Easy Stuffed Shells in the Instant Pot

Stuffed Shells are a family favorite in our house, and it’s no secret why! Creamy ricotta, sauteed spinach, gooey mozzarella… all stuffed into pasta. Plus, it’s made in the Instant Pot! This recipe for Easy Stuffed Shells will make your next dinner so much easier. 

Why Make this Recipe

1. Under 20 Minute Cook Time: I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just want dinner… NOW. I wait too long and then the time it takes to cook a meal feels like it stretches on for days. On the days I just can’t wait for an hour long cook time, I break out my Instant Pot! These Easy Stuffed Shells have just an 18-minute cook time… So much better than waiting for your shells to bake in the oven!  
2. Family Favorite: It’s a known fact that stuffed shells are universally loved… Even by picky eaters! Pasta and cheese… There’s no way that this recipe doesn’t have everyone in the family, moms, dads and kids alike, asking for seconds. 
3. Great for Meal Prep: I love making big batches of dinner because I know that I will always have some leftover food for meal prep. If you want to turn this recipe into a freezer meal, you definitely can! Prepare the shells by mixing the cheese and filling the pasta. Put them in a plastic bag and freeze until you’d like to eat! Then, simply follow the cooking instructions on a later day to cook! Because you’re cooking in the Instant Pot, your shells can be cooked from frozen without needing to change anything else in the recipe. 

What Ingredients are in this Recipe? 

1. Ricotta: Ricotta cheese is one of my very favorite cheeses to cook with! It is soft, creamy, and oh so tasty. If I could give you one recommendation for this Easy Stuffed Shells recipe, it would be to invest in high quality ricotta. Instead of buying the prepackaged kind, try to buy the fresh ricotta behind the cheese counter (if you can afford it) or make it at home in your Instant Pot with this Homemade Ricotta Cheese recipe! It will make such a huge difference in your meal!  
2. Mozzarella:  Mozzarella cheese is another one of my favorites (geez, no wonder I love stuffed shells). It’s creamy and so versatile! Again, for this recipe, I asked the deli counter for some fresh mozzarella, which I then grated myself. It makes such a big difference in the taste of your stuffed shells! Prepackaged mozzarella will also work if need be. 
3. Shells: I love buying a big box of jumbo shell pasta. I use Barilla, but you can use any brand that you’d like! Make sure to stuff your shells when the pasta is still uncooked. 

How to Make this Recipe

Step 1: Cook the Spinach 

Turn the pot to SAUTE. Add olive oil to the pot, then add the spinach. Saute until it wilts all the way down. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Pour the spinach into a strainer to remove any extra liquid. Set aside. 

Turn the pot off of SAUTE. Add a splash of broth to the pot and use a spoon to scrape up any bits of cooked spinach stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Step 2: Make the Filling

In a bowl, make the filling by mixing ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan, garlic, egg, salt, pepper, and spinach.

Step 3: Fill the Shells and Cook 

Use a spoon to scoop into the uncooked shells. 

Once all shells are filled, spray the liner of the Instant Pot with nonstick spray. Add the stuffed shells, stacking on top of one another if necessary. 

Pour the broth over the shells.

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PLEASE NOTE: Some newer brands of the Instant Pot have a more sensitive burn notice and it doesn’t always like cooking the noodles on the bottom of the pot. You can also place the shells on the trivet and fill the pot with enough water or broth to cover the bottom layer of shells halfway. Still top with sauce. With this method, you may need a bit more sauce at the end to spoon over the hot shells.

Add marinara sauce. If you need more marinara sauce to cover the shells completely, you can use more. Any shells not covered by liquid will not cook correctly and will come out hard. 

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the pressure to HIGH for 9 minutes. After the timer goes off, allow for a 9 minute pressure release, then perform a Quick Release immediately after.

Step 4: Add Some Extra Cheesiness

Open the lid and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the shells. Put the lid back on (don’t turn the pot on) and allow the residual heat to melt the cheese for about 3 minutes. 

Open the lid and serve. Enjoy! 

Expert Tips 

• If you’d like to use frozen spinach in this recipe instead of fresh, you can certainly do so! Make sure to thaw your spinach and drain it so that no extra liquid is going into the filling. If you are measuring the spinach after it has been cooked, you can use about ½ cup. 
• In most cases a best practice for cooking pasta in the Instant Pot is to cook it for half of the time recommended on the box. Jumbo shells typically have a stovetop cook time of 12 minutes, but I found that I was not satisfied with a 6 or even an 8 minute cook time. Each time, the shells came out undercooked, and I didn’t even want to eat them! I found that a 9 minute cook time with a 9 minute natural pressure release suited my taste buds best! 
• Many recipes for Stuffed Shells recommend filling a plastic bag with the filling, cutting the corner off, and using the tip to pipe filling into the shells. This is a great idea, but does not work well with this particular recipe, as the spinach clogs the tip. I preferred to use a spoon to fill the shells.
• If you’d like to omit the spinach, you can! The shells will be easier to pipe this way. 

Did you like this recipe? If so, don’t forget to check out these other Instant Pot Recipes I picked out just for you: 

• Instant Pot Vodka Sauce
• Instant Pot Pasta with Palomino Sauce
• Instant Pot Creamy Beef and Shells 
• Instant Pot Creamy Pesto Pasta

Easy Stuffed Shells in the Instant Pot

Stuffed Shells are a family favorite in our house, and it’s no secret why! Creamy ricotta, sauteed spinach, gooey mozzarella… all stuffed into pasta. Plus, it’s made in the Instant Pot! This recipe for Easy Stuffed Shells will make your next dinner so much easier.

4.58 from 14 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes

Pressure Building: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 48 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 831kcal

Author: Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

• ▢
  Pressure Cooker
• ▢
  Wooden Spoon
• ▢
  Strainer/Colander
• ▢
  Nonstick Spray
• ▢
  Box Grater
• ▢
  Mixing Bowl(s)
• ▢
  Trivet

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tbsp Olive oil
• ▢ 10 oz spinach
• ▢ 1 lb Ricotta
• ▢ 2 cups ½ lb Mozzarella, shredded, divided
• ▢ ½ cup Parmesan
• ▢ 1 tsp Garlic
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ Fresh Ground Black Pepper to Taste (Use code FF20 for 20% off)
• ▢ 12 oz Jumbo Shells
• ▢ 1 ½ cups Chicken broth
• ▢ 2 ¼ cup Marinara sauce, more if necessary

Instructions

• Turn the pot to SAUTE. Add olive oil to the pot, then add the spinach. Saute until it wilts all the way down. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then pour the spinach into a strainer to remove any extra liquid. Set aside.
• Turn the pot off of SAUTE. Add a splash of broth to the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits of cooked spinach stuck to the bottom of the pot.
• In a bowl, make the filling by mixing ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan, garlic, egg, salt, pepper, and spinach. Use a spoon to scoop into the uncooked shells.
• Once all shells are filled, spray the liner of the Instant Pot with nonstick spray. Add the broth into the pot. Then add the stuffed shells, stacking on top of one another if necessary.

  PLEASE NOTE: Some newer brands of the Instant Pot have a more sensitive burn notice and it doesn't always like cooking the noodles on the bottom of the pot. You can also place the shells on the trivet and fill the pot with enough water or broth to cover the bottom layer of shells halfway. Still top with marinara sauce. With this method, you may need a bit more sauce at the end to spoon over the hot shells.
• Pour the marinara marinara sauce over all of the shells. If you need more marinara sauce to cover the shells completely, you can use more. Any shells not covered by liquid will not cook correctly and will come out hard.
• Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the pressure to HIGH for 9 minutes. After the timer goes off, allow for a 9 minute natural pressure release.
• Open the lid and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the shells. Put the lid back on (don’t turn the pot on) and allow the residual heat to melt the cheese for about 3 minutes. Open the lid and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only. 

Recipe was made using an 8 qt pot.

1. Ricotta: Ricotta cheese is one of my very favorite cheeses to cook with! It is soft, creamy, and oh so tasty. If I could give you one recommendation for this Easy Stuffed Shells recipe, it would be to invest in high quality ricotta. Instead of buying the prepackaged kind, try to buy the fresh ricotta behind the cheese counter (if you can afford it). It will make such a huge difference in your meal!  
2. Mozzarella:  Mozzarella cheese is another one of my favorites (geez, no wonder I love stuffed shells). It’s creamy and so versatile! Again, for this recipe, I asked the deli counter for some fresh mozzarella, which I then grated myself. It makes such a big difference in the taste of your stuffed shells! Prepackaged mozzarella will also work if need be.
3. Shells: I love buying a big box of jumbo shell pasta. I use Barilla, but you can use any brand that you’d like! Make sure to stuff your shells when the pasta is still uncooked.
4. If you’d like to use frozen spinach in this recipe instead of fresh, you can certainly do so! Make sure to thaw your spinach and drain it so that no extra liquid is going into the filling. If you are measuring the spinach after it has been cooked, you can use about ½ cup. 
5. In most cases a best practice for cooking pasta in the Instant Pot is to cook it for half of the time recommended on the box. Jumbo shells typically have a stovetop cook time of 12 minutes, but I found that I was not satisfied with a 6 or even a 12 minute cook time. Each time, the shells came out undercooked, and I didnt even want to eat them! I found that a 9 minute cook time with a 9 minute natural release suits my taste buds best! 
6. Many recipes for Stuffed Shells recommend filling a plastic bag with the filling, cutting the corner off, and using the tip to pipe filling into the shells. This is a great idea, but does not work well with this particular recipe, as the spinach clogs the tip. I preferred to use a spoon to fill the shells.
7. If you’d like to omit the spinach, you can! The shells will be easier to pipe this way.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 831kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 46g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 151mg | Sodium: 1768mg | Potassium: 1303mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 8285IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 784mg | Iron: 6mg

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