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These perfectly al dente cannelloni tubes are packed with a savory mix of beef, garlic, veggies, and a splash of white wine. Smothered in a bold tomato sauce and a velvety béchamel, then topped off with plenty of melty cheese, this dish is Italian comfort food at its finest. Every bite is rich, cozy, and full of those classic Italian flavors we all crave. Whether you’re feeding a crowd or just treating yourself, cannelloni never disappoints.
Cannelloni tubes are filled with a rich-flavored beef filling and the dish also has garlicky tomato sauce, creamy bechamel sauce and plenty of melty cheese on top.
Pasta lovers might also enjoy manicotti, cacio e pepe, pasta alla gricia, shrimp linguine, pasta alla norma, or rasta pasta.
Why You’ll Love It
An Italian classic: Sometimes you crave wonderful Italian flavors and this dish, with pasta, beef, sweet tomato sauce, creamy bechamel sauce, and cheese never disappoints!
Perfect for a crowd: This is a great dish to choose if you have guests to feed. Everyone is going to love the hearty flavors.
Great comfort food: It’s such a flavorful cozy dish to relax with. Cuddle up on the couch, put on an Italian movie and enjoy your cannelloni with a glass of Sangiovese or Chianti!
Cannelloni di Carne Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Pasta: You need fresh pasta sheets for the best results. Head down to your local Italian deli for the best ones.
Ground beef: Lean ground beef works well in this recipe.
Vegetables: I like to add onion, carrot and celery.
White wine: Any white wine would work in this dish or you could even use rose or red.
Chicken stock: Chicken stock or chicken broth goes well with the white wine, offering a lighter flavor than beef broth would.
Garlic: To flavor the beef filling and also the tomato sauce.
Tomato puree: The basis of the tomato sauce.
Whole milk: The main component in the bechamel sauce.
Flour: To thicken the bechamel.
Ground nutmeg: Adds a warm touch of spice to the bechamel.
How to Make Cannelloni
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Prepare the beef filling: Sauté the vegetables and then the garlic in olive oil and then add the ground beef. Season to taste and cook over a medium high heat until browned. Add tomato paste and cook briefly, then deglaze the pan with white wine. Add tomato puree and water and let the mixture simmer for half an hour. Let it cool completely.
Make the tomato sauce: Sauté garlic in olive oil over a medium heat and then add tomato puree, chicken stock and some salt, along with basil leaves. Simmer to thicken.
Make the bechamel sauce: Whisk the flour into the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the milk, nutmeg, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, cooking until thickened. Adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
Assemble the cannelloni: Add half the bechamel sauce to an ovenproof dish and then half the tomato sauce. Cut the pasta sheets into 3-inch pieces. Spoon some of the beef mixture on to each pasta sheet and roll up to make tubes. Put the filled pasta tubes seam side down in the baking dish. Top with the remaining white sauce and then the rest of the red sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella on top.
Bake and serve the cannelloni: Bake until the cheese melts and then let the dish rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan and finely chopped basil, serve and enjoy.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten-free option: If you want a gluten-free version, use gluten-free pasta and gluten-free flour.
Spicy: Add a teaspoon of chili flakes to the beef filling or the tomato sauce.
Ground beef: Swap in any combination of pork, veal and beef.
Crushed tomatoes: You can replace the tomato puree with crushed tomatoes if you don’t mind a chunkier sauce.
Vegetarian: Replace the ground beef with a plant-based meat alternative.
Smaller portion: Feel free to halve all the ingredients to make a smaller portion. However, why not make the whole thing and have leftovers for another time?
Fresh pasta sheets: You can use dried cannelloni tubes instead of fresh pasta sheets.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Begin your Italian meal with marinated mozzarella balls, peperonata and homemade focaccia.
Side dishes: Enjoy your beef cannelloni with a shaved asparagus and fennel salad.
Desserts: Serve pistachio tiramisu for dessert.
How to Store Beef Cannelloni
Store: You can store the cooled cannelloni in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days .
Freeze: Let the cannelloni cool completely. Transfer to a freezer-safe container with an airtight lid. Place plastic wrap over the top of the cannelloni, making a seal with the pasta, and then cover with the lid.
Thaw: Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheat: Microwave until hot.
Top Tips
Break up the beef: Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up the meat while you brown it.
Seam side down: Lay the cannelloni seam side down in the baking dish, otherwise it will unravel.
Grate your own cheese: I recommend grating a block of parmesan for the grated cheese. The pre-grated kind just doesn’t have much flavor.
Golden brown topping: Although it’s optional, I like to keep baking the cannelloni until the cheese topping is golden brown and a little crispy.
Cannelloni di Carne FAQs
I don’t recommend using dried and then cooked lasagna sheets to make cannelloni tubes. The dried lasagna sheets are very thick and harden in the cooking process as well as making them slippery and difficult to roll. They won’t hold their shape like fresh pasta or the dried cannelloni tubes.
You really need the beef mixture to be completely cooled before putting it into your pasta. If it’s too loose or chunky, it will be difficult to roll the tubes around the meat.
You could but they’re not as traditional. Cannelloni are the Italian pasta sheets that wrap around the filling. Manicotti are a shortcut Americanized version and are usually machine-extruded, ridged tubes. They’re easier to fill, as you just insert your filling and there’s no rolling up involved with this Italian American version, but I think it’s nice to use fresh pasta sheets and enjoy cannelloni prepared in the Italian way.
Best Beef Cannelloni Recipe
Cannelloni
Equipment
- Baking Dish 9 ½ x 13-Inch
- Rolling Pin Optional
- Pot Large
- Pot Medium
Ingredients
Beef Filling:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, small, finely diced
- 1 carrot, small, peeled and finely diced
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- 3 Cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 ½ Pounds ground beef, lean
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ Cup white wine
- 8 Ounces tomato puree
- 1 Cup chicken stock
- salt and pepper, to taste
Tomato Sauce:
- 2 Cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 28 Ounces tomato puree
- 1 Cup chicken broth
- 4 basil leaves, whole or torn
- Salt, to taste
Bechamel Sauce:
- ½ Stick butter, 4 Tablespoons
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 Cups whole milk
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- ¼ Teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ Teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
Pasta and Garnish:
- 2 Sheets fresh pasta, at room temperature
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- fresh basil, finely chopped
Instructions
Make the Beef Filling:
- Heat your olive oil in a heavy pan or pot over medium-high heat and sauté the onions, carrots and celery until soft, but not browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add the ground beef with salt and pepper to taste, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula making sure there are no large chunks, cooking it until the beef has browned slightly, around 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, coating the beef and vegetables and cook for 3 minutes, until the tomato paste darkens slightly.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the wine, deglazing the pan, incorporating the liquid into the beef. Make sure to cook off all the alcohol, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Reduce the heat, pour in the tomato puree and water, and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes while you prepare the sauces. The beef filling should be thick once finished.
- Once finished, remove and let cool completely in the pan or transfer to a tray and refrigerate.
Make the Tomato Sauce:
- In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium and sauté the garlic until fragrant, 1 minute.
- Pour in your tomato puree, chicken stock and a pinch of salt.
- Add the basil leaves, whole or torn, into the sauce. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Make the Bechamel Sauce:
- Either transfer the tomato sauce into a bowl and use the same pot or in a separate small saucepan, heat your butter on medium heat until melted.
- Whisk in your flour to make a roux, stirring constantly to break up clumps and cook until it turns blonde or golden, but not brown.
- Add the milk, whisking constantly to thicken the sauce.
- Add salt, pepper and nutmeg if using. Adjust to taste and take the pan off the heat.
Assemble and Bake:
- With a rack in the middle of the oven, preheat it to 350°F.
- Ladle half the bechamel sauce onto the bottom of a 9 ½ x 13-inch baking pan followed by half the tomato sauce. It doesn’t have to look uniform.
- Lay the pasta sheets out flat on a cutting board or the counter.
- Cut the sheet every 3 inches along the length of the pasta, using a ruler if you like. Each “tube” you create should be approximately 4 x 3 inches when laid flat.
- Using a spoon, scoop about 2 tablespoons of the beef along the length of each cut piece of pasta. Roll the pasta to make a tube (like a cigar shape), then place seam-side down into the baking pan. You should be able to make at least 2 rows side by side, with 8 or 9 tubes per side.
- Ladle the other half of the bechamel and the other half of the tomato sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
- It’s not necessary, but you can continue to cook until the mozzarella has turned gold brown if you like.
- Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and chopped basil on top before serving.
Notes
Seam side down: Lay the cannelloni seam side down in the baking dish, otherwise it will unravel.
Grate your own cheese: I recommend grating a block of parmesan for the grated cheese. The pre-grated kind just doesn’t have much flavor.
Golden brown topping: Although it’s optional, I like to keep baking the cannelloni until the cheese topping is golden brown and a little crispy.
Nutrition
This delicious beef cannelloni recipe with tomato and béchamel sauce, rich-flavored beef, white wine, garlic, and vegetables makes a lovely dinner. It offers lots of Italian flavor favorites: tomatoes, cheese, beef, garlic, and more, for the kind of dish you’ll want a second helping of. It’s a bold-flavored dish that’s perfect if you’re feeding a crowd. Leftovers can be chilled or frozen and they’re also delicious, so why not whip up a double batch of this yummy Italian classic?
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
