These ground turkey stuffed shells are one of my most popular recipes of all time! Large pasta shells stuffed to the brim with ground turkey and cheese and covered with tomato sauce and yes, even more cheese. Serve with a basket of rosemary sea salt dinner rolls or addictive cheddar bay biscuits!
The best thing about stuffed shells (besides how freaking delicious they are) is that with 20 minutes of prep work you can feed a crowd, or you can equip yourself with plenty of leftovers to save time during the week!
Stuffed shell recipe ingredients
- Jumbo pasta shells: The star of the show! Jumbo shells are large and concave, and perfect for filling with deliciousness. You’ll boil them to al dente before stuffing and baking them.
- Ground turkey: You’re going to combine this meat with the rest of the ingredients to fill each shell, but this can easily be substituted for ground beef, ground pork, chicken sausage, Italian sausage, shredded chicken, or your favorite meat substitute. Or you can swap it for spinach!
- Spaghetti sauce: To make things easy, I call for a jar of your favorite spaghetti/marinara sauce – but your favorite homemade spaghetti sauce recipe is more than welcome! You’ll want 24 ounces worth.
- Garlic: I call for one clove of garlic, but if you’re like me and believe the limit of too much garlic doesn’t exist, feel free to use (much) more ;)
- Egg: The egg is going to get lightly beaten and used to help all the ingredients adhere together and provide moisture.
- Parsley: Make sure you grab flat-leaf parsley and not curly-leaf parsley. In my opinion, flat-leaf parsley has a more pleasant flavor – I find curly to be a tad bitter.
- Ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese: We’re doing a mix of three cheeses for this mixture much like you’d find in lasagna. I also enjoy adding some Asiago cheese, or swapping the parmesan for it.
How to make stuffed shells
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray an 9×12″ baking dish with nonstick spray (aff link) – set aside.
- Cover the bottom of the baking dish with half the spaghetti sauce (12 ounces’ worth). Set aside.
- While the oven is warming up, cook pasta al dente according to the directions on the box (typically around 9 minutes). Once cooked, drain and set aside to cool.
- In a large pan, cook ground turkey until browned, stirring frequently. Add garlic and stir for a minute or two until fragrant. Remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat one egg. Add the cooked ground turkey, ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and parsley. Add a little salt and pepper if you’d like, and mix well.
- Using a large spoon, stuff each shell with the ground turkey mixture. It can be kind of tricky, depending on how “curly” your noodles are, but I promise it’s worth it! I usually spoon mixture up under one of the curves and then fill the rest – it seems to be the easiest.
- As you’re stuffing the shells, place each shell in the glass baking dish. Place them closely together so they don’t tip over.
- Pour the remaining 12 ounces spaghetti sauce over the shells, then cover in the remaining half of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes (or until the cheese is bubbling on the top).
- Serve immediately with a side of garlic bread or cheesy biscuits and enjoy!
Substitutions for ground turkey stuffed shells
- Feel free to substitute the ground turkey for ground beef, ground pork, Italian sausage, or shredded chicken. You could also swap in your favorite meat substitute. Or you can remove the meat altogether and add spinach instead! Not gonna lie, sometimes I like the vegetarian way even better.
- If you don’t have garlic cloves, you can substitute any of the below:
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- You can use reduced fat ricotta or 2% mozzarella to help cut down on the calorie count a little.
- You can also add Asiago cheese, or substitute the parmesan cheese with it.
- Want to add a little spice? Add some red pepper flakes to the ground turkey mixture!
How to store stuffed shells
Cover your baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or put in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
How to reheat stuffed shells
You’ll reheat them the same way you initially baked them – in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes or until heated through. But this time, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
Can you freeze stuffed shells?
You can! After you’ve done all the prep and assembly in your baking dish, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and foil and place in the freezer.
To thaw, put the dish in the fridge the night before (or the morning of). Then let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes, and then bake according to the recipe instructions.
Stuffed shells serving suggestions
- Rosemary Sea Salt Dinner Rolls
- Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits
- Rosemary Sea Salt Dinner Rolls
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
Ground Turkey Stuffed Shells
Large pasta shells stuffed to the brim with ground turkey and cheese and covered with tomato sauce and yes, even more cheese! Serve with a basket of addictive cheddar bay biscuits!
Ingredients
- 16 jumbo pasta shells
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 24 ounce jar spaghetti sauce, choose your favorite brand, or use homemade
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese, or reduced fat ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (or shredded 2% mozzarella cheese)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray an 9×12" baking dish with nonstick spray – set aside.
- Cover the bottom of the baking dish with half the spaghetti sauce (12 ounces' worth). Set aside.
- While the oven is warming up, cook pasta al dente according to the directions on the box (typically around 9 minutes). Once cooked, drain and set aside to cool.
- In a large pan, cook ground turkey until browned, stirring frequently. Add garlic and stir for a minute or two until fragrant. Remove from heat.Note: If you don’t have garlic cloves, you can substitute: ½ teaspoon minced garlic,⅛ teaspoon garlic powder, or ½ teaspoon garlic salt.
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat one egg. Add the cooked ground turkey, ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and parsley. Add a little salt and pepper if you’d like, and mix well.
- Using a large spoon, stuff each shell with the ground turkey mixture. It can be kind of tricky, depending on how “curly” your noodles are, but I promise it’s worth it! I usually spoon mixture up under one of the curves and then fill the rest – it seems to be the easiest.
- As you’re stuffing the shells, place each shell in the glass baking dish. Place them closely together so they don’t tip over.
- Pour the remaining 12 ounces spaghetti sauce over the shells, then cover in the remaining half of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes (or until the cheese is bubbling on the top).
- Serve immediately with a side of garlic bread or cheesy biscuits and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Feel free to substitute the ground turkey for ground beef, ground pork, Italian sausage, or shredded chicken. You could also swap in your favorite meat substitute. Or you can remove the meat altogether and add spinach instead! Not gonna lie, sometimes I like the vegetarian way even better.
- If you don’t have garlic cloves, you can substitute any of the below:
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- You can use reduced fat ricotta or 2% mozzarella to help cut down on the calorie count a little.
- You can also add Asiago cheese, or substitute the parmesan cheese with it.
- Want to add a little spice? Add some red pepper flakes to the ground turkey mixture!
- Storage: Cover your baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or put in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Reheat: You’ll reheat them the same way you initially baked them – in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes or until heated through. But this time, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
- Freezing: After you’ve done all the prep and assembly in your baking dish, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and foil and place in the freezer. To thaw, put the dish in the fridge the night before (or the morning of). Then let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes, and then bake according to the recipe instructions.
Nutrition
Calories: 145kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 171mg | Potassium: 140mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 285IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 144mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating!
Collette
I didn’t have fresh parsley and used 2 1/2 tablespoon of dried instead and work fine with the recipe.
Leslie Kiszka
So glad to hear!
Tenneh
Love your recipe! I have been using for years ;) Thank you!!
Leslie Kiszka
That makes me so happy – thanks for coming back to leave a comment and a rating!
Susan
I dont understand the calorie count. Is this for one shell??
Leslie Kiszka
Correct, but keep in mind it’s roughly calculated by an online calculator.
Anonymous
** Dished into the shells. Sorry.
Anonymous
Used 3 cloves garlic and 1/4 of an onion in with the turkey while browning.
Also fished into the shells using tongs. Was very easy to get under both sides of the shell, even on the curlier ones!
K
Made this tonight but didn’t have ricotta and was low on mozzarella. Melted cream cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup Romano, some milk, and added red pepper flakes and garlic to make a cheese sauce. Mixed that with the turkey before stuffing and it was amazing! Thanks for this recipe!
Leslie Haasch
Sounds like you did a great job with the substitutions!
Leslie Haasch
So glad that you liked it!
Alesia
I added fresh spinach to a pan with diced onions and minced garlic. Added that mixture to thw cheese and ground turkey. Got a store brought sauce that was tomatoe basil. Everything was delish! I would have never thought to add an egg …actually made stuff shells a couple of times before and never added an egg oops. I will be making this here recipe from now on. Thanks!
jarrod ellis
Made it for the family tonightcand they loved it. Used ground turkey instead of ground beef use shredded mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese and shredded parmesan cheese and fresh spinach. Mmmm good????????????????????????
rachel ward
Just made this for dinner. I used 2% small curd cottage cheese instead of the ricotta and sliced parmesan instead of grated. I also added chopped fresh spinach to the mixture. Very delicious! Will be adding this to the recipe book for sure!
Leslie Haasch
Mmm sounds delicious – glad you enjoyed it! :)
Leslie Haasch
Oo that sounds great – I’ll have to try that!
Anonymous
Wow! I just made these with only mozzarella, but I added three carrots to the sauce and four cloves of garlic mixed in with the turkey. It was life changing! I’ll make this weekly. Thanks :)
Leslie Haasch
That sounds great – glad you enjoyed it!
Claire Bear
Yum did this tonight except with ground beef really good!! Used nice Italian shredded cheese and broiled till it was golden brown and bubbly! Hubby loved it :> thank you
Claire Bear
Yum did this tonight except with ground beef really good!! Used nice Italian shredded cheese and broiled till it was golden brown and bubbly! Hubby loved it :> thank you
Leslie Haasch
That sounds delicious – glad you enjoyed it!
Anonymous
Thank you for the recipe! Will definitely make this again! Made this tonight, and it was delicious! The hubby loved it too which is always a plus. I did make a couple of small changes though – I added chopped fresh spinach, and I substituted cottage cheese for the ricotta. It turned out really well.
Anonymous
Thanks, look forward to trying this tonight.
Leslie Haasch
They actually were, but I ran out of sauce so I only had about 1/4 of what I needed and you can barely see it in the pictures :) It’s just to keep the shells from sticking to the pan, while adding a bit more flavor than if you were to just spray the pan with non-stick spray. You could also use butter instead!
Anonymous
3) Cover the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish with half the spaghetti sauce. Set aside (read: put it in a timeout).
What was this sauce used for? It doesn’t appear that the shells were baked in this dish…thanks!