Hearty and delicious, these Stuffed Shells with Ground Beef are the perfect comfort food dinner. Tender pasta shells are stuffed with savory ground beef and topped with rich pasta sauce and tangy Parmesan cheese for a mouthwatering dinner everyone will love. And all in 35 minutes!
Table of Contents
Flavorful Italian Meals with Ground Beef
Everyone loves Italian food, they’re comforting, savory dishes that fill your kitchen with heavenly aromas. From classic Bolognese to a hearty lasagna, Italian recipes featuring ground beef offer an abundance of flavor and heartiness.
Whether it’s a simple mid-week meal like Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef or Italian Meatloaf or a meal that will please a crowd like this easy Meatball Casserole, Italian dishes are always a popular choice.
Why You'll Love This Meat Stuffed Shells Recipe
Quick and easy with your favorite store-bought jarred sauce
Not overly cheesy, just the tangy touch of Parmesan cheese
Easy to customize - more meat, more cheese, more herbs, it's easy to adapt
Great make-ahead dinner - just 35 minutes from start to finish
Ingredients
- Jumbo pasta shells
- Ground beef
- Garlic
- Fresh basil
- Egg
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Seasoned bread crumbs
- Jarred spaghetti tomato sauce or marinara
- Fresh parsley
- Salt & pepper
How to Make Stuffed Shells with Meat
Start by precooking large pasta shells in boiling salted water to the al dente stage, about 9 minutes. Drain and cool slightly until you can handle them easily.
- Place ground beef in a large skillet and cook thoroughly. Add minced garlic and cook another minute.
- Drain off fat and place cooked ground beef into a large bowl.
- Add egg, Parmesan cheese, Italian-seasoned bread crumbs, chopped basil, and parsley.
- Stir well.
- Fill each shell with the ground beef mixture.
- Place a small amount of pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Lay the stuffed shells with meat on top of the sauce.
- Once all the shells are stuffed and in the dish, cover with the remaining pasta sauce.
- Sprinkle the top with the remaining grated Parmesan cheese.
- Casserole is set to bake.
- Bake the stuffed shells with ground beef at 350°F for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Garnish with parsley or basil and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Pasta shells come in 3 different sizes; mini/small (conchigliette), medium/large (conchiglie), and jumbo (conchiglioni). Be sure to use jumbo pasta shells.
- Boil the shells in salted water to season the pasta.
- Cook the pasta shells until al dente because they will continue to cook in the oven. If you fully cook the shells they will end up overdone and mushy.
- Remember to cover the bottom of the baking dish with sauce before adding the stuffed shells. This will help to prevent the bottom of the shells from burning and sticking to the baking dish.
- Garnish the shells with chopped fresh herbs like parsley or basil for a fresh and colorful finishing touch.
Recipe Variations
Make it cheesier!
- Add 1½ cups of ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, or mascarpone to the ground beef.
- Add 8 ounces of softened cream cheese to the ground beef.
- Sprinkle 1 to 2 cups of shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend on top.
Switch out the meat!
- Use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of beef.
- Add some peeled, deveined, and chopped shrimp to the beef mixture.
- Substitute all or a portion of the ground beef with Italian sausage.
Sneak in some veggies!
- Thaw a package of frozen spinach and squeeze out the liquid. Add the spinach to the beef mixture.
- Saute some mushrooms, zucchini, or other veggies and add them to the meat or replace some of the meat with them.
Get saucy!
- Make it creamier by using Alfredo sauce instead of tomato sauce.
- Make it extra meaty with meat sauce or bolognese sauce.
- Give it a fresher flavor with Pomodoro sauce.
Flavor it up!
- Use an Italian spice blend instead of just salt and pepper.
- Give it a kick of heat with some crushed red pepper flakes.
What to Serve with Stuffed Shells
- Garlic Bread
- Caesar salad or a simple green salad.
- Vegetables such as roasted broccoli or green beans.
How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat
Storing Leftovers - Cool the shells to room temperature. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.
Reheating Leftovers - Take the dish out of the fridge about 1 hour before reheating to come to room temp. Remove plastic wrap (if used for storing). Cover the dish with foil and bake it at 350°F until warmed through, about 20 minutes. You can also microwave individual servings on HIGH power in 1-minute increments.
Make Ahead
One Day in Advance - Prepare the pasta but do not bake it. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours.
Months in Advance - Prepare the pasta but do not bake it. Cover it with two layers of aluminum foil and freeze it for up to 3 months.
2CM Tip: Use a disposable aluminum baking pan so your baking dish isn't in the freezer for weeks or months.
Thaw it in the fridge overnight and bake as directed. You can also bake from frozen. If baking from frozen, bake for an additional 15 minutes then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stuffed shells are a type of Italian cuisine where large shell-shaped pasta is filled with various ingredients and typically baked in a sauce.
Stuffed shells and manicotti are similar in that they are both classic Italian dishes involving pasta filled with cheese or meat and baked in some sort of sauce. The stuffed shells use large shell-shaped pasta while manicotti uses tube-shaped pasta. Stuffed shells are usually served as they are, showing off the filling inside the open shell. Manicotti is typically served as a rolled pasta with the filling hidden inside the tube.
The baking time for stuffed shells can vary depending on the recipe and the size of the shells, but generally, they are baked at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes.
More Pasta Recipes
- Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
- Pizza Pasta Casserole
- Rattlesnake Pasta
- Sausage Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce
- Tuna Pasta Salad
Find lots of delicious and easy Italian recipes here on 2CM!
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Stuffed Shells with Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pkg jumbo pasta shells, cooked al dente according to package directions (12 ounces)
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or 2 cloves, finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley + additional for garnish
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 28-32 ounces pasta sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook jumbo shells according to package directions for al dente stage. (about 9 minutes)
- Sauté ground beef until browned. Add minced garlic and cook another minute.
- Mix cooked ground beef and garlic with egg, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, basil, and parsley.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with a little pasta sauce.
- Fill jumbo shells with meat filling and place on top of sauce in a single layer.
- Top with remaining sauce.
- Sprinkle the top with remaining grated cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with additional parsley.
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