Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells
I love classic Italian comfort food, and these Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells combine two of my favorites into one dish! Hearty chicken and croutons that mimic breading give you the flavors of chicken parmesan while the ricotta cheese and jumbo pasta shells are traditional to stuffed shells. All those elements are smothered in pasta sauce as well as Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses, so there’s definitely a lot to love. Plus, three shells is a very filling serving and it’s only 381 calories or 8 Green, 7 Blue or 7 Purple Weight Watchers SmartPoints! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
This recipe comes together pretty easily because it uses cooked chicken. Don’t forget to check out my Easy Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken post- the perfect way to make shredded chicken for this recipe! You could also use rotisserie chicken, or grilled or baked or however you prefer to cook it ahead of time. Whatever is easiest for you!
If you’re looking for more Italian comfort food recipes like these Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells, take a look at my Beef and Sausage Manicotti, Sausage Tortellini Skillet, Eggplant Parmesan Casserole, Chicken Parmesan Quinoa Bake, Bubble Up Pizza Casserole, Spaghetti Pie, Slow Cooker Meatballs & Marinara, Four Cheese and Sausage Stuffed Shells and many more in the Italian section of my recipe index!
Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 18 jumbo pasta shells
- 2 ¼ cups pasta sauce, divided
- 1 cup fat free Ricotta cheese
- 2 oz finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided (I used the smallest hole side of my box grater)
- 3 oz shredded 2% Mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt, to taste
- 10 oz chopped cooked boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1.5 oz croutons, partially crushed (leave a few larger pieces)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta shells according to package instructions. Drain and rinse shells and allow them to cool before handling.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350. Spread ½ cup of the pasta sauce across the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish (such as a 7x11) and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ricotta with 1 ounce of the Parmesan, 1 ounce of the Mozzarella, the Italian seasoning and a sprinkling of salt. Stir together until well combined. Add the chopped chicken and ½ cup of the pasta sauce to the cheese mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.
- When the pasta shells are cool enough to handle, use a spoon to stuff them full of the chicken/cheese filling. Lay the stuffed shells in a single layer in the prepared casserole dish, open side facing up. Pour the remainder of the pasta sauce over the top of the stuffed shells and spread it around to coat evenly. Sprinkle the remaining ounce of shredded Parmesan and the remaining 2 ounces of shredded Mozzarella over the top of the dish and follow with the crushed croutons. Place the dish in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Notes
10 per (3 shells) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition information below)
Perhaps it’s the pasta sauce that makes the Points Plus amount higher than the Smart Points?
This looks awesome!
Could you use cream cheese or cottage cheese in place of the ricotta?
Sure!
I made this recipe last week and it was delicious! We absolutely loved it!
What brand of pasta sauce are you using? I feel like that could alter the points!
I would like to make this recipe and split it into thirds (it’s just my husband and I). It would be great if I could freeze two of the three portions for later. Has any one tried freezing this?
Thanks for the recipe. I made it tonight with shredded chicken…very good.
I have made multiple recipes for stuffed shells. It’s just the two of us, as well. I have no problems freezing the casseroles with pasta and cheese. When you want to use it, let it thaw and see if you need more juice. If so, you can add water a tablespoon at a time (you can always add more but you can’t take it away).
We make this recipe often! The only thing we change is we use ground chicken–we just prefer the texture!
How much mixture do you put in each shell? This made 14 shells for me and I really didn’t put much in each one
I didn’t measure, I just filled the shells as pictured. That’s weird, I wonder if your shells were much larger than mine.
I put this into the WW calculator and it came to 10 pts instead of 7 pts. Why is that?
Zero point foods like chicken still have nutrition information so the best way to calculate a recipe is to use the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers website.
I have made this a few times and it is incredible!
I would like to make this ahead of time and keep it in the freezer. Any recommendations on the best way to do that?
When I ran this on the recipe builder, I got 10 points for green. Wondering why that might be? Thanks!
I tweaked the recipe a little for our liking and it comes out to 7 points on green for 4.5 shells. I prepped it earlier and can’t wait to eat it for supper this evening!
Couldn’t find shells at our local grocery store. We had a large package of baby bell peppers in fridge, I thought…yum! So, I sliced one side, opened and seeded them, and stuffed them just like the shells. The sweetness of the peppers added so much to the casserole. We had 2 young teenage girls who normally wouldn’t touch vegetables finish the casserole and wanted more. Thank you for a great recipe.