These Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Broccoli Ricotta Filling make a delicious and hearty vegetarian meal the whole family will love! The jumbo stuffed shells, ricotta and veggies are baked with plenty of sauce and mozzarella... YUM!
Vegetarian Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Broccoli
Tradition is such an important part of cooking. Even when we change things up a bit, they are pretty much always based off earlier recipes or foods we have eaten in the past.
This Stuffed Shells with Spinach Ricotta and Broccoli is no exception. It is a lightened up and extra "veggie'd" version of traditional Italian Stuffed Shells, which was one of the dishes my mom used to make that I really liked. When she made a big pan full of stuffed jumbo shells with sauce our whole family got excited.
To modernize the dish, and fit it into my current dietary goals, I added a good deal of broccoli and spinach to the ricotta filling. I also opted for part skim ricotta, and lightened it up a bit further by substituting a third of the ricotta with 2% cottage cheese. The results were quite delicious and nutritious.
If you don't quite have the time to make the stuffed shells today, try my Cheesy Cavatelli and Broccoli. It is another classic vegetarian pasta recipe. If you really want to make a vegetarian feast, make both this and my eggplant casserole recipe!
Stuffed Jumbo Shells Recipe with Broccoli and Spinach Ricotta Filling: How to Make
Here is a quick visual walk through of the preparation of this vegetarian Stuffed Shells recipe. Full recipe below.
Ingredients you will need:
- 1 pound box jumbo pasta shells
- 2 cups broccoli florets fresh or frozen
- 1 cup spinach leaves frozen
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups part skim ricotta
- 1 cup 2% cottage cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- 8 oz shredded Italian blend cheese or mozzarella ½ in filling, ½ on top
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- fresh ground pepper
- 45 oz jar of marinara sauce
1. Start by boiling the jumbo shells until they are cooked al dente. Once they are cooked, then preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. While jumbo pasta shells are boiling & oven is preheating, start making the broccoli spinach ricotta filling. Pulse the broccoli and spinach in food processor. Toss in an egg.
3. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well.
4. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with a pool of pasta sauce.
5. Stuff the al dente shells with broccoli spinach ricotta filling, and nestle in the sauce.
6. You can top with more sauce, but if the sauce is relatively deep after adding the shells it is optional. I did a dish each way. Bake for 25 min.
7. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 5-6 minutes more, until melted.
8. Enjoy your vegetarian stuffed shells! They are typically served with grated Parmesan cheese and bread.
Stuffed Shells with Spinach Broccoli Ricotta Filling
Ingredients
- 1 pound box jumbo pasta shells
- 2 cups broccoli florets fresh or frozen
- 1 cup spinach leaves frozen
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups part skim ricotta
- 1 cup 2% cottage cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- 8 oz shredded Italian blend cheese or mozzarella ½ in filling, ½ on top
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- fresh ground pepper
- 45 oz jar of marinara sauce
Instructions
- Boil the jumbo shells to al dente. While boiling prepare the filling.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pulse broccoli and spinach in food processor until no piece is larger than a pea.
- Place the processed broccoli and spinach in large bowl.
- Add the egg, ricotta, cottage cheese, Parmesan, ½ the shredded cheese and seasonings. Mix well.
- Cover bottom of baking dish/es with sauce about ¾" deep.
- Scoop filling into shells and nestle into the sauce. You may find they don't all fit in one dish.
- Top with a little sauce, unless the pasta is mostly covered, then optional.
- Bake for 24-25 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake 5-6 more minutes.
- All ow to cool a few minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Sophie O'Reilly says
The Broccoli and Spinach Stuffed Jumbo Shells just looks delicious.
Shell says
Yum, that looks really good. I love the addition of the veggies and the jarred sauce is sure to save some time.
Jenn @ EngineerMommy says
We love stuffed shells and your pictures are making me hungry right now! 🙂
Valerie@Occasionally Crafty says
Mmm- this recipe is right up my alley! I might have to take out the broccoli to get my family to eat it, though. My husband quotes Seinfeld and calls it a "vile weed"!
Vera Sweeney says
I had no idea taht these jumbo shells were so easy to make! Ragu is a great pasta sauce to make dishes with.
Laura says
Your food photos are beautiful! I'm working on taking better ones of my recipes as I go, but these are so vibrant!
Alli says
I need to make this ASAP. I used to make stuffed shells all the time and for some reason I stopped. It's chilly here today and this would be perfect for dinner. Looks so yummy.
Donna Ward says
Wow! You've made this look so easy. Thank you for the visuals along with the recipe. This is a savory saver and I can't wait to try it 🙂
valmg @ Mom Knows It All says
These look great! I've used broccoli in stuffed shells and also spinach but never the two together.
Stephanie says
My daughter's favorite food in the world is broccoli. She's so weird. I bet she'd love these!
James says
I agree tradition is huge when it comes to cooking. When you learn how to cook a certain way it can be very hard to deviate from the way you learned it and the way you have always done it. You made these stuffed shells look so easy to make I'm gonna try it! thanks.
Carmen Perez (listen2mama) says
Stuffed shells are one of my favorite Italian dishes. I have never learned to make them though, but this recipe looks fantastic!
Robin Gagnon says
You should definitely make some. They are really quite easy to make.
Maureen says
This looks so delicious and easy to make. I have never try this before. Off to pin the recipe 😀
Amanda @ Adorkablii says
OMG. This is so me!! I love this dish and the fact that it has broccoli has me even more excited! I am so going to have to make this!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Eeek, HAHA, I am such a dork but this totally made me hungry and I am so going to make this. Extra cheesy too! =P
Stephen Parry says
I am always on the hunt for simple, yet tasty meals. This dish looks so delicious, will be saving this recipe 🙂
Shannon Gurnee says
I've had spinach filled jumbo shells, but never with broccoli in it. Sounds yummy!
Peachy @ The Peach Kitchen says
I love jumbo shell pasta and I also love stuffing it with anything. This combination of broccoli and spinach looks awesome!
Erin says
These were incredible! So yummy and definitely simple enough for a weeknight!