• Healthy Stuffed Shells with Ground Turkey and Spinach
  • Healthy Stuffed Shells with Ground Turkey and Spinach
  • Healthy Stuffed Shells
  • How to Stuff Shells with Spoon
  • Ground Turkey Ground Beef

Healthy Stuffed Shells with Ground Turkey and Spinach

Instructions

  • 1. Boil jumbo shells according to package. Drain and set aside covering with a wet paper towel to keep from drying.
  • 2. Brown ground meat in a skillet together over medium heat with diced onion. Cook until no pink meat remains. Drain any excess fat.
  • 3. Thaw spinach in a colander under warm water. Press to remove excess water.
  • 4. In a large bowl, mix together parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach, meat, onions and spices including salt and pepper.
  • 5. Take meat and cheese mixture and gently stuff into shells. Line a large baking pan or two smaller baking pans (freeze one!) with shells.
  • 6. Cover shells with tomato sauce. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella. Bake at 375˚ for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce it bubbling in the center. Garnish with fresh parsley before serving.

Published on January 30, 2016 | In | By |
13 Comments
    • Prep Time
    • Minutes
    • Cook Time
    • Minutes
    • Yield
    • 12x9 dish

    • Ingredients

    • 1 (12oz) box jumbo shells
    • 1 lb ground turkey
    • 1 lb ground beef
    • 1/2 onion, diced
    • 1 (10oz) bag frozen spinach
    • 1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
    • 1 (9oz) container parmesan romano cheese mix
    • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • 2 (24oz) jars of tomato sauce
    • 8oz fresh mozzarella
    • fresh parsley for garnish
    • Difficulty Level
This post may contain affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn a commission.
▼ Jump down to recipe ▼

These healthy stuffed shells are going to rock your world! They’re stuffed with spinach, a yummy blend of cheeses, then lightened up with ground turkey.

A healthier, freezer-friendly, delicious dinner option.

If you like healthy food but you still like things to taste good… this recipe is for you, baby.

Ground Turkey + Ground Beef

Ground Turkey and Beef

No matter how you season it or cook it, ground turkey is not going to taste like ground beef. I tried. So my compromise here is to lighten up this dish by using half ground beef and half ground turkey. The ground beef infuses flavor into this dish while the ground turkey adds that meaty texture but cuts the grease in half. You can opt to use all turkey or all beef, but this half and half blend is my personal favorite way to make these stuffed shells healthier without sacrificing flavor.

This recipe feeds a large family or a small crowd.

These stuffed shells are pretty easy to prep but do take a little time so I’d recommend making two batches at a time—have one for dinner and either share one dish with a friend or put it in the freezer for an easy heat-and-eat weeknight dinner. These freeze and reheat well using a casserole dish.

If you don’t want to make a huge batch, two batches, or if you’re just short on time, then cut the amount of ingredients in halfv to make half the amount. A half batch will still feed 3-4 people.

Watch how to prepare and cook these stuffed shells:

 

Tips for stuffing the shells:

Stuffing Shells

If you’ve never stuffed shells before, don’t worry it’s pretty easy it just takes a little time and some practice to find your grove.

• Make sure to stir your jumbo noodles while cooking, otherwise they can stick together and rip when you try to pull them apart.

• Don’t overcook your shells. Drain immediately after they’re done cooking. Cooked properly, they hold their shape better and are easier to stuff.

• After you drain the shells, don’t let them sit too long. They’ll dry up and start to stick together. I cover mine with a wet paper towel if I need more time to mix up the stuffing.

• Use your fingers to stuff the shells with the spinach-cheese-meat mixture if a spoon isn’t working well.

What ingredients are needed to make these healthy stuffed shells?

You don’t need a long list of ingredients to make this yummy dinner.

Here’s everything you need: Ground turkey, ground beef (or use double turkey), jumbo pasta shells, onion, spinach (fresh or frozen), ricotta cheese, Parmesan Romano cheese blend, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, tomato sauce (I love Rao’s sauce!), Mozzarella cheese, and parsley if you want a pretty garnish.

Healthy Stuffed Shells Ingredients

Helpful tools for making these stuffed shells:

Want more easy and delicious dinner ideas?

Browse all my dinner recipes!

These healthy stuffed shells were featured on South Your Mouth, Menu Plan Monday, and Inspire Me Monday and have been pinned more than 15,000 times with lots of rave reviews! I hope you enjoy them too!

Healthy Stuffed Shells with Ground Turkey and Spinach

Ingredients

  • 1 (12oz) box jumbo shells
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 (10oz) bag frozen spinach
  • 1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
  • 1 (9oz) container parmesan romano cheese mix
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 (24oz) jars of tomato sauce
  • 8oz fresh mozzarella
  • fresh parsley for garnish

Instructions

  • 1. Boil jumbo shells according to package. Drain and set aside covering with a wet paper towel to keep from drying.
  • 2. Brown ground meat in a skillet together over medium heat with diced onion. Cook until no pink meat remains. Drain any excess fat.
  • 3. Thaw spinach in a colander under warm water. Press to remove excess water.
  • 4. In a large bowl, mix together parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach, meat, onions and spices including salt and pepper.
  • 5. Take meat and cheese mixture and gently stuff into shells. Line a large baking pan or two smaller baking pans (freeze one!) with shells.
  • 6. Cover shells with tomato sauce. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella. Bake at 375˚ for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce it bubbling in the center. Garnish with fresh parsley before serving.

Recipe Rating

  • (5 /5)
  • (9 Rating)

Instructions

  • 1. Boil jumbo shells according to package. Drain and set aside covering with a wet paper towel to keep from drying.
  • 2. Brown ground meat in a skillet together over medium heat with diced onion. Cook until no pink meat remains. Drain any excess fat.
  • 3. Thaw spinach in a colander under warm water. Press to remove excess water.
  • 4. In a large bowl, mix together parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach, meat, onions and spices including salt and pepper.
  • 5. Take meat and cheese mixture and gently stuff into shells. Line a large baking pan or two smaller baking pans (freeze one!) with shells.
  • 6. Cover shells with tomato sauce. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella. Bake at 375˚ for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce it bubbling in the center. Garnish with fresh parsley before serving.

Rate this recipe

Healthy Stuffed Shells with Ground Turkey and Spinach

  • 9 People Rated This Recipe

  • Average Rating

    (5 / 5)

Comments

  1. Shawna July 13, 2020 at 1:21 am #

    How long does this stay good if I freeze it?

    Reply
    • Angela G. July 13, 2020 at 1:56 am #

      Hi Shawna, generally you can freeze this for 2-3 months before it might start to loose quality due to freezer burn. If you can store it in an air tight container, that’s best.

      Reply
  2. LaToya March 4, 2020 at 10:19 pm #

    Hello,

    Is this to be frozen with the sauce and cheese on top?

    Reply
    • Angela G. March 5, 2020 at 2:22 am #

      Yes, it can be frozen with sauce and cheese on top, just be sure to cover it with foil when you’re ready to cook it so the cheese doesn’t burn. Thanks for asking! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Esmeralda September 18, 2018 at 6:23 pm #

    Hi! Was wondering what is the nutrition facts for this recipe? Calories and stuff like that. Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Crista June 28, 2018 at 11:54 pm #

    Super easy to make and love that I can have extra to freeze since I’m making meals to freeze right now while on maternity leave. Never thought I could make stuffed shells until this!

    Reply
  5. Cindy June 8, 2018 at 4:25 pm #

    It doesn’t say in the recipe where the Italian seasoning goes. Does it go in the meat or tomato sauce?

    Reply
    • Angela G. June 8, 2018 at 5:19 pm #

      Hi Cindy, The seasoning goes in when you mix the meat with the cheese in step 4. Thanks for asking! Hope you enjoy. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Kylie Rivera January 25, 2017 at 11:02 pm #

    Angela,

    I really would love to try this recipe tonight for dinner! However, I was wondering if you used both ground turkey AND ground beef or is the recipe supposed to have only one or the other? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Angela Gast January 26, 2017 at 2:23 am #

      Hi Kylie,
      I like to use half ground beef and half ground turkey but you can use all beef or all turkey. It’s totally up to you. I like the added flavor that the ground beef brings but not the fat. So that’s why I use half turkey, to reduce the fat, but half beef to kick up the flavor. If you want a more healthy meal, you could go all turkey. Or if you don’t care about fat content as much and are really looking for a richer flavor, you could go all beef. Hope that answers your question. Thanks for asking!

      Reply
      • Kim June 6, 2017 at 12:59 am #

        So is this calling for 2lbs of meat total?

        Thank you!

        Reply
        • Angela G. June 6, 2017 at 2:15 am #

          Yes, 2lbs of meat total. Thanks for asking!

          Reply

Leave a Reply