Butternut squash stuffed shells are the ultimate fall comfort food! Filled with creamy spinach "ricotta," this recipe is an all-time fan favorite.
Creamy, tangy, and with a caramelized sweetness from roasted butternut squash, this stuffed shells recipe is one you’re sure to love. In lieu of any ricotta, Parmesan, or mozzarella cheese, I stuff them with a light, dairy-free “ricotta.” Made from cashew cream, crumbled tofu, herbs, and lemon zest, it’s rich and flavorful. If your family is squeamish about tofu, just don’t tell them. They’ll never suspect it here.
My Favorite Stuffed Shells Recipe
While I often use a marinara sauce with my stuffed shells, in the spirit of fall, I opted for a luscious, creamy cashew sauce. I also stuffed my shells with roasted butternut squash. This recipe has a few steps, but the creamy, cozy pasta & squash are totally worth the effort. Here’s how you make them:
- Roast the squash. Make sure to cut it into little cubes that will fit neatly inside the shells!
- Make the cashew cream. Blend together the cashews, water, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Make the “ricotta.” Saute the spinach, squeeze out any excess water, and mix it with crumbled tofu, oregano, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup cashew cream.
- Cook the pasta. Don’t forget to salt the water!
- Stuff the shells. Fill them with generous scoops of the ricotta and a few cubes of squash.
- Bake the stuffed shells! Pop them in the oven for 15 minutes, and you’re ready to eat.
We really love this recipe. I hope you do too!
Stuffed Shells Serving Suggestions
I like to serve my stuffed shells with dollops of extra cashew cream to really take them over the top. While this recipe is delicious on any night, it’d be especially good as a vegetarian main course at Thanksgiving or a holiday dinner. If you’re looking for something to pair it with, try any of these simple vegetable side dishes:
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Simple Lemon Green Beans
- Roasted Beet Salad
- Simple Roasted Beets with Citrus
- Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad
- Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Zest
- any of these salads
And don’t forget the apple crumble for dessert!
If you love this stuffed shells recipe…
Try these cozy casserole-type recipes next:
Or try one of these favorite squash recipes:
For more vegan recipes, check out this post with 85 Best Vegan Recipes.
Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 1½ cups cubed butternut squash
- extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 16 jumbo shells
cashew cream
- 1½ cups raw cashews*, see note
- 1 cup fresh water
- 1 garlic clove
- 3½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
filling
- 4 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup crumbled firm tofu
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 cup cashew cream, from the recipe above
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the butternut squash with a drizzle of olive oil and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Make the cashew cream: Blend together the drained raw cashews, fresh water, garlic, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.
- Make the filling: In a medium skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Add the spinach in increments, along with a pinch of salt, and sauté until all the spinach is incorporated and wilted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Squeeze out any excess liquid and chop. In a medium bowl, combine the the spinach with the crumbled tofu, oregano, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, at least 1/4 teaspoon salt, freshly ground black pepper and 1 cup of cashew cream. Season to taste, adding more salt and pepper as desired.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the shells and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain.
- Assemble the shells. Spread ¼ cup of the reserved cashew cream on the bottom of an 11x7-inch baking dish. Fill each cooked shell with some of the filling and a few cubes of butternut squash, and place into the baking dish. Drizzle a little olive oil over the shells, cover with foil, and bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through. Remove from the oven and serve with the remaining cashew cream.
Notes
This looks amazing! I’m really trying to watch my health these days. Any chance you know the nutritional facts?
I was skeptical about this recipe but, oh my gosh, it was so good! This was my first experience with cashew cream and I am obsessed! This was so easy to make and seriously SO delicious
I’m so glad you loved it! (appologies for my slow reply!)
I just made this recipe for my book club, even the non-vegetarians loved it!! I will definitely make it again. I made everything ahead of time, even assembled the shells and then threw it in the oven right before the party started. Turned out awesome!!!
Aren’t shells made with eggs?
Hi Amy, I’ve bought various brands and haven’t seen eggs on the ingredient lists… of course always read the labels of your pasta before you buy it to be sure.
This was amazing! My husband and I aren’t vegan, just looking for healthier recipes. We aren’t big tofu fans, so we swapped it for roasted cauliflower. It added a small crunch and was so good!. We will definitely be making these again!
As we let it sit, it thickened up quite a bit. I think my daughter may have added 5 or 6 more cashews. We didn’t soak the cashews because we were using a vitamix, therefore, we didn’t drain them.
End result – We really enjoyed the recipe! It was really good with the butternut squash.
We might put an Italian spin next time with marinara sauce on bottom and drizzled on top with some fresh parsley. Thank you for your response!
oh phew, perfect! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe and that it all worked out 🙂 It is delicious with marinara as well!
Just stumbled onto this recipe. I am making cashew cream in a vitamix. It’s so watery, is it supposed to be that liquidy?
Hi Peggy, it should be pretty thick – are you sure you drained the cashews before adding them? To thicken, at this point, I would add more cashews until it’s the consistency of alfredo sauce.
Made it and loved it 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
Oh me encanta se ve rica la haré pronto tel anacardos les llamamos semillas de cajuiles
This was wonderful! I subbed the cashews in the sauce with cottage cheese (less calories, more protein), and it turned out beautifully. This was my first time making stuffed shells, and it’s definitely one for the books.
Hi! I want to make these for thanksgiving. Can I make the filling the day before and bake the day of?
Hi Erin – yep, you can! Happy Thanksgiving!
Outstanding! I followed the recipe pretty much precisely and these turned out perfectly. I served this glorious dish to my boyfriend’s non-vegan family when I met them for the first time and they absolutely loved it. Thanks for helping me make a great first impression!
I made these for the fam last night, Jeanine, and they were fabulous. They tasted delicious and looked very fancy for something that didn’t require that much work. I’ll definitely be making it for company sometime soon. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Erin – I’m so glad these were a hit! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!!
I have been so excited to try this recipe but cannot find jumbo shells anywhere! I live in Los Angeles and have been to two Whole Foods, one is the biggest Whole Foods location in LA! Super weird :/ because it seems pretty standard…anyone else have trouble finding jumbo shells? Or any tips where to buy?
Thanks!
Hi Paige – I couldn’t find jumbo shells at Whole Foods (or any specialty stores) in Austin – I had to go to a regular grocery store and they were right there in the pasta section. Hope that helps!
WOW!!! I just made this recipe – unbelievable!! If I hadn’t made it myself I would have never guessed these were vegan. The filling is creamy and rich and the whole dish is filling and satisfying! I didn’t measure out the lemon juice for the cashew cream and just used the juice of 1 lemon, which I think was pretty close and it came out great. Thanks for another VERY yummy recipe Jeanine!
Just wondering, could I use veggie broth instead of water in the cashew cream?
Thanks!
interesting swap for ricotta, will have to try it out and love the pasta “shells”, I forget to use them in dishes, so nice touch with all of the rest of these ingredients, thank you!
Any suggestion on what can be used instead of tofu?
Kite Hill makes an almond milk ricotta you can buy
Absolutely delicious, just finished eating it!! I made it for my family today without telling them it was vegan, and I only revealed it after they had all tasted it and told me how amazing it was!! I added a bit of paprika to the filing, and probably doubled the chili flakes for extra spice. I will 100% recommend this for anyone and everyone, vegan or not because it is just too good! Thank you for the great recipe that has instantly become a favourite!
made this much less vegan with spicy Italian sausage and full-fat ricotta. this blend of flavors was amazing and it really wasn’t difficult to make. my roommates were all really impressed. 10/10 would recommend!!