Best Stuffed Shells
This stuffed shells recipe features cheesy, saucy shells stuffed with a delicious spinach and ricotta filling. Make these stuffed shells for dinner tonight!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
These stuffed shells are cheesy, saucy, and stuffed with the most delicious ricotta and spinach filling. I’m in love, and I think you will be, too. Speaking of love, they’re so pretty that you could serve these shells for a romantic Valentine’s dinner at home.
A few more reasons to love this recipe:
- It yields a lot of shells, so it’s perfect for serving a crowd.
- Leftovers are great for lunch, or you can freeze them for later.
- This recipe is relatively easy to make, with minimal chopping.
This stuffed shells recipe features simple and classic Italian ingredients. You’ll need jumbo shells, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, a little Parmesan, garlic and seasonings.
To make this cheesy dish more redeeming, I added an entire pound of fresh greens! You can use fresh or frozen spinach or kale. The greens yield a gorgeous, vibrant green filling with a lovely, mild flavor. These stuffed shells are honestly the best I’ve ever had, by a long shot. Keep reading for some fun variations and tips.
How to Make the Best Stuffed Shells with Spinach & Ricotta
This recipe comes together easily, with minimal chopping. You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s a rundown:
- First, blanch the greens. This is really easy—just dump them in a big pot of salted water and cook until they’re wilted (about 30 seconds). Using tongs, transfer the greens to a large bowl of ice water. This step preserves their beautiful, bright green color. Once chilled, squeeze all the water out of the greens and set aside.
- Cook the pasta shells in the same pot of water you used for the greens. The water will be a fun shade of greenish yellow, but the pasta will turn out perfectly. We’ll cook the shells until they’re almost al dente—in other words, we want them nicely pliable but not fully tender. They’ll finish cooking in the oven.
- Then, whip up the filling in the food processor. Since we’re blending up the garlic and chives, we don’t need to bother chopping them finely by hand.
- Stuff each shell with a generous spoonful of filling and place them in snug little rows across marinara-lined bakers.
- Spoon marinara sauce over the shells. We don’t need them completely covered. Finish them off with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake, and serve.
Watch How to Make Stuffed Shells
Stuffed Shells Tips
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Bust out your largest pot and baking dish for this recipe. Ideally, use a 5.5-quart or larger Dutch oven or stockpot to boil the greens and pasta. Then, you’ll transfer all of the cooked greens to a very large bowl of ice water. Finally, you’ll need an extra-large baker (even larger than 9 by 13 inches) or a combination of two bakers like you’ll see below (say, 9 by 13 and 8 by 8).
The filling comes together nicely in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, no problem. Chop up the ingredients (chop the chives and garlic finely, and the cooked greens into very small pieces) and stir the ingredients together by hand.
To save time, use store-bought marinara sauce. My favorites are Rao’s (it comes pretty close to my homemade marinara) or Newman’s Own organic. I try to avoid marinaras with added sugar, since it’s unnecessary. Or, make my homemade marinara sauce the night before (be sure to double the recipe to have enough).
Save time (and money) by using frozen greens. Frozen greens are less expensive and work perfectly well for this recipe. Just defrost them in a colander under running water, squeeze out excess water, and it’s good to go.
These shells make great leftovers! Store them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for several months.
Stuffed Shell Recipe Variations
I’m completely smitten with this recipe as written below. Here are some fun ways to change it up:
- For lighter, less cheesy shells, use half as much mozzarella or omit it completely.
- For standard cheesy shells (no greens), double the ricotta, finely chop the chives, press or mince the garlic, and stir the mixture together by hand.
- For veggie shells, replace the greens with about 2 cups cooked or roasted vegetables.
- For dairy-free or vegan shells, use my vegan sour cream in place of the ricotta, and sprinkle some vegan Parmesan on top. Find more details in the recipe notes.
Craving more saucy Italian meals?
Here are a few of my favorites:
- Best Vegetable Lasagna or Vegan Lasagna
- Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables or Lentil Baked Ziti
- Roasted Ratatouille
- Italian Eggplant Parmesan
- Spaghetti Squash “Pizza” Bowls
I’d serve this recipe or any of the above with my Italian Chopped Salad—even a simplified version would be perfect.
Please let me know how your shells turn out in the comments. I love hearing from you and hope this recipe is a big hit.
Best Stuffed Shells
This stuffed shells recipe features cheesy, saucy shells stuffed with a delicious spinach and ricotta filling. Make these stuffed shells for dinner tonight! Recipe yields about 28 shells, about 8 servings.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 ounces) fresh baby spinach or baby kale, or frozen spinach or kale, or 1 ½ pounds Tuscan kale or spinach bunches, washed and stems removed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 12 ounces jumbo shells
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into several segments
- 15 ounces (or 1 pound) ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- 8 ounces (2 cups) grated part-skim mozzarella, divided
- ½ cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
- ¼ cup (⅔-ounce) chives or green onions (mostly green parts), cut into ¼-long pieces
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste (omit if sensitive to spice)
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a fork
- 3 cups (24 ounces) marinara sauce, homemade* or store-bought (I used Rao’s)
- Fresh basil for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 with racks in the middle and upper third of the oven. Bring a large Dutch oven or stockpot of water to boil over high heat. Generously salt the water (use at least 2 teaspoons). If you’re not using frozen greens, fill a large bowl with ice water for blanching.
- If you’re using fresh greens, add them to the boiling water and cook just until wilted, about 20 to 40 seconds. Using tongs (leave the water in the pot), transfer the greens to the ice bath and let them cool down. Drain off the water and squeeze as much excess water from the greens as possible. Set aside. (If you’re using frozen greens, place them in a colander and run cool water over them until they’ve full defrosted. Squeeze out as much excess water as possible, and set aside.)
- Bring the water in the pot back to a boil. Gently add the pasta shells in handfuls so they don’t break on the way in. Cook until pliable but just shy of al dente, about 10 minutes, stirring often so they don’t stick to the pot. Drain off the water, return the noodles to the pot, and gently stir in the olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking. Set aside.
- Turn on your food processor and drop the garlic through the feeding tube. Once the garlic is chopped and stuck to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides. For good measure, squeeze off any remaining water in the greens, then add them to the bowl. Process until the greens are chopped into small pieces.
- Add the ricotta and process until well blended. Add half of the mozzarella, reserving the rest for topping. Add all of the Parmesan and chives, about 10 twists of black pepper, the red pepper flakes and salt. Blend well. Taste, and add additional salt, pepper or red pepper flakes if desired. Finally, add the egg and process until blended. Set aside.
- If you have an extra-large baking dish (larger than 9×13 inches), spread 1 cup of the marinara sauce across the bottom. Otherwise, divide 1 cup marinara between a large (9×13 inches) and medium-sized baker (say, an 8-inch square). You might need to add another splash of sauce to evenly coat the bottom of the pans.
- Stuff each intact shell with a heaping spoonful (about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons) of the green mixture. Place each stuffed shell in the baker in rows. (You might have a few leftover or broken shells; save them for another use.) Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the tops of the shells. Top the shells with the remaining mozzarella.
- Cover the baker(s) tightly with foil and bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and place the bakers on the upper rack. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, until the mozzarella is fully melted and turning just slightly golden (you can bake longer for a more golden effect, but the greens will become less vibrant).
- Garnish the shells with a light dusting of grated Parmesan and some small or torn fresh basil leaves. Leftover shells will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze them for several months.
Notes
Recipe adapted from two New York Times recipes: Stuffed Shells Filled With Spinach and Ricotta by Martha Rose Sherman and Stuffed Shells by Ali Slagle.
*Homemade marinara sauce note: You’ll need to double my marinara recipe to yield enough for this recipe, and then you’ll have extra. If you don’t think you’ll use it up within a few days, you can freeze it for later.
Prepare in advance: You can assemble the shells (through step 7) and store the baker in the refrigerator until ready to bake. While I haven’t tried freezing the shells, they seem like excellent candidates. Let the frozen shells defrost in the refrigerator before baking. Since they’re starting off cold, they might need a few more minutes in the oven.
Change it up: For less cheesy shells, use half as much mozzarella or omit it completely. For standard cheesy shells (no greens), double the ricotta, finely chop the chives, press or mince the garlic, and stir the mixture together by hand. You could also replace the greens with about 2 cups cooked or roasted vegetables.
Make it egg free: Simply omit the egg. The egg helps the cheese set, but I’ve heard from readers that it turns out well without it!
Make it dairy free/vegan: Double my vegan sour cream recipe, and leave it in the blender. Add the greens, garlic, chives, black pepper and red pepper flakes (hold off on the additional salt). Process until the mixture is pretty well blended, and add salt to taste. Skip the egg. Follow the sauce and baking instructions as written. If desired, garnish with a light sprinkle of vegan Parmesan.
Nutrition
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These shells are incredible, I’ve been making this recipe for years and it’s my go-to recipe for when we have company. It’s easy to follow and always a hit with guests.
Made this for the first time this week and hands down this is one of my new favorite Italian recipes. My family loved it and said it’s now one we have to add to the dinner rotation. I plan to make double the amount next time so I can have leftovers for lunches for days after!
Great to hear, Kate!
The spinach-stuffed shells were delicious. The ricotta and spinach mixture tastes scrumptious. I like the little bit of heat from the pepper and red chili flakes. One to two tablespoons of the mixture in each shell makes for a perfect-sized shell. The shells were much easier to put together than I anticipated.
Great to hear, Sally! Thank you for your review.
So satisfying. I did not use the egg. I tasted the filling before stuffing the shells. I knew it was going to be good. Flavors were so well balanced. I think this would be a healthy sub for spinach and artichoke dip. I used cottage cheese. The texture was so cool. Thank you for this amazing recipe. I will make it again as is but looking forward to adapting it for other things.
What size pan do you recommend?
9×13
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I’ve served it to guests several times and have gotten compliments for it every time! (It can easily feed 8-10 people.) I made this without a food processor and made a few small changes. I sautéed minced onion and garlic, then added that to the filling instead of adding raw garlic. I baked it at 400 degrees to hurry things up. I also used more sauce. I usually freeze some of the leftovers.
That’s great to hear, Mary! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Have you tried this recipe in an air fryer?
I haven’t, sorry!
Have made this numerous times and it never dissapoints. Makes enough to have several meals to freeze as well. Reheats beautifully. Big fan of your recipes over here in Australia!
How many packages of frozen spinach would you use?
You will want 16 oz as listed in the recipe.
Thank you. That would have been obviously if only I had taken more time to think about it. Duh. Thanks for your patience.
Thank you for the recipe and inspiration, Kate! Your weekly email contained this recipe and it looked wonderful. I followed the recipe step by step. The only change I made was adding one pound of cooked Italian sausage to the spinach/ricotta mixture. It turned out perfect! The whole family enjoyed it! And it makes enough to share with the neighbors
You’re welcome, Gregory! I appreciate your review.
These shells are delicious! I sauted fresh spinach to slightly wilt it instead of blanching and used two heads of roasted garlic (always have some on hand). I also used my own sauce. I make large batches and freeze it. I made a 9×13″ pan for my husband and me and an 8×8″ for my adult son. All of us really enjoyed.
Holy crap these are good! A bit more labor-intensive than I expected, but soooo worth it.
Great to hear, Jessa!
Light and delicious with a touch of spice!! Thank you Kate!
I made this for Christmas dinner yesterday. A real hit! I was a little reluctant to tackle the shell stuffing, but I made the filling early in the day and refrigerated it for a couple hours; I used a cookie scoop and found it super easy to stuff ! Another delicious and nutritious meal from C+K! Thank you!
I made the stuffed shells for Christmas dinner for a non-vegetarian crowd and it went over very well. I liked that it was easier to serve than lasagna and the colors were very festive. I really appreciated the advice about using two baking dishes as I was able to leave my parents with a frozen dish to cook later. Thank you for sharing amazing vegetarian recipes. You are always my first stop when looking for something tasty and healthful.
OMG. Truly. Just made these for lunch, and OMG! These are amazing. Every bite I was thinking, “These taste like I’m eating in a restaurant!” So, so good. I made them just as in your recipe (frozen spinach) except I don’t have a food processor anymore, so I used a hand mixer – worked great. Thank you, Kathryne, for all your wonderful recipes. You’re a talent! (BTW, you may remember me from MFM – I was editor [different last name] and worked with your mom for 7 years.)
My meat and potatoes other half has grudgingly agreed to meatless Mondays. I mostly get, “You can do this one again.” with your recipes. This one is no exception. I did substitute pecorino romano for the parmesan because I don’t care for it. Mine didn’t come out looking as beautiful as yours but it was delicious.
This recipe is delicious. The flavor is outstanding. My husband, a vegetarian since 1978, and I give it 5 stars. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
Your recipe calls for 16 oz of fresh baby spinach or frozen spinach.
You answered this same question to Peggy’s question.
I am sorry but still confused. Is 16 oz of fresh baby spinach equal to 16 oz of frozen spinach? Thank you so much for clarification.
Hi Sally, you will still want 16 ounces of spinach, whether it is fresh or frozen. You’ll need to check the amount in the package to verify, as they are sold in different sizes.
Could you please tell me if this recipe would work with cannelloni shells? It sounds delicious and I look forward to try it.
Hi Donna, yes it should work with tube shaped pasta as well as shells. You may need to adjust the baking time depending on the size.
Very much appreciate the quick response. Thank you ! I’m going to make the recipe tomorrow.
i did find it to be a bit of work, but so well worth it!
really delicious!
another of your recipes to make again (i seem to be saying that alot)
I make my stuffed shells much the same without the cheeses I use firm tofu spinach parsley you can add cheeses if you like. I put my shells in marinara and sprinkle cheeses on top.
Yours sound great I will give them a try.
Judi
Hi Judi, thanks for sharing! I hope you enjoy this method.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit with everyone! My picky kids loved it. Thanks!