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Stuffed Shells Recipe is an easy yet fancy dinner recipe. The Jumbo Pasta Shells are stuffed with a simple mixture of cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and an egg. Covered with red pasta sauce and baked to perfection, your family will love this meal!

Easy Stuffed Shells recipe, final shot.

Stuffed Shells Recipe- The EASY (and versatile) way! 

Stuffed Shells are one of those meals that seem super intimidating. Let me tell you.. Don’t be scared!! They are actually super easy. Yes, they do take a little bit of prep work and time in the kitchen, but they are 100% totally worth it in my humble opinion. 😉

Let’s talk about the versatility in this recipe. This actually goes for the majority of my recipes, too. My goal is to give you a great, reliable base recipe. My recipes are meant to be tweaked, added to etc. I want you to change things up to cater to your family’s taste. 

With this recipe if you prefer ricotta cheese, USE IT! If you want to add shredded chicken to the filling, DO IT! The recipe here is absolutely delicious exactly as written, but you can definitely kick it up a notch or two if you want to!

If you’d like to add ground beef to the meal, I would suggest browning ground beef and then adding it to the sauce. 

stuffed shells, plated.

How to Make my Stuffed Shells Recipe

First thing to do is pre-boil the shells. In this recipe I use the Jumbo 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 cooking, make the cheese filling. The cheese filling consists of cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and an egg.

cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and egg for the stuffed shells filling.

Combine the cheese filling by stirring until mixed thoroughly. Once the shells are finished cooking, rinse them under cool water and then fill them immediately. 

Cover the bottom of your baking dish with 1 cup of red pasta sauce (like spaghetti sauce) before arranging the filled shells. 

Fill each shell by spooning the filling in. Arrange in your baking dish. This recipe makes an 8×8 pan, which fits 10 jumbo shells. This will serve 4-6 people. 

stuffed shells in the pan

Pour a little extra pasta sauce on top of the shells, top with shredded parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and then bake at 350° for 30 minutes. You can take the foil off and broil for a few minutes at the end to get some color onto the dish if you’d like. 

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

stuffed shells, cooked and being served.

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Stuffed Shells Recipe is an easy yet fancy dinner recipe. The Jumbo Pasta Shells are stuffed with a simple mixture of cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and an egg. Covered with red pasta sauce and baked to perfection, your family will love this meal! |Cooking with Karli| #stuffedshells #recipe #easy #cottagecheese #redsauce #pasta #nomeat #instantpot

NEW TO THE INSTANT POT?? Check out my brand new Instant Pot Beginner’s Guide & Recipe eBook!! 

 

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Stuffed Shells Recipe

Stuffed Shells Recipe is an easy yet fancy dinner recipe. The Jumbo Pasta Shells are stuffed with a simple mixture of cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and an egg. Covered with red pasta sauce and baked to perfection, your family will love this meal!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 

  • 10 jumbo pasta shells
  • 16 oz cottage cheese
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided
  • 2 tsp dried parsley
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cup red pasta sauce (like spaghetti sauce), divided

Instructions 

  • Pre cook the pasta shells. (I suggest cooking a few extra just in case a one rips!) 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, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and the egg in a medium sized bowl. Stir thoroughly.
  • Preheat the oven to 350°.
  • Pour 1 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of an 8x8 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 additional 1/2 cup of pasta sauce on top of the shells. Top with the remains 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. 
  • Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. 
  • Allow the shells to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Notes

If you'd like to add ground beef to this recipe, I would suggest browning the ground beef on the stove top and adding it to the red pasta sauce. 
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Stuffed Shells Recipe

Stuffed Shells Recipe is an easy yet fancy dinner recipe. The Jumbo Pasta Shells are stuffed with a simple mixture of cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and an egg. Covered with red pasta sauce and baked to perfection, your family will love this meal!

 Course Main Course

 Prep Time 20 minutes

 Cook Time 30 minutes

 Total Time 50 minutes

 Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 10 jumbo pasta shells
  • 16 oz cottage cheese
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese divided
  • 2 tsp dried parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cup red pasta sauce (like spaghetti sauce) divided

Instructions

  1. Pre cook the pasta shells. (I suggest cooking a few extra just in case a one rips!) 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. 
  2. Rinse the shells under cold water when they are finished cooking.
  3. While the shells are boiling, make the cheese filling. 
  4. Combine the cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and the egg in a medium sized bowl. Stir thoroughly.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  6. Pour 1 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of an 8×8 pan. 
  7. 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. 
  8. Pour the additional 1/2 cup of pasta sauce on top of the shells. Top with the remains 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. 
  9. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. 
  10. Allow the shells to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Notes

If you’d like to add ground beef to this recipe, I would suggest browning the ground beef on the stove top and adding it to the red pasta sauce. 

 

 

About Karli Bitner

This blog is a little glimpse into my kitchen, family & life. I hope you’ll giggle the days away with me and enjoy the craziness that goes on at my house. If you are Cookie obsessed like I am, check out my Sister Site, Cookies for Days.

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2 Comments

  1. Made this last night for my 2 year old & boyfriend who hates lasagna -both gobbled it up! I added some ground beef and a little more sauce for my picky eaters. Absolutely delicious and it makes for the perfect quick weeknight dinner meal!

    I did make the mistake of not covering with foil ( I used the print out recipe), but it just took a little longer in the oven and still turned out wonderful!