Looking for an easy and delicious dinner idea or a make-ahead meal? Try these tasty spinach and ricotta stuffed shells! Perfect for busy weeknights, meal prep. or entertaining.

If you thought making stuffed shells was hard, I want you to throw out that thought and know they are not! In fact, Italian stuffed shells are one of the easiest fancy looking meals you can make.
Unlike a classic lasagna with bechamel sauce that takes a bit of work, these little guys are just cooking shells, mixing the filling and scooping it into the shells. So simple and they make an amazing make ahead meal that you prep and assemble ahead of time and refrigerate until you are ready to bake it off.
Let me show you how easy these are to make!
Ingredients And Substitutions

- Jumbo pasta shells: These are dried pasta shells that are called jumbo shells and found in the pasta section of your grocery store.
- Frozen spinach: If you want to use fresh spinach, just cook it through until wilted, allow it cool before draining.
- Ricotta cheese: I prefer whole milk ricotta since it has a nice sweet flavor.
- Mozzarella cheese: I prefer shredded mozzarella over fresh.
- Large eggs: This binds the filling.
- Nutmeg: Ground or fresh both work.
- Jarred Marinara or pre-made marinara: This is an easy recipe so I like to use marinara I made ahead of time and froze or jarred marinara (Rao's is my favorite). If you want to make yours from scratch, my marinara sauce would be great.
- Garlic powder: I prefer garlic powder for this recipe because it is going into the cheese filling.
- Onion Powder
- Kosher salt
How To Make Spinach Stuffed Shells

- Cook the pasta shells: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add a good pinch of salt and cook the shells until al dente.
- Drain the spinach: Place the thawed spinach in a colander and with your hands, give it lots of good squeezes to drain the liquid out. You can also add the spinach to a kitchen towel and wring it out.
- Make the spinach and cheese mixture: In a large bowl mix together the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, spices and eggs.
- Stuff the shells: Add about 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture to each shell.
- Assemble in a baking dish: line the baking dish with marinara then add the shells and top with more marinara and the mozzarella cheese.
- Bake: Bake until golden brown.
Expert Tips
- Different Sized Pasta Shells At The Store: For this recipe, the size of dried pasta shells I used is about 2 inches or so. I have seen even bigger sizes available. They do not look that big when you buy them but they do get a little bigger with cooking since they open up a bit.
- How Much Filling To Use: When stuffing the shells with the spinach and cheese mixture, you want to aim for adding enough filling to fill the shell but also you want the shell to slightly close and come together. Some of the shells will not come together if they were a little broken or got misshaped during cooking which is fine.
- Do Not Over Cook The Shells: Since the pasta is pre-cooked until al dente, make sure it is not cooked beyond this point. They will cook a little more in the sauce in the oven.
- Don't Use Too Much Cheese On Top: One of the nice things about baked pasta is allowing the oven to cook the pasta until it gets nice and firm and a bit crunchy on the edges. If you add too much cheese and sauce on top of the shells, you won't get this. Leave some spots on top of the shells to bake up until a little crisp. It is the best part!
- Drain the Spinach Well! Make sure to get as much liquid out of the spinach as you can so the filling is firm and not loose after baking.

Storing, Reheating & Making Ahead Of Time
This is such a great dish for making ahead of time and for leftovers (it tastes better the next day!)
- Storing Leftovers In The Fridge: Let the shells cool then cover with plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, cover the pan with aluminum foil and heat in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Storing Leftovers In The Freezer: Allow the stuffed shells to cool then place them in a freezer safe container and wrap with plastic wrap. Store for up to 2 months.
- Making It Ahead Of Time: To make this dish ahead of time, assemble the whole dish (up to the baking) then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Add to a pre-heated 375 oven and bake according to the directions below. You can also freeze it unbaked for up to 2 months and thaw it before baking.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes. If you want to use it, try to use whole milk cottage cheese for baked pasta dishes. You substitute them at a 1:1 ratio.
You can use 1-2 eggs for the filling. Two eggs will give you a firmer filling which I prefer.
More Baked Pasta Recipes!

Easy Spinach And Cheese Stuffed Shells
Equipment
- 9 x 11 baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 lb Dried Jumbo Pasta Shells about 2 inches in size before cooking
- 24 ounces Whole milk Ricotta Cheese
- 16 ounces Thawed frozen spinach liquid drained
- 3 cups Marinara Sauce
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup Shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup Grated Parmesan
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- In a medium pot over low heat, add your marinara and warm all the way through.
- Salt the water then cook the shells until al dente according to the manufacturers instructions.1 lb Dried Jumbo Pasta Shells
- Drain the pasta and with tongs, place each cooked shell on to a kitchen towel on the counter side by side.
- Place the thawed spinach in a colander and with your hands, give it lots of good squeezes to drain the liquid out. You can also add the spinach to a kitchen towel and wring it out.16 ounces Thawed frozen spinach
Making The Spinach And Cheese Filling
- In a medium bowl, add the spinach, eggs, ricotta cheese, Parmesan, kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and nutmeg and mix well.24 ounces Whole milk Ricotta Cheese, 2 large eggs, ½ teaspoon Garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ cup Grated Parmesan
Assembling The Stuffed Shells
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Grab a 9 by 11 inch inch baking dish.
- Spread half of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.3 cups Marinara Sauce
- Grab one of the cooked shells and gently press the ends to open up the shell.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop the spinach and cheese mixture and add it to the shell making sure to add only enough so that the shell comes back together and almost closes.
- Place the shell seem side up in the pan.
- Continue stuffing the rest of the shells the same way.
- Add the remaining marinara over the top of the shells.
- Sprinkle with the mozzarella over the top.½ cup Shredded mozzarella
- Bake for 30 minutes on the middle rack of your oven until it is bubbling and starting to brown on top.
- Let cool for 10 minutes then serve.
Meg says
Thank you for sharing this recipe