Meal-prepping is trendy now, but it’s always been a good idea if you want to save money and calories. 12-24: Cannelloni with Chicken works well if you want to make it on a Sunday, split it up into a few containers, and reheat it throughout the week. At least, that’s how we ate it.
Even Simply Delicious advises you can make this meal ahead of time, although their suggestion is for entertaining guests. This recipe/concept is pretty versatile–it’s good fresh or as leftovers.
The long list of ingredients pushed out any TIPS for this recipes.
Ingredients. There’s an odd mix of dairy, non-dairy, and meatless options here. I also couldn’t find cannelloni at my local market, so jumbo shells it will have to be.
Yet another picture of sautéing onion. Nowhere does it say to, but I need to alter my recipe a bit due to my meatless options.
Draining the thawed spinach. I love this big new sink!
Prepping the “chicken” broth and “chicken” chunks. Remember, I’m working with faux meat (and it doesn’t cook quite the same), so I’m reinterpreting their marinade/prep suggestions a bit. If you’re using real meat, then go with what they recommend.
Combining ingredients in a bowl instead of a food processor. Since it’s easier to stuff shells than cannelloni tubes, I’ll skip the extra dirty dishes. I sautéed the onions to get some extra flavor and put them into this mixture since I wasn’t really using them for marinade.
Stuffing shells and portioning them out into lunch containers. Luckily, these type can be baked, so why not bake them right into the containers they’ll be eaten in?
This stuffing is super similar to 6-4: Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts, if you have extra spinach or chicken.
Working on the cream sauce.
Mixing the previously sautéed chicken into the cream sauce. I cooked the chicken and onions (each separately) in the pan first, then made the cream sauce so it’d still get that flavor.
Lunch containers ready to go in the oven to bake.
After baking. I let these cool all the way down, then put their lids on and stored them in the fridge. Now they’re ready for just a quick pop in the microwave, then it’s lunch!
Close-up of one of the containers. This made a great lunch, and fillings could be interchangeable, depending on whatever you’d like to fill them with.
Grade: A
