This is an awesome pasta recipe that the whole family will love!
These pizza stuffed pasta shells are filled with a beef and pepperoni filling topped with mozzarella cheese and more delicious pepperoni! This bakes up delicious with a gooey cheesy topping!
Using a high quality pizza sauce makes a big difference in this recipe. Eden Brand is my favorite one, it has a great fresh flavor and I usually buy it in a can. Most grocery stores carry it (and it’s sometimes in the organic area).
I added green pepper & pepperoni to this recipe because those are toppings we like… if you have other toppings you love, this recipe is extremely versatile… substitute sausage for the beef, throw in some mushrooms or olives, replace the pepperoni with ham! Make this your own… I’d love to hear your ideas!
More Pasta & Pizza Recipes here
Items you’ll need for this recipe
* Jumbo Pasta Shells * Quality Pizza Sauce * Baking Dish *
Pizza Stuffed Pasta Shells
Ingredients
- 15 to 18 jumbo shells
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ onion finely diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 ounces mini pepperoni or sliced pepperoni, divided
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 large ripe tomato seeded and diced
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook shells el dente according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool.
- In a medium pan, brown ground beef, onion, and garlic until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Add ¾ of the pepperoni and cook about 3 minutes. Finally, add in green pepper, oregano and tomato. Cook about 3 minutes or until green pepper is slightly softened. Remove from heat and stir in ½ cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Fill each shell with the pepperoni mixture (approx 1 ½ tablespoons) and place in a baking dish.
- Top with pizza sauce. Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Remove foil and add remaining mozzarella cheese and remaining pepperoni. Return to oven until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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Here are a few more recipes you’ll love
* Taco Stuffed Shells * Pizza Pasta * Pizza Bombs *
This recipe has been a favorite of my kids for the past few years. I always do half with ground beef mixed with pizza sauce and half with pepperoni to meet everyone’s preferences!
We tried these this summer when friends were visiting: 2 women and 6 kids total. They were a big hit! However, this does not make much, so if you are feeding more than 3 people, you would want to double the recipe.
We have tried them with mini pepperonis and prefer those to the quartered pepperonis. With kids, we eliminate the onions, peppers, and tomatoes, but I personally would enjoy those.
You should say at the top of the recipe how many people this feeds. I had to scroll the comments to figure it out. We are a family of five so I usually need to double the recipes. I will be making this tonight. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
You can also find the yield in the recipe card. Let me know how it turns out!
Made these tonight, we thought we were eating pizza. Definitely a keeper. Next time I’m going to add sliced olives.
I think olives sound like a great addition!
Kids loved it and we enjoyed it as well. Will make again.
Can you freeze this?
Yes, this recipe can be frozen before baking.
Do you bake it for the same amount of time or do you need to thaw it before you bake it?
Hi Angie, I would pop it into the fridge overnight to defrost and then bake according to this recipe.
This is my 4th year making these for our school’s football team. The players and coaches LOVE this recipe! The first year I tried it with the optional green peppers, but that did not go over as well so I have left them out subsequent years. I typically add Italian sausage and pepperoni to my shells. It is always a huge hit! Making this for a large group is time consuming… but SO worth it!
We used ground turkey instead of beef and cut back on the cheese on top. This turned out DELICIOUS! One batch of these isn’t enough, so we doubled it and had it for two meals. Thanks!
I’m so glad your family enjoyed it Autumn!
how many people does this meal serve?
This recipe will serve 4.