Meatball stuffed shells are a classic stuffed shell recipe with a twist! Jumbo pasta shells are filled with a ricotta cheese mixture, topped with marinara sauce and stuffed with Italian style meatballs.
Stuffed shells are a classic Italian main dish recipe. While I love the regular version of stuffed shells, adding meatballs gives the classic recipe a fun and delicious twist!
To save time, I use frozen meatballs! You can use store-bought frozen meatballs or homemade meatballs straight from your freezer. This time-saving shortcut makes this an easy dinner recipe for any night of the week.
To round this meal out, serve it with Garlic Bread, Sautéed Kale and a beautiful Butternut Squash and Beet Salad!
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Recipe highlights
- One dish meal
- Filling and satisfying
- This recipe calls for time-saving shortcuts like frozen meatballs!
- Excellent main dish or party appetizer!
Ingredients needed
- Frozen meatballs: I used Bove's Italian Style All Beef Meatballs. The size of the meatballs are perfect for this recipe and they taste delicious. Using a frozen meatball doesn't sacrifice flavor and save's so much time!
- Jumbo stuffing shells: Pick your favorite brand. Any brand will work for this recipe.
- Marinara sauce: As you can see in the photo above, I used Bove's pasta sauce for this recipe as well! I have been purchasing products from this brand for several years. Their products contain simple, whole-food based ingredients. They are also somewhat local to me! I am in upstate NY and they are located in the neighboring state of Vermont.
- Ricotta cheese: What would a stuffed shell recipe be without ricotta cheese? Of course this recipe for stuffed shells contains ricotta cheese!
- Mozzarella cheese: Mozzarella cheese goes inside the pasta shell AND on top.
- Parmesan cheese: You can definitely save yourself some time and purchase parmesan cheese that has already been grated.
- Seasonings: Fresh parsley, garlic powder, dried oregano, kosher salt, ground black pepper
Equipment needed
- Medium-sized baking dish
- Small mixing bowl
- Cutting board and knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
How to make Meatball Stuffed Shells
Thaw - Thaw your frozen meatballs.
Boil - Boil a large pot of water on the stove and cook your jumbo pasta shells according to package instructions.
Mix - Mix together the ricotta mixture for stuffing the shells. Mix the ricotta, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, dried oregano, fresh parsley, salt and pepper.
Stuff the shells - Spread a layer of marinara sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Take a cooked pasta shell and stuff it with about 1 teaspoon of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 meatball. Repeat the stuffing process until you have used all of your meatballs. Carefully place each stuffed shell in rows in your baking dish.
Get saucy - Add another layer of sauce on top of the meatball stuffed shells.
Get cheesy - Add some more cheese on top of the shells stuffed with meatballs.
Bake - Cover the pan with foil. Bake the shells in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melty.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipes you might also like
Try out some of my other delicious and popular Italian styles recipes!
- Pink Pasta Sauce - Tomato Cream Sauce with Ground Turkey
- 5 Cheese Marinara Meatballs {Slow Cooker}
- Pesto Turkey Meatballs with Ricotta Cheese
- Pasta and Sausage with Broccolini
Serving suggestions
Vegetables: Try out some of my delicious vegetable side dishes! I have really yummy recipes for Glazed Carrots, Roasted Green Beans and Carrots and Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Asparagus.
Breads: In addition to my Garlic Bread recipe, you could also serve this with Dutch Oven Bread or Drop Biscuits!
Side dishes like Caesar salad, Greek salad, antipasto salad and garlic knots also pair well with Meatball Stuffed Shells!
Substitutions and variations
To add some more fresh flavor, I would add chopped fresh basil to my ricotta mixture. Adding a scoop of basil pesto sauce would also be delicious.
Do you want to make this recipe gluten free? Simply swap out a gluten based shell for a gluten free pasta shell. The gluten free pasta brand called Tinkyada, makes a gluten free brown rice jumbo pasta shell.
Are feeling creative? Swap out the marinara sauce for a butternut squash sauce of an alfredo sauce.
How to store and reheat
How to store: Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
How to reheat: Reheat leftover stuffed shells in the microwave for about a minute at a time, until warmed through.
Print📖 Recipe
Meatball Stuffed Shells
Meatball stuffed shells is a classic stuffed shell recipe with a twist! Jumbo pasta shells are filled with a ricotta cheese mixture, topped with marinara sauce and stuffed with Italian style meatballs.
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 30 small frozen meatballs - thawed
- 1 package jumbo pasta stuffing shells
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese - divided
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese - divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce - divided
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Make the ricotta cheese mixture. In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, ½ cup mozzarella cheese, ½ cup parmesan cheese, garlic powder, dried oregano, fresh parsley, salt and pepper.
- Using a spoon, spread ½ cup of the marinara sauce in an even layer on the bottom of your baking dish.
- Stuff the pasta shells. Stuff each shell with about 1 teaspoon of the ricotta mixture and 1 thawed meatball. Place each stuffed shell in the baking dish in even rows. You will end up with 30 individual stuffed shells.
- After all the pasta shells are stuffed, top the shells with the remaining 1 cup marinara sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese on top of the marinara sauce.
- Cover the dish of meatball stuffed shells with foil. Bake in the oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melty.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you are worried about your foil sticking to the cheese on top of the stuffed shells, lightly spray the underside of the foil with cooking spray. This should prevent the foil from sticking.
- Stuffed shells make for excellent leftovers! Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: dinner
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Italian American
Keywords: meatball stuffed shells
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Did you make this recipe? Tell me all about it in the comments below! I love hearing from my followers and answering any of your questions!
Tara S.
So delicious. I have 2 toddlers and they thought this was so neat with the meatball in it and ate it all up! I actually replaced the ricotta with a 1/2 brick of softened cream cheese and it was perfect. Definitely going to try with ricotta next time though!
★★★★★
Katie
I'm so glad you liked it! I never would have thought of that substitution but it sounds delicious!
Susie
Sunday dinner was homemade spaghetti and meatballs in the crockpot. Instead of just "leftovers" used them for this dish. Great idea, so easy. Everyone loved the meatball stuffed shells.
Katie
I'm so glad everyone loved them! It's definitely a great way to repurpose leftover meatballs.