Make Ahead Mexican Manicotti Bake

BySharla Hours Posted on Hours Updated on

Our family loves Tex Mex type flavors. I’ve been making an Italian Manicotti freezer meal for years. I decided to experiment. I took the inspiration of the Tex Mex influence and created this Mexican Manicotti Bake. This little experiment really paid off! The taste is there. My family approved of this new version of manicotti.manicotti shells baked and topped with red sauce and melted cheese in a casserole dish and two of them served on a plate next to bread and salad

The original inspiration for this came from our Tex Mex Lasagna and our Make Ahead Manicotti. I thought if I could just marry the best of both of them, I would have a successful new creation. I was right!manicotti topped with red sauce and melted cheese in a casserole dishI doubled the recipe to make one large casserole dish. We have a large family, so a single recipe wouldn’t be enough for all 9 of us. The recipe below makes one square dish.

Mexican Manicotti Bake Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. ground beef, browned
  • 16 oz. can refried beans
  • 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
  • 1/2 cup shredded tex mex cheese blend
  • 4 oz. cream cheese softened
  • 14 oz. tomato sauce
  • 4 oz. diced green chilies
  • box manicotti noodles
  • shredded tex mex cheese blend for topping

Assembly instructions:

  1. Brown the ground beef. Mix together the cooked, cooled ground beef, refried beans, 1/2 cup tex mex cheese, softened cream cheese, 1/2 the tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and green chilies in a large bowl.
  2. With a small spoon or piping bag, fill the manicotti noodles with the mixture and set in a square casserole dish or foil tray. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over everything. Top with a sprinkling of shredded cheese.
  3. Cover with two layers of aluminum foil. Freeze.

If you double it, use a large foil dish.manicotti in red sauce topped with cheese in a casserole dish, then covered with foil, then showing the cheese being melted, then two of the manicotti served on a plate next to bread and salad

Cooking instructions:

  1. Thaw.
  2. Bake at 350° for one hour. 

This can instead be cooked from frozen if you increase the baking time to one and a half hours.two manicotti shells topped with red sauce and melted cheese next to bread and a salad on a plate

Serve with bread and a fresh garden or Caesar salad.

You’ll also enjoy these freezer meal recipes:

two manicotti shells topped with red sauce and melted cheese next to bread and a salad on a plate
Print
Mexican Manicotti Bake Recipe
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
 
Course: Main Course
Keyword: freezer meal
Servings: 6
Calories: 411 kcal
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. ground beef browned
  • 16 oz. refried beans
  • 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
  • 1/2 cup Tex mex cheese shredded
  • 4 oz. cream cheese softened
  • 14 oz. tomato sauce
  • 4 oz. diced green chilies
  • box manicotti noodles
  • shredded tex mex cheese blend for topping
Instructions
Assembly instructions:

  1. Brown the ground beef. Mix together the cooked ground beef, refried beans, 1/2 cup tex mex cheese, softened cream cheese, 1/2 the tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and green chilies in a large bowl.

  2. With a small spoon or piping bag, fill the manicotti noodles with the mixture. Place in a square foil casserole dish. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over everything. Top with a sprinkling of shredded cheese. Cover with two layers of aluminum foil. Freeze.

Cooking instructions:

  1. Thaw. Bake at 350° for one hour.

Recipe Notes

If doubling, place in a large casserole dish. If cooking from frozen, increase baking time to 1 1/2 hours.

Sharla is a busy mom of 7 who is passionate about sharing her best secret to saving time, money, and stress… freezer meals. Read more…