Easy Chicken Manicotti

Posted by carsimulator on Thursday, August 21, 2008

Yields 6 servings

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. UNcooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts/tenders, cut into strips
1t. garlic salt
pepper to taste
1 t. oregano or Italian seasoning
1 (8 oz. box = 14 shells) UNcooked manicotti shells
1 (28-30 oz.) jar or spaghetti sauce
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
optional toppings: olives, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc to your liking

Assembly Directions:
Line counter top or large cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place chicken on waxed paper and sprinkle with garlic salt and seasonings. Insert seasoned chicken into uncooked manicotti shells, stuffing from each end of shell to fill if necessary.

Freezing Directions:
Option 1: Spread 1/3 of spaghetti sauce in ungreased 13X9X2 baking dish. Arrange filled shells on sauce in dish. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese (and option toppings, if desired). Wrap unbaked dish tightly with foil, label and freeze.
Option 2: Place filled shells back in plastic forms from box or on cookie sheet and flash freeze. When frozen, put in freezer bag. Seal, label and freeze.

Serving Directions:
Option 1: Unwrap & bake right from freezer at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. If already thawed, about 1 hour.
Option 2: Assemble as above, using as much sauce and as many shells as needed. Seven shells fit nicely in an 8X8 pan. Repackage and freeze any remaining sauce for next time.

Comments:
For singles or doubles, Option 2 – flash freezing the filled shells – works great. You can take out as many shells as you need and aren’t faced with a huge amount of leftovers.