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Lasagna Stuffed Shells Recipe

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Lasagna Stuffed Shells. This easy dinner recipe is made with sausage, ricotta cheese, spinach, and your favorite pasta sauce! Perfect for busy weeknights or to stick in your freezer.

This recipe is my FAVORITE. It has everything you could ever want in a comfort food dish.

Pasta.
Cheese (so much cheese).
Sauce.

And it is easy. Easy recipes are coveted in my household. The last thing I want to do after a long day of work is come home and spend hours in the kitchen. This one takes a whopping 30 minutes to whip up.

Did I mention it is also freezer friendly?

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

Lasagna Stuffed Shells Smothered in Cheese

Tips to make perfect lasagna stuffed shells:

Use fresh mozzarella.

Pre-shredded cheese does not tend to melt quite as well. With the fresh version you get that ooey gooey melted cheese that you always see in restaurants.

Seriously delish!

You can also try substituting Italian sausage for a breakfast or spicy variety to change up the flavor profile or leave the meat out all together.

These also freeze VERY well.

How to freeze stuffed pasta shells:

We make a double batch and put half into disposable tin pans.

Cover tightly with heavy duty foil, label, and place in a zip top bag.

Freeze until you are ready to use.

Pull it out when you’ve got nothing on the menu and the family is begging for something delicious. I suggest leaving it in the refrigerator overnight to slightly thaw. Follow the baking directions from there.

We also use this same idea to take meals to friends and family when they need a little extra something (think new babies, surgeries, birthdays…).

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

Like this recipe? You will love my Thanksgiving Stuffed Shells, Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells, and Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs!

Baked pasta is one of my new go-to’s thanks to this dish!

I like to serve it with a light salad (think Olive Garden style) and a little bread!

Try slicing a store bought french loaf- slice it thick, brush on a little butter, and sprinkle with some chopped green onions. Wrap that sucker in tin foil and toss in the oven for 15 minutes or until it is nice and toasty.

5 from 14 votes
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Lasagna Stuffed Shells

Lasagna Stuffed Shells. This easy dinner recipe is made with sausage, ricotta cheese, spinach, and your favorite pasta sauce! Perfect for busy weeknights or to stick in your freezer.
Course Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Keyword cheese, lasagna, pasta, pasta shells, Sausage, stuffed shells
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • 20 jumbo pasta shells
  • 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  • 2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce
  • 1 lb sausage or hamburger

Instructions

  1. Bring a large bottle of water to a boil. Add your pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and set aside.

  2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup of your tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x9 dish.

  3. Add the uncooked sausage to a hot pan and cook until browned. Stir in 1 cup of your tomato sauce and set aside.

  4. In a small bowl stir together the ricotta, 1/2 a cup of mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, and spinach. Stir the mixture in with your sausage.

  5. Spoon a hearty amount of the filling into each shell. Place into your prepared baking dish and continue until all are filled. Smother with the remaining 1/2 cup of sauce and generously sprinkle with mozzarella.

  6. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for an additional ten minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Freeze Instructions:

  1. Follow the instructions above until just before baking. Cover securely with heavy duty foil or a freezer container.

  2. Take your stuffed shells out of the freezer the day before you plan on cooking them. Let them slightly thaw in the refrigerator.

  3. Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Recipe Notes

*If you like a more saucy pasta, add 1 extra cup onto your shells. This is also a good idea if you plan on freezing these for later. 

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Comments

  1. This looks delicious. It would be a great recipe to take to a new mom too. I’ll definitely have to store this in the “must try” pinterest board, because we always need new meals to add to our rotation. So glad you participated in Point of View!
    xoxo,
    Amy

    Reply


  6. Just made these. Subbed in ground turkey with italian seasoning and left out the mozza (because I didn’t have any on hand). So good.. so easy… so my work lunch tomorrow! Love how versatile this recipe can be and look forward to adding other goodies to the mix. Thx!!

    Reply

    • Oh and also left out the egg because, wouldn’t you know it, I’m all out! Still came out great. Did some research and apparently lots of people make their lasagna without any eggs. =)

      Reply

      • These are the types of comments I live for! Love that you enjoyed the meal and your changes keep things simple and delicious!

        Reply

    • Of course! We normally freeze half before baking and pull it out on another day. It’s the perfect freezer meal!

      Reply

  8. We are making this tonight for the missionaries in our area! So far so good! We are baking them now!

    Reply

  9. Gathered my stuff to make and reread the recipe….after you put the meat mix in the shell I assume you then put the cheese mixture on top of it. But it doesn’t say that. About how much cheese mix goes in the shell. I think I can figure this out….making it for a birthday dinner…..looks good.

    Reply

    • I made these again last night and realized the directions aren’t the best. I will go through and update them today, but for now…

      Spread 1-2 teaspoons of the cheese mixture into your cooked shells. Top with a heaping scoop of the meat. Place in your pan and follow the remaining directions from there.

      Reply

  10. I can’t wait to try these for dinner tonight. I was just wondering what type of Tomato sauce do you suggest to use? There are so many options out there and I find it a daunting task trying to pick one 😉

    Reply

    • We’ve tried several different store brands. I like Giada’s. You can find it in target and it comes in different flavors.

      Reply

  13. Hey there! This recipe looks delicious, and I can’t wait to try it!!
    I was just wondering if it’s okay to freeze it before baking? I’m trying to find good freezer recipes, and I would love to add this to my collection!

    Could anyone help me? Thanks so much!!:)

    Reply

  14. i am making this now but used hamburger instead and added Lipton onion soup mix to it. Can’t wait to try it.

    Reply

  15. I’m so excited to make this! Did you grind up the sausage or just chop it finely? I’m kinda new to cooking lol 🙂

    Reply


  19. I came across these on Pinterest. They were absolutely DEVINE! My Husband and I both went back for seconds, not that we needed them. Thank you for a great recipe!

    Reply


  20. Instead of using sausage I used beef. Flavored w Italian seasoning & mrs dash.

    And used a whole box of gluten free shells

    Used one pound meat
    Which required me to use a whole container of ricotta cheese, one can lead spinach, Italian and American cheese. Two eggs
    When I stuffed them I had the meat at the bottom and cheese filling on top 🙂
    It turned out well! Thanks for the easy recipe.

    Reply


  23. Made these last night and they were GREAT! I subbed cottage cheese for ricotta (because that’s just what I had). Next time I make these (oh yes, there WILL be a next time!) I will mix the meat and cheese mixture simply to save a round of filling. Oh, and I had to use a 9×13 pan to make them fit.
    Thanks for posting such a tasty recipe – can’t wait to heat up the leftovers 🙂

    Reply

  24. I can’t wait to try these but is there something I can substitute the spinach for or can I just leave it out? I have a very picky husband and kids and they won’t eat these with the spinach but will gobble them up without. These look absolutely divine.

    Reply

    • It really depends on how many shells each person is going to eat. We typically do 3 per person so this recipe would feed 6-7 people. If you planned a few sides and cut it down to 2 shells per person it would feed 10

      Reply


  26. These were delicious! I added half an onion, fresh spinach, and italian seasoning! I will be making these again! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

    • I like to pull it out of the freezer the day before and keep it in the refrigerator so it can thaw a bit but if you forget I would add 20 minutes to the baking time or cook until heated through.

      Reply


  31. I made this using a mix of beef and Italian sausage and no spinach. I also double the cheese filling. This is my go to stuffed shell recipe! Absolutely delicious every time!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much for sharing, Jaqueline! My husband agrees with you on eliminating the spinach. I love the combination of both the beef and Italian sausage! Great idea.

      Reply


  32. Holy cow these are yummy! Made them for a dinner party and everyone was asking for the recipe! I did substitute ground hamburger for the sausage because it was what I had on hand.

    Reply


  33. Make this recipe probably once a month. Figured I should leave a review.
    It is SO EASY. We add chopped veggies like zucchini and sometimes broccoli. super good. thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  36. Just curious as I have never used egg in my stuffed shells and was looking around to see what i could add to mine to switch it up a bit…what is the purpose of the egg?

    Reply

    • That’s a great question, Celeste. The egg in this recipe is used as a binder to keep the filling together.

      Reply

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