Vegan Stuffed Shells are comfort food for any season. These shells are stuffed with spinach, vegan ricotta, and roasted butternut squash. Top them with my Homemade Vegan Marinara for a quick, simple, and delicious dinner.
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SIS Simple is Smart:
Make a big batch of Marinara sauce and freeze it in one-quart containers. Defrost and use for these Stuffed shells or your favorite pasta dish. Organic homemade Marinara sauce is so much better than purchased sauce.
Neuro Nutrition Nugget - Cashews
Cashews, those delightful little nuts that look like they’ve been doing squats at the gym, are not only a tasty snack but also a brain-boosting powerhouse. You see, these clever cashews are packed with essential nutrients that help keep our brains firing on all cylinders. From their healthy dose of magnesium, which supports brain function, to their impressive levels of vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that protects our brain cells from damage, cashews are the ultimate brain fuel. So next time you’re looking for a smart snack, reach for a handful of these genius nuts and give your brain the boost it deserves.
What Ingredients go into Vegan Stuffed Shells?
Vegan Cheese Sauce:
- Cashews: Roasted unsalted cashews. No need to soak the cashews if you have a powerful blender like Vitamix, Blendtec, or Ninja.
- Lemon: Freshly squeezed lemon juice. There is about 2 tbsp in half of a medium lemon.
- Garlic: Raw peeled garlic, no need to chop.
- Salt and Pepper: to taste
- Nutritional Yeast: Adds a cheesy flavor to the Ricotta.
Spinach Ricotta Filling:
- Tofu: 1 block of extra firm tofu, crumbled for additional protein use two blocks of crumbled pressed tofu.
- Spinach: fresh or frozen, remove any excess moisture
- Roasted Butternut Squash: Click here for my how-to-roast Butternut squash.
- Italian Seasoning: Dried Italian Herbs. You can use fresh, but double the amount you use.
- The Rest of the Ingredients:
- Pasta Shells: 20 shells
- Marinara Sauce: Jump over to my how-to-make vegan marinara. I use organically grown home-canned stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. You can use store-purchased-marinara sauce instead.
Step by Step Instructions for Vegan Stuffed Shells.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees C, 180 F.
- Make the Creme by adding cashews, water, lemon juice, garlic, and nutritional yeast to a blender and blend until creamy and smooth. set aside
- Roast the Butternut squash. For instructions on how to roast butternut squash, click here.
- Cook the Shells: Cook until al-dente. Drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
- Make the Filling: crumble the tofu, chop and cook the spinach. Remove any excess moisture from the cooked spinach by squeezing it out. Add the roasted squash and creme. Mix until combined.
- Stuff the Shells: Stuff the filling into the shells. You may have enough filling for more than 20 shells.
- Top with the Marinara: Put the stuffed shells in an 11 X 8-inch square or oval baking pan.
- Bake, covered with foil at 350 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes, until hot in the center.
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Vegan Stuffed Shells
Equipment
- One 8 X 11 Baking dish
- To quickly convert this recipe to metric units click the blue metric button between the ingredients and instructions portion of the recipe.
- This page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click a link, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you
Ingredients
Creme
- 1 cup roasted unsalted cashews
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Shells filling
- 1 pkg firm tofu crumbled
- 4 cups raw spinach
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning.
- 2 cups roasted cubed butternut squash.
- 12 oz pkg of shells.
- 4 cups homemade or purchased marinara sauce
- olive oil for roasting the squash.
Instructions
Make the Creme
- Add all of the creme ingredients to a blender and blend until thick and smooth.
- Peel, and cut into 1-inch cubes a 2-3 pound butternut squash. 1 pound of raw squash makes about a cup. The average size of a butternut squash is 2-3 pounds.
- Toss the squash with a little olive oil and roast at 400°F (204°C) until fork tender. Set aside. Turn oven down to 350°F (180°C)
- Cook the Shells al-dente, drain, and set aside to cool.
- Chop the spinach into small pieces and cook in the microwave until wilted. 1-2 minutes.
- Add the spinach to the crumbled tofu and mix.
- Add the Italian Seasoning and creme, and mix.
- Add the roasted butternut squash and gently mix in.
- Lightly spray the baking pan with non-stick spray or brush with vegetable oil.
- Add about 1 cup of Marinara to the bottom of the pan.
- Fill the shells with the spinach, squash, and creme mixture and place in a baking pan.
- Top with my Vegan Classic Marinara Sauce.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until hot in the center.
