Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells
Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. With a jarred marinara, frozen spinach, and pre-shredded cheese, you can have a cozy, comforting meal on the table for around $10–12. Simple, affordable, and exactly the kind of recipe you can count on again and again.
Recipe (Serves 4):
16–20 jumbo shells
15 oz ricotta cheese
10 oz frozen chopped spinach (thawed & drained)
8 oz shredded Italian blend or mozzarella cheese
24 oz jar marinara sauce
1 egg
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Boil shells for 10–12 minutes until softened. Drain & rinse in cold water.
Microwave spinach 2–3 minutes until thawed, then squeeze out excess water.
Mix spinach, ricotta, 1 cup shredded cheese, egg, seasoning, salt & pepper.
Spread a thin layer of marinara in a baking dish.
Stuff shells with filling and place in a dish (about 16 shells).
Pour remaining marinara over top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 400°F for 30 minutes. Remove foil for the last 5–10 minutes to brown the cheese.
Let cool slightly, serve, and enjoy!
#stuffedshells #easyfamilymeals #weeknightdinner #budgetfriendlymeals #comfortfoodrecipes #pastanight #easyrecipesathome #everydaydinners
Welcome to the first episode of Everyday Dinners, a series where I share simple, consistent, easy to follow recipes that make dinner a little less overwhelming. Today, we’re making spinach and ricotta stuffed shells. First, bring a large pot of water up to a boil and add in your jumbo shells. I use about 20 and let them boil for about 10 to 12 minutes until they’re softened. I always cook a couple of extra because inevitably some will break. That’s completely normal. Once they’re done, drain them and rinse them gently under cold water to cool them down so they don’t stick together. While those are boiling, microwave a bag of frozen chopped spinach for a couple of minutes, just until it’s thawed. Then, wrap this in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much water as you can to prevent soupy filling. In a bowl, combine the dried spinach with one 15oz container of ricotta cheese, a cup of shredded Italian or mozzarella cheese, one egg, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning, plus a little salt and pepper to taste. Stir until it’s well mixed, and this is your filling. Grab a large baking dish and spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the bottom so the shells don’t stick. Take each shell, spoon in some filling, and line them up in the dish. You’ll get about 16 stuffed shells. Once they’re all filled, pour the rest of your marinara sauce over the top and sprinkle with any remaining shredded cheese. Cover the dish with foil and bake it at 400° for 30 minutes. For the last 5 to 10 minutes, take off the foil so the cheese gets bubbly and golden. Let these cool down for a few minutes before serving. And that is it. Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells with a jar of marinara, frozen spinach, and pre-shredded cheese. This is simple enough for a weekn night, but still comforting and special when it comes out of the
36 Comments
I love how versitile this dish can be with the variety of sauce and filling choices, so it can still be a weeknight staple meal without feeling too repetitive.
I'll try it using Alfredo sauce. I can't have tomato-based products.
I love making this same dish! But one tip I have to really elevate it: add the zest and juice of 1 lemon to your cheese mixture before baking. I promise it will become everyone's favorite dish!
Stuffed shells is one of my favorite recipes that I like to use.
Love stuffed shells! And this looks like a nice simple, filling recipe for them.
If ricotta is outside the budget or hard to find, blending cottage cheese gives it a very similar texture to ricotta but is often cheaper and easier to find. Plus it has a higher protein content for anyone who needs that!
Wow! Yumm
These are so good leftover too!
I didn't know these jumbo shells existed, this has my imagination fired up now!
that looks great!!! i b doing freezer meals with this one.
Love this series 🎉
Looks so delicious.. I will be making those soon. I enjoy your videos.. simple and delicious meals. Thanks.
you come up with such great dinners!
looks so good
Change for lazange noodles and it is easier and still sounds delicious.
Yum 😋 Looks absolutely delicious.
I can definitely make these..❤❤
That you so much for a lovely recipe 🎉❤
Yum!! A box of Garlic Texas toast, and I'm in!! 😊
Looks good 😊
Yumma
Ricotta is fun to make when you get a bunch of milk that needs to be used. I see some videos where people are given a lot of milk on a regular basis that’s close to the day.
I live alone and will just accommodate this to my needs, freeze some, and eat some…and yes, I have frozen them before and it works out
That looks really good and a great way for my husband to break his low carb diet.
I'm definitely going to try this.😊
Looks delicious!!!
This looks delicious. Thank you for sharing ❤
YES! I think I commented on something once that I grew up in an ingredients house, so I feel most comfortable with ingredients over packaged things. I don’t have any beef with packaged things, I was just raised with ingredients so thats what I prefer. But, I tend to make ingredients-based dishes into a big thing so I get overwhelmed and tired when I don’t have a lot of time or energy, and then I just eat cereal. This is exactly what I needed. I don’t like spinach, so I see a great opportunity to chop up some marinated artichoke hearts instead and add a bit of kale from my garden. And I always have homemade sauce on hand, so this couldn’t be easier! More of these, please!
I made that with ricotta, cottage cheese, and mozzarella cheese. I also added spinach.😊
Watching this before going to bed was not a good idea. I'm going to be dreaming of stuffed shells & wake up hungry 😂
Looks delicious
That looks delicious 😋
🔥🔥🔥
I was going to say it's probably cheaper to buy a bag of spinach and chop it yourself, if you can, but I would be wrong. I looked it up in the Walmart app and pre-chopped frozen spinach is actually cheaper and a slightly bigger bag. That's crazy. Good looking recipe though. Definitely want to try it.
I've learned and experienced that buying a small block of cheese and grating it yourself causes better melt and the sensation of more cheese than buying grated cheese. This way, you can use less cheese for the same effect. Apparently, the additives added to pre-grated cheese stops the melt.
Great recipe, BTW! Thanks!
I love this dinner ❤. Can I use fresh baby spinach?
Looks really good! You could probably sub with a ton of different fillings too in order to mix it up!
If your shells break, stuff those pieces in between the stuffed shells and cover with sauce. No waste that way 😊