Creamy Pesto Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells

Baked pesto stuffed shells in a creamy sauce, garnished with fresh parsley.

Creamy Pesto Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells

Herby pesto ground chicken and vegetables are piled into jumbo pasta shells, baked in a creamy Alfredo sauce and topped with cheese for a delicious and comforting family dinner.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings servings

Calories 772kcal

Author Slow The Cook Down

Ingredients

16 jumbo pasta shells (plus a few extra incase of breakage. Measure the shells in your baking dish to make sure you have enough!)
1 large onion (diced)
1 red bell pepper (diced)
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound ground chicken (455g)
salt and black pepper
1 jar green pesto (6.7oz / 190g)
1 jar Alfredo sauce (13.7oz / 405ml
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (60g)
1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan
black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 360F / 180c.
Cook the jumbo pasta shells as per the box instructions. Once cooked, drain, rinse with cold water and set to one side.
While the pasta is cooking, dice the onion and red bell pepper finely.
Heat the oil in a skillet on a medium high heat. Once hot, add in the diced onion and bell pepper and ground chicken. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Cook til the veggies have softened and the chicken is cooked through.
Stir in the pesto, take off the heat and set to one side.
Pour the Alfredo sauce into the bottom of your baking dish.
One by one, spoon the pesto chicken mix into the cooked jumbo pasta shells, and place each shell on top of the Alfredo sauce in the baking dish.
Once all the shells are stuffed, sprinkle over the shredded cheese and parmesan and sprinkle with a little black pepper.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes til the cheese has melted and the sauce underneath is bubbling.

Notes

Cook a few extra shells than needed. During cooking, some shells can split, making them tricky to stuff.
After you have cooked and drained the pasta shells, rinse them with cold water. This will stop the cooking process and make them easier to handle.
Dice the onion and bell pepper finely so that it is easy to place in the shells.
If you have killer homemade pesto and Alfredo recipes, you can use those instead of store bought.

Nutrition