Need to impress your friends with a delicious dinner? Look no further than these vegan stuffed shells! Filled with an easy cashew and almond ricotta, fresh kale, basil, this is a flavorful vegan dinner that is incredibly simple to make.
I am a total planner. So I plan my content calendar for the blog about 3-4 months in advance. I’ve had this vegan stuffed shells recipe in the back of my mind for a while, but it just so happens to be the perfect pantry staple recipe while we’re all locked up at home!
Every ingredient in this dish (aside from the fresh basil) can be found in either your pantry or your freezer. Plus, the entire meal itself is freezer friendly, so I feel like we’re winning on all fronts here.
This recipe has so many delicious flavors, like cheesy ricotta, fresh basil, and your favorite tomato sauce. You can use store bought or my homemade pomodoro sauce!
How to make this recipe
Prepare the ricotta if you haven’t already done so.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the shells according to package instructions. You want to “par bake” the shells because they will continue cooking in the oven.
This is about 9-10 minutes of cooking depending on the brand, but the box should have an exact time. There are usually around 36 jumbo shells in a 12 ounce box, and you’ll need roughly 16, so about half the box.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the pasta is cooking, de-stem the kale and chop into very fine pieces. You can also use chopped spinach if you prefer.
Chop the basil and fold both the kale and basil into the ricotta and carefully mix until well combined.
To the bottom of a baking dish, add either 1 batch of my pomodoro sauce or 1 full jar of marinara sauce and spread evenly. I love using pomodoro sauce because it adds a really great flavor, but you can really use any kind of sauce, homemade or not.
It’ll seem like a lot of sauce, but the shells absorb some so a lot is necessary! I also love my arrabiata sauce from my ebook for a some spice!
Add the ricotta/kale mixture to the shells, using about 1-2 tablespoons to fill them up as much or as little as you like. I like a medium amount, which ends up being about 1 spoonful, or about 1 ½ tbsp.
Once the ricotta is gone, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and add to the oven.
After 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to get a bit bubbly on the sides. Remove from the oven and top with extra fresh basil if desired and enjoy!
Serving suggestions
This recipe is intended to be a full meal on its own, but I love to serve it with a side kale caesar salad for some extra greens!
If you want some extra protein, you can have some meatballs (or my vegan meatballs!), grilled chicken, or anything else! I like to top it all off with cashew parmesan for some extra flavor.
Tips and Substitutions
1 batch of the ricotta will make enough to fill about 16 jumbo shells. I was able to fit this into a 7×10 baking dish. You can double the ricotta and make more shells with a large pan as needed.
My vegan ricotta recipe calls for nuts, but if you need a nut free recipe, try this tofu ricotta by It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken.
Can I freeze the leftovers?
You can freeze this vegan stuffed shells recipe and reheat leftovers in the oven! To freeze, you want to follow all of the steps up until the point of baking.
So stop right before you’d put everything in the oven. Then, cover with plastic wrap and again with foil to make sure nothing dries out or gets super frosty.
When you’re ready to cook, remove the plastic and add back the foil and follow the remaining instructions for cooking until bubbly.
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Vegan Stuffed Shells with Kale & Basil Ricotta
Ingredients
- 16 jumbo shells*
- 1 batch vegan ricotta
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped kale
- ½ cup fresh chopped basil (plus more for garnish)
- 1 batch pomodoro sauce or 1 jar marinara sauce
- Cashew Parmesan for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the ricotta if you haven’t already done so. (Takes about 5 minutes)
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the shells according to package instructions. You want to “par bake” the shells because they will continue cooking in the oven. This is about 9-10 minutes of cooking depending on the brand, but the box should have an exact time.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the pasta is cooking, de-stem the kale and chop into very fine pieces. You can also use chopped spinach if you prefer.
- Chop the basil and fold both the kale and basil into the ricotta and carefully mix until well combined.
- To the bottom of a baking dish, add either 1 batch of my pomodoro sauce or 1 full jar of marinara sauce and spread evenly.
- Add the ricotta/kale mixture to the shells, using about 1-2 tablespoons to fill them up.
- Once the ricotta is gone, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and add to the oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to get a bit bubbly.
- Once done, let cool for a few minutes and then top with more fresh basil and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
- Serve warm with a side caesar salad.
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