These Chicken Stuffed Shells with ricotta and sun-dried tomato alfredo are always a hit at dinnertime. Drizzled with a little pesto and topped with even more cheese, they make the perfect dinner.
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Chicken Stuffed Shells Recipe
Chicken Stuffed Pasta 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 Chicken Stuffed Shells recipe is filled with shredded chicken (or small chunked chicken breast), Italian seasoning, and a ricotta mixture of cheese, then covered in sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce. It has a little more flavor and tang than a regular alfredo sauce. Oh boy, gimme, gimme!
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.
Chicken Stuffed Shells Ingredients
- Chicken - These stuffed shells can be made with a few different types of chicken: Rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, baked chicken, boiled chicken, or even sous vide chicken. The chicken needs to be shredded or cut into ½" pieces.
- Jumbo Pasta Shells - cooked al-dente, according to package instructions.
- Ricotta Cheese - you can use full fat or reduced fat ricotta. Cottage cheese is a great substitute.
- Mozzarella Cheese - shredded works great.
- Parmesan Cheese - use either freshly grated or shredded for this recipe.
- Eggs - any kind of large eggs will work.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes minced
- Spices: for this filling I like to use a mixture of garlic powder, nutmeg, dried basil, and pepper.
- Pesto - this tastes great drizzled over the top just before baking.
Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
- Heavy Cream - this adds creaminess and thickness to the sauce. You could also add a touch of sour cream for a little extra tang.
- Chicken Broth - any kind of chicken broth or chicken stock will work.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes - you can use the kind in jars or you can reconstitute in water yourself.
- Parmesan Cheese - either freshly grated or shredded will work well.
- Spices: this recipe calls for using nutmeg, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
How to Make Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo
You can also use jarred Sun Dried Tomato 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 This Chicken Stuffed Shells Recipe
- 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, ¼ 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!
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
There are so many great choices for sides to serve with your stuffed shells. A few of my favorites are French Bread, Garlic Pull Apart Bread, Roasted Broccoli, and Roasted Green Beans.
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 Stuffed Shells Recipe
Ingredients
Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- ¼ cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells
- 1 box Jumbo Pasta Shells (cooked al-dente, according to package instructions)
- 2 cups Cooked Chicken cut into ½" pieces
- 15 oz Ricotta Cheese
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Sun-Dried Tomatoes minced
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 3 Tablespoons Pesto
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
How to Make Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
- In a blender, blend together the chicken broth and the sun-dried tomatoes and set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add the cream and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 ½ minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add the sun-dried tomato mixture to the cream and mix. Then add the parmesan cheese, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
- Bring the mixture back up to a boil stirring constantly for another minute or until all the cheese is melted. Take the alfredo sauce off the heat.
How to Make Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells
- Cook the jumbo pasta shells to al dente (just barely cooked through) according to the instructions on the box. Set aside.
- In a 9" x 13" baking dish, spread 1 cup of the sun-dried tomato alfredo in the bottom.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cooked chicken, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, ¼ 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 in your preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Here are some more of our favorite pasta recipes!
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Sun Dried Tomato Penne Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Pasta Recipe
- Mac and Cheese
- Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce for Pasta
- Easy Baked Ziti
- Homemade Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Tortellini Pasta Bake
- Meatball Pasta Bake
- Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad
- cheese Stuffed Pasta
- Lasagna Soup
- Easy Crockpot Lasagna
- Best Marinara Sauce
- More Pasta Recipes
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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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