Stuffed Shells Recipe (2024)

I have cooked an entire package of the big shells, stuffed each with the ricotta mixture, and let them cool on waxed paper. Then loaded them into freezer bags and froze them. They don’t stick together. Later thawed the stuffed shells and finished with sauce. This way you can take out as many frozen shells as you wish to bake with the sauce. They came out very well. Did this many times.

There is no need to boil the shells. Put the shells into a large bowl of warm, salted water and let sit for about 1 1/2 hours. Drain and fill the shells. The shells are flexible and feel 'rubbery' and tend not to tear when manhandled. The shells are perfectly cooked as the dish comes out of the oven.

I loved the dish and so did everyone else! The whole casserole was demolished at dinner. Delicious! Sauce was excellent. I reduced the parmesan a little and added half a bunch of spinach to the filling (chopped fine). I used about 1.5 Tbsp filling per shell and was able to use all the shells in my 12 oz box except maybe 4. It all fit in my 9x13.Served with fresh herbs scattered on top. Will do all of it again :)

Great, easy recipe. The cheese stuffing is delicious. Add red pepper flakes to the sauce.

Forgot to add to previous note:*One whole egg works as well as two yolks in our experience.

I would add chopped parsley and/or chopped proscuitto to the stuffing mix

My mom got her recipe back in the 50s from lovely elderly Italian grandma, similar to this one. She had a few more ingredients, including 2 whole eggs and 1/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs for the stuffing. Its been passed down to our grand babies now - a family favorite, delish feast - together with garlic bread of course.

Easy and delicious. I used tomato sauce I had on hand and added lots of chopped parsley to the filling. My baking dish is slightly smaller and holds only 15-17 VERY stuffed shells. Also took the suggestion to broil a bit at the end for nicely browned bits. I’d always used a whole egg in stuffed shell filling previously, and I think the 2 egg yolks worked well.

*Shells can be made & stuffed then cooled & put on a baking sheet or other flat tray in freezer & when frozen stored in zip loc bag until ready to use them - then put in dish with sauce to bake per recipe.*Made as written & also with blanched chopped chard in filling. *Sauce is simple & tasty - we increase by 50%.*Spare par-cooked & unstuffed shells can be cooled & frozen to use - we discovered they were easy to handle just barely thawed to fill then & bake.

I like to do half ricotta and half mascarpone and it adds some richness!

I made the recipe exactly. I loved the sauce. My only criticism is that there wasn't enough of it - though I don't see anyone else commenting about it, so maybe I did something wrong. Next time I might make half again as much sauce and either add it to the pan or pass it around for people to add more.

I added half pound of Italian sausage to sauce. Accidentally grabbed whole San Marzano tomatoes at store instead of sauce, so I had to use food processor to puree them. Sauce turned out fabulous! I added Italian seasoning to the sauce and the cheese mixture.

Looks wonderful but more like weekend, not weeknight cooking to me. Store bought sauce is not much of a shortcut since homemade is hardly any more effort. Mixing up cheese, boiling and stuffing shells after a long day is too much for an amateur like me.

Yum!!! I added 1 T of balsamic vinegar, and some red pepper flakes to the sauce. I also added fresh parsley and chopped spinach to the filling. Aluminum foil sometimes breaks down when it is in contact with tomato sauce. Since I don't want to risk having aluminum bits in my dish, I cover it with parchment paper first, then aluminum foil on top of that. It has the advantage of staying clean so that the foil can be reused. Win win!

I made this as directed for a special Valentines dinner and though it was time intensive, it was a labor of love! OMG so delicious. I don’t know where one can buy fresh ricotta but I have made this recipe from Epicurious many times for lasagna. It is so worth the extra effort and ups your ricotta game exponentially. These shells were the perfect excuse to make it again. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fresh-homemade-ricotta-234282

The final step of putting the dish under the broiler is critical, I think. The tomato sauce caramelizes and gets sweet and adds a great deal of depth to the dish. I thought maybe I might need to add a touch of heat, via pepperoncini, to the filling, but it wasn't needed. There was plenty of depth of flavor without it.

Delicious! I already had made marinara and bolognese and combined those for the sauce. I read someone’s suggestion to use 1/2 mascarpone so did that. I kept some and took some to friend whose husband is battling cancer. Big raves from my husband and my friend. I will be making this again.

Great recipe. I agree with other commenters that this is very easy if you make and freeze the stuffed shells separately.

Add red pepper, basil and spinach

I’m in Ireland, can someone please explain what tomato paste is? Here it’s the same as puree so I’m confused, can I use canned tomatoes or do I need to cook them down to make them more concentrated as in a paste?

Alex - Use three cloves of garlic instead of 1. Add 2 tbsp fresh oregano to ricotta mixture. Use the cheese blend I bought instead of mozzarella

I had extra basil and parsley on hand so I minced and added some to the cheese stuffing - very yummy. I also highly recommend broiling for the last 5 mins

Just delicious. There are ways to fancy this up/ but great recipe.

I assembled each component of this dish the day before with the exception of the shells. I followed Ina Garten's method of making lasagna where she puts the uncooked pasta in very hot water, adding just a cup or so of boiling water. I soaked them for 15 minutes, stuffed them, refrigerated them, then baked them covered for 20 minutes, removed cover for 25 minutes more. The pasta was tender, cheesy and really delicious but could feed an army. Cut in half next time.

Use one whole egg instead of two yolks.

You MUST double the sauce recipe ( as many recommended!) for adequate sauce! Puréed 2 28 oz cans of whole San Marzino tomatoes and did not dilute with pasta water when pouring over the filled shells. I used 1 1/2 lbs of ricotta , added chopped fresh spinach and minced grilled mushrooms and had enough filling for 33 jumbo shells!! WONDERFUL!!

Double recipe

Bland. I like my other recipe with spinach, more garlic, etc

Delish, easy and great for a winter night. Next time, I’ll spice up the filling a bit. Maybe add hot pepper flakes. It will be fun to play with a variety of fillings — puréed butternut squash? Mushrooms and ricotta.

Delicious special-occasion meal. Definitely plan ahead; it is a 2 hour job to get it into the oven. Made a double batch to freeze (stuffed shells and sauce frozen separately). Added one package of frozen chopped spinach, drained, to the filling.