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Seafood Manicotti Alfredo

ByAnecia Hero Published Updated

You’ll love this award-winning Seafood Manicotti with Alfredo Sauce! Tender bites of seasoned shrimp and fresh crabmeat nestled in pasta with a light Alfredo cream sauce! Ready in about 40-minutes from start to finish.

Seafood Manicotti with Alfredo sauce in turquoise dish.
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This recipe is a spin on the traditional Italian dish, but incorporates shrimp and crabmeat into the ricotta mixture and substitutes tomato sauce with a quick and easy, homemade Alfredo sauce.

Yield

This recipe makes 8 manicotti pasta shells and one cup of Alfredo sauce. Manicotti usually comes in a box with 12-14 shells. If you want to use more shells, double the seafood filling and Alfredo sauce ingredients.

Ingredients

Manicotti shells, Ricotta cheese, heavy cream, butter, lemon, egg, fresh Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, crabmeat and shrimp.

Ingredients on counter and labeled

How to make it

  • First, don’t throw out the plastic tray the noodles are packaged in…we’re gonna place the cooked noodles back in that tray so they’ll stay plumpl
  • You’re gonna cook the manicotti noodles first and let them cool. Then, combine the filling in a large bowl, and pipe the filling into the pasta shells. DO NOT OVERSTUFF THE SHELLS.
  • Make the sauce; drizzle a little in the baking dish. Line stuffed seafood manicotti in baking dish and drizzle with 1/2 of the Alfredo sauce; cover and bake @ 350ºF for 20 minutes
  • When ready to serve, plate manicotti and drizzle a little more of the sauce over individual servings.

Step by step visual instructions.

You’ll want to make sure you chop the cooked shrimp into very fine pieces so they won’t get stuck in the “piping bag.” Fluff the crabmeat with a fork. 

About the shrimp and crabmeat

  • This recipe uses frozen cooked shrimp. Remove shells and tails first (if they are on the shrimp.) Thaw by running cool water over shrimp. If you want to use fresh shrimp, boil them first; let them cool, then finely dice.
  • The size of shrimp doesn’t matter because you’re going to chop it up (or put it in the food processor) until it’s finely minced along with the lump crabmeat.
  • I used fresh blue crabmeat that is found in the seafood/meat section of your grocer.

Recipe Tips

  • Cook a few more noodles than you think you’ll need: some split while boiling and some split when you’re filling them.
  • To keep a “plump” shaped manicotti noodle, remove the al dente pasta from the water using the end of a wooden spoon and place the noodles back into the packaging tray
  • Chop shrimp and crab into very fine pieces or use a food processor; you want tiny pieces so it will go through a piping bag; place in a paper towel-lined colander and press out any excess liquid

Make ahead – this is important

  • I don’t recommend making this in advance, but if you do, you want to make sure you put a little of the Alfredo sauce in the bottom of the baking dish before you refrigerate it. Otherwise, you’ll have to remove the stuffed shells from the baking dish, pour in a little of the sauce and place the shells back in the pan….seems like a hassle to me.
  • I recommend you make the Alfredo sauce, cook and stuff shells with the filling, pour a little of the sauce into the baking dish, place the stuffed shells in the dish. DO NOT POUR THE REMAINING SAUCE OVER THE MANICOTTI; COVER THE DISH WITH FOIL and refrigerate for up to 2-3 days. Store the remaining sauce in an jar or airtight container.
  • When you’re ready to serve, allow the pasta to come to room temperature, heat the Alfredo sauce on the stovetop (you may have to add a little water to it.) Drizzle the warmed sauce over the noodles; cover with foil and bake on 325ºF for 15-20 minutes, or until it’s warmed throughout. 

Serving tips

This dish “looks prettiest” if you first plate the manicotti then top individual servings with a little of the Alfredo sauce. 

Serve with a fresh green salad with a light vinaigrette dressing and warm garlic bread.

Seafood Manicotti Alfredo in turquoise serving dish.

This Seafood Manicotti Alfredo recipe comes together pretty quickly and is a great alternative to traditional Manicotti!

If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a comment and rating. I love to hear from you!

Seafood Manicotti Alfredo in turquoise serving dish.

Seafood Manicotti Alfredo

Flavorful crabmeat and shrimp nestled in pasta with a light Alfredo sauce
5 from 25 votes
Print Rate
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 shells
Author: Anecia Hero

Ingredients 

Manicotti Filling Ingredients

  • 8 manicotti noodles
  • ½ lb shrimp, drained and chopped
  • 4 ounces crabmeat, drained and chopped
  • 1 whole egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese , 2% or whole fat
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
  • ¼ cup Mozzarella cheese , shredded
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

Alfredo Sauce Ingredients

  • ½ stick butter
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1¼ cups Parmesan cheese , shredded
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

Pasta and Filling Instructions

  • Bring large pot of water to boil; add pasta; cook for 7 minutes; drain and place on lightly oiled wax paper or place back into the packaging tray (see recipe notes)
    8 manicotti noodles
  • Finely chop and drain crabmeat and shrimp (see recipe notes)
    ½ lb shrimp, drained and chopped, 4 ounces crabmeat, drained and chopped
  • Add remaining ingredients into a large bowl; combine well
    ½ lb shrimp, drained and chopped, 4 ounces crabmeat, drained and chopped, 1 whole egg, lightly beaten, 1 cup ricotta cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup Mozzarella cheese, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • Put mixture into plastic bag (or piping bag)
  • Fill semi-cooled pasta shells with mixture
  • Make the sauce (see below)
  • Drizzle a little of the sauce in the baking pan; Place stuffed shells in baking dish
  • Drizzle ½ cup of sauce over the pasta; reserve the other ½ for later
  • Cover with foil and bake @ 350ºF for 20 minutes
  • Remove pasta from oven and drizzle remaining sauce over pasta; serve (See Recipe Notes about Serving the Sauce)

Alfredo Sauce Instructions

  • Melt butter in saucepan on medium low heat
    ½ stick butter
  • Add heavy cream and whisk; add garlic powder and nutmeg; whisk
    Parmesan cheese and continue whisking; cook until cheese melts (See Recipe Notes)
    1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1¼ cups Parmesan cheese, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper
    salt and pepper to taste

Notes

  • The filling and sauce for this recipe yields 8 manicotti shells and one cup of Alfredo sauce
  • if you’re making 12-14 shells, double the filling and sauce recipes
This recipe uses frozen cooked shrimp; remove shells and tails, thaw by running cold water over the shrimp; dice finely
  • You can use fresh shrimp or frozen uncooked shrimp. Remove shells and tails.
    • How to boil shrimp: bring large pot of water to boil; add shrimp; cook 5-8 minutes, or until they turn pink; remove, drain and lightly season with Creole seasoning
Chop shrimp and crab into fine pieces or use a food processor; you want tiny pieces so it will go through a piping bag; place in a paper towel-lined colander and press out any excess liquid
To keep a “plump” shaped manicotti noodle, remove the al dente pasta from the water using the end of a wooden spoon and place the noodles back into the packaging tray
Create a “piping bag” with a large plastic baggie; put the seafood mixture in the corner; close the bag and cut  1/2″inch of the corner
Serving the sauce:
When the dish is done, reheat the remaining sauce and pour it over the finished dish right before serving
(I recommend plating the manicotti then drizzling the sauce over it…it looks prettier:))
Alfredo sauce:
If your sauce gets clumpy, continue whisking and add a little of the warm pasta water to the sauce. This should help it emulsify. Keep whisking until it’s smooth.
A note about the nutritional estimate:
The nutritional estimate is based one 1 stuffed manicotti shell and 1/8  cup of sauce even though it says “8 shells” as total servings.

Nutrition Estimate

Serving: 1shellCalories: 375kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 20gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 706mgPotassium: 161mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1156IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 349mgIron: 1mg
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Recipe Rating




5 from 25 votes (19 ratings without comment)

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18 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This came out delicious. I used fresh shrimp and canned crab. I just cooked the shrimp before chopping and adding to the mixture. The piping situation got messy however we loved it!

    Reply

  2. 5 stars
    To celebrate our son’s 52 birthday, these were a big hit. He has a tomato allergy or else I would probably have made traditional manicotti with marinara! I followed the recipe except I used lump crabmeat and filled the tubes with an iced tea spoon and my finger.

    Reply

  4. 5 stars
    This is an excellent recipe. I have also used this recipe as a blue print for other seafood manicotti I’ve made. Today I’m substituting Lobster tails in place of crab and shrimp for the stuffing. I will use a clam chowder soup as a base for the sauce adding a garlic butter and flour roux to richen as well as shrimp.

    Reply

    1. I’ve never baked raw pasta noodles so I don’t know. I wouldn’t try it with expensive crab meat, though. You might test one stuffed with cheese first.

      Reply

  6. So I made this for the 2nd time tonight but this time I forgot to cold the shrimp first. I’m guessing cooking it for another few mins would work since shrimp do not take long to cook?! Also, is it ok to freeze the leftover filling and use another time?

    Oh, and being from southern Louisiana, I also add crawfish tails, a little more creole seasoning and a little cayenne pepper. And I normally cook my shrimp (seasoned before cooking) in a skillet with butter instead of boiling bc I find it retains more flavor. Came out great last time so I am hoping this time will be the same, even with my little oopsie of forgetting to cook the shrimp.

    Reply

    1. I love the idea of adding crawfish and more seasonings! I try to keep the spices “neutral” so folks like you (and me) can make it as spicy as we like! I have not frozen the leftover filling – not sure how it would hold up considering it has eggs in it (they don’t freeze well – the texture changes). I’m hoping it turned out for you, even though you forgot to cook the shrimp first:) It happens, right? Thank you for your comments!

      Reply

    1. Absolutely!!! Just don’t put the sauce on it yet. I’d reheat, covered with foil at 325 for 20-25 minutes; make the sauce, then drizzle the warm sauce over it and serve.

      Reply