Name: Million Dollar Stuffed Shells
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 21 jumbo shells; 1 lb Italian sausage, (casings removed); 1 24 to 26-oz jar spaghetti sauce; 1½ cup cottage cheese; 4- oz cream cheese, (softened); ¼ cup sour cream; 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; 1 Tbsp dried parsley

Million Dollar Stuffed Shells – hands down the BEST stuffed shells EVER! Jumbo shells stuffed with cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, and mozzarella cheese. Bake in a quick meat sauce made with Italian sauce and jarred spaghetti sauce. Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later. #pasta #casserole #italian #freezermeal

scooping baked stuffed shells from baking dish

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The BEST Baked Stuffed Shells

A few months ago Olive Garden was advertising their new Jumbo Stuffed Shells. They looked SO good. I couldn’t stop thinking about them, so I whipped up a batch of these Million Dollar Stuffed Shells at home. OMG! These stuffed shells are SO good! We ate these for lunch and leftovers for the rest of the week. They were equally delicious reheated.

stuffed shells in baking dish before going in the oven

How to Make Stuffed Shells

These Million Dollar Stuffed Shells are very easy to make. Start with boiling the noodles. While the noodles are cooking, brown some Italian sausage or ground beef. Combine the meat with a jar of spaghetti sauce and spread into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish.

The stuffing for the shells is a combination of cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Stuff the cheese mixture into the cooked shells and place on top of the sauce. Pop the casserole in the oven and you are done! Garnish the baked stuffed shells with some fresh basil, if desired.

I reserved a little meat sauce to spoon on top of the shells. I like the way it looks. Feel free to spread half the sauce in the pan and the other half on top of the shells before baking. You can even put all the sauce on top of the shells if you prefer.

Feel free to swap the Italian sausage for ground beef, ground turkey, or turkey sausage. You can also leave out the meat if you want a vegetarian dish.

Can I Make Million Dollar Stuffed Shells in Advance?

Yes! You can assemble the Million Dollar Stuffed Shells in advance and refrigerate a day or two before baking. If baking this dish after refrigerating, you may need to add a couple of minutes to the cooking time.

Can I Freeze Million Dollar Stuffed Shells?

Absolutely! I love to freeze these Million Dollar Shells. I prefer to freeze the casserole unbaked. I will sometimes split the shells into two pans and bake one and freeze one for later. To bake the Stuffed Shells after freezing, thaw completely and bake as directed below. You can also freeze the leftovers. To reheat the already baked shells, thaw completely and either cover and reheat in the oven or pop them in the microwave.

What is the Best Jarred Spaghetti Sauce?

I get a lot of questions about what is my favorite jarred spaghetti sauce to use in dishes like this. Here are my top three – Rao’s, Fa Famiglia Del Grosso, and Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara. All three taste great and taste pretty close to homemade. Do you have a different favorite sauce? Let me know what it is in the comments!

What to Serve with Baked Stuffed Shells

As I said, we absolutely LOVED these Million Dollar Stuffed Shells! The flavor was perfect! I can not wait to make these again! They are great for a crowd and so easy to make. We love to serve these stuffed shells with a salad and some garlic bread. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with these Million Dollar Stuffed Shells:

Salads