Stuffed Shells Filled With Spinach and Ricotta Recipe (2024)

If you use frozen chopped spinach you won't need to break out the food proccer (or go out and buy one). I swear to God, you won't know the difference, just squeeze out the water, the same as you would do with fresh spinach.

Whole family liked this recipe (including the three-year-old). I used jarred sauce and it was still great. I would use the whole 15 oz ricotta next time - I filled the shells with a bit more than a tablespoon (I think they needed it) and ran out of filling before I used all the shells. But very flavorful and delicious. I used more garlic and chives than called for, and heavy on the pepper, which may have added some flavor.

We liked this, but next time would use a lot more cheese. I'd use a whole 15oz container of ricotta in the filling, and top it with a bunch of grated mozzarella.

After 3 times of making this, I've settled on:- Use the full 15 oz of a standard ricotta container- Double the greens (half kale, half spinach)- Double the homemade marinara (put a thin layer on the bottom of the dish)- Add a little lemon juice/zest, nutmeg and chili pepper flakes to the cheese blend- Use all the parm on top (flavor gets lost in the cheese blend)- About a tablespon and a half filling per shell, else you'll run out, even after doubling the ricotta and greens

Rather than deal with boiling and stuffing giant shells, I used this filling to make lasagna (with no boil sheets). It was heavenly. Just layered with marinara sauce and topped with parmesan, then tried to keep from eating half of it in one sitting.

I added basil to the spinach and ricotta mixture and it was really flavorful!

I have made a spinach-ricotta filling much like this for years; it's the first recipe my daughter learned to cook. I use one box of frozen chopped spinach, microwave it 3-4 minutes till thawed, and squeeze the heck out of it. Then I combine one 12-oz box of ricotta, one cup of grated mozzarella, 2 cloves minced garlic, a little salt (no pepper here due to an allergy, but Daughter adds a few grates of pepper, and 1/4 tsp of and basil (or several leaves of fresh, chiffonade).

Made this last night and LOVED it! Made my grandmother's tomato sauce earlier in the day, and used perhaps a bit more than the 2 cups of sauce, spreading sauce in the bottom of the baking dish instead of olive oil, and then covering the shells a bit more like you would with lasagne. I found the proportions in the filling to be just right (I used two fat garlic cloves). I'm looking forward to the leftovers this week. Thank you, Ms. Shulman, for a wonderful recipe.

This was seriously delicious! I made adjustments based on the comments here. I did 5 cloves of garlic, also put red pepper flakes in the filling which added to the flavor. I, too, used all 15oz of the ricotta I bought and next time I'll add a bit more than 1 lb of spinach. I maybe tripled the Parmesan, putting a layer on the stuffed shells before adding the marinara. Store bought marinara worked just fine. All in all, really tasty and filling.

Well received at a potluck of varying tastes and ages. Only change I made was to saute the spinach over med-high heat in just a tiny bit of oil. Prefer this over blanching as it gets less wet / requires no squeezing, though it does dirty another pan. Really pleased with it, definitely will make again.

My marinara sauce was a store-bought jar with lots of herbs, and it was good, but I think it needed a more direct tomato flavor. We Americans like to overseason, oversauce and deepcheese Italian food. But let this dish be what it is. Earthy vegetal with bright tomato, velvety blobs in strong shells, red on white on green. Gorgeous. I see people here tripling the garlic, adding mozzarella and sausage (!) and spice, basically trying to make this into a lasagne. I say, let less be more with this.

Outstanding recipe and one I’ll continue to make for years to come. The filling alone could be eaten on its own slathered on thick toasted bread. I put the filling in a ziplock, cut a corner and piped it into the cooked shells and it worked great and kept things tidy/neat. Also, made my usual Frankie’s Spuntino sauce which was a perfect accompaniment.

I made these with orecchietti (couldn't find giant shells), and used the spinach mix and marinara as a sauce. It was a very good pasta substitute!

• Ignore commentators who recommended extra ricotta

I used two 10 oz blocks of frozen, chopped spinach in place of fresh, as per David B's suggestion. No need for a food processor then, but the spinach bits will be a little bigger than what is shown in the photo. I used 24 oz of ricotta instead of 10 oz. Even with the extra spinach and extra ricotta I still didn't have enough filling to fill the entire pound of shells.

Yum! This will become part of the rotation. Next time, I might make the filling and use lasagna noodles instead of shells like another reviewer suggested.

Made with 1.5 cups crème fraiche, 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 10 oz spinach, 1 cup Italian blend cheese, and 1 lb shells. Put remainder of cheese on topStill needs more spinach! Was ok with crème fraiche but probably better with ricotta

After reading the comments here on quantities, I made adjustments. We used a full 2 lbs. of Ricotta, and a pound of frozen spinach. Also threw in some mozzarella because we had it. We used every bit of the filling to do a box of shells (39). Delicious!

4x filling 2x shells for family gathering. Added sausage to half the mixture. Highly recommend being heavy on the pepper, chives, & add nutmeg to bring through everything. Stick with the food processor for a nice airiness to the mixture. My dad called these the best stuffed shells he’s ever had.

Do yourself a favor and make the ricotta from scratch. It’s super easy, cheaper, and elevates the dish. Made this a dozen times and by far this is the best ROI on flavor and texture.

No need to cook the spinach — just process it down with everything else. Also double the garlic, add fresh parsley and basil, salt a bit more aggressively, use more marinara, and hit it with broil after cooking to caramelize & crisp up the top shells. Super comforting.

Needs a little mozzarella. Good recipe.

Used jarred sauce, might have been better with homemade marinara

This was a big hit with my family! I microwaved a 9 oz package of frozen spinach and put that in the food processor with the ricotta and garlic (together with a big handful of fresh basil) and the egg. Thanks to other cooks for that time saving tip. I topped the shells with shredded fontina plus parmesan which really amped the flavor. 350 not quite hot enough—had to increase temp to 375 degrees and time to 40 minutes. Time consuming to assemble but so good. Reheats beautifully.

Delicious and great left overs! Sautéed the spinach with red pepper flakes and 6 cloves of garlic. Used a 16 ounce container of ricotta plus the egg and about 1/2 cup grated parm, plus a bit of lemon zest. Covered in foil, then removed and add shredded mozzarella to the top for the last 10 minutes. Added fresh parsley to serve. Rave reviews.

Followed Raven's advice - doubled greens, 1 lb spinach, 1 lb arugula cuz I'm spicy. Full 15 ozs ricotta, 2x marinara. Having just made the spinach-artichoke dip, elected to sauté the greens w/ the addition of some garlic & shallots, then pureé. Added red pepper flakes. Weighed shells & used 8 ozs which turned out to be 35 shells, fitting perfectly in a 13x9 pan. Used all the parm on top. Will freeze the leftover ricotta mix for the next round! Thanks to all the comments!

This was absolutely fantastic. Made some additions to the filling like more garlic, some basil, and red pepper flakes. Topped with a nice vodka sauce. Will apply mozz in the next iteration of this meal! Wonderful!

I've made this several times now. Last time, I could not find the larger shells (where are they?) so I put the filling into manicotti, which was equally good. I do increase the amount of tomato sauce. I do use fresh spinach, and I just squeeze it well. Sometimes, I add basil. I always increase the ricotta. Very good. We really like this one.

Found this quite bland.

Substituted arugula from the garden for spinach. Otherwise, exactly as written.