Meatball Stuffed Shells Recipe
I was cleaning out my freezer and found a package of frozen meatballs. I was brainstorming on what to make with them and thought what about Meatball Stuffed Shells? I decided to give it a shot. Guess what? They turned out great! We added a salad and some garlic bread for a delicious Italian feast.
I like cheese in my stuffed shells, so I adapted my usual stuffed shell recipe to add meatballs. These were delicious! I didn’t thaw the meatballs before baking. I just let them bake along with the pasta. It worked great and saved some time.
This makes a lot. We ate this for dinner and lunch the next few days. Next time I would make the whole recipe and freeze half of it.
Meatball Stuffed Shells
ingredients:
-
24 jumbo pasta shells
-
24 frozen meatballs
-
1 (15-oz) container cottage cheese (can use ricotta)
-
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
-
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
-
2 Tbsp dried parsley
-
1 egg
-
1 (24-26oz) jar spaghetti sauce
instructions:
-
Preheat oven to 375ĀŗF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
-
Cook jumbo pasta shells according to package. Drain and cool.
-
Combine cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, dried parsley and 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
-
Stuff pasta shells with cheese mixture and one meatballs per shell. Place shells in prepared baking dish. Top with spaghetti sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese. (Can freeze at this point)
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bubbly.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Delish… my meatballs were to big.. I cut them in half.
I take it the temperature would be the same if you bake it after freezing a portion thawed or unthawed.
I always baked thawed at the temperature listed above
Ok, I am not very good at stuffing shells. LOL. I thought this was going to be very simple, but it turns out the shells don't like to cooperate with me. I did cook them al dente so they weren't too soft, but stuffing these suckers had me cursing. LOL
With that said, the recipe is actually very yummy. I really like this dish, and if I can figure out an easier way to stuff the shells, I would definitely make this again. Served it with a green Italian salad, and garlic bread.
If you were to freeze it before cooking, would you want to defrost or bake frozen? Thanks! My kids love this. I finally froze a batch but now I am unsure how to cook.
You can do either – if you bake it frozen, cover it and bake it about 15 minutes to thaw it in the oven. Remove the foil and bake it an additional 25-30 minutes.
Just made this and it was fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
What size are the meatballs? Thx.
I used 1/2 oz meatballs
Made this tonight! Another winner!
Bake uncovered, right? Looks delicious. Thanks.
yes – I baked it uncovered.
Make ahead, when you get home from Christmas shopping, just pop in the oven! This looks soooo good, can't wait to try it ! Happy Thanksgiving!
I like it.