Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells with Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo are a hit at dinnertime!! My whole family loves the cheese and chicken stuffed shells, Shredded Chicken with a ricotta, parmesan cheese mixture, stuffed inside a jumbo shell and topped with homemade alfredo sauce and drizzled with pesto. Everyone loves this pasta bake.
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Stuffed Pasta Shells
Stuffed shells are a fun way to mix up your Italian recipes. There are so many possible flavor combinations. You can use beef, sausage, chicken, or stick with pure cheese stuffed shells.
This particular recipe is filled with shredded chicken (or small chunked chicken breast), Italian seasoning, a ricotta mixture of cheese, and covered in alfredo sauce. It's not just any kind of alfredo sauce, It's a sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce that has a little more flavor and tang than a regular alfredo sauce. Oh boy, gimme, gimme!
Chicken Stuffed Shells
These stuffed shells can be made with a few different types of chicken.
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Grilled Chicken
- Baked Chicken
- Boiled Chicken
- Sou Vide Chicken
I used a rotisserie chicken for the chicken in this recipe. It was easy and really quick to put together. It's one of my favorite recipes to make with rotisserie chicken. Any of the other types of chicken will also work. Just be sure to shred or dice the chicken breast small before adding it to the ricotta cheese mixture.
This stuffed shell recipe is the perfect dinner to take to someone who needs some comfort food or for a new mom. You can make it ahead but don't cook it and they can pop it in the fridge for a couple of days and cook it whenever they're ready.
What to Serve With Stuffed Shells
How to Make Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo
You can also use jarred alfredo sauce for this recipe. It changes the flavor because, of course, it's not sun-dried tomato alfredo but it makes this pasta bake even easier.
In a saucepan on medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Boil for 1.5 minutes. (You are boiling some of the liquid out of the cream so it will be a little thicker)
In a blender, blend together the chicken broth and the sun-dried tomatoes.
Add the sun-dried tomato mixture to the cream and add the parmesan cheese, garlic salt, nutmeg, and the pepper.
- Bring the mixture back up to a boil stirring constantly for another minute or until all the cheese is melted while stirring constantly. Take the alfredo sauce off the heat.
How to Make Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook the jumbo pasta shells to al dense (just barely cooked through) according to the instructions on the box. Set aside.
In a 9 by 13 baking dish, spread 1 cup of the sun-dried tomato alfredo.
In a medium bowl, combine chicken, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 parmesan cheese, eggs, minced sun-dried tomatoes, and spices. Mix together.
Add the chicken and cheese mixtures, about 2 tablespoons at a time, into the cooked pasta shells.
Place the pasta Shells in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread remaining alfredo sauce over the stuffed shells. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese on the stuffed shells. Drizzle pesto on top of shells too.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown. Take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes and then serve. Enjoy!
How to Store
- Make-Ahead- You can assemble this pasta bake and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking.
- Freeze- make according to instructions but do not bake. Cover with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Freeze for 2-3 months.
- Thaw- If you're planning to bake, no need to thaw. Just remove the plastic wrap, re-cover with aluminum foil, bake on 300 degrees for 60 minutes or until the alfredo is bubbling. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 10 minutes until the cheese is golden,
- Bake- If baking fresh, bake on 350 for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown.
- Re-heat- Place on a paper plate or microwavable dish, heat on high for about 60 seconds or until heated through. You can also reheat in an ovenproof dish, on 300 for about 20 min in the oven.
Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 1/4 Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes
- 1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells with Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo
- 1 box Jumbo Pasta Shells (cooked al-dente, according to package instructions)
- 2 Cups Rotisserie chicken diced into 1/2" pieces
- 15 oz ricotta Cheese
- 2 cup mozzerella cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbls sun-dried tomatoes (minced) optional-if you aren't sure if you like a lot of sun-dried tomato flavor, reduce the amount or skip this ingredient for the cheese filling.
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 Tbls Pesto--optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
How to Make Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
- In a saucepan on medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Boil for 1.5 minutes. (You are boiling some of the liquid out of the cream so it will be a little thicker)
- In a blender, blend together the chicken broth and the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Add the sun-dried tomato mixture to the cream and add the parmesan cheese, garlic salt, nutmeg, and the pepper.
- Bring the mixture back up to a boil stirring constantly for another minute or until all the cheese is melted while stirring constantly. Take the alfredo sauce off the heat.
How to Make Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells
- Cook the jumbo pasta shells to al dense (just barely cooked through) according to the instructions on the box. Set aside.
- In a 9 by 13 baking dish, spread 1 cup of the sun-dried tomato alfredo.
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 parmesan cheese, eggs, minced sun-dried tomatoes, and spices. Mix together.
- Add the chicken and cheese mixtures, about 2 tablespoons at a time, into the cooked pasta shells.
- Place the pasta Shells in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread remaining alfredo sauce over the stuffed shells. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese on the stuffed shells. Drizzle pesto on top of shells too.
- Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown. Take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes and then serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Best Pasta Dinner Recipes:
The Most Amazing Garlic Butter
Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo
Penne Pasta With Italian Meatballs
Homemade Chicken Parmesan Recipe
Slow Cooker Tortellini Pasta Bake
Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells
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Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells with Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo are a hit at dinnertime!! My whole family loves the cheese and chicken stuffed inside a pasta shell with delicious sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce!
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