Valentina's Corner
This Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells Recipe is absolutely delicious! Tender pasta shells stuffed with a creamy chicken, mushrooms, and spinach filling smothered in a creamy homemade Alfredo Sauce and loaded with cheese.
Whether you are serving these stuffed shells, the classic Lasagna, or easy Meaty Spaghetti, you can never go wrong with a pasta dinner!.
CHICKEN STUFFED SHELLS-
These stuffed shells are so filling and absolutely mouthwatering! The jumbo pasta shells and ricotta chicken stuffing pair so well with the Alfredo Sauce and cheese.
We love this recipe for easy weeknight dinners, especially when paired with homemade Breadsticks!
INGREDIENTS-
- Pasta Shells– For this recipe, you are going to need the jumbo pasta shells.
- Chicken– We use ground chicken but you can also use shredded chicken, such as rotisserie chickens.
- Onion– Finely chopped onions for the filling.
- Mushrooms– White or portobello mushrooms will work great for this dish.
- Spinach– You want to use freshly chopped spinach, not frozen spinach.
- Oil– Olive oil for sauteing.
- Garlic– We use freshly minced garlic for flavors.
- Seasoning– For the seasoning, we use salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Shredded Cheese– You can use any of your go-to shredded cheese. We prefer shredded mozzarella cheese for this dish.
- Ricotta Cheese– We use ricotta cheese to give these stuffed shells that creaminess that you look for in stuffed shells.
- Alfredo Sauce– This recipe works GREAT with our homemade Alfredo sauce.
HOW TO MAKE STUFFED SHELLS-
- Pasta-Cook the shells al dente according to package instructions.
- Sauce– Prepare the creamy homemade Alfredo sauce.
- Filling– Saute the mushrooms and add in the onions, saute until tender. Season and remove from skillet.
- Cook chicken– In the same skillet, saute the ground chicken until fully cooked. Add in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Combine– In a large bowl, combine the sauteed mushrooms, chicken, chopped spinach, shredded cheese, and ricotta.
- Stuff the Shells– Stuffed the shells with the chicken mixture and add a 9”x13” baking dish. Repeat with all the shells and filling.
- Assemble– Pour the Alfredo sauce over the shells and top with a layer of shredded cheese.
- Bake– Bake until bubbly and the cheese has melted. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve!
STUFFED SHELLS VARIATIONS-
There are several different ways that you can prepare your stuffed shells! Here are a few different delicious ways:
- Classic-You can leave out all the spinach and mushrooms and make these just plain chicken and cheese stuffed shells. You will just need to add more chicken.
- Mushroom Spinach– Make them as we do in this recipe for a flavorful dish loaded with spinach, chicken, and mushrooms.
- Bacon Tomato– We love making these like our Alfredo Flatbread and for the filling just use chicken, bacon, and chopped tomatoes.
- Chicken Broccoli– Add broccoli to the filling instead of spinach!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS-
Yes, these chicken stuffed shells are great to freeze. Prepare per instruction, but do not bake. Cover the casserole dish with foil and freeze for up to 2-3 months.
To bake: Thaw at room temperature or refrigerator and bake.
Yes! Prepare the dish and refrigerate until ready to bake. You can make this up 1 day ahead of time.
Yes, you can use shredded chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, or even ground pork.
Yes, you can use your favorite canned Alfredo instead of our homemade Alfredo.
The stuffed shells may be prepared in a 9”x13” casserole dish or they may be divided into two 9”x9” dishes. One of the casseroles may be baked while the other frozen for later use.
Yes, you can leave out the spinach completely (it’s not the main ingredient in the recipe).
Yes, you can use cottage cheese or cream cheese instead.
OTHER PASTA DISHES-
- Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
- Chicken Alfredo Bake
- Rasta Pasta Recipe
- Easy Lasagna Recipe
- Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Crockpot Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Chicken Stuffed Shells (with Ricotta)
Ingredients
- 12 oz jumbo pasta shells, cooked al dente
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 16 oz white mushrooms, chopped
- 2 Tbsp oil, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
- ½ tsp ground paprika
- 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, lightly packed and cut
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 recipe of Alfredo sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cook pack of pasta shells, according to instructions. You only need 24 shells but cook entire box for extras in case some break or rip. Drain pasta, rinse in cold water, cover and set aside.
- Prepare creamy Alfredo sauce recipe.
- In a large skillet over high heat, saute mushrooms with 2 tsp oil for 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium, add onions and 2 tsp oil, saute another 3 minutes, lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Add ground chicken and 2 tsp oil, saute until meat is fully cooked, break up the meat as it’s cooked.
- Season meat with salt, pepper, paprika and 2 minced garlic cloves. Let the meat cook another minute and remove from heat. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the ingredients from the skillet, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and spinach, mix. well
- Cover bottom of 9"x13" baking dish with a few spoonfuls of the Alfredo sauce.
- Stuff shells with chicken mixture and arrange in the baking dish.
- Pour the Alfredo sauce over the shells. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Cover dish with foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5-7 minutes.