These stuffed shells are easy, tasty, and quick-the trio for an awesome dinner! Also customizable, these shells can adapt to the preferences of your family. 

THE INGREDIENTS: 

Jumbo Shells: Without shells, it would be hard to call this meal “stuffed shells”! Jumbo shells are a large pasta that can be stuffed with our ricotta filling. We say ½ a 12 ounce box, which equals around 19 shells, makes plenty for this recipe. There’s a ton of filling per shell, which is just how we like it. Whether you include the spinach, ground beef, or neither, there will be enough filling for this amount of jumbo shells. If you don’t have jumbo shells on hand, we’d reach for lasagna pasta. Simply coat the pan with some jarred sauce, add a layer of lasagna, add all of the filling, and then top with another layer of lasagna noodles, the remaining jarred sauce, and the italian blend cheese. This idea would take roughly 6 lasagna noodles. 

Ricotta: For most stuffed shell recipes, there is ricotta. We’re not deviating here! Ricotta is a soft cheese that works great for mixing in additions such as ground beef and spinach. If you’re in a pinch, cottage cheese could be substituted here, but we recommend sticking to ricotta when you can! If using cottage cheese, you may want to mix in extra Italian blend cheese to ensure plenty of cheesy goodness. We don’t recommend increasing the ricotta in this recipe as we already have a large amount of filling per shell. 

Frozen Spinach: Even though we already have jarred tomato sauce giving us some veggie action, it’s great to bring some spinach to the party! Based on how well spinach dip tastes, it’s safe to say spinach and cheese go together. In addition to that, spinach and tomatoes are another great pairing! So, of course spinach goes well with tomato sauce AND cheese!

You don’t have to worry about the spinach flavor being too strong, but don’t feel deterred from this recipe if you don’t like spinach. Simply omit it and keep going with the recipe as planned. If you want to add a bit extra of something into your ricotta filling to make up for it, then we’d say add even more cheese. Parmesan, mozzarella, and Italian blend are great choices here. When we say a cup of frozen spinach, the frozen spinach will remain at 1 cup even after it is done cooking. If using fresh spinach, you’ll want to use 1 cup of cooked fresh spinach. That will take around 1 pound (16 oz) of fresh spinach. 

Ground Beef: Even though cheese brings a nice amount of protein, some ground beef is another welcome addition! We say ¾ pound gives plenty of meat per shell. Even though most family meals for four usually go for a whole pound, we don’t recommend increasing it as it throws our spinach and cheese mixture off balance. We’re not making meatball-stuffed shells, after all! You can also omit this ground beef or reduce to a ½ pound for a lighter filling and this dinner will still be a success. If using ground beef, less than a ½ pound and the meat gets a little skimpy per shell. Although you don’t have to season the meat in this recipe, a pinch of fennel seed, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and a teeny bit of smoked paprika is a great idea for more flavor. 

Jarred Pasta Sauce: You can’t have shells without some sort of pasta sauce! To maintain the easy factor, we stick to jarred instead of starting this recipe with making some from scratch. Use whatever flavor you like, but we personally reach for “Garden vegetable” jarred pasta sauce. If you only have canned tomato sauce on hand, you can also use that! Simply add a little extra salt, black pepper, italian seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper to your canned tomato sauce and you will be good to go. 

Italian Blend Cheese: A whole 8oz bag of shredded cheese on top of these shells is what takes it from “light” to “decadent”! We like to use Italian blend cheese so we get the benefit of even melting and different cheese flavors. Mozzarella and parmesan are a great pairing here! However, feel free to use shredded mozzarella cheese if that is what you have on hand. You could even use a mixture of italian cheeses in your fridge to get that multiple cheese effect, just be aware that they may not all melt evenly. 

Salt: Even though the jarred pasta sauce already has salt in it, it’s just not enough flavor to carry this dish through. Salt is what takes a meal from “blah” to “more, please!”. So, we don’t recommend reducing the salt in this recipe. If anything, it’s actually on the light side already! 

Onion Powder: For many dishes with tomato sauce, such as our margherita pizza recipe, we like to cook in fresh onions to really bolster the flavor of the sauce. Even if the jarred pasta sauce you use has onions cooked in it, it generally doesn’t do the same justice as homemade. So, to make up for that, more onion powder to the rescue! It also ensures there is not just flavor in the sauce, but in the filling as well. 

Italian Seasoning: There’s just something special about using herbs in cooking. Whether it’s parsley, cilantro, or basil they all add something to a dish. However, even though parsley does not maintain its flavor well when it’s dried, we have good news! Basil, as well as other Italian herbs, do. So, instead of mincing fresh herbs (you can do that if it is what you have on hand), Italian seasoning goes into the mix! If you don’t have italian seasoning on hand, try reaching for some of these dried spices: marjoram, basil, oregano, rosemary (not too much, now!), sage (not too much!!), or thyme (again, not too much now!). 

Garlic Powder: What’s a pasta dinner without garlic? A little garlic powder goes a long way in this recipe and pairs great with the flavors of italian seasoning and onion powder. Adjust to your taste, as everyone likes a different amount of garlic. 

Black Pepper: A touch of zing really helps when you’re having a rich dish. Well, and with all this cheese, I’d classify this dish as rich! You can use freshly cracked or ground black pepper in this recipe, even though we are partial to freshly cracked. Adjust to your own tastes as everyone likes differing amounts of black pepper. 

KEY INFORMATION: 

How Do You Make Stuffed Shells In Advance? Can You Freeze Stuffed Shells? Yes, you can make stuffed shells in advance. Simply follow the stuffed shells recipe until the meal is all assembled, but has not yet been baked. At that point, put foil on top of your 9×13 and place the whole meal in the fridge or the freezer. Only use the fridge if you are planning on baking this meal within the next 1-2 days. You can freeze stuffed shells, being careful to cook and bake the meal within 3 months-thawing in the fridge the night before. Be aware that you may need to cook the meal for an extra 10-20 minutes to account for it being refrigerated. 

What Goes With Stuffed Shells? Although this meal doesn’t necessarily need side dishes, it still goes with some! We’re thinking of side salad, whether a nice Caesar salad with homemade croutons or a simple lettuce salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and an Italian vinaigrette. Roasted or sauteed broccoli or cauliflower are also great choices here. If you want more decadence, go for breadsticks or garlic bread! You could even just go for regular bread served with roasted garlic, bruschetta, parmesan, or herbed olive oil. Stuffed shells personally make us crave chocolate, any kind of chocolate from a small chocolate malt to brownies!