These deliciously cheesy Baked Stuffed Shells are filled to the brim with three types of cheese, then topped with a meat sauce and more mozzarella. Baked to golden brown perfection, these stuffed shells never get old! You’ll want to add these stuffed pasta shells to your regular meal rotation!
On busy weeknights when I need an easy recipe but still want a hearty meal, I turn to pasta dishes. While these jumbo shells may look a bit complicated, they are actually pretty easy to make! And they come together in less than an hour. Who can say “no” to something so deliciously cheesy? Your whole family will love them too.
SAVE THIS RECIPE FOR BAKED STUFFED SHELLS TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
Tips for Perfect Pasta
- When boiling the shells, undercook your pasta by 1-2 minutes. This makes them easier to stuff, and they will continue to cook when baking.
- Save any broken shells in the package to use in other dishes. You’ll want complete shells for this recipe to keep all that cheesy stuffing inside!
- Whole wheat pasta is a healthy choice if you’re looking for a bit more fiber in your diet.
Ingredients for Baked Stuffed Shells
Gather the ingredients you’ll need to make this tasty dinner. You will need the following things:
- 20 jumbo pasta shells (or about 6 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ lb. ground beef
- 1 24-ounce jar of pasta sauce
- 1 15-ounce container of ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella divided
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
What kind of pasta sauce should I use?
Use your favorite marinara sauce, or if you don’t have one, look for a high-quality jarred marinara sauce like Newman’s Own or Classico.
It’s a little more expensive, but we absolutely love the fresh homemade taste of Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce.
Marinara sauce is the perfect sauce to keep on hand in your pantry for use in all those last-minute dinners. Or, if you’re up to it, you can even use our own homemade meat sauce that I use in my lasagna!
How to make this Stuffed Shells recipe
Pasta: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×13 casserole dish by spraying it with cooking spray. While the oven is heating up, cook the shells in a large pot of salted water according to the package directions for al dente pasta, or reduce the total boiling time by 1-2 minutes (see the note above). Drain the shells and set them to the side.
Meat Sauce: Pour the olive oil into a skillet and warm it over medium heat. Sautée the garlic and onion until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until browned, then pour the pasta sauce over the meat and simmer on low until you are ready to use it.
Filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg. Add the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Mix well.
Stuff and Bake: Place ⅓ of the meat sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and spread evenly. Fill each shell with the filling using a spoon or by transferring the ricotta mixture to a piping bag and filling it that way. Place each shell into the baking dish, then pour the remaining sauce over the filled shells.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the tin foil and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese over the shells. Return the dish to the oven without the tin foil to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted.
How to store leftover Baked Stuffed Shells
If you have any of this cheesy goodness left, you can refrigerate them and serve them for up to four days, though they really taste best the next day. Cover the shells in the pan tightly with tin foil before refrigerating, or transfer them to an airtight container.
Can these Baked Shells be made ahead of time?
Great news! You can make this dish in the morning for tonight’s dinner! Make this as directed up to 8 hours in advance, then cover tightly with foil and refrigerate until you are ready to bake them. If you make them much earlier than that, the shells may be too soggy to turn out properly.
Flavor Variations
There are all sorts of things you could add to this classic stuffed shell recipe:
- Swap your protein, or leave it out entirely! Try ground turkey or Italian sausage in place of the beef, or just stick with cheese and marinara sauce. It’d be a great meatless dinner if you omit the ground beef and just top them with a plain pasta sauce.
- Add cooked spinach to your ricotta filling before filling your pasta shells.
- Try different cheeses, such as cottage cheese, or swap out full-fat cheese for part-skim versions.
- Make it with Alfredo or pesto sauce instead of the meat-based tomato sauce.
What should I serve Baked Stuffed Shells with?
This tasty pasta dish pairs well with a simple green salad and some crusty bread. Try Grandma’s Homemade Italian Bread recipe! The bread and pasta go SO well together.
Other Pasta Recipes you’ll love
Ooh, we love pasta around these parts! You’ll find tons of delicious pasta recipes here. For now, try some of these favorites:
- Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups
- Chicken Mozzarella Pasta
- Lasagna Pasta Skewers
- Pizza Stuffed Shells
- Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
These easy stuffed pasta shells are a hearty dinner that the whole family will love. This shells recipe is one you’ll come back to again and again.
Baked Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 20 jumbo pasta shells 6 ounces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ pound ground beef
- 24 ounces pasta sauce or my homemade meat sauce
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella divided
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and prepare a 9 X 13-inch baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
- Cook pasta shells according to package directions.
- Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and warm over medium heat.
- Sautée the garlic and onion until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until brown.
- Pour in the pasta sauce and simmer on low until ready to use.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg. Add the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and parsley. Mix well.
- Place 1/3 of the meat sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Fill each shell with the filling and place into the baking dish.
- Pour remaining meat sauce over the shells and cover the pan with tin foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove tin foil and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella over the shells. Return to oven to bake uncovered for another 5 – 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Nutrition
This post was originally published 2/24/14. It has been updated in format and with pictures on 12/14/22.
Comments & Reviews
Love your recipes… Have you published a cookbook ?
Glenda, thanks for asking. I have not, but most certainly hope to! Be on the lookout as any news I have to share will most certainly be posted on our FB page and here on the blog. Thanks so much for your support!
can you freeze these before you put the sauce on. i used to make these when the kids were still home but would use cottage cheese also it make the ricotta go farther for less money. great recipes
I like that idea about the cottage cheese, Dianna!
I haven’t frozen them, but I suppose you could. I’ve frozen my lasagna in the past and haven’t had an issue. If you do, please let me know how they turned out!
I want to make this receipe but I need step by step instructions. What temperature do I preheat oven to?
Aahhhh, Joyce, I’m SO sorry!! We were fixing the format of the recipe and instead of pasting the instructions where they should go, we pasted the ingredients again. I’ll be sure to get that fixed. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place enough amount of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish to cover it.
Mix the 1 15 ounce container ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella, parmesan cheese, the egg and parsley in a bowl and then evenly divide into the shells, cooked according to the package directions. Cover with remaining meat sauce.
Place tin foil over the baking dish and cook for 25 – 30 minutes.
Remove tinfoil and sprinkle with remaining cup of shredded mozzarella. Bake for another 7 – 10 minutes, uncovered until cheese melts. Hope that works for you!
Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention!
Thank you so much for the steps. I made this for dinner and my husband loved it. Thanks again!
Making for the family on Sunday family night. Looks good and a definite crowd pleaser.
I’m so happy to hear that, Traci! Thanks so much. Enjoy it!
I made this recipe . It was fantastic. My family lovei t. Very easy to make. I added Italian sweet sausage with hamburger. The easiest stuff shells recipe by far.
Thank you so much, Kathleen! I’m so very glad the whole family loved it. I love the addition of the sausage, will have to try that next time I make them.
Love this recipe! Tonight’s the second time I’ve followed it completely -a new family favorite
Chrystal, thank you so much for letting me know. I’m so happy to hear that the whole family loves them!
How many shells are in a serving? I know it calls for 20 shells but we are watching our calorie intake. I think these would be great for our meal preps with having 517 calories per serving I just need to know how many shells are in a serving
Tiffany, the recipe calls for 20 shells and says it serves 6, so about 3 shells per person for the 556 calories in one serving.
I’ve been looking for a similar recipe I got off a box of your giant pasta shells, it also had 1-cup of Parmesan chopped frozen spinach and some nutmeg added covered shells with marinara and mozzarella
Made this tonight. It was delicious!! Will definitely make this again! Thanks for the great recipe 🥰
Laurine, that makes me SO happy to hear. Thank you!! I really appreciate that you took the time to let me know and for the rating. ❤️
Used this recipe for a kids baking class! It was fabulous!! Thank you!
Heather, that’s so awesome, thank you so much!! I’m so glad you liked them and am honored that you used it in class. Thank you!! ❤️
Hope you’re staying dry up there in Boston. We’ve been getting SO much rain!
What kind of ricotta do you recommend?
Kaitlin, I typically use part skim ricotta in this shells recipe as well as my lasagna, but you can use whichever you prefer. For the recipe’s nutritional information, I use whole milk ricotta if that’s a concern. Enjoy it!