Stuffed Shells with Meat

With a rich ricotta and mozzarella cheese filling, savory ground beef, and a bright, fresh tomato sauce, these stuffed shells with meat sauce are a true comfort food. Plus, these easy stuffed shells can be made ahead of time and frozen!

Stuffed shells are a flavorful, hearty pasta dish perfect  for an upscale dinner party or a weeknight dinner recipe the whole family will love. This recipe has al dente pasta stuffed with a creamy mozzarella, ground beef and ricotta filling, and topped with a quick, fresh tomato sauce. 

You’ll find all of the comforting flavor with a fraction of the calories in this easy make-ahead recipe. Just like I did in this healthy beef stroganoff recipe or in my vegetable lasagna recipe! Or just jump into the comfort food pod with both feet and make my ultimate lasagna recipe too.

Professional Tips For Making Stuffed Pasta

• Freeze the leftovers. The recipe makes about 30 shells, which serves about 8 people. The leftovers freeze beautifully and can be baked right from frozen for dinner another night.
• Use fresh ingredients. With this recipe, fresh is best. I always use fresh herbs, fresh mozzarella, real Parmesan, and make my own quick marinara sauce. It takes less than 10 minutes and is fresher and more flavorful than store-bought sauce. 
• Immersion blend the cheese for a smooth filling. The filling will bake into a smooth consistency but for an extra lush texture, immersion blend, or food process, the ricotta and cottage cheese together first. 
• Use real San Marzano tomatoes. I do not recommend using regular canned tomatoes in place of the San Marzano tomatoes. The San Marzano tomatoes are a little more expensive but their superior taste and quality are worth every penny.

Ingredients Needed

• Jumbo pasta shells: I like to use jumbo shells for these stuffed shells with ground beef. They are the perfect size for exactly 30 filled shells. 
• Ricotta cheese: 2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese are called for in this recipe. I prefer to use part-skim rather than anything with a lower fat content as the texture can become a bit grainy.
• Cottage cheese: I like to use cottage cheese with 2% fat. A large curd variety is best. The texture is creamier and it integrates more easily into the filling.
• Mozzarella: Just like in my Vegetable Lasagna recipe, I recommend using freshly shredded mozzarella cheese. Pre-grated cheeses have anticaking agents that can prevent them from melting fully. You will achieve a much better texture with cheese you grate yourself.
• Parmesan: A high-quality, fresh Parmesan cheese is also best. I don’t recommend using pre-grated Parmesan cheese.
• Cilantro: I recommend using a variety of fresh herbs in this recipe. Cilantro adds a bright, fresh taste to this recipe that I think you will love.
• Basil & Thyme: Fresh basil adds a lovely, fragrant, floral note to the meat and cheese filling, providing balance to the heavier ingredients.
• Ground beef: I like to use 96% lean ground beef for this recipe. It has all of the savory flavor of ground beef with a higher fat content with less of the oil that it produces when cooking.
• Yellow Onions
• Garlic
• Canned Tomatoes: San Marzano tomatoes are best. They have superior taste and quality to traditional canned tomatoes. You can buy a crushed variety or purchase them whole and can crush them in the pan. 
• Kosher Salt & Black Pepper

Variations

• Different ground meat: Ground turkey and ground chicken are popular alternative meat fillings. You can also swap some ground Italian sausage, like the sausage in my Italian Sausage Soup, with the ground beef to make cheesy stuffed shells with a very bold flavor.
• Jarred pasta sauce: Although I prefer making my own homemade tomato pasta sauce, you can buy a high-quality jarred spaghetti sauce to use in its place. I like to use Rao’s marinara sauce.
• Other homemade sauce: If you are a planner and you have the time to cook your sauce ahead of time, you can also use one of my other red sauce recipes like this quick pasta sauce recipe or this red wine basil sauce.

How to Make Stuffed Shells

Step 1: Cook your 30 pasta shells according to package directions but reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes (until they are just under al dente). Pour out the boiling water and fill the pot with cold water. I like to rinse them twice with cold water just to make sure the cooking process has stopped. Drain and set aside. 

Step 2: Brown the ground beef and pour into a paper towel lined bowl, and set aside. 

Step 3: Make your sauce: Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Sauté onions, stirring frequently until they begin to release their juices. Add garlic and continue to sauté until the onions are translucent. Be careful not to burn your garlic, reducing heat if necessary. 

Step 4: Add tomatoes to pan and stir to mix. Stir in the basil, thyme, 2 large pinches of kosher salt and 3-4 grinds of black pepper. 

Step 5: Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce down to a simmer. Simmer over low heat until ready to use. Be sure to taste for salt and pepper. 

Step 6: When you are ready to begin filling your shells, spread a little sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish.  

Step 7: Preheat the oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle. 

Step 8: Make the filling: In a large bowl add the ricotta and cottage cheese.

Step 9: Add the ½ cup mozzarella, Parmesan, cilantro, basil and cooked beef to the ricotta mixture. Stir to evenly distribute all ingredients throughout the filling. Spoon into a gallon plastic baggie and cut a hole in one corner about the size of a nickel. 

Step 10: Holding the filling baggie in one hand, grab a shell in the other and open it with your pointer finger and thumb. Starting at one end, gently squeeze the filling into the shell until it is full. Set in the baking dish with the filling facing up. Continue until all of the shells have been filled and they are nestled in your baking dish. They actually bake better when they are tightly packed. 

Step 11: Spoon some sauce over the top of all the shells. Sprinkle with reserved 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the cheese is melted. 

Step 12: Serve and enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef-tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed dinner recipes or try this lemon chicken recipe next!