This Turkey Stuffed Shells Casserole recipe is a hearty pasta dish perfect to serve with a lovely green salad and a loaf of crusty bread. It’s a family favorite and a great option for a potluck dinner.
My family seems to be on a casserole kick lately! My husband and daughter are constantly in the kitchen, head-to-head, concocting their latest masterpiece!
To be honest, I am loving seeing the two of them in the kitchen together. My dad would have never been caught dead in the kitchen with my mom (unless he was grabbing a soda from the fridge!) In my humble opinion, if a casserole has some pasta and lots of cheese, I am halfway to food nirvana!
This week, the dynamic duo came up with this Turkey Stuffed Shells Casserole recipe. I love their using ground turkey sausage instead of ground beef. My husband and I are both watching our cholesterol, so that is a smart substitution in this recipe.
We love ground casserole because it’s so versatile and be used in all kinds of recipes like this turkey casserole, turkey chili and turkey smash burgers.
This casserole recipe is pretty classic, sans the use of the turkey. It is the base for our favorite lasagna recipe as well. This dish is fun to make because you get to roll up your sleeves and get your hands messy!
My daughter usually stuffs the shells, so you know they will be plenty full, which makes my belly quite happy! This is the perfect meal to serve with an Italian chopped salad and a loaf of crusty no-knead bread. Yum!
Turkey stuffed shells is also an excellent Friendsgiving casserole recipe! You still technically have the turkey for Thanksgiving, but in a much more comfort food gooey and cheesy pasta kind of way!
Turkey Stuffed Shells Casserole Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Box jumbo pasta shells
1-pound ground turkey sausage, cooked
1 Tub of ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 jar of pasta sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided in half
2-3 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp. fresh garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
How to make turkey stuffed shells:
Step 1: Bring your pasta to boil. Rinse and set aside.
Step 2: Cook turkey. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Set aside.
Step 3: Add your cheese, egg, salt and pepper and Italian seasonings. Blend well. Add in turkey.
Step 4: Pour a layer of pasta sauce to cover the bottom of the pan.
SIDE NOTE: This Cuisinart lasagna pan looks awesome! It’s going on the “kitchen wish list”.
Step 5: Stuff your shells and place seam down in your 8×8 pan. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until cheese is bubbling. Serve immediately and enjoy!
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Turkey Stuffed Shells Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 Box jumbo pasta shells
- 1- pound ground turkey cooked
- 1 Tub of ricotta cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 jar of pasta sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided in half
- 2-3 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tsp. fresh garlic minced
- 2 tsp. Italian seasonings
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Brown the ground turkey.
- Add garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Set aside.
- At the same time as above, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 1/8 cup salt.
- Cook pasta shells according to directions, but for 2 minutes less. Drain and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and egg. Add salt and pepper and Italian seasonings and blend well.
- Add in the turkey.
- Pour ½ cup of your pasta sauce into a lasagna pan (just enough to coat the bottom.)
- Fill each shell with the meat/cheese mixture. Place seam side down into sauce coated pan.
- When the pan is filled with shells, top with ½ cup of remaining shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Add remaining ½ cup mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Serve hot with your favorite bread!
Kimberly Flickinger says
This casserole looks delicious! I will definitely be pinning and saving for later. Thank you for sharing!
Gina Gentry says
My family despises ricotta, anyone have any ideas of a substitute for it, fresh mozzarella maybe??
Diane says
Gina…try low-fat cottage cheese, either as is (for more texture) or whizzed in a blender or food processor.
Chrysa says
Thanks, Diane! Good tip!
Cynthia W says
This looks and sounds delicious! I think I can even make this, LOL. Thanks for the recipe.
The Char says
I WANT TO EAT IT!
Rajee Pandi says
love to try it
Sarah L says
I like all the ingredients in this recipe. Would be yummy.
Hannah C says
This looks so delicious! I want to make it sometime soon!
Tandi Vidal says
This looks like a yummy recipe. We are always looking for new things to make. We are going to have to give this one a try.
Elena says
Looks so yummy! Thank you for the recipe
Julie Wood says
This recipe looks so delicious and I want to make it for a big Sunday dinner. We love stuffed shells and your recipe is healthy and fun to make!
Scott says
I love stuffed shells but never find the time to make them. Usually get frozen, but need to rethink that!
Carlee Colonneso says
I know my Italian family would be into this dish. Looks so delicious and if it has cheese, count them in!
Rosey says
I’m with you, add pasta and cheese and I’m a happy casserole partaker. 😉 My very first time cooking stuffed shells, it didn’t say to boil them and I didn’t know you were supposed to, hahahaha. Talk about a crunchy dinner. 🙂 It was many, many years ago. These look great!
Christine J. says
These look so delicious! I’m definitely going to have to add this to my meal plan.
Emily says
Oh this looks so good! I love the idea of using turkey, thanks!