These vegan stuffed shells with spinach make such a delicious dinner! They’re filled with spinach and vegan ricotta made of cauliflower and tofu. Nobody will believe that these stuffed shells are vegan! The perfect Italian comfort food!
I’ve always loved Italian food! I mean who can say no to pasta, right?! Definitely not me! These stuffed shells are just soooo delicious!
Vegan Stuffed Shells with Spinach
What You Need For These Vegan Stuffed Shells
The ingredient list for the vegan stuffed shells is pretty short. No fancy or hard to find ingredients!
You need:
- cooked cauliflower
- unsweetened almond milk
- nutritional yeast
- white wine vinegar
- lemon juice
- tofu
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- spinach
- jumbo shells
- store-bought or homemade marinara
You could also make the vegan ricotta with cashews instead of cauliflower. It will get more creamy and rich this way, but it also contains more calories.
Check out my vegan basil ricotta pinwheels for the vegan ricotta with cashews. Just leave out the basil if you want to substitute the cauliflower ricotta with the cashew ricotta for these stuffed shells.
How to Make Stuffed Shells
It’s super easy to make these vegan stuffed shells!
- Cook the pasta jumbo shells according to the instruction on the package. Set aside.
- Combine all ingredients for the vegan cauliflower ricotta in a blender.
- Sauté the spinach and then stir in the vegan ricotta.
- Put some tomato sauce in a baking dish, so the bottom of the dish is covered. Place the cooked shells in the baking dish and carefully spoon the ricotta spinach mixture into the cooked pasta shells.
- Add some tomato sauce on top and around the sides.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes and sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.
As always, you can find the full recipe and the detailed recipe instructions in a separate, printable recipe box at the end of this post.
The recipe takes some time as you first have to cook the pasta shells on the stove top. But I can promise you it’s really worth it! If you’re short on time, you can also prepare the pasta shells and the filling the night before.
Just store it in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. Or you could even fill the pasta shells the night before and then all you have to do is putting them in the oven the next day. This way the stuffed shells are a great make-ahead recipe!
Can You Freeze Stuffed Shells?
Yes, freezing stuffed pasta shells works pretty well. I like doing this when I want to have an easy dinner.
Just prepare everything in advance and first cover it with plastic wrap and then with another round of tin foil. If you want, you can even add a label on top with the date of freezing.
After getting the pasta shells out of the freezer, just spoon some marinara sauce on top and around the sides. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 °F and sprinkle with fresh basil.
How to Reheat Stuffed Shells
I usually find that reheating already baked shells in the oven dries them out too much. So I prefer to reheat them in the microwave. Spooning some extra tomato sauce on top helps to keep them fresh as well.
How Many Stuffed Shells Per Person
If you serve the stuffed shells with a salad and maybe even with roasted garlic bread, I’d say you need four to five jumbo shells per person. But of course this depends on your personal appetite and how you serve the stuffed shells.
I hope you like these vegan stuffed shells with spinach as much as we do!
If you give the recipe a try, please leave me a comment and a rating. Or share your photo with me on Instagram or Facebook. As always, I love hearing from you guys!
Have an awesome week!
Sina – xx
Vegan Stuffed Shells with Spinach
Ingredients
For the vegan ricotta:
- 3 heaped cups cooked cauliflower
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 8 oz tofu, drained (no silken tofu! Regular or firm tofu)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
For the stuffed shells:
- 18 jumbo shells
- 2-3 cups marinara sauce
- 5 cups fresh spinach
Instructions
- Cook the pasta jumbo shells according to the instructions on the package. Set aside.
- Combine all ingredients for the vegan cauliflower ricotta in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- In a medium-sized pan, sauté the spinach. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the vegan ricotta. Season with salt and pepper.
- Put some tomato sauce in a baking dish, so the bottom is covered. Place the cooked shells in the baking dish and carefully spoon the ricotta spinach mixture into the cooked pasta shells.
- Add some more tomato sauce on top.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes at 350 °F. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and enjoy!
Nutrition
Stephanie
I’ve made several recipes with just tofu ricotta and I very much dislike cauliflower usually so I wasn’t excited about this recipe but WOW. I could snack on that ricotta all day. Dr Greger would be proud of this cruciferous addition! Very yummy healthy recipe thank you for sharing it!
Jennifer
Definitely a family favorite. The kids even love helping to make them. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Emily
Just made these. They were amazing. My non vegan fiancé loved them too! Thank you.
Mia Mamone
I made this for my family of 6 and they all loved it!
What we changed is the filling, as it seemed like the seasonings were lacking after we taste tested it.
We added more garlic, more onion, then added basil and oregano as well, just to taste, no fancy measuring spoons. It’s amazing.
We ended up making two whole trays of pasta and made garlic bread as a side. We bought two jars of sauce, which actually may have been too little, I would get 3.
Claire Farrugia
I made this for dinner last night… it was delicious! Thank you for the recipe will definitely make it again. I will also use this recipe to make vegan cannelloni next time as I think it will work too.
Susan
I made the shell recipe and then again as lasagne! OMG, it was SO delicious. We ate every last bit, then made for my son and DIL and they loved it too!
Thank you for this healthy, rich tasting alternative to a comfort dish!!
Marit
I’ve made these once and they were absolutely delicious! I was wondering though, when freezing the shells, do you freeze them ‘raw’ or do you freeze them after you’ve baked them in the oven?
Sonia
Just tried this tonight for the first time and had my parents over for dinner. It was soooooo good. Definitely making again. Thank you!
Kimberly
What would you recommend as a substitute for tofu?
Carol
Recipe sounds delicious. Can unsweetened soy milk be used in place of almond milk? My husband has a nut allergy.
Sina
Hi Carol,
Yes, that’s no problem. Just make sure it’s unsweetened. :-)
Abby
Another amazing recipe, Sina! The ricotta is so delicious – I may have eaten some with a spoon. I’ll definitely use this ricotta in other dishes such as vegan lasagna or on vegan pizza! I just baked the cauliflower at 425 for 20 minutes – I wasn’t sure if you intended for it to be boiled or baked but the roasty-ness seemed to add a nice flavor as well. I added some oregano during the blending process, too. These shells are nice and filling since you’re eating tofu and cauliflower with your pasta! I will definitely make these again!
Kimberly
What can be used to substitute for the tofu
Sina
Hi Kimberly,
You could use cashews instead of the tofu. Like I did in this recipe: https://veganheaven.org/recipe/vegan-basil-ricotta-pinwheels/. Or you could even make a combination of the two recipes and use cashews AND cauliflower. :-)
Let me know how it turned out!
Janet
This was so yummy! Will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe
Paulette
Sounds yummy. What kind if tofu did you use? Silken?
Sina
Hi Paulette, No, just regular tofu. :-)
Paulette
And Ok thanks then I am assuming it was firm tofu. Making this for my hubby’s 70th birthday dinner. Looking forward to it.
Paulette
Note in follow up. I didnt drain the tofu and my ricotta came out runny. Note to self and others, drain the tofu first. It took me way longer than the time stated here. Not sure why. BUT! It was absolutely delicious.
Sina
Hi Paulette,
So glad you liked the stuffed shells! :-)
What kind of tofu did you use? I used regular (firm but not super firm) tofu and I drained it but I didn’t press it to remove all of the liquid. Sorry I didn’t mention this step in the recipe instructions! I’ll add it right now. :-)