Delicious and Easy Beef Cannelloni Recipe for Families

My kids love family meals that involve pasta. Given a choice I think that they would eat pasta every day if they could. For a long time, we stuck with the same dish but as we’ve worked on getting our fussy eater to eat more and more things we’ve expanded. This Beef Cannelloni Recipe is one of our new favourites.

two cannelloni tubes stuffed with a homemade beef and tomato sauce. Covered in melted cheese on a rough wooden table with a fork beside.

Beef Cannelloni Recipe

This isn’t a particularly quick meal to make unless you prep ahead a batch of the beef and tomato sauce that you can then just add the cheeses too.

ground beef and tomato sauce to make ahead and freeze for beef cannelloni and other pasta dishes

In fact, this is what I tend to do as half the family don’t like cheese we make a batch in a small ovenproof dish without the ricotta and mozzarella cheese and a second batch for myself and my daughter with cheese in a large baking dish so there is room for the cheeses to melt on top of the sauce.

beef cannelloni just out of the oven with melted cheese on top ready to be served for family dinner

Ground Beef is one of the ingredients that we buy from the butchers every week and we’ve been loving trying out these Ground Beef Recipes over on 3 Boys and a Dog.


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pinnable image for beef and ricotta baked cannelloni from hey mom whats cooking

Making the Beef and Tomato Cannelloni Sauce To Freeze

I don’t think cheese freezes very well so what I do, I cook a batch of the beef, dried herbs and spices and tomatoes then freeze it into containers.

Each container has around 400g of ground minced beef steak in it and is frozen.

Then when we plan to have our baked beef cannelloni on the meal plan for the week I can bring out a container to defrost and quickly reheat it to make up the batches for the family.

shredded cheese sprinkled on a portion of the beef cannelloni ready to go in the oven

Which means that the meal can be made on a school night in 30 minutes.

Just make sure that you double or triple the recipe below to make it in batches like described.

Check out our chicken carbonara for another quick weeknight meal for the family that they will love.

Ingredients for Easy Beef Cannelloni

  • 1 package cannelloni noodles
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 28-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese, separated
plate of homemade beef and ricotta cannellon with the baking dish behind. Covered in melted cheese and a homemade tomato and minced meat topping

How to Make Beef Cannelloni

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add cannelloni noodles and cook until al dente, around 5 minutes.

2. Remove noodles from the pan and place them in a large casserole dish. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

ground beef cooking in a skillet

3. Brown ground beef in a large skillet.

adding onions and herbs to browned ground beef for a cannelloni recipe

4. Season with dried parsley, pepper flakes, oregano, and nutmeg. Add onion, garlic, and diced tomatoes. Saute for five minutes.

chopped tomatoes added to ground beef in a skillet

5. Add tomato sauce and reduce heat to low.

simmer sauce for stuffing cannelloni for an easy midweek dinner

6. Allow sauce to simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove two cups of sauce and pour the remaining sauce into a large bowl. Add ricotta cheese and one cup of mozzarella cheese. Stir to combine.

stuff cannelloni noodle tubes ready for sauce and cheese to be added to the top

8. Fill a piping bag with sauce and cheese mixture. Pipe mixture into cannelloni noodles.

cannelloni covered in beef sauce ready for cheese to be added
shredded cheese sprinkled on a portion of the beef cannelloni ready to go in the oven

9. Cover noodles with remaining sauce and top with remaining cheese.

cannelloni noddles covered in tomato and ground beef sauce topped with melted cheese, the noodles are stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella mixed with the tomato and beef sauce on a white plate with a fork beside on a wooden table.

10. Place the casserole dish in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Top Tip for How to Stuff Cannelloni Pasta Tubes

I used to stuff the cannelloni pasta tubes with a spoon and boy was it messy!

That was until I set aside one of my piping bags and used that instead. I don’t bother with a nozzle just use a silicone piping bag that I can wash and reuse every time.

Less mess, easier to stuff the cannelloni with the beef and cheese or just the sauce mixture and makes it so quick as well.

Just make sure that you block the sauce from going all the way through! Best way to do that stand the cannelloni tubes upright whilst you fill it.

Yield: 5

Easy Beef and 2 Cheese Cannelloni Recipe for Families

cannelloni noddles covered in tomato and ground beef sauce topped with melted cheese, the noodles are stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella mixed with the tomato and beef sauce on a white plate with a fork beside on a wooden table.

A delicious and easy to make beef and cheese cannelloni that the family will enjoy - check out the top tips for freezing ahead to make this a quick mid-week meal

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 package cannelloni noodles
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 28-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese, separated

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add cannelloni noodles and cook until al dente, around 5 minutes.
  2. Remove noodles from pan and place in a large casserole dish. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  3. Brown ground beef in a large skillet.
  4. Season with parsley, pepper flakes, oregano, and nutmeg. Add onion, garlic, and diced tomatoes. Saute for five minutes.
  5. Add tomato sauce and reduce heat to low.
  6. Allow sauce to simmer for 10 minutes.
  7. Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove two cups of sauce and pour the remaining sauce in a large bowl. Add ricotta cheese and one cup mozzarella cheese. Stir to combine.
  8. Fill a piping bag with sauce and cheese mixture. Pipe mixture into cannelloni noodles.
  9. Cover noodles with remaining sauce and top with remaining cheese.
  10. Place casserole dish in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
  11. Serve

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 653Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 157mgSodium: 1425mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 6gSugar: 10gProtein: 52g

Did you make this recipe and loved it?

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Pasta Meal Ideas for Families

Pasta is one of our favourite dishes – why not try these easy family meals ideas with pasta for your family too.

pasta with sliced sausages kidney beans in a creamy cheese sausage on a white plate with a coloured tea towel behind on a wooden table top
pasta bake with homemade meatballs on a red plate with the casserole dish behind a great family meal dea
plate of bacon and chicken pasta with broccoli on a plate with a pepper pot behind and tea towel
Pinterest image for Baked Cannelloni with beef and cheese

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