Stuffed Shells are a classic comfort food. Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with a creamy, cheesy filling flavored with fresh herbs and topped with a rich marinara sauce then baked to absolute perfection. They are perfect for a weeknight meal – hearty, delicious and a dinner everyone will love!
Have you ever wondered how to make stuffed shells? It is so easy and delicious! My favorite part about this meal is that it freezes well. You know I love me some freezer meals!!
There are so many reasons to love this Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal recipe! It is so versatile…if you like meat, use meat sauce…if not, just use marinara. You can use your own homemade sauce or use your favorite store bought sauce. It’s great to make ahead of time so you can just throw it in the oven later.
How to Make Stuffed Shells
First, prepare a 9×13 pan by lightly spraying it with non-stick cooking spray. Add about half the jar of prepared sauce and 2 tablespoons of water to the bottom of the pan. Stir around until the bottom of the pan is coated.
Next, cook the shell pasta as direct on the package.
While the shells are cooking, in a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, basil, and parsley. Mix well. I love to use fresh herbs, but if you don’t have them on hand, dried will work just fine.
Drain the shell pasta and run under cool water until you are able to handle them.
Once cooled, take the shells, one at a time, and fill with the cheese mixture. About 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture in each shell should do it…be careful not to overfill.
Place each shell seam side down in the prepared 9×13 pan.
When the pan is full and all shells have been filled, pour the remaining sauce over the shells and top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 350˚ for 35 minutes or until it gets nice and bubbly and slightly browned on top. You can garnish with a little extra parsley if you have it, just to make it pretty.
Doesn’t this look so delicious? I can’t wait to dig in…oh wait, I just did!
Freezer Directions:
Don’t you just love a good freezer recipe? I know I do, this Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal is the perfect meal to make ahead and have on hand for those busy nights! It’s best to use a disposable aluminum pan when you are planning on freezing this recipe.
Prepare the stuffed shells as directed above, but do not bake. Simply cover with aluminum foil and label the top and place in the freezer.
When you are ready to enjoy this delicious meal, bake uncovered at 350˚ for 45 minutes or until it gets nice and bubbly and slightly browned on top.
Such an easy, crowd pleasing recipe! Hope you enjoy!
More Freezer Meals
- Easy Homemade Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Boneless Pork Ribs
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
- Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
Stuffed Shells Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 oz jumbo shell pasta (about 20 shells)
- 24 oz jar marinara sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Prepare a 9×13 pan by lightly spraying with non-stick spray. Add about half the jar of prepared sauce and 2 T. of water to the bottom of the pan. Stir around until the bottom of the pan is coated.
- Cook the shell pasta as directed on the package.
- In a large bowl combined the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, basil, parsley. Mix well.
- Drain the shell pasta and run under cool water. Once cooled, fill each shell with cheese mixture. Place each shell seam side down in the prepared 9×13 pan.
- Pour remaining sauce over the shells and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350˚ for 35 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was first posted July 6th, 2017, but has been updated with new photos and better detailed instructions and tips on Dec 21st, 2020.
How long should you bake it for directly out of the freezer (i.e. still frozen)?
thanks for the tip about the seams being down. I never really thought of it that way. I’m making the frozen shells and just going to bake with pasta gravy.
The shells are in my freezer. After cooking this, can the leftovers be refrozen? Thanks.
Yes, but quality goes down a bit the more you freeze and refreeze I find on this recipe.
Forgot to defrost can you cook frozen?
Yes you can, but it does take longer.
If you were to put the shells in a smaller pan, would the cooking time need to decrease? Looking for meals that can be frozen for my grandpa to easily heat up. A full pan is too much for one person but a smaller pan would be perfect.
It will cook about the same time, maybe 5 minutes less.
Can you freeze the leftovers. After its neen baked
How long is this good for in the freezer and does the pasta get mushy because it’s cooked already?
This is best used up within 5-6 months, and I haven’t found it to get too mushy! Just don’t over cook your noodles to begin with.
Yum. I made this but without parsley as I was out of it. However, I also made some wilted spinach then chopped it up and added it to the cheese mix. I doubled the recipe so I also have another delicious meal in the freezer for another time. Thanks for the recipe.
Have you ever just filled the shells and froze them? Then when you are ready to cook them, add the sauce and toppings?
No, but that would work really well too!!!
For the freezer directions, is the bake time of 45 minutes after thawing, or 45 minutes straight from the freezer?
That would be after thawing. 🙂
Hi!
my husband and I had your stuffed shells. we did not freeze it but had it fresh for supper. the only thing we did not have fresh was the tomato sauce (from an another website. I am all over the place) I did not turn the seam upside down- I had it up. for spices I put in the parsley, oregano, dried leaves and some pepper with the ricotta mix.— Very very good. its a keeper!
Wonderful, glad you liked it!
Why turn the shells upside.???
So the stuffing doesn’t bubble up and come out of it.