Cheesy Italian Stuffed Shells with Ground Beef Filling

Make Cheesy Italian stuffed shells with ground beef filling. It’s an easy family style meal or holiday pasta dish. See how to make the best, super easy ground beef stuffed shells with this recipe guide.

Why this stuffed shells recipe is great…

• Very easy to make ahead.
• TASTY!! Flavor wise, it hits all the notes. The ground beef filling has tasty Italian seasonings. And it’s so creamy from the Parmesan and ricotta filling
• Great for any occasion – make it for casual family dinner and entertaining guests on a holiday menu.
• My helpful video tutorial (at the bottom of this post) will walk you through my simple way to make classic Italian stuffed shells with ground beef.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make cheesy Italian stuffed shells with ground beef.

Jumbo pasta shells

• Jumbo pasta shells (the really large ones)
• Olive oil

Italian seasoned ground beef filling

• Olive oil
• Ground beef (or substitute ground turkey, ground pork, or even a mixture of meat and spinach)
• Vegetables: onion, red pepper, garlic 
• Seasonings: salt, pepper, dried parsley, dried oregano

Cheese filling and topping

• Ricotta cheese
• Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
• Pasta sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Basil to top, if desired

Steps to make Italian stuffed shells with meat

Quick look: basic recipe steps

1. Boil the large pasta shells.
2. Brown the Italian seasoned ground beef and mix together the stuffed pasta filling.
3. Assemble and bake stuffed shells with meat and ricotta for less than 30 minutes.

Detailed instructions

Step 1. First, heat a large pot of water on the stove to medium-high and boil water with large pasta shells as directed until cooked al dente. Right now is a good time to start cooking the ground beef filling.

Tip: Do not overcook the pasta, though, since the stuffed pasta will finish cooking in the oven.

So once the pasta is cooked to al dente, drain it, then toss shells in olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking while finishing the stuffing.

Step 2. Next, heat a large skillet on the stove to medium-high. After that, add olive oil and let it heat until the oil is hot and shiny.

Next, add the ground beef, onion, red pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and oregano.

Then, cook beef and vegetable mixture for about 10 minutes, breaking down beef as it cooks and stirring regularly until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are translucent.

Once it’s done, remove from heat and strain on a plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess grease.

Step 3. Now it’s time to set out a medium-sized baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then cover the bottom of the dish with 1 cup of pasta sauce.

Step 4. Mix together the cheese filling for the stuffing.

In a large bowl, gently combine the cooked beef mixture, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of pasta sauce.

By now, the ground beef and cheese mixture will be smelling delicious…

Add a little extra salt and pepper to the filling mixture if desired.

Stuff every cooked shell with filling mixture and add them to a medium-sized baking dish.

Top with remaining sauce.

And finish with a layer of mozzarella cheese.

Step 5. Bake stuffed shells with meat and cheese mixture for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Cover with tin foil if waiting to serve longer to keep it warm.

More tasty filling ideas for stuffed shells

Jumbo pasta shells are one of my favorite Italian stuffed pasta types because they are big and strong enough to hold some tasty fillings. And since variations of recipes are so fun to experiment with, I wanted to share with you a few more ideas so you can modify this stuffed shell recipe with whatever is in your fridge.

More stuffed shells recipe ideas:

• Turkey sausage, pork sausage, or sous vide sausage
• Meat and spinach
• Don’t have ricotta? Substitue cottage cheese.
• Stuffing shells with ground chicken instead of ground beef
• Going vegetarian by stuffing shells with chopped spinach, roasted cherry tomatoes, or sauteed mushrooms
• Using up leftovers like meatballs, diced sous vide chicken, meatloaf, or sous vide shrimp
• Leave out the beef and use it as a side for sous vide filet mignon or sous vide ribeye steak. 

What to do with leftover meat sauce

Because the size of the shells and the ratio of filling can vary, you may end up with extra. It’s definitely a gift when you have leftover meat sauce!

The ratio of pasta shells to meat sauce will sometimes leave you with leftovers. It depends on the size of your baking dish and how many ingredient substitutions you make.

There are plenty of ways to use leftover meat sauce from baked pasta.

If you’re all pasta’d out for the week, you can freeze leftover meat sauce to thaw and use in pasta sauces or in dishes like this baked rigatoni with ground beef. The fillings are quite similar.

Want more pasta recipes? Check out these pasta side dishes that are sure to please a crowd! And see these tips on how to cook refrigerated tortellini

Tips for meal prepping baked shells

This baked pasta dish ranks high up there on the “easy to meal prep pasta dishes” list with mac and cheese, lasagna, and baked chicken Parmesan with vodka sauce.

So you want to make stuffed shells ahead? Great idea… To meal prep baked shells, assemble the ingredients in a freezer and oven safe baking dish.

Wrap the dish once with foil and then wrap 2-3 times with plastic wrap, or just vacuum seal it. See my Foodsaver 4400 review video to get a look at how a vacuum sealer works. I vacuum seal all the time for my sous vide recipes.

Want to get more into sous vide steaks? Check out this sous vide steak seasoning or flank steak marinade to get some new flavor ideas!

Helpful things to have on hand to make baked pasta

Here are some kitchen tools I can’t live without, particularly equipment used for making baked pasta dishes.

• To chop veggies for baked pasta dishes, I save time by using a mandoline or food processor.
• You’ll often see me use 8″ Shun chef’s knife and one of these bamboo cutting boards or my beautiful Acadia wood cutting board.
• Pyrex glass mixing bowls with lids are great for mixing ingredients and easily storing them in the fridge.
• For meal prep, I’ll use two oval-shaped 9” cast iron dishes or a 9″ glass dish to split the recipe in half.

Final tips

• Cook jumbo shells to al dente for baked pasta dishes like this one. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven.
• Don’t forget to line the bottom of the baking dish with tomato sauce before adding the shells. This helps keep the shells from burning and sticking to the baking dish.
• This recipe is a blank canvas – if you don’t like one of the filling ingredients or just want to change it up, you can try using different meats (ground chicken, sausage), making it half ground beef and half shrimp, or making it vegetarian (mushrooms, chopped spinach).
• If you have remaining sauce, use it in something creative or freeze it for later.

What side dishes go with stuffed shells?

• Sous Vide Fingerling Potatoes
• Sous Vide Asparagus
• Garlic Dill Carrots
• Sauteed Mushrooms with Thyme and Red Wine
• Arugula Salad with Sous Vide Beets and Goat Cheese
• Zucchini Soup
• Baked chicken wings or smoked chicken wings
• Air fryer filet mignon

Are you a foodie, too?

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To find more delicious recipes to try on your culinary journey, scroll through the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.