauce bakes hard.

Other manicotti substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Lasagna noodles rolled into roll-ups
Different texture
Use 1 boiled sheet for every stuffed tube
Boil the sheets, lay them flat, spread filling along each one and roll it up like a rug.
What changes
Best for
baked stuffed pasta, ricotta filling, feeding a crowd, avoiding torn tubes
The most reliable substitute and the one most likely to be in your cupboard. Nothing tears and nothing has to be piped. The result has a higher pasta-to-filling ratio and a softer, layered bite instead of a firm tube with a soft centre, so it eats more like small lasagnas. Boil the sheets until flexible but still firm, then lay them on an oiled tray so they do not weld together.
3Jumbo pasta shells (conchiglioni)
Different texture
Use 3 to 4 shells for every manicotti tube
Large cupped shells that you spoon filling into, no piping bag required.
What changes
Best for
baked stuffed pasta, cheese filling, quick assembly
The easiest of all to fill, since you can use a spoon. Because the filling sits exposed rather than sealed in a tube, the top of each mound of ricotta browns and blisters under the cheese, which many people prefer. There is less pasta per bite and more sauce contact, so the dish tastes cheesier and slightly more sauced than manicotti.
4Crespelle or thin savoury crepes
Different texture
Use 1 crepe for every tube
The traditional Italian version of this dish before dried tubes existed: thin egg crepes rolled around the filling.
What changes
Best for
baked stuffed pasta, ricotta and spinach, special occasion dishes
A real change and, done well, a better dish. Crespelle are tender and eggy rather than chewy, so the bake becomes delicate and almost souffle-like instead of hearty. No boiling is involved, so nothing splits. The downside is that they absorb sauce fast and can go soggy, so use a thicker sauce and bake them the day you assemble.
5Large rigatoni or paccheri stood upright
Different texture
By volume, enough tubes to fill the dish
Short wide tubes packed standing on end in the baking dish and piped full of filling.
What changes
Best for
baked stuffed pasta, ricotta filling, impressive presentation
This genuinely works and looks striking, but it is fiddly: you need a piping bag with a plain tip and the patience to fill dozens of small tubes. The eating experience is different too, with a much higher pasta-to-filling ratio and a chewier bite. Undercook the tubes hard so they stand up instead of slumping.
6No tubes at all: layer it as a bake
Different texture
Same total weight of pasta
The honest fallback when nothing stuffable is available.
What changes
Best for
weeknight cooking, using what you have, same flavours, less work
Cook any short shape, mix or layer it with the sauce and the ricotta filling, top with mozzarella and bake. You lose the whole point of manicotti, which is the pocket of filling, and gain a dish where every bite tastes the same. Every flavour is still there, so this is a good decision on a Tuesday and a poor one for a dinner party.

What is Manicotti?

Manicotti is a large ridged pasta tube about four inches long, made to be stuffed with a cheese filling and baked under sauce, and it contributes structure and a soft chew rather than any flavor of its own.

Cooking tips

Boil manicotti a couple of minutes short of the package time in a wide pot with plenty of water, then lift them out with a spider or tongs rather than dumping the pot into a colander. Fully cooked tubes tear the moment you try to fill them.
Lay the drained tubes in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet while you make the filling. Piled in a colander they stick together and rip apart when you separate them.
Fill from both ends with a piping bag, or a zip-top bag with a corner snipped off, working the filling toward the middle. Trying to spoon filling into a four-inch tube is how most people end up with a split tube and a mess.
Manicotti and cannelloni are not quite the same thing even though recipes swap the names freely: manicotti is the ridged Italian-American tube, cannelloni the smooth Italian one. If you buy oven-ready cannelloni, follow its no-boil directions rather than a manicotti recipe.
Spread a layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish before the tubes go in and cover them completely with more sauce and foil for most of the bake. Exposed pasta ends turn hard and chalky, not crisp.

Frequently asked questions

Are manicotti and cannelloni the same thing?

They are used interchangeably in recipes and produce the same dish. Manicotti tubes are ridged and slightly wider; cannelloni are smooth and often sold as no-boil. Swap them tube for tube, but follow whichever cooking method is printed on the box you actually bought.

Can I use lasagna noodles instead of manicotti?

Yes, and many cooks prefer it. Boil the sheets until flexible, lay them flat, spread filling down the length of each one and roll them up, then bake seam side down in sauce. One sheet replaces one tube, nothing tears, and you skip the piping bag entirely.

How many jumbo shells replace one manicotti tube?

Around three to four, since a shell holds much less filling than a four-inch tube. Easier still, forget the count and just fill shells until the filling runs out, then arrange them in a sauced dish and top with mozzarella.

Can I just leave the pasta out and bake the filling?

You can bake the ricotta filling with sauce and cheese and it will be tasty, but it is no longer the same dish; it is closer to a baked ricotta. A better route is to roll the filling into roasted eggplant or zucchini slices, which gives you the pocket-of-filling structure without pasta.

Why did my manicotti come out dry or chewy at the ends?

The pasta was not fully covered. Dried pasta finishes cooking by absorbing liquid from the sauce, so any part sticking up out of the sauce simply never hydrates. Sauce the bottom of the dish, blanket the tubes, and keep the dish covered with foil until the last ten minutes.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Manicotti substitute

Other manicotti substitutes

2Lasagna noodles rolled into roll-ups

3Jumbo pasta shells (conchiglioni)

4Crespelle or thin savoury crepes

5Large rigatoni or paccheri stood upright

6No tubes at all: layer it as a bake