These vegan stuffed shells are stuffed with an almond-tofu spinach ricotta, baked with marinara sauce and sprinkled with vegan parmesan for a fabulous crowd-pleasing dinner favorite.
If you’re a fan of comfort food (and really, who isn’t) then these jumbo vegan stuffed shells are right up your street.
It’s not only an extremely delicious meal but it’s relatively quick and easy too. You can even prep a few things ahead of time, so it’s a great option for a dinner party and looks really impressive too.
It’s also really filling and a little goes a long way.
And if you love pasta dishes that serve a crowd you’ll also love our vegan pasta bake, vegan baked ziti, vegan lasagna and our baked vegan mac and cheese.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Firm silken tofu – or extra firm silken tofu both work great in this recipe. You can actually use any tofu but we found firm or extra firm silken tofu to have the best texture. However we have also made this with regular firm tofu and it also works great.
- Slivered almonds – should be soaked in hot water for 1 hour before being blended with other ingredients for the almond ricotta. You can also use blanched almonds.
- Coconut cream – should be canned, unsweetened coconut cream. You can also use full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk.
- Marinara sauce – Store-bought marinara sauce for the win! This saves heaps of time and there are always good options for a jar of basic marinara sauce pretty much everywhere.
How To Make Vegan Stuffed Shells
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Soak Slivered Almonds:
- Soak slivered almonds in hot water for an hour first. Place them into a bowl, pour hot water from the kettle over the top and then leave them to soak for 1 hour.
Make the pasta:
- Put the pasta on to cook according to package directions but only cook them until al dente or just before. They need to be firm for stuffing.
- When the shells are al dente, drain and rinse.
Make the Almond Ricotta:
- When the slivered almonds have soaked for an hour, drain and rinse them and then add them to the blender jug along with coconut cream, nutritional yeast, white vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt and garlic powder.
- Blend until smooth. The texture will still be a little grainy, but that is just fine.
Almond Tofu Spinach Ricotta:
- Now add your full batch of almond ricotta to your food processor and add tofu (broken into pieces), chopped baby spinach, chopped parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper.
- Process until well mixed. If the mix goes a little green from the spinach and parsley, this is fine.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Add 1 cup (240ml) of marinara sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and spread it evenly across the bottom.
- Stuff the shells using a small spoon and stuff each one to the brim so that you use up all the filling. Place the stuffed shells into the 9×13 dish on top of the marinara sauce.
- When all the shells are in, pour over the remaining marinara sauce.
- Cover the dish with foil and place into the oven to bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and return to the oven to bake for 10 minutes uncovered.
- Sprinkle with vegan parmesan cheese (optional) and serve.
Make-Ahead
If you want to prepare any ingredients in advance, then having your basic recipe for almond ricotta already made will save time, then you can just add that to your food processor along with the tofu, parsley, spinach and spices.
The almond ricotta requires soaking the slivered almonds for an hour in hot water first, so that takes up some time.
If that’s already made, then you can just cook your shells, whip up the filling in the food processor, stuff the shells and then assemble in the dish with the marinara sauce and bake in the oven for 25 minutes covered and then another 5-10 minutes uncovered.
If you want to make the whole thing in advance you can do so. Just make it up to the point that it would go into the oven, cover with foil and keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours and then bake it as usual.
Chef’s Tips
Cook your shells until they are al dente at most. You can even cook them a little less. They should be cooked to the point where they are ‘almost’ done but you wouldn’t eat them exactly like that, you’d think they were underdone if they were served right away.
This prevents them from being over-cooked by the time you serve them and also makes them easier to stuff since they are nice and firm.
Make sure your almond-tofu-spinach ricotta tastes good before you stuff the shells. If it tastes a little bland add more flavoring. Make sure you enjoy how it tastes, because it isn’t going to taste all that different once it’s baked.
Use a tasty marinara sauce. It’s hard to go wrong with marinara sauce, but it is the crowning glory of this dish so you need it to be a tasty one. Use your favorite variety that you know is good. Also don’t be shy with it and use a nice liberal amount.
Fancy it up if you like! If you want to add something like vegan mozzarella to the top and let that melt in the oven when the foil comes off, well, go on with your bad self! That would be pretty awesome.
Recipe FAQ
A salad on the side is a great plan, such as a vegan Greek salad, vegan chickpea salad or vegan caesar salad. Some vegan garlic bread would be delicious on the side as well.
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge and enjoy within the next 3-4 days.
They are freezer friendly up to 3 months. Allow to cool completely before freezing. You can also freeze them before baking. Make them up to the point of baking, cover in cling wrap and foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Vegan Pesto Pasta
- Vegan Carbonara
- Vegan Mushroom Pasta
- Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
- Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
Pasta Shells:
- 8 ounces Jumbo Shells (226g)
Almond Ricotta:
- 1 ½ cups Slivered Almonds (195g) Soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- ½ cup Canned Coconut Cream (120ml) Unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
Tofu Spinach Ricotta:
- 10 ounces Firm Silken Tofu (280g)
- 1 cup Baby Spinach (40g) Chopped
- 2 Tbsp Parsley Finely chopped
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
Marinara Sauce:
- 2 ½ cups Marinara Sauce (600ml)
Serving (Optional):
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Soak almonds: Soak slivered almonds in hot water for an hour first. Place them into a bowl, pour hot water from the kettle over the top and then leave them to soak for 1 hour.
- Cook pasta: Put the pasta on to cook according to package directions but only cook them until al dente or just before. They need to be firm for stuffing. When the shells are al dente, drain and rinse.
- Make almond ricotta: When the slivered almonds have soaked for an hour, drain and rinse them and then add them to the blender jug along with coconut cream, nutritional yeast, white vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt and garlic powder. Blend until smooth. The texture will still be a little grainy, but that is just fine.
- Make tofu spinach ricotta: Now add your full batch of almond ricotta to your food processor and add tofu (broken into pieces), chopped baby spinach, chopped parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper. Process until well mixed. If the mix goes a little green from the spinach and parsley, this is fine.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Add 1 cup (240ml) of marinara sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and spread it evenly across the bottom.
- Stuff the shells using a small spoon and stuff each one to the brim so that you use up all the filling. Place the stuffed shells into the 9×13 dish on top of the marinara sauce.
- When all the shells are in, pour over the remaining marinara sauce.
- Cover the dish with foil and place into the oven to bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and return to the oven to bake for 10 minutes uncovered.
- Sprinkle with vegan parmesan cheese (optional) and serve.
Notes
- You can use any tofu, but we found firm or extra firm silken tofu to result in the best texture. However, we have made this with regular firm tofu as well and it also works great.
- Use any great tasting marinara sauce.
- Prep time does not include the hour spent soaking the slivered almonds.
- Keep leftovers covered in the fridge and enjoy within 3-4 days.
- Nutritional information does not include vegan parmesan cheese on top.
- This recipe was first published in March 2019. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
I made this recipe with a gluten free pasta shell and it was absolutely delicious! I always get nervous when trying new recipes for fear of how they will turn out. This was so good. I am half Italian, having grown up with an Italian mother. Due to food intolerances, I have not had stuffed shells in a few years. You gave me back a piece of my life!!
Hi Julieanne, I am so happy to hear this! Thanks for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment and review. 🙂
I’m loving your recipes Alison. Even my carnivore husband gives them the thumbs up! Can this be frozen and if so, before baking or after?
Thanks Edie, there are instructions for storing and freezing in the FAQ section. 🙂
I am allergic to nuts, so I replaced the almonds with tofu and added
vegan parmesan cheese in the mixture. Flavor turns out great
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Me again! Is everything on this blog insanely delicious? This afternoon I made the pumpkin bread which my husband and I were blown away by. Then tonight we had the stuffed shells. It was indistinguishable from the shells we remember from childhood. The only change I made was I used half the parsley and spinach. My husband said it tasted like an expensive vegan restaurant meal!
Awesome! So happy to hear that Tracy, thanks a million!
Delicious! I didn’t have enough almonds but had almonds meal. It saved me the soaking step and the consistency was spot on.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Diana!
Can I make this without any soy products whatsoever? Thanks
Hi Barbara, you could make a double batch of the almond ricotta, and then just leave out the tofu and add in the fresh spinach and parsley. Don’t use the extra onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper, because you likely won’t need it. Those extra spices were to account for the relative blandness of the tofu. If you’re using a double batch of almond ricotta, you likely won’t need it, just add the fresh spinach and parsley. All the best! 🙂
This is excellent. Love the spinach ricotta.
Is there a vegan ricotta recipe that doesn’t involve nuts? I have a 10 year old with nut allergies. All responses appreciated. Thank you 😉
Hi Tracey, you can make it with just tofu as well. I haven’t got a recipe for a plain tofu ricotta on my blog yet, but there is a good one on Simple Vegan Blog. 🙂
thank you Alison!!
We loved this recipe. Really easy to put together when you make the ricotta in advance and even our non-vegan friends were very impressed!
Fantastic! So happy to hear that, and thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Thank you.