How Long To Bake Stuffed Shells

Stuffed Shells Recipe (How to Make Stuffed Shells)

Cheesy Blimp Shells Recipe made with a flavorful three-cheese ricotta filling and easy, homemade marinara sauce. Learn how to make this delicious stuffed shells recipe and make alee of fourth dimension for an easy weeknight dinner or freeze leftovers for subsequently!

Close up image of cheesy stuffed shells smothered in marinara sauce.

Recipe For Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells remind me of my childhood. My mom would always buy frozen, pre-stuffed shells, whichever store-bought pasta sauce that was on sale, top with cheese, and broil. Piece of cake, delicious, and still i of those feel-expert family comfort foods.

While I will always love my mother's less-than-homemade version of stuffed shells, I adopt my ain homemade version. Flossy, succulent, and So total of flavour.

This recipe is incredibly easy to make, BUT also very time-consuming (peculiarly if you make bootleg pasta sauce). Like lasagna, you'll need a solid i-two hours to make stuffed shells from scratch start to finish. I don't know virtually you guys, but that'southward not something I can exercise mid-week all the time. My advice? Make extra! Double or even triple the recipe and freeze leftovers for a rainy, lazy dinner.

Tip – Add some ground beef, ground turkey, or Italian sausage to your pasta sauce for an extra compact, cheesy, and comforting goulash pasta dish.

Saucepot filled with homemade tomato sauce.

How to Make Stuffed Shells

For the full list and amounts of ingredients, ringlet down to the recipe menu at the bottom of the page.

To prepare this recipe you'll demand:

9×13 inch baking dish
Mixing bowls and measuring spoons
Stockpot
Rimmed baking sheet

Stride one – Cook the pasta shells.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted h2o to a boil. Add together your colossal shells and cook for approximately 6-viii minutes, or until al dente (I like to melt mine 1-2 minutes less than the recommended cooking fourth dimension to preclude them from overcooking and becoming soggy).

Bleed and rinse the shells with cold water. Immediately transfer shells to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to forbid them from sticking together.

Al dente pasta shells on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pace 2 – Preheat and set.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a large 9×13 inch blistering pan with not-stick cooking spray and spread 1-ii cups of prepared pasta sauce over the lesser of the baking dish.

Pace three – Gear up the ricotta mixture.

Transfer the eggs, ricotta cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, common salt, and pepper to a large basin. Mix well to combine. Add the shredded parmesan cheese and 1 loving cup of shredded mozzarella cheese to the ricotta mixture and mix again.

Ricotta mixture

Step 4 – Stuff your shells.

Fill up each vanquish with approximately 2 tablespoons of the three-cheese ricotta mixture. Transfer each shell, seam-side-upward, to the prepared blistering dish.

Spoon boosted sauce on and around the shells and sprinkle with the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese.

Footstep five – Bake.

Tent the blistering pan with aluminum foil and transfer to the preheated oven. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.

How Long to Bake Stuffed Shells

Blimp shells accept approximately 20-25 minutes to melt in a preheated oven gear up at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. For a golden cheesy top, remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 5-ten minutes.

White baking dish filled with shells stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with homemade marinara sauce

Can yous Freeze Stuffed Shells?

Blimp shells can be prepared and frozen for up to 3 months.

To freeze your stuffed shells, embrace your preparedunbaked shells with plastic wrap and press down, removing every bit much air as possible. Comprehend tightly with aluminum foil and transfer to the freezer.

To cook stuffed shells from frozen, simply thaw in the refrigerator overnight and so bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. To cook straight from frozen, tent your baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 50-hour.

What to Serve with Stuffed Shells

I love serving stuffed shells with a calorie-free salad like this Balsamic Tomato Salad or easy Spinach Salad. Of course, veggies are always a swell idea, like these Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Roasted Asparagus, or yummy cooked Beets (which happen to be my personal favorite).

Demand more protein yous tin always serve a basin with,

Garlic Butter Steak Bites (reader favorite!)
Roast Chicken Recipe
Easy Broiled Chicken Breasts (gustation great with everything!)
Garlic Herb Lamb Chops (delicious alternative to beef or chicken)
Garlic Butter Pork Chops

Blimp Shells in the Tiresome Cooker

Is it possible to melt stuffed shells in the Crockpot? YES!

It is totally possible to make this recipe (or at least finish it) in the slow cooker. To ready this in the irksome cooker only follow the instructions every bit instructed, only rather than transferring the shells and sauce to a baking dish, add it to the bowl of a big slow cooker. Top with cheese and melt on high for 4-6 hours.

Small dinner plate with 5 pasta shells stuffed with ricotta cheese.

Tips and Tricks

Boil shells until al dente, or possibly a little less. If you lot overcook the shells, the pasta will get delicate and fall apart when blimp with cheese.
I like to rinse my shells with cool h2o andimmediately transfer to a baking canvas lined with parchment newspaper. This helps prevent the shells from sticking to each other.
Employ a small spoon to make full each pasta shell, or, for extra speedy beat stuffing, transfer the ricotta filling to a large ziplock pocketbook with the tip cut off.
If you don't like ricotta, bandy information technology for cottage cheese. Brand the filling extra flossy and add together softened cream cheese.
Add together your favorite store-bought sauce or attempt this blimp shells recipe with homemade tomato plant sauce (recipe below), meaty spaghetti sauce, or spicy arrabbiata sauce.

More Pasta Recipes,

30 Infinitesimal Flossy Ham and Pea Pasta

Easy Pasta Primavera Recipe

Penne Arrabbiata Recipe

Like shooting fish in a barrel Craven Tetrazzini Recipe

If you try making this Stuffed Shells Recipe , please leave me a annotate and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.

Stuffed shells baked with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese in a baking dish.

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Stuffed shells baked with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese in a baking dish.

Blimp Shells Recipe

Classic Cheesy Stuffed Shells Recipe made with a flavorful 3-cheese ricotta filling and piece of cake, homemade marinara sauce. Learn how to brand this delicious blimp shells recipe and make ahead of time for an easy weeknight dinner or freeze leftovers for later on!

Prep Time twenty mins

Cook Fourth dimension 1 hr x mins

Total Time 1 hr 30 mins

Course Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 10

Calories 312 kcal

For the Shells

▢ 1 (12 ounce) packet jumbo pasta shells
▢ four cups bootleg pasta sauce (recipe beneath) (or 2 (sixteen ounce) jars store-bought sauce)
▢ two large eggs (browbeaten)
▢ 30 ounces ricotta cheese ((2 containers))
▢ ii tablespoon parsley (minced)
▢ ane teaspoon Italian seasoning
▢ ½ teaspoon onion powder
▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
▢ 1 teaspoon salt
▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground blackness pepper
▢ 1 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
▢ two cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Melt Way Forestall your screen from going night

For the Sauce

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high oestrus. Add together the onion and stir well to coat in the olive oil. Cook until soft, approximately 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper to the onions. Mix well and go along to cook for an additional 30-60 seconds.
Increase estrus to medium-high. Mix in the tomato paste and cook, stirring continuously for approximately ii minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice and sugar and mix well to combine.
Melt the sauce, mashing the tomatoes with a tater masher or wooden spoon. Allow the sauce to come to a low simmer before reducing heat to low. Allow the sauce to cook, uncovered, for approximately 25 minutes, mashing occasionally as needed.
If y'all prefer a smoother sauce, transfer part, or all, of the sauce to a big blender and process until desired consistency is reached. Render the sauce back to the pot and season with additional salt and pepper, to gustation. Ready aside.

For the Shells

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add together the shells and cook for approximately vi-viii minutes, or until al dente (I like to melt mine at least 1-2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time to prevent them from overcooking and becoming soggy). Drain and rinse shells with cold h2o. Immediately transfer shells to a baking sheet lined with parchment newspaper to prevent them from sticking together.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread 1-ii cups of prepared pasta sauce over the bottom of the baking dish.
Transfer the eggs, ricotta cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to a big mixing bowl. Mix well to combine. Add the shredded parmesan cheese and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese to the ricotta mixture and mix again.
Fill each shell with approximately 2 tablespoons of the prepared cheese mixture and transfer to the prepared baking pan.
Spoon additional sauce on and around the shells and sprinkle with the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese (and chopped parsley, if desired).
Tent the blistering pan with foil and transfer to the preheated oven. Broil until golden, approximately 20-25 minutes. For a golden cheesy summit, remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 5-x minutes.

Save time and use your favorite store-bought sauce or prepare the sauce the day before.
Boil shells until al dente, or maybe a little less. If y'all overcook the shells, the pasta will get delicate and fall apart when stuffed with cheese.
I like to rinse my shells with cool water andimmediately transfer to a blistering sheet lined with parchment paper. This helps prevent the shells from sticking to each other.