I originally intended on making these Mexican Stuffed Shells from Tricia’s March Menu. Just not feeling that “unstuffed” or “Mexican” vibe this afternoon.
Ended up making Italian Stuffed Shells. And a whole lotta ’em.
And a dairy-free version, too.
Recipe below is the doubled version. Will make at least 2 9×13 pans. And costs just over $10! Got another meal stashed into the freezer!
And I need to include this. I only ate 4 of these. Because that’s all that my teeny-tiny stomach would allow. I totally would have had 8. Or 10. Maybe even 12! They were THAT good.
Italian Stuffed Shells
Yield – 10 servings
Preparation Time – 25 minutes
Cooking Time – 20-30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 boxes of jumbo pasta shells ($4) I used about 2/3 of the shells, so you could get by just cooking 1 1/2 boxes.
- 2 26 oz. cans spaghetti sauce ($2) Currently on sale for $1/can.
- 1 box frozen spinach ($.50) These guys are regularly on sale for $1 and use $1/2 coupon.
- 1.5 lb. ground beef ($2.09) On sale recently for $1.39/lb!
- 1 medium onion ($.30)
- 2 tsp garlic powder ($.10)
- 1 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 eggs ($.20)
- 2 cups shredded cheese ($1.25) Omit if dairy free
- Serve with fresh veggies like 2 broccoli heads On sale for $.99 a bunch this week!
Directions
1. In large pot, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Spread 1/2 – 1 cup spaghetti sauce into base of each baking dish.
3. Cook frozen spinach as directed on package. Drain excess liquid after cooking.
4. In large skillet, brown the ground beef with chopped onion. Drain, rinse and return to skillet. Add the rest of the spaghetti sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the spinach.
Here is where I divided the meat into 2 parts. One part dairy-free. The other part with cheese.
5. To each meat, stir in 1 egg.
6. To meat sauce with dairy, stir in 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
7. Spoon meat into pasta shells and place into baking dishes. (If making dairy free and ones with dairy, use separate baking dishes!)
8. Sprinkle cheese over the ones that contain cheese in the meat sauce.
9. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
10. Prepare veggie as side dish. Tonight for us, it was steamed broccoli! Steam broccoli in stovetop steamer, or in microwaveable dish with water and covered in plastic wrap for 4-5 minutes.
11. Serve Italian Stuffed Shells with Steamed Broccoli. Freeze the rest for later!
Cost $10.44 plus veggies
**This easily made 2 dinners plus 2 lunch leftovers for us!
Looks good! I bought the shells today ($1.50 a box at Wal-Mart) to do the Mexican Stuffed Shell recipe this weekend. I’m looking forward to it. I just wish the shells came in whole wheat variety. Anyway, thanks for suggesting the recipe and keep up the good work….love this site!
@Michelle L.,
I hear ya Michelle, my grocer didn’t have whole wheat shells either!
These look divine!!
Erin,
I’ve never had stuffed shells with an egg added to it. What does that do?
You really inspired me this month to set a weekly goal for my grocery costs and I have to say that I made it every week—$80 or less was spent on our groceries each week and we ate great!!
Kara Mayfield
@Kara,
Just makes it “fluffier”…it is certainly not needed!
And best wishes on your new grocery budget! I know you can do it!!!
This looks good! I’m definitely going to give it a try tonight!! I do have a question about freezing the leftovers. Do I freeze them after fully cooking them? What’s the best kind of containers to freeze them (I saw these disposable foil pans in your picture so I was wondering if you used these to go in the oven then allowed it to cool off then in the freezer??) help!!!! 🙂
@Ricarda,
I froze them cooked. In the metal pans I used…wrapped in foil and then into gallon size freezer baggies. I will thaw in fridge overnight before reheating.
@Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom, Made these last night.. came out great! Thanks again!! 🙂
Yum! Now, to find gluten-free shells….or to make some (might not be so easy once I do that!)
@Alta,
Could work with Rice Lasagna noodles…rolled up!
@Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom, Oooh! Good call! I have some in my pantry.
Do you think this would work with rolled-up lasagna noodles? I like using what I have on hand 🙂
@joanna,
Absolutely! A perfect alternative!
I love stuffed shells. Great recipe.
Gluten-free pasta: This sounds amazing! I’ve actually seen some Tinkyada brand big rice shells, but they’re definitely not budget! I wonder if rice pasta freezes okay? Anyone know?
@Sally,
Not sure how rice pasta freezes. Have not experimented with that!
I made these today and yummmmmyy! Thanks so much. I live alone, so even making a single batch, I froze half of them and had dinner tonight and probably two more lunches. Thanks!
This was by far the most delicious I’ve ever cooked! it had such a yummy flavor and consistency. I also added a tablespoon of Italian seasoning to my meat mixture. Thank you so much. The frozen leftovers are thawing right now and I can’t wait to have them again. My husband loved these, too.
@Bonnie,
Hooray!
The recipe looks good, but your pricing is a bit unrealistic.
@Randy,
Prices are what I paid for the products 🙂
We made these and LOVED them!
http://lindseyis.blogspot.com/2009/11/italian-stuffed-shells.html
what would be good to use besides spinach.? something in its place.Thanks
@nancy M,
Chopped broccoli would work.
How do you reheat the frozen leftovers?
Stuffed shells just screams ricotta cheese to me! Do you think adding a scoop to the shells before adding the meat mixture would work? These look great, thank you for all you do! I have never kept track of how much I spend at the grocery store, so setting a price as a weekly budget might kill me. BUT, I am inspired by what you do and am seriously making an effort now to rein in our grocery spending. Thank you!
Obviously I’m not Erin, but I bet if you added some Ricotta Cheese to the meat sauce (instead of the shredded cheddar) and mixed that together before stuffing and then top with the shredded cheddar when you bake them, it would be wonderful. You get the flavor and texture of the ricotta but don’t have to add as much as using it alone.
I’m going to try this one really soon – so many wonderful ideas.
I got this recipe from my daughter-in-law I had them last night my husband and sister-in-law are in love with them. They were very good
I found these via pinterest and made them for dinner tonight. Loved them! I adapted it a bit to add veggies and take out the meat but provided a great base recipe.
Awesome…glad you enjoyed them!
Erin
YUM!
I did saute some garlic in with the meat, and I added some lentils to stretch the meat mixture a little more. You can’t even tell, my husband who hates “weird” foods like lentils didin’t even notice.
I also added Italian seasoning and topped with parm and italian cheeses.
Thank you for the great recipe 🙂
I made this tonight and it was great! I used one can of Hunt’s italian sausage pasta sauce and one can of garlic and onion. I used ground turkey and mozza cheese. I filled 2- 9×13 pans and still ended up with TONS of leftover shells. I had leftover creamy italian chicken in the fridge http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotchicken/r/bl104c4.htm , so I put it through the food processor and used that to fill more shells (an 8×8 pan worth), then I poured a can of Progresso garlic sauce overtop, but there were still enough shells to at least have filled another 9×13 pan. So next time I think I will just use one box (from Wal-mart) for 2 pans. After I filled the shells I poured another can of Hunt’s pasta sauce (chunky vegetable) over the top because I was worried the pasta would dry out when it baked. I sprinkled the cheese on just during the last ten minutes. Loved it!
**update** I made these again tonight and used 2 pounds of ground turkey and just one 12 oz box of American Beauty large pasta shells (keeping the same amounts for everything else) and the ratio was perfect!