Creamy Chicken Manicotti

Here's a great midweek meal, it doesn't too long to put together and is sure to please little ones and big ones alike.

One of the reasons I really enjoy manicotti, is because the filling can be anything you like, you can use meat, you can use chicken, you can use seafood....go with a red sauce or a bechamel sauce or just cheese or whatever your heart desires. It's pretty cheap to make as well, so I usually have a box of manicotti in the pantry, at all times.

I adapted the recipe from Recipe.com. My family scarfed this one down, there were none left in the dish, I say that's a huge thumbs up right?

Creamy Chicken Manicotti

8 dried manicotti shells
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1 6-ounce package Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Refrigerated Chicken Breast Strips, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
ground nutmeg
fresh parsley


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain and set aside.

For sauce, in a medium saucepan cook onion in hot butter over medium heat 4 minutes or until tender but not brown. Stir in flour and salt. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Sprinkle in some ground nutmeg. Stir well, remove from heat; set aside.

For filling, in a medium bowl combine Grilled & Ready® Chicken Breast Strips,egg yolk, the 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese, parsley, and the ricotta cheese. Pour about 1/2 cup of the sauce into a buttered 2-quart rectangular baking dish; spread in a thin layer over bottom of dish.

Use a pastry tube fitted with the largest tip to pipe the filling into cooked manicotti. (Or carefully spoon about 1/3 cup of filling into each shell.) Arrange filled manicotti in baking dish in a single layer. Pour remaining sauce over manicotti. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over the sauce.

Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes or until manicotti are light golden and heated through. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. If desired, garnish with a sprinkling of ground nutmeg and parsley.