Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells are a savory pasta dish filled with the classic Chicken Alfredo flavors. Using either homemade or jarred Alfredo sauce, it pairs perfectly with the filling made up of shredded chicken, parmesan cheese and cottage cheese.
Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells
I recently made Classic Stuffed Shells for the first time in a very, very long time. You can find the recipe here on my blog. The week that I was testing out the stuffed shells recipe, Dan and I ate it for dinner every single night. (And that is how glamorous food blogging truly is. 😉) But great news! We never even got tired of them. In fact, we just kept talking about how many different spins a ‘Stuffed Shell’ could take.
One of those spins we discussed (in great detail while our mouths were watering) are these Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells. We have always been more of an Alfredo kind of family vs a red pasta sauce kind of family. Nothing against Red Sauced pasta dishes, Alfredo just makes more frequent appearances. 😉
Let me tell you, these stuffed shells do not disappoint! They are so rich, creamy, cheesy. Absolute perfection, if you ask me! Again, we have basically had these for dinner every night this week and plan on making them again tomorrow! I can’t wait for you to try them, I just know you’ll love them!
Ingredients In Chicken Alfredo Shells
- Pasta Shells- Make sure to get the JUMBO ones. You want the to be big enough to stuff full of yummy cheese!
- Cottage Cheese- I know, this is a controversial ingredient. Some people would cringe and demand only ricotta should go in a pasta recipe. And that’s okay! I grew up on cottage cheese so that is what I like, but you do you. If ricotta is your thing, feel free to substitute.
- Parmesan Cheese- Real Parmesan cheese. None of that canned powdered stuff.
- Shredded Cheese- This is a great recipe to use leftover rotisserie chicken. Or try out my super fast and easy Instant Pot Shredded Chicken.
- Dried Parsley
- Egg- This acts as a binder for the cheese.
- Alfredo Sauce- Obviously, I prefer my homemade alfredo sauce for this recipe. But you can use store bought as well.
[mv_video aspectRatio=”true” key=”blc6nla1y666nwwcb9fl” sticky=”true” thumbnail=”https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/blc6nla1y666nwwcb9fl.jpg” title=”Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells” volume=”70″]
How to make Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells
At first, it may look like Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells are a lot of work and/or complicated. Stick with me, I promise you, they are not! You could make this recipe extremely easy by using a rotisserie chicken and jarred Alfredo sauce, or you could go from scratch top to bottom!
First we need to pre-boil the Jumbo Pasta Shells. I like to use my Instant Pot to boil the shells but this can be done on the stove top as well.
If using the Instant Pot you’ll want to cover the pasta with water and then cook on Manual HIGH for 3 minutes with a 5 min NPR.
I haven’t tested boiling the shells on the stove top, so I would just watch them. You want to almost cook them fully, they need to be cooked but still be firm enough to hold the shell shape.
While the shells are boiling, we will want to make the Alfredo Sauce and mix together the filling.
For the filling, cottage cheese, shredded chicken, parmesan cheese, an egg, salt, pepper and dried parsley are mixed together.
You can use rotisserie chicken here, or if you’d rather cook up your own you can find all of the information about cooking chicken breasts and chicken tenders in your Instant Pot here on my blog.
To make the homemade Alfredo Sauce, if that is what you prefer, you’ll bring butter, heavy cream and garlic to a boil and then slowly add in parmesan cheese. It is rich (not one ounce healthy buuuuut) really, really good! Check out my Homemade Alfredo Sauce Post for all the step by step details and instructions.
Once the pasta shells have boiled, drain and rinse them in cold water. Pour about 1/2 cup of Alfredo Sauce into the bottom of your baking dish, spread around to cover the bottom.
Divide the filling up amongst 10-12 pre-boiled shells. Remember these shells are jumbo! I can barely eat two of them in one sitting.
Repeat filling the shells until the filling is gone. Arrange in the baking dish. Pour the remaining Alfredo Sauce on top of the shells and finish it off with some parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes. Take the foil off and broil until the cheese is brown and bubbly, if desired.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley to garnish and DIG IN!!
We typically eat these Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells alongside some Oven Roasted Broccoli, fresh fruit and maybe some garlic bread.
How To Store Leftover Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells
Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can I make this dish any healthier?
If you want to cut some of the fat and extra calories, give this Healthy Alfredo Sauce Recipe a try.
How To Reheat Leftovers
You can heat up a single serving quickly in the microwave. But if you want to warm all your leftovers up at once, cover them with foil and toss them in the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until they are warmed through.
If you loved what you saw here, get more of it on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest! I’d love to connect! Sign up for my weekly newsletter below to never miss a new recipe again!
[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_2″]
Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 10-15 pasta shells
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese divided
- 1 cup shredded chicken
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cup Alfredo Sauce
Instructions
- Pre cook the pasta shells. (I suggest cooking 15 even though you will only fill 10 just in case a few shells rip!) If using your Instant Pot to pre cook the shells, cover the shells with water and cook on Manual HIGH for 3 min with a 5 min NPR. If using the stove top, boil the shells until al dente.
- Rinse the shells under cold water when they are finished cooking.
- While the shells are boiling, make the cheese filling.
- Combine the cottage cheese, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded chicken, parsley, salt, pepper and the egg in a medium sized bowl. Stir thoroughly.
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Pour 1/2 cup of the Alfredo sauce on the bottom of an 8×8 pan.
- Spoon the filling into each shell, one at a time, arranging the shells in the pan as you go. You will end up with 2 rows of 5 shells.
- Pour the remaining Alfredo sauce on top of the shells. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.
- Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
- Allow the shells to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Becky says
So yummy! There were no leftovers wth this one.
karlibitner says
So happy to hear that, Becky!! Glad you and your fam enjoyed it!
Kaitlyn says
Hi Karli, Do you think these could be made ahead of time and then put in the freezer until ready to bake? We like to make freezer meals when we go to the beach so its less prepping when we get there!
Karli Bitner says
Hi Kaitlyn! I haven’t tried freezing this dish. I worry that the Alfredo Sauce will break when it is reheated. If you do give it a try, let me know how it goes!
Tammy Mendell says
Wow, wow, WOW!!!!! This recipe and your Alfredo sauce recipe were absolutely AMAZING! I finished eating ten minutes ago and can’t shut up about how much I loved everything about it. It will be made at least once a month now. Thank you so much for sharing!
Lisa says
I have to say I have yet to try any of your recipes that I didn’t love! My son-in-law was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Would you happen to have the nutritional breakdown for this recipe? I think we stand a better chance of him computing to his diet if we can incorporate small portions of things like this from time to time. Thanks for all you do!
Cooking with Karli says
Thank you for the comment. I have just updated the post to include the nutritional breakdown. I hope you have a wonderful day.