Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
In this easy spinach and ricotta stuffed shells recipe, three cheeses combine with quick sauteed spinach, marinara sauce, and jumbo pasta shells for a hearty and comforting, crowd-pleasing vegetarian dinner.
Growing up, I was one of those bizarre children who actually liked eating vegetables. For a long time, spinach was my very favorite, and I would eat big bowls of it simply steamed, or sometimes with a little sprinkling of cheese.
I loved those leafy greens. Before you envy my parents having a child content to munch on spinach, sweet potatoes, peas, tomatoes, or other fresh produce procured in our family vegetable garden, they also lived through my angst-filled adolescent years, and I’m sure they’ll remind you that it all evens out in the end.
Today we still eat a lot of spinach, and I like incorporating it into recipes for a healthy boost. In this spinach and ricotta stuffed shells recipe, we combine quick sauteed spinach with creamy ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, all tucked in to extra-large pasta shells and baked to bubbly goodness. The result is a healthy and hearty baked pasta dish that makes for a crowd-pleasing vegetarian meal.
PrintSpinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian-inspired
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
In this easy spinach and ricotta stuffed shells recipe, three cheeses combine with quick sauteed spinach and jumbo pasta shells for a hearty and comforting, crowd-pleasing vegetarian dinner.
Ingredients
- 16 jumbo pasta shells (Cook a couple of extra shells to allow for a few breaking while the pasta cooks.)
- 1–1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
- 4 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, roughly-chopped
- 12 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
- 1–1/4 cups marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil and salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.
- Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top begins to brown and the sauce begins the bubble, another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a dusting of Parmesan.
Keywords: spinach stuffed shells, ricotta, baked pasta, easy dinner, vegetarian
Delicious recipe! I’ve made stuffed shells before…and this recipe is perfect! I even made homemade ricotta..there’s a repeat batch in the oven right now, with extra spinach:)
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Victoria!! I bet the shells are incredible with the homemade ricotta! 🙂
easy to make taste amazing
★★★★★
We LOVE this recipe, definitely a favorite in our home. Great leftovers too.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Brenda!!
I cooked it today without mozzarella cheese (wasn’t at home) and it was super super delicious!! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Have had this recipe for a while and finally decided to try. Oh my – absolutely delicious and very easy to make. Took to heart your comments about the shells being delicate and treated them gently. I cooked them the day prior and I believe this made them easier to fill.
My 8″ x 8″ dish was a snug fit for sixteen shells but maybe that was a good thing.
How do you think this would taste with a white, Alfredo type sauce?
★★★★★
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it’s impossible to print! All the adds show when you try to print and they cover the instructions! I’ll write it down for now.
Second time making this! Husband who is usually a staunch carnivore loves it!!! A yummy way to get lots of veggies into our system <3
★★★★★
So delicious! I thawed a box of frozen spinach which I had on hand, strained it squeezing out excess water and used it instead of fresh and it still came out great! I did use a mixer to mix up the filling and used my pampered chef Easy Accent Decorator to fill my shells with it. Super easy. Thank you for sharing this! ❤️
★★★★★
This recipe was great!!! Love it!!! Truly delicious! I plan on making this again using the same recipe for my family!
★★★★★
I used Classico pasta sauce sweet basil. In my cheese mixture I added nutmeg. Taste cheese mixture before adding egg. At the end I covered with remaining sauce added sprinkle raw cane sugar, Parmesan, mozzarella. My kids loved it.
★★★★★
Very time consuming in my opinion but outstanding result. Absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
Is this recipe easy to make a day ahead and cook the next day? If not, can the filling be made ahead of time?
Hi, Emily! Yes, you can definitely make this ahead of time, just cover tightly and refrigerate. Depending on what type of pan you use, you may need to add a little extra to the baking time (especially true of ceramic pans which hold onto the cold longer). The filling can also be made ahead of time, on its own. The only thing to note is that sometimes ricotta can separate/weep over time, which has no bearing on the taste but isn’t quiiite as pretty 😉 Alternatively, you can also freeze the shells to bake at a later date. Enjoy!!
It was easy to make and tasted amazing. It was definitely a winner with the family.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Amber!!
So good and super easy to make! Followed recipe exactly.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Erin!!
This recipe was amazing! I made it for friends and they really loved it! I used manicotti instead of shells. This bumped the bake time to 40 mins at 400 degrees. I also added lemon zest, oregano and red pepper flakes to my ricotta mixture. I would recommend Rao’s basil and garlic pasta sauce if you aren’t looking to make one from scratch. I will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
My granddaughters and I made this today for lunch. They really had fun doing it and it was DELICIOUS!!! We made it exactly to the recipe except we made our own red sauce. I used a 29 oz. can of tomato sauce and spiced it with 2 T olive oil, 2 tsp garlic, 1 T of italian seasoning, 1 T parsley flakes, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp thyme, salt and pepper stir and cook. Less expensive than buying the ready made and a lot tastier.
★★★★★
Amazing! The whole family loved it.
★★★★★
tip: put the filling into a ziplock bag, snip the bag and use it like a pastry bag to fill the pasta. if you have leftover, then you can knot or clip the snipped end and freeze, add it to the next pasta dish you make (is also a good way to hide the spinach in bolognese from the kids 😉 and up the vege content of soups). I’ve also made successfully with Persian feta, goat cheese, and cream cheese if you don’t like ricotta texture.
Good recipe. I added a splash of heavy cream to the ricotta to make it a little less grainy. Also did not saute spinach first, I had some fresh and just chopped it up. I also had some leftover cooked ground beef from tacos, and added that. It was fine!
★★★★
Easy and delicious recipe. Wondering if this freezes well and if so what the reheating/cooking instructions would be?
★★★★★
Followed recipe and found texture crumbly (ricotta), even with alk tbe cheese. What could have made this better?
★
You could use a beater on the mixture. Lightens it and busts up chunks.