After making vegan pasta dishes for years, I’ve learned that the real hack is skipping the stuffing altogether and focusing on a ricotta so good no one misses the dairy.
If you love stuffed shells but never love the effort, this one’s for you.
This whipped vegan ricotta is light, creamy, and honestly tastes better than any store-bought version—and pairing it with unstuffed shells means you get all the cozy flavors without any of the fuss.
This dish is everything I love in a weeknight dinner: easy, comforting, and packed with flavor, but still special enough to serve when you want a “wow” moment at the table. Unstuffed shells might just become your new favorite pasta tradition.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Big Flavor – There’s so much flavor in this dish between the sauce mixture and the ricotta, you will be in heaven with each bite.
- Comfort – you know those meals that just make everyone smile? This is one of them. It makes you feel all warm and cozy with each bite.
- Easy – This recipe is truly so easy to make!
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Unstuffed Shells Ingredients
Gather our Ingredients:
Jumbo Shells
Jumbo shells are the classic shells when you are making stuffed shells and we are still using them here today.
Substitute: Manicotti is another pasta option that would be great for this recipe. Gluten free pasta can be used if needed.
Lentils
We are using brown lentils for this recipe. They hold up well to cooking in a sauce while still allowing you to have a bite to them.
Substitute: You can also use green lentils as well. Red lentils can be used if you don’t mind that they will break down a lot more. Additionally, you could use vegan meat crumbles, crumbled tofu, mushrooms, or thinly sliced seitan pieces in this as well.
Aromatics
You’ll need a yellow onion, garlic, fresh basil, and spices to bring out all the aroma that you want for this dish. These ingredients help with undertones of flavor and bold tastes at the end.
Substitutes: You can also use a sweet or white onion for this recipe as well.
Tomato Products
We’ll be used tomato pasta, tomato sauce, and fire roasted tomatoes in this recipe. We’re using a variety to bring different levels of flavor and different textures throughout the dish
Tofu
For the whipped ricotta, we’re using a firm tofu that has been drained and pressed. You want to be able to get as much water out as possible so it doesn’t interfere with your flavors.
Substitute: We do not recommend using super firm or silken tofu here, but you can use extra firm or soft if that’s all that’s available.
Additional Ingredients
You will also need olive oil, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, coconut sugar, baking soda, lemons, and fresh chives.
Substitutes:
- Soy Sauce can be substituted with tamari, coconut aminos, or a no soy soy sauce.
- Coconut Sugar can be subbed with granulated date sugar or brown sugar.
- Chives can just be swapped with more fresh basil.
Full recipe amounts in the recipe card printable below.
More Pasta Dishes To Try
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Unstuffed Shells with Whipped Ricotta
Ingredients
Whipped Lemon Ricotta
- 14 ounces firm tofu, drained and pressed (397g)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, more or less to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
Spice Blend
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, more or less to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste (optional)
For the pasta
- 12 ounces jumbo pasta shells (340g)
- ½ cup reserved pasta water (120g)
Toasted Garlic-Herb Breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs (30g)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Saucy Lentil Shells
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (20g)
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- ½ cup low-sodium vegetable stock (120g)
- 14 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes (397g)
- 8 ounces tomato sauce (227g)
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda, to soften acidity, optional
- 14 ounces canned brown lentils, drained and rinsed* (225g)
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped (about ⅔ ounce or 8g)
Instructions
Lemon Tofu Ricotta
- Into a blender (or food processor) add 14 ounces drained tofu, zest of a lemon, 3 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon each olive oil and nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Blend until light, creamy, and whipped — smooth but still able to hold soft peaks. Taste and adjust lemon or salt. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Then, top with fresh chives.
- Seasoning Blend: In a small bowl, add 2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, and dried parsley, ½ teaspoon each Italian seasoning, dried thyme, and salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
- Cook the Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook shells according to the package instructions until just al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water before draining. Rinse lightly with cool water to stop cooking and set aside.
- For the breadcrumbs: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and stir 2–3 minutes until golden. Add 1 clove minced garlic and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Stir together and let cook for another 30-60 seconds. Turn off heat and place on a parchment lined baking tray in an even layer. Set aside.
Lentil Sauce
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in 1 diced onion and sauté 5-7 minutes until translucent. Stir in 6 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoon tomato paste and the spice blend from the above step. Stir constantly for 1 minute. Add ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon coconut sugar, and ½ cup vegetable stock. Stir together and scrap the bottom of your pan to make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom.
- Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in 14 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes and 8 ounces tomato sauce. Stir together and allow to simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add ⅛ teaspoon baking soda to balance acidity (it may foam slightly).
- Stir in 14 ounces canned lentils, ½ of the reserved pasta water, and 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce. Simmer another 2–3 minutes until thickened slightly, using more of the pasta water if needed. Fold in ¼ cup chopped fresh basil and stir together.
- Add pasta and stir together well. Allow the pasta to cook for 2-3 minutes until everything is heated throughout, then remove from heat.
- Assemble the Bowl Spoon a generous amount of whipped lemon ricotta into the center of the bowl. Add some of the sauce and shells to the bowl. Top with breadcrumbs. Optionally, top with more chopped basil or chives, red pepper flakes or black pepper at the end.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Unstuffed Shells FAQs
Absolutely! You can easily double or even triple this recipe as written depending on how many people you are serving at your dinner table or holiday get together.
To start, you’ll want to use a gluten free pasta. You’ll also want gluten free panko breadcrumbs.
For the soy sauce, depending on your allergies, you can swap with tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or a no soy soy sauce. You will also want to use brown sugar or date sugar instead of coconut.
We have not tried substituting the tofu for the ricotta, but you can try chickpea tofu or pumpkin tofu (pumfu) instead for a soy free option. Alternatively, if you don’t have nut allergies, you could try raw cashews.
Yes! You can prep this up to 3 days in advance. Just reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
Wow! This is a fantastic dish. The pasta sauce is really tasty, the tofu ricotta gives a lovely lemony creaminess and the breadcrumbs are really worth the extra step. I will be making this again. Thank you for the fabulous recipe.
Wow, this is amazing! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try. We’re so glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
Delicious, amazing. it’s been a while since I found a good vegan recipe I love this much that isn’t just a reimagined curry, bowl or salad. The tofu needed more oil and lemon juice to turn creamy for me, but that’s probably dependent on the brand. Otherwise, perfect.
Thank you so much! We’re so happy to hear that our recipe was the first you had in a while that was a hit for you. We appreciate you giving it a try and sharing your experience!
This was FANTASTIC!! My husband said it’s the best vegan meal I ever made, and I agree. I couldn’t find shells, so used fusilli pasta instead.
Wow! This is such an amazing compliment thank you. We’re so happy to hear that both you and your husband really enjoyed the recipe!
This was delicious. To save time I made the ricotta in the morning and then the pasta and sauce after work. I used dried Puglia lentils which I cooked in a crockpot. I love TJ depth of flavors. I don’t care for chunks of tomato so when the sauce was done, I put it in the food processor to make it smooth before I added the lentils.
So glad you enjoyed it and made timing work for you!
I made this and it’s really great. I thought it might be a difficult recipe with all the components, but it’s actually very easy and fast. Great recipe – I’ll be making again for sure
Thank you so much!!! We’re happy to hear that you found it easy and delicious!
All of Nard dogs recipes are fabulous! Haven’t tried one yet that wasn’t delicious! Thank you!!!
Awwwww thank you so much!!!