Stuffed Shells - Love and Lemons (2024)

These stuffed shells are saucy, cheesy comfort food at its best! They're filled with a creamy, flavorful mix of fresh spinach, lemon zest, and ricotta cheese.

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These stuffed shells are saucy, cheesy comfort food at its best. I love the contrast of the chewy pasta with the creamy ricotta filling, and marinara – store-bought or homemade – is the perfect tangy accent for both. After I eat one helping, I always find myself back in the kitchen, unable to resist the allure of seconds. These stuffed shells are just that good!

This stuffed shells recipe is easy to make (and make ahead!), and it’s great for serving a group. If you’re hosting a dinner party or get-together this season, it would be a fantastic dish to add to the menu. Comforting and classic, it’s guaranteed to be a hit.

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Stuffed Shells Recipe Ingredients

To make this stuffed shells recipe, you’ll need 10-ish basic ingredients. I like to think of them in three parts:

  • The shells – You’ll need jumbo pasta shells to make this recipe.
  • Tomato sauce – Use your favorite store-bought brand (I like Rao’s), or make homemade marinara sauce instead. Both are great!
  • And the ricotta filling – It’s a mix of ricotta cheese and steamed, chopped fresh spinach. I also stir in dried oregano, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, garlic, and grated pecorino cheese for depth of flavor.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

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How to Make Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells are a fairly impressive dish – they’re flavorful, comforting, and ideal for entertaining – but they’re still really simple to make! Here’s how this recipe goes:

First thing’s first! Before you start mixing up the filling, you’ll need to steam the spinach. When it’s tender and vibrant green, remove it from the heat, place it in a strainer, and squeeze out the excess moisture. Roughly chop it. Then, you can stir it together with the ricotta, pecorino, garlic, lemon zest, oregano, and red pepper flakes to make the filling.

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Meanwhile, cook the pasta. It should be just shy of al dente when you drain it. It’ll finish cooking in the oven.

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Then, stuff the shells. The fun part! (And the messy part. 🙂 ) Use a small spoon to fill each shell with the cheese mixture. Divided evenly, the filling should be enough for 18-20 shells.

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Next, bake.Spread 2 cups of marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Nestle in the shells, cover the dish with foil, and bake for 20 minutes at 425°F.

Alternatively, if you want to make this recipe ahead of time, you can place the stuffed shells in the baking dish, cover it with foil, and place it in the fridge for up to 4 hours. When you’re ready to eat, just bake the shells and serve. For freezing instructions, see the notes in the recipe.

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So creamy!

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Stuffed Shells Serving Suggestions

Before serving, garnish the stuffed shells with more pecorino (or Parmesan) cheese and a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Serve them with extra marinara on the side. I like to spoon it over the shells as I eat so that I can get plenty of sauce in every bite.

Round out the meal with a green salad and good bread. I often serve these stuffed shells with my Homemade Caesar Salad, but my Arugula Salad, Beet Salad, or Simple Green Salad would also pair well with this recipe. And when it comes to bread, you really can’t go wrong! Stick with a crusty loaf, or make rosemary focaccia, garlic knots, or dinner rolls.

Enjoy!

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More Favorite Pasta Recipes

If you love this stuffed shells recipe, try one of these comforting pastas next:

  • Easy Baked Ziti
  • Best Vegetarian Lasagna
  • Fettuccine Alfredo
  • Butternut Squash Ravioli
  • Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe
  • Homemade Mac and Cheese
  • Tortellini Soup
  • Or any of these 25 Easy Pasta Recipes!

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Stuffed Shells

rate this recipe:

4.96 from 149 votes

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Serves 4

Save RecipePrint Recipe

These spinach and ricotta stuffed shells are such a comforting, flavorful dinner! To get ahead, you can stuff the shells and place them in the baking dish with the marinara up to 4 hours in advance. Cover with foil and store them in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Then, just bake and eat!

Ingredients

  • 18 to 20 jumbo pasta shells
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • 5 ounces fresh spinach
  • 2 cups ricotta cheese, (16 ounces)
  • ¼ cup grated pecorino cheese, plus more for sprinkling
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for the pasta water
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups Marinara Sauce*, plus more for serving
  • Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F.

  • Place the spinach in a steamer basket and set over a pot with 1-inch of water. Bring the water to a simmer, cover, and let steam for 1 minute, until the spinach is wilted. Transfer to a strainer and squeeze out the excess water and chop the spinach.

  • In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta shells for 10 minutes, until al dente. Drain and drizzle with a little olive oil to keep them from sticking together.

  • In a medium bowl, combine the spinach with the ricotta, pecorino, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, salt, and several grinds of pepper.

  • Spread the marinara in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the filling and place in the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with more marinara on the side.

Notes

*Our favorite store-bought marinara sauce is Rao's Marinara.

This recipe freezes well! After you've assembled the shells in the baking dish, cover with foil and freeze. To thaw, transfer the dish to the fridge about 10 hours before you plan to serve (i.e. the morning that you plan to serve them for dinner). Remove from the fridge and let sit at room temp while the oven preheats. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, or until thawed and warmed through.

Stuffed Shells - Love and Lemons (2024)

FAQs

What temperature do I bake stuffed shells at? ›

Divided evenly, the filling should be enough for 18-20 shells. Next, bake. Spread 2 cups of marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Nestle in the shells, cover the dish with foil, and bake for 20 minutes at 425°F.

What goes well with stuffed shells? ›

What to Serve with Stuffed Shells
  • Salad. For a lighter pairing, serve stuffed shells with greens tossed in Caesar Dressing or this Arugula Salad.
  • Bread. No Knead Focaccia or Rosemary Olive Oil Bread are both fabulous pairings with this spinach stuffed shell recipe.
  • Veggies. ...
  • Meatballs.
May 31, 2024

Can I leave stuffed shells out overnight? ›

Can Stuffed Shells Be Left Out Overnight? I wouldn't recommend eating these (or any) stuffed shells if they've been left out overnight. Bacteria grows rapidly at room temperature, and eating these after they've been out for more than two hours can make you sick.

How many jumbo pasta shells are in a 12 oz box? ›

There are usually around 40 to 46 shells in a 12 oz box of jumbo shells. It's good to have more than this recipe calls for (36) because some shells rip or are broken.

Should frozen stuffed shells be covered when baking? ›

Cover the bottom of a baking pan with spaghetti sauce Place frozen stuffed shells on the sauce, then cover generously with the remainder of the sauce. Sprinkle generously with grated romano cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

How long can you keep stuffed shells in the fridge before baking? ›

Making in Advance and Refrigerating

To store this (uncooked) stuffed shell recipe in the refrigerator, prepare according to recipe instructions then cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap or foil. You may refrigerate for up to three days before baking according to recipe instructions.

Why do stuffed shells get watery? ›

Stuffed shells can get watery for a few different reasons. One reason could be that the shells were not cooked long enough and they released water while cooking. Another reason could be that the filling was too wet, which made the shells soggy.

How do you keep stuffed shells from sticking together? ›

You should only be cooking the shells to al dente to start! Once your shells have reached this point, drain the hot water from the pot and replace it with cold water. This stops the shells from cooking any further than you want them to and also ensures that they won't stick together upon serving.

What are stuffed shells called? ›

The pasta called conchiglioni, usually marketed as “jumbo shells” here in the US, are filled with a ricotta cream enriched with mozzarella, napped with a simple marinara sauce and topped with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan before being baked in a hot oven.

Can you eat 7 day old lasagna? ›

Cooked lasagna keeps in the refrigerator for up to five days if stored in a tightly sealed container to keep out excess moisture and other contaminants. The best way to determine whether or not lasagna has turned is to look for dried-out noodles or a sour smell emanating from the tomato sauce and cheese.

What happens if you forget to put lasagna in the fridge overnight? ›

Food should be properly stored within 2 hours. The danger zone, in which bacteria multiplies most quickly is at a temerature between 40–140 degrees. Yours was in that zone for many, many hours. Best to be safe and toss it.

Should I let lasagna cool before refrigerating? ›

So, can you put hot food in the fridge? No, you should wait until it's cooled.

What are the really big pasta shells called? ›

Conchiglie is a pasta variety that is shaped like a conch shell. The smallest shell shape is called conchigliette and the largest shell shape is called conchiglioni.

How much is 1 lb of pasta shells? ›

Depending on the pasta's shape, usually 4 cups of dry pasta is equal to 1 pound of pasta.

How many cups of shell pasta for 2 people? ›

How much pasta is in a portion? A single serving size of pasta is typically about 2 ounces of dry pasta—amounting to about a cup of cooked pasta.

What temperature do you cook stuffed food to? ›

The stuffed meat, poultry, or stuffing in a casserole should be placed immediately after preparation in an oven set no lower than 325 °F. A food thermometer should be used to ensure that the stuffing reaches the safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.

What temperature do you cook pizza shells? ›

Preheat the oven between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C) — the stone needs heat up while the oven heats. Large, thick-crusted pizzas might need an oven temperature closer to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) so the crust can cook completely before the toppings burn.

What temperature do you reheat stuffed shells in the oven? ›

To reheat non-casserole baked pasta dishes, such as stuffed jumbo shells, place the shells in an oven-safe dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 degrees until the shells' internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Can you bake seashells in the oven? ›

The shells are oven-safe up to 500 degrees F and create a vessel for the scallops, butter, and other ingredients you want to use. It's like the scallops are sitting in their own pool of buttery goodness! If you have never tried scallops before, this is the route I recommend trying for your first time!

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