Chicken stuffed shells
Jumbo pasta shells filled with cheesy ricotta and chicken, baked in marinara under melted mozzarella, and a second pan goes straight in the freezer.
- 75 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $2.56 a serving
- 590 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 24 jumbo pasta shells
- 1 lb chicken breasts, finely diced
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- ½ cup grated parmesan, divided
- 3 cups marinara sauce, divided
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Each serving has about 590 calories, 42 g protein, 45 g carbs and 25 g fat, and costs about $2.56 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No ricotta cheese? Cottage cheese works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F. Cook the shells in a large pot of salted water 2 minutes less than the package says, , and spread them apart on a plate to cool.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: Cook a few extra. One or two always tear.the chicken small, with ½ teaspoon of salt and the pepper, and wash your hands and board.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high and cook the chicken 5 to 6 minutes, , until the biggest piece reads 165°F. Let it cool a few minutes.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
the ricotta, egg, 1 cup of mozzarella, ¼ cup of parmesan, the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, the rest of the salt and the chicken together.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Spread 1½ cups of marinara over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Fill each shell with a tablespoon of filling and nestle them in the dish, open side up.
Heaping. Heaping means a rounded mound piled above the rim of the spoon or cup, not leveled off. It’s a little more than the measure, on purpose.
How you’ll know: The pile sits above the edge of the spoon, and you leave it there instead of scraping it flat.
Dolly’s tip: A small spoon and your fingers work better than any fancy tool.Spoon the rest of the marinara over the shells and sprinkle on the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan.
Cover with foil and 25 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 minutes more, until bubbling and .
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 35 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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