Stuffed Shells With Ground Beef

With a deliciously cheesy filling, including three types of cheese, savoury ground beef and sautéed spinach, this recipe for stuffed shells with ground beef is a classic comfort food meal that’s so satisfying and great for feeding a crowd.

Just like my homemade lasagna, this recipe for stuffed shells with ground beef is just as comforting but requires a tad less work.

I remember years ago, being a child, avoiding “shell pasta” because it made me think of little crunchy bits. And, if you know me, I have a weird thing about shells, especially when it comes to eggs. If I happen to find a random piece of shell in my scrambled eggs, that’s it. Meal over. I guess we all have our quirks, right?

Thankfully, I’m over that (at least when it comes to shell pasta, not the egg shells) because it would be a huge shame to miss out on this stuffed pasta shell recipe.

Each pasta shell is jam-packed with a creamy, savoury filling, it’s topped with pasta sauce and a generous layer of melty cheese. I mean, what’s not to love?

Ingredients

• Jumbo pasta shells: I used 8 ounces or about 30 shells for this recipe.
• Olive oil: For cooking the spinach and ground beef
• Ground Beef: I used lean ground beef. If you use a ground beef with more fat content, just drain the excess grease from the beef after it has cooked.
• Vegetables: Baby spinach, yellow onion and garlic.
• Cheese: Three type of cheese are used in this stuffed pasta shells recipe, including mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan.
• Egg
• Seasoning: Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, ground nutmeg, salt and black pepper
• Pasta sauce: I used a store-bought tomato based pasta sauce that was four cheese flavour.

How To Make Stuffed Shells With Ground Beef

Here is an overview of how to make ground beef stuffed pasta shells (full details are in the recipe card below):

Cook the pasta

Cook the jumbo pasta shells to al dente according to the package directions. You don’t want to overcook your pasta shells because they will finish cooking in the oven.

Tip: Cook a few extra pasta shells than needed just in case some break as you are filling them.

Prepare the filling and sauce

1. Cook the spinach in a sauté pan in a little olive oil. Once the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze it dry of any excess moisture with a clean tea towel, then chop.
2. Heat some olive oil in the same sauté pan, then cook the ground beef. Add the onion and cook until softened, then stir in the garlic until it’s nice and fragrant. Allow the mixture to cool a tad.
3. Make the stuffed shell filling by mixing together in a bowl the shredded mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, the seasoning, sautéed spinach and half of the cooked ground beef.
4. In another bowl, combine the pasta sauce (reserve ½ cup for the baking dish) with the remaining half of the cooked ground beef. It’s nice to have some of the ground beef in the filling and some in the sauce. Having the ground beef in the sauce makes it extra substantial and yummy.

Assemble and bake

1. Spread the reserved ½ cup of pasta sauce over the bottom of a baking dish.
2. Fill the pasta shells with the ricotta cheese filling.
3. Top the stuffed shells with the remaining pasta sauce, then sprinkle over some shredded mozzarella cheese.
4. Cover the baking dish with some aluminum foil (carefully removing the aluminum foil partway through baking) and bake the stuffed shells until they’re heated through, the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted.

How To Stuff the Pasta Shells

You can generously fill the shells with the ricotta filling mixture. Surprisingly, they can hold more than what you would think.

You have a couple of options to fill the pasta shells: either with a small spoon (like a soup spoon) or place the filling in a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tip (that’s big enough to get the filling through). Use whatever you prefer, really!

What To Serve With It

Any of these sides pair deliciously with stuffed pasta shells:

• Caesar salad or mixed green salad
• Steamed green beans
• Roasted broccoli
• Panko Parmesan crusted asparagus
• Garlic bread
• Focaccia

Leftovers and Storage

Properly store any leftovers in an airtight container (or store in the baking dish and cover well with plastic food wrap), then store in the refrigerator. Use within 2 to 4 days, reheating before enjoying.

Reheating Leftovers

To reheat stuffed pasta shells, place in a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and reheat in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until everything is nicely heated through.

Alternatively, you can place whatever portion of stuffed shells you are reheating in a microwave-safe dish and reheat on 1-minute intervals until heated through.

Tips and Variations

• Shred the mozzarella cheese yourself versus using pre-shredded (you’ll end up with a meltier cheese that way).
• You can substitute the fresh spinach for frozen … just thaw and squeeze dry of excess moisture before using in your filling, no need to sauté it. Also, depending on the variety of spinach you use, you may want to chop it before combining with the ricotta cheese mixture.
• As mentioned, cook the pasta shells to al dente according to the package directions. They will finish cooking in the oven. Plus, they’re easier to fill that way.
• I used a store-bought pasta sauce, which was a great time saver. It was a little less than three cups or about 22 ounces. If your jar of pasta sauce is a little larger, for example, and you end up using 3 cups of pasta sauce, that’s perfectly fine.
• Speaking of sauce, if you want to make homemade, go for it!
• Rather not use ground beef? Try ground turkey instead.

More Yummy Pasta Recipes To Try

• Vegetable Lasagna
• Gnocchi and Meatballs With Creamy Tomato Sauce
• Turkey Pasta Bake

If you make this recipe for stuffed shells with ground beef, be sure to leave a comment below!