These Philly cheesesteak stuffed pasta shells are a delicious and easy one pot meal that comes together quickly and easily. Pasta shells are stuffed with seasoned ground beef, onions and green pepper and baked in a creamy provolone cheese sauce. Made with simple ingredients, it's a great family weeknight meal.
I was super excited to receive a new cookbook in the post this week from Megan from Strawberry Blondie Kitchen and I couldn't wait to share one of her recipes with you! After leafing through all of the wonderful dishes, I knew that I had to share this delicious Philly cheesesteak stuffed shells, my cheesy carby cravings were strong just looking at the photo!
Megan's new book Incredible One-Pot Cooking is a great book to add to your collection! It's full of super easy and tasty one pot recipes and most of them are on the table within 30 minutes. I cannot wait to try her Peanut Butter and Jelly Wings and Deluxe Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes!
This pasta came out so good, you guys! I'm a big fan of one pot dishes, like my Beef Panang Curry and Green Lentil Daal and this did not disappoint! Be sure to grab a copy now, it's full of great ideas for easy weeknight meals. Perfect if you are in a bit of a dinner rut!
How to make Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells
Be sure to scroll down for the full recipe!
- In an oven safe skillet, add in the filling ingredients and cook until the beef is browned (photo 1).
- Let he mixture cool and stir in the cheeses and Worcestershire sauce (photo 2).
- Stuff the pasta shells with the filling (photo 3).
- In the same skillet, make the cheese sauce by melting the oil and butter and then stir in the garlic and flour. Whisk in the milk and then and the cheese and seasonings (photo 4).
- Place the stuffed shells in the cheese sauce, cover and bake in a pre heated oven (photo 5).
Recipe Variations
I made a couple of slight changes to Megan's original recipe, as the shelves were a little bare in the store, but It was super delicious still! So if you can't find an ingredient, don't fret!
- I used a red onion instead of white as I had one to use up!
- I couldn't find any ricotta, so substituted this with cream cheese for the filling. It worked really well, but can't wait to try this with ricotta!
- You may have noticed in the pictures I don't have an oven safe skillet! So I simply transferred the cheese sauce to a pie dish and baked the pasta in that with some foil on top. It worked super well - although I did have one extra dish to wash up!
- I finished the dish with some fresh parsley and freshly grated cheese...because there is no such thing as too much cheese!
What do you serve it with?
This recipe makes a really hearty 4 servings, and I'll be honest, we had our first helping just by itself and it was delicious! You can of course serve this up with a side salad or some sautéed veggies to add a little goodness into your life. Or, go full out on the carbs and serve it with some freshly baked garlic bread.
Can you make them ahead of time?
This dish is best served piping hot from the oven when all of that cheese is at it's ooziest, but that doesn't mean you can't get ahead of things with some prep. You can make the filling ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge, you can also stuffed the pasta shells and keep them covered for a couple of hours. Don't fill the shells too far ahead of time though as they could get soggy.
We enjoyed the leftovers the next day. Simply keep them covered in the fridge (they'll be good for about 3 days) and then heat them through in the oven to serve. Just pop some foil over the top so that the top doesn't over cook.
Beef Stuffed Pasta Shells
These Philly cheesesteak stuffed shells are nothing less than glorious! The beef is perfectly seasoned and that cheese sauce really is a dream! It's super simple and easy to make and it's total carby comfort food! You'll have most of the ingredients in your cupboard too, I only had to buy a few extras and I whipped it up in no time at all.
Provolone Cheese Sauce
We HAVE to talk about this delicious cheese sauce! It's made with provolone cheese, which is a similar flavor to mozzarella but it has a fuller taste. It's creaminess works so well with the seasoned beef. Megan, in her book, suggests you can also use this sauce on nachos or as a dip, and I couldn't agree more with that!
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Be sure to dice the onions and the peppers pretty small so that they fit into the jump pasta shells.
- I spooned in the mixture to the pasta shells, but you can also put it in a ziplock bag, cut the corner off and pip it in - you'll probably get a little less messy this way!
- Don't overcrowd the shells in the sauce. The sauce needs room to bubble up and cook the pasta.
- Ideally, use an oven safe skillet to cook this dish in. If you need to transfer it to a different dish to bake it (like me!), cover it with foil when it goes in the oven so that the top doesn't burn and the cheese sauce can boil.
More Easy Pasta Recipes
- Creamy Lemon Salmon Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Garlic Pasta
- Vegetarian Pasta Bake
- Homemade Ricotta & Spinach Ravioli
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells
Be sure to check out Megan's new book Incredible One-Pot Cooking for more delicious and easy recipes. I can't wait to try more!
I love hearing from you!! If you have tried these Philly cheesesteak pasta shells, be sure to scroll down, give them a star rating and let me know what you thought!
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Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
Stuffed Shells
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (15ml)
- 1 tablespoon butter (15g)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 8 ounces ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese (92g)
- ⅔ cup shredded Italian five-cheese blend (87g)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 12-16 jumbo pasta shells
Provolone Cheese Sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (30ml)
- 2 tablespoon butter (30g)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (16g)
- 2 cups warm milk (480ml)
- 8 ounces provolone cheese thinly sliced or grated (224g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- To make the stuffed shells, combine the oil an butter in a large oven-safe skillet over a medium heat. Allow the butter to melt for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, bell pepper, onion, beef, salt and pepper. Cook until the beef is brown, 8 to 10 minute. Transfer the filling to a large bowl and allow it to cool.
- Once the beef mixture is cool, add the ricotta cheese, Italian five-cheese blend and Worcestershire sauce and mix to combine. Place the mixture into a large zip-top bag and snip off one corner. Pipe the mixture into the pasta shells and set the shells aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF / 177ºc.
- To make the provolone cheese sauce, combine the oil and butter in the same skillet over a medium heat and allow the butter to melt, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the provolone cheese, salt and black pepper.
- Place the stuffed shells in the provolone cheese sauce, being careful not to overcrowd them as they need to be submerged in the sauce to cook properly. Cover the skillet and bake the stuffed shells for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Let the shells cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Be sure to dice the onions and the peppers pretty small so that they fit into the jump pasta shells.
- I spooned in the mixture to the pasta shells, but you can also put it in a ziplock bag, cut the corner off and pip it in - you'll probably get a little less messy this way!
- Don't overcrowd the shells in the sauce. The sauce needs room to bubble up and cook the pasta.
- Ideally, use an oven safe skillet to cook this dish in. If you need to transfer it to a different dish to bake it (like me!), cover it with foil when it goes in the oven so that the top doesn't burn and the cheese sauce can boil.
Nutrition
Mandy says
This recipe was a fail for me! It’s impossible to stuff raw jumbo shells when they’re folded over onto each other. They need to be cooked first. It didn’t specify what size pan to use, so I dirtied up too small of a pan- extra dishes! Lastly, the cheese sauce broke even on low heat, must not have been low enough, so now I’ve got ugly crumpled cheese and oil on top of the shells I spent way too long trying to cram my meat mixture into. Would not recommend.
Chelsey says
can you freeze them? Do all the steps and instead of throwing it in the oven throw it in the freezer?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Chelsey, I haven't frozen this recipe I'm afraid. The sauce MAY become a little grainy if you freeze it as it's dairy based. It will be safe to eat, but the quality may not be the same.
Alyssa says
Not sure what I did wrong but the sauce seems to have broken and I was left with a ton of oil and bits of cheese instead of a sauce.
Slow The Cook Down says
Sorry it didnt work out for you Alyssa, you MAY have over cooked the cheese sauce a little, it shouldn't be on too high of a heat.
Jen says
Did you cook the shells prior to stuffing them?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Jen, I've done it both ways. Pre cooking the shells before stuffing them means a softer texture throughout. You can do it without cooking them though and you get crunchy bits on top this way, so totally personal preference. Enjoy!
Alyssa says
No I kept them raw . Maybe I cooked the cheese sauce too long? It took me a while to figure out how to stuff the raw shells . The filling tasted good though!
Kelly says
Just made this and it was absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Slow The Cook Down says
So glad you enjoyed it Kelly, it's a great recipe isn't it?! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂