Classic Stuffed Shells (2024)

Stuffed Shells, a classic dish featuring cooked pasta shells filled with cheesy ricotta, Italian herbs, and marinara sauce, is the definition of comfort food and simplicity.

Stuffed Shells

A few weeks ago my husband surprised me with a fun date: dinner and a concert. The only problem was that I’d told my friend I’d bring her dinner that same night. I thought about what meal I could prepare ahead of time and quickly landed on Stuffed Shells. They’re so easy to prepare and also keep so well.

I made the shells in the morning and had my sitter put them in the oven as my husband and I went out to dinner. After dinner I ran home, (quickly nursed the baby), picked up the shells, and dropped them off. Phew!

Stuffed Shells are truly the perfect meal to make ahead of time since you can prepare everything, but hold off on baking them until you’re ready to eat.

These Stuffed Shells are also a great meal to double and make one batch for dinner and freeze the other batch for another night. More directions on freezing/thawing below.

First things first, though. What are Stuffed Shells and how are they different from manicotti?

Manicotti vs. stuffed shells

Stuffed shells are exactly what they sound like — pasta shells stuffed with meat, cheese, and/or vegetables and covered with a tomato sauce and cheese.

Manicotti is also a stuffed pasta generally stuffed with meat, cheese, and/or vegetables as well. So what’s the difference? Not much, really, beyond the different pasta shapes. Both have a seasoned cheese filling, are baked with a tomato sauce, and covered with mozzarella cheese. I’ve found that many Italian dishes are defined by the type of pasta used.

How to make Stuffed Shells

• Partially cook the shells: We undercook the shells to keep them firm enough to stuff. It’s also important they are undercooked so when they’re baked again, they don’t get soggy.
• Prepare the cheese filling: The cheese filling is as simple as grating cheese and mixing it together. Use freshly grated cheese for the best flavor and texture. Pre-grated cheese has a cellulose coating to keep it from clumping together. See below for cheese filling ideas!
• Stuff the shells: Transfer the cheese mixture to a bag and pipe the filling right into the shells.
• Bake: Cover the shells in marinara, bake, and then add more cheese on top. I’m telling you, this is total comfort food!

Now that we’ve talked about the general process of making these shells, I have a few variation ideas and tips.

Stuffed Shells variation ideas

• Spinach: Many ricotta cheese-filled shells have spinach in them. Personally, I leave out spinach in mine because I don’t find it really adds much flavor for the effort required to chop, cook, and add it to the shells.
  • To add spinach: Heat a large pan over medium heat, and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add in 4 cups of loosely packed chopped baby spinach. Cook, stirring occasionally until the leaves have wilted and become bright green, about 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to completely cool. Stir into the cheese mixture.
• Homemade marinara: Try a delicious homemade marinara in place of store-bought marinara if you’re feeling ambitious! The marinara sauce from this recipe is my favorite.
• Different herbs: Use whatever herbs you like best. I’ve included my favorites in the recipe card, but don’t add an herb you don’t like. If you have fresh herbs, feel free to use those instead of the dried ones.
• Different cheese: Try using Romano cheese in place of Parmesan, or Provolone in place of mozzarella.
• Stuffed Shells with Chicken: Check out this chicken Parmesan stuffed shells recipe.
• Stuffed Shells with Sausage: Check out this recipe. (It also has cream cheese if that’s your jam!)

Stuffed Shells tips

• “Stuff” the shells more efficiently: Add the cheese/ricotta mixture to a gallon-sized plastic zipper-top bag. Press the cheese mixture to one side of the bag and using scissors, cut off a 1-inch opening in the corner. Squeeze the cheese mixture into each shell and gently press the mixture down to make sure the cheese is even with the top of the shells. (I’ve measured the exact cheese filling several times and it perfectly fills 25 shells with about 1 tablespoon leftover. Knowing this, you can eyeball how much cheese you put in each shell making sure the cheese evenly fills at least 25 shells.)
• Cook a few extra shells: Occasionally a shell will break, so boil a few extra shells to use just in case. Eat the leftover shells with some of the leftover marinara sauce!
• Completely cover the shells: Aim to cover every part of the shells with marinara sauce so you don’t get crispy/overcooked edges.

Stuffed Shells FAQs

Serve with one of the following sides

• Cucumber Saladwith a balsamic dressing
• Caprese Saladwith a basil dressing
• Roasted Vegetables(or justRoasted Carrots)
• Quinoa Saladwith a lemon vinaigrette