Stuffed Shells with Meat (Easy + Customizable!)

Stuffed Shells with Meat in baking dish ready to serve.

Stuffed Shells with Meat (Easy + Customizable!)

Stuffed Shells with Meat are easy to make, fun to eat, and loaded with cheese, marinara, and whatever meat you like, such as ground beef, ground turkey, Italian sausage, or even diced cooked chicken!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings to 6 servings (18 total shells, so 3 to 4 shells per serving)

Calories 385kcal

Author Samantha Skaggs

Equipment

Ingredients

18 jumbo pasta shells about half of a 12-ounce box
½ pound ground beef, ground turkey, or Italian sausage (OR 1 ½ cups cooked diced chicken)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) tub small-curd cottage cheese
1 egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella OR Italian blend cheese DIVIDED
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan DIVIDED
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3 cups marinara/pasta sauce homemade or 1 (24- to 28-ounce) jar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of sugar OR small squeeze of honey optional

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the pasta shells and slightly undercook according to package directions (until not quite al dente, as the pasta will continue to cook and soften later in the oven). Rinse with cold water and drain; set aside.
While the shells are cooking, brown the ground beef/ground turkey/Italian sausage over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Drain and season to taste, with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. (If using cooked diced chicken, you can skip this cooking step.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or generously spray with cooking spray a 3-quart/9- by 13-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, egg, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, and dried parsley until well-combined. Stir in the cooled, cooked meat; set aside.
In another bowl, combine the marinara, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and sugar or honey (if using).
Spread 1 cup pasta sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Use a spoon to carefully fill the cooked pasta shells with the cottage cheese/meat mixture. Arrange each stuffed shell, seam side up, on top of the pasta sauce in the baking dish. (If you have any filling leftover after all of the shells have been stuffed, you can stuff it into less-full shells or dollop it over the tops of the shells in the dish.)
Pour the remaining pasta sauce over the tops of the shells, making sure that they’re all covered. Sprinkle with the remaining shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

Notes

This recipe was tested using Barilla Jumbo Shells. I boiled them for 10 minutes before draining.
If making this recipe with meat that’s sold in a 1-pound package, I go ahead and cook the full pound, then drain and season with salt and pepper. I use half of the cooked meat in this recipe and transfer the other half to a freezer-thickness zip-top bag. I label and freeze (for up to 3 months) to use in future recipes.
You can use whole milk, low-fat, or fat-free cottage cheese. Or you can substitute ricotta for the cottage cheese, if you like.
You can substitute a 10-ounce box of frozen chopped spinach for the meat, if you wish. Thaw and drain, squeezing out all of the water (I put it in a sieve lined with paper towels and press down with a spoon to extract as much water as possible) before stirring it into the cottage cheese mixture.
To help fill my shells equally, I smooth my filling into an even layer in the bowl and then use a butter knife to cut it into fourths (like a pie). Then I use a spoon to fill my shells, knowing that each “fourth” of the filling should be divided between about 4 ½ shells, for a grand total of 18 shells.
The optional sugar/honey is to balance the acidity of the tomato sauce. It won’t make the sauce taste sweet.
If you’re short on time, you can use a jar of marinara/pasta sauce without adding the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and sugar. Those ingredients just serve to make jarred marinara taste more like homemade.
Line up your shells in 3 rows of 6. I prefer placing my shells seam side up so that the filling doesn’t all leak out.
I make this recipe in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish I have that actually measures 9- by 12- by 3-inches, which provides a snugger fit for the shells.
FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS: If you double this recipe and make it in two dishes (in order to use up an entire 12-ounce box of jumbo shells), you can freeze one dish for a future meal. Assemble as directed, but do not bake. Cover tightly with two layers of heavy-duty foil or three layers of regular foil, label, and freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy your Stuffed Shells, transfer the dish to the refrigerator 24 hours before you plan to bake it. Remove all but one layer of foil, and allow the dish to come to room temperature while the oven preheats to 350°F. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes, and then uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted and the shells are heated through.
This recipe can be baked directly from frozen, but I would recommend assembling it in a disposable aluminum pan if that’s your plan. A ceramic dish may experience thermal shock and shatter if it goes directly from the freezer to the oven. Also, the baking time from frozen will need to be increased to around 1 ½ hours, and then uncover and continue baking until the cheese is melted and the shells are hot in the center.

Nutrition