Vegan Stuffed Shells filled with a homemade herbed high protein spinach tofu ricotta stuffing make for a crowd-pleasing comfort food dinner that is also totally kid-approved. Soy-free and nut-free options included!
Looking for vegan crowd-pleasing comfort food that is also totally kid-approved? Try these vegan stuffed shells! Pasta shells stuffed with a divine vegan ricotta filling, Savory and cheesy. Trust me, you’ve got to make it!
These stuffed shells are perfect for the holidays and festive meals.
For the vegan ricotta I use a tried and tested blend of tofu, vegan mozzarella, almond flour, nutritional yeast and miso. I could eat it by the spoonful, it’s that good.
The filling comes together in a food processor in no time at all! Then all that’s left to do is to stuff the shells with that cheesy goodness and place them in a casserole dish along with some marinara sauce. You can use homemade or store-bought. Try my delicious homemade marinara from my instant pot book!
Sprinkle with vegan parmesan cheese, bake and you’re done! Don’t forget a slice of toasted or garlic bread to get every last bit of that delicious pasta sauce,
Why you’ll love these stuffed shells!
- because comfort food pasta
- the tofu spinach filling is easy and super delicious and also protein filled
- You can make this ahead
- Options for Nutfree and Soyfree
More vegan pasta bakes:
Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake Recipe
Cauliflower Parmesan Pasta Bake
Vegan Butter Chicken Lasagna Bake
Stuffed Shells with Butternut Squash Alfredo Tofu Ricotta
Butternut Squash Lasagna with Caramelized Onion
Recipe Card
Vegan Stuffed Shells with Tofu Spinach Ricotta
Ingredients
- 6 to 7 ounces (170.1 g) large shells (16-18 shells) cooked according to packaging instructions
- 24 ounces (623.69 g) marinara sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegan parmesan for topping optional
For the ricotta filling
- 14 oz (396.89 g) firm tofu pressed for 10 minutes
- 1/4 cup (11 g) nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup (56 g) almond flour or use pumpkin seed meal or 2 oz more tofu for nutfree
- 2 teaspoons mellow miso
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup (56 g) vegan mozzarella
- 4 to 5 ounces (113.4 g) of frozen spinach
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Make the pasta: Cook your shells according to packaging instructions, then drain and rinse with cold water. Add a teaspoon or two of extra virgin olive oil and toss well, so that the oil coats the shells and they don’t dry out.
- Thaw the spinach if you haven’t already or microwave it for a minute. Remove some of the excess moisture and set aside.
- Make the filling; add the tofu, nutritional yeast, almond flour, miso, salt, pepper, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, vegan mozzarella and extra virgin olive oil to a food processor, and process until the tofu completely breaks down and the mixture is coarse mix. Then add in the spinach and pulse a couple of times.
- Assemble: Add half of your marinara sauce to a baking dish. Use a baking dish size that your shells fit snugly in.
- Fill each of the shells with the filling and place them in the marinara sauce, snugly one beside the other.
- Once all the shells are filled and fitted into the baking dish, drizzle the rest of the marinara sauce over the shells.
- Also, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of water all over and especially on the edges. Top with vegan Parmesan. You can also top with Italian herbs and pepper flakes.
- Then bake in the oven at 350ºF/180ºC for 25 to 30 minutes. (Cover lightly witb parchment if you like the top to stay moist)
- Remove from the oven, let it sit for a few minutes then scoop out the shells with some sauce and serve as is or with some garlic bread or a side salad.
Notes
- Make ahead: make the ricotta filling ahead and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days and only assemble the shells when ready to bake and serve.
- make ahead : you can also assemble Everythjng g and refrigerate upto overnight to bake and serve when needed the next day
- To make it soy free use 1 cup soaked cashews Instead of tofu
- Nutfree: Instead of almond flour, you can use pumpkin seed meal or 2 oz more tofu for nutfree
- Use frozen spinach for best results . You can user other greens of choice or omit if you don’t like spinach
- Glutenfree: use Gluten-free shells
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- I used large shells for this recipes. After cooking toss them with some olive oil so they don’t stick together
- tofu in is our vegan swap for ricotta – vegan mozarella, nutritional yeast and miso paste lend it a cheesy flavor
- almond flour helps thicken the cheese filling
- seasoning: salt, pepper, basil, oregano, fresh garlic and garlic powder
- lemon juice makes the cheese filling taste zingy and bright
- marinara sauce – storebought or homemade
- I like to sprinkle my stuffed shells with vegan parmesan
- you can use fresh or frozen spinach for the filling. I prefer frozen as fresh can sometimes add a butter flavor if not blanched first.
Tip:
- You can make the ricotta filling ahead and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days and only assemble the shells when ready to bake and serve.
- To make it soy free use 1 cup soaked cashews Instead of tofu
- Nutfree: Instead of almond flour, you can use pumpkin seed meal or 2 oz more tofu for nutfree
- Use frozen spinach for best results . You can user other greens of choice or omit if you don’t like spinach
- Don’t overcook the pasta shells – they will continue to cook a little in the oven. Rinse the cooked shells in cold water as soon as they are done to stop the cooking process and toss with olive oil.
How to make Vegan Stuffed Shells
Cook your shells according to packaging instructions, then drain and rinse with cold water. Add a teaspoon or two of extra virgin olive oil and toss well, so that the oil coats the shells and they don’t dry out.
Thaw the spinach if you haven’t already or microwave it for a minute. Remove some of the excess moisture and set aside.
Make the filling; add the tofu, nutritional yeast, almond flour, salt, pepper, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, vegan mozzarella and extra virgin olive oil to a food processor, and process until the tofu completely breaks down and the mixture is coarse and homogenously mixed.
Then add in the spinach and pulse a couple of times.
Add half of your marinara sauce to a baking dish. Use a baking dish size so that your shells fit snugly in.
Fill each of the shells with the filling and place them in the marinara sauce snugly, one beside the other.
Once all the shells and the filling are finished, drizzle the rest of the marinara sauce over the shells.
Also, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of water all over and especially on the edges. Top with vegan Parmesan.
Then bake in the oven at 350ºF/180ºC for 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let it sit for a few minutes then scoop out the shells with some sauce and serve as is or with some garlic bread or a side salad.
Storage
Store refrigerated in a covered container for upto 3 days. Reheat with a bit more sauce or a sprinkle of water in the oven or microwave.
Kristina
I’ve made other tofu spinach ricotta filling before but this recipe is so much tastier! I love the flavors and this dish was a family success! TY
Vegan Richa Support
yay! thank you!
Deb
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️So easy and so good! Everyone loved it. I love that it’s got protein and some healthy veggies in there too. Turned out exactly like the photo, will definitely make this again😘
Vegan Richa Support
woohoo! thank you, deb!
BWeaves
I tried this tonight and it was delicious. Carnivore hubby had seconds. If I didn’t know it was tofu, I would have thought it was ricotta and other cheeses.
I wish I’d boiled up more than 18 shells, though. My 9 x 13 inch pan had room for lots more shells, and I had lots of leftover filling. Next time I’ll boil up 24 shells. I also wished I’d boiled my shells for longer than 5 minutes (package directions) because they were a little al dente for my taste, so I added a cup of boiling water to the pan, and cooked them covered for another 20 minutes.
Vegan Richa Support
Thanks for sharing!
Kendra
Looking forward to making this. However, is there another option instead of miso paste? Miso paste is made with soy. Thanks.
Vegan Richa Support
You can use 1 teaspoon of coconut aminos as a replacement. Enjoy!
Erin Thompson
There is also chickpea miso, non soy.
Sabina
I was very lazy and didn’t have much time so I added the tofu mixture in a pan, then added the marinara and spinach.
My spinach was fresh (I had 7 oz) so I cut it in pieces and let everything cook together for 5 minutes.
In the meanwhile I cooked pasta and added the tofu sauce on it.
I used just a little bit more of salt. The taste was already satisfying for me so I didn’t even need to add miso or mozzarella cheese.
Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed
Noola
Used the ricotta recipe to make ravioli. Didn’t have spinach so subbed fried onions and mushrooms. It was delicious. Will have to find some of the shells to try the proper recipe. Not sure where I can get them in the UK. Thank you for the recipe Richa 🙂
Vegan Richa Support
Sounds tasty!
Jounayet Rahman
This was fantastic!!
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you!
Lesley
This recipe made a nice full pan of stuffed shells, which is great! Because it tastes so good. Nice rich and cheesy filling. I made a second batch using vegan liquid mozzarella in place of red sauce. It was delicious as well!
Vegan Richa Support
I’m so glad you enjoy!
Vegan Richa Support
Yum!
Inken
Wow! This dish is AMAZING! Cooked this last night, enough for 2 days. Unfortunately it was so so yummy that I ended up eating all of it hence I didn’t sleep well because I had to much to eat! LOL
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. xx
Vegan Richa Support
Haha thank you!
Jennifer
This was SO GOOD, but the instructions never say to add the miso, so I accidentally left it out, I’m just going to have to make these again!
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you!
Emilie
Absolutely delicious!! The filling is so so good, it really has a wonderful cheesy taste and smooth texture. Lots of praise from a non-vegan friend who loved it!! Even better than real ricotta for him!
Richa
So awesome!!
Stephanie
My partner and I loved this! I made it yesterday and the ingredients came together perfectly. We opted to go without the parmesan topping and used fresh spinach instead of frozen, since we had that on hand. Unfortunately there are no leftovers today… I will absolutely be making this again. Delicious!
Richa
Awesome!
Kelly
Can we use one of your variations of cashew mozzarella to replace the store-bought shreds? I haven’t found a store-bought vegan cheese that doesn’t taste “off” (as in, sour) to me yet.
Richa
Yes use my mozzarella from my margherita recipe
Giulia
I’m definitely going to try this one! All your recipes are amazing. Just one question, do you cover the tray before putting it in the oven to bake?
Richa
I don’t, but you can cover lightly and bake if you like it more moist on top.
arj
I’ve been looking for a good “riNOTta” type filling for lasagna. I think I’ll try this one!
Vegan Richa Support
Enjoy, haha.