Unstuffed Shells are a quick and easy twist on classic stuffed shells, featuring tender pasta tossed with a meaty marinara sauce served over a creamy whipped cottage cheese mixture instead of being individually filled. This 30 minute recipe is perfect for busy nights, offering all the comforting flavors of traditional baked shells with less effort.
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Unstuffed Shells: Simplified Comfort Food
I’m a sucker for a tasty pasta dish, but some of my favorite recipes are just too much effort for a busy weeknight! For example, classic lasagna is a DREAM, but takes an hour + to make or homemade raviolis - forget it!
So I set out to make simpler, but just as tasty versions of my most beloved dishes. I made this Lasagna Soup, which you’re all obsessed with and now I’ve whipped up an Unstuffed Shells recipe mimicking the traditional recipe, but takes way less time and effort.
This Unstuffed Shell Pasta recipe still uses those thick shell noodles, but we’ll leave them altogether in one pot and top with a delicious homemade pasta sauce that features ground turkey and sausage with a little kick, but still full of comforting flavor.
The pasta gets served over a homemade “ricotta” which is actually a whipped cottage cheese, contributing to a higher protein meal for a perfect weeknight dinner.
And if you love this pasta shells recipe, I think you’ll also obsess over my other pasta dishes like this Healthy Baked Ziti, this Pizza Gnocchi Bake, or this Healthy Goulash Pasta, too!
Recipe Ingredients
- Pasta - This recipe uses a 12 oz box of jumbo stuffed shells.
- Sauce - We're making a homemade sauce with onion, turkey sausage & spicy Italian pork sausage, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste.
- Whipped Cheese - Instead of ricotta, as a classic stuffed shells recipe would use, we'll whip together cottage cheese, parmesan, mozzarella and some seasonings for our cheesy filling.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Cook the jumbo pasta shells according to package directions in a large pot. Before draining, save at least 1 ½ cups of pasta water.
2. Heat the large pot again with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion to the pot. Brown for 5 minutes, then add the turkey & pork sausage. Break sausage into clumps and allow the sausage to cook, stirring throughout.
3. Meanwhile, in a food processor, add all ingredients needed for the cottage cheese whipped “ricotta” and pulse until smooth. Set aside.
4. Once the sausage is almost cooked through, add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and 1 cup of pasta water. Stir. For more flavor, season sauce with salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and/or red pepper flakes to taste. Fold in the tender pasta shells. Add the finely chopped basil to the sauce and stir together. If the sauce too thick, add in pasta water to thin as necessary. While the pasta is still warm, stir in the shredded mozzarella cheese.
5. To serve, spread the cottage cheese mixture onto the bottom of your bowls, add the pasta noodles on top and garnish with fresh basil. Enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
- Meat – Feel free to use ground chicken, ground beef, all turkey sausage/pork or a plant based alternative. Note: If you skip the Spicy Italian Sausage, you’ll want to add more seasonings (try smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, fennel, garlic and onion) to have a sauce full of flavor!
- Noodles – If you don’t have large pasta shells on hand, this recipe can be made really with any noodle! Spaghetti, penne, bowtie, etc. You choose!
- Cheese – If you’d prefer a richer dish, closer to traditional stuffed shells you can use ricotta instead of the cottage cheese. Feel free to place with the other cheese add ins and try gouda, white cheddar, havarti or any other favorite shredded cheese in place of the parmesan or mozzarella.
- Veggies - Make a more veggie forward bolognese style sauce and try adding sautéed mushrooms, bell pepper, or carrots (chopped very small!).
Pro Tips
Accidentally tossed the pasta water?! You can make a simple substitute by mixing ½ cup of hot water with ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of cornstarch or flour. This mimics the starchy, salty quality of pasta water, helping sauces emulsify and cling to noodles. Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes to thicken slightly before using
Recipe FAQs
Store the cheese mixture and noodles separately in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also choose to combine the whole thing which will create a more creamy sauce instead of separate components (a great way to have less dishes!). Reheat your unstuffed pasta shells in the microwave for 60-90 seconds until warm throughout.
You should NOT rinse the pasta noodles because the starch on the surface helps the homemade sauce cling better, creating a more flavorful dish.
It’s surely more effort, but it would be absolutely delicious! Instead of adding the noodles into the pot with the meat sauce, pour the sauce into a rectangular casserole dish, then arrange the noodles in rows and dollop a spoonful of the whipped cheese into each of the individual shells. Top with a little shredded mozzarella and throw the pan under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the cheesy topping is brown and bubbly.
Serving Suggestions
Have an APOP dinner party and serve these deconstructed stuffed shells with some Pesto Focaccia, a fresh Arugula Salad, and a Limoncello Spritz!
More Recipes You'll Love
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you really like the recipe consider leaving a comment further down. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Unstuffed Shells
Equipment
- large pot
- Meat masher
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Food Processor
- strainer
Ingredients
Noodles
- 1 box jumbo stuffed shells, 12 oz
- 1 ½ cups pasta water, *always save more than needed just in case!
Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 8 oz ground turkey sausage
- 8 oz ground spicy Italian pork sausage
- 1 large can diced tomatoes, 28 ooz
- 6 oz tomato paste
- ½ cup fresh basil, julienned
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
Whipped Cheese
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- ½ tbsp Italian seasoning
- pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Cook the jumbo pasta shells according to package directions in a large pot. Before draining, save at least 1 ½ cups of pasta water.
- Heat the large pot again with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion to the pot. Brown for 5 minutes, then add the turkey & pork sausage. Break sausage into clumps and allow the sausage to cook, stirring throughout..
- Meanwhile, in a food processor, add all ingredients needed for the cottage cheese whipped “ricotta” and pulse until smooth. Set aside.
- Once the sausage is almost cooked through, add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and 1 cup of pasta water. Stir. For more flavor, season sauce with salt, black pepper, italian seasoning, and/or red pepper flakes to taste.
- Fold in the tender pasta shells. Add the finely chopped basil to the sauce and stir together. If the sauce is too thick, add in pasta water to thin as necessary. While the pasta is still warm, stir in the shredded mozzarella cheese.
- To serve, spread the cottage cheese mixture onto the bottom of your bowls, add the pasta noodles on top and garnish with fresh basil. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
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I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Amy says
Love the flavors and a much better way to eat a lasagna! It's very tasty and I enjoyed eating it multiple days in a row 😋
Sante says
Love the sausage twist on traditional pasta meat dishes! Easy, quick and delicious.
Sydney Van Acker says
im making the whipped cottage cheese ricotta to go with every pasta dish from here on out YUM YUM YUM
Courtney Paige says
love this recipe! esp w/ the high protein "ricotta"
Courtney says
This recipe is so good. I could drink the ricotta sauce 😂