These vegan stuffed shells are stuffed with a simple tofu ricotta and covered in a slightly sweet pumpkin sauce. Although you could make the ricotta and simply open a jar of your favourite tomato sauce for these shells, I love that the pumpkin sauce is an option for a more festive meal. Crispy sage and toasted pecans garnish this dish for an extra special finishing touch.
Easy to prepare
Bakes in just 15 minutes
Festive and fragrant
Plus… it freezes well too!
Ingredients For Vegan Stuffed Shells
First, you want to make sure you are using jumbo pasta shells for this recipe so you have plenty of space to stuff them with “ricotta”! This recipe serves 6 and I use 30 shells which works out to 5 shells per serving.
I make my Simple Tofu Ricotta for this recipe and the only change I make is to add in 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage. For the “ricotta” you will need just a few simple ingredients:
- Extra firm tofu
- Lemon juice
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and the fresh sage
The pumpkin sauce is also made from simple ingredients you likely have on hand:
- Pure pumpkin puree
- Unsweetened plant milk
- Vegetable broth
- Nutritional yeast
- Maple syrup
- Pumpkin pie spice (and some salt)!
Finally, I garnish these vegan stuffed shells with a bit more fresh sage and some toasted chopped pecans!
Make Ahead Options
With a little bit of multi-tasking this recipe can be prepared in just 35 minutes. If you want to bake it right away then after just 15 to 20 minutes in the oven it will be ready for you to serve.
If you’re making this for a dinner party or just wanting to do some meal prep then you do have some options!
The pumpkin sauce is so quick to blend. You could even just whisk everything together by hand if you don’t have a blender. I prefer to quickly use my blender just to make sure everything is really smoothly combined. If you want to prepare it in advance though, just blend and store in the fridge until you’re ready.
If you want to get most of the prep out of the way you could make the tofu ricotta and stuff the pasta shells. This is the most time consuming part of the process so you could pre-fill all of your shells. Store them separately from the pumpkin sauce and then when you’re ready to compile everything together you will just be minutes away from the oven.
And… it’s even freezer friendly. I was delighted to test this one out and find that it actually froze really well. I only noticed a slight difference in the texture of the tofu ricotta. After being frozen the ricotta was just a little softer and had a bit more moisture in it than when it was prepared fresh. It was still delicious though and the texture of the sauce was unchanged!
To freeze this dish, fully compile all of the elements. Instead of proceeding to bake the shells, just cover them well for the freezer and freeze. When you’re wanting to bake them, allow them to defrost overnight in the fridge. Then bake them according to the recipe instructions at 425 degrees F. They may just take another 10 minutes in the oven for the sauce to bubble and the shells to get lightly browned.
Recipe Cost For Vegan Stuffed Shells
This recipe serves 6 and costs me a little over $10 Canadian. For a pretty main dish that feels a little more festive and special… I think that’s pretty great.
My tofu ricotta recipe without the added sage costs me just under $1 per 100 grams. If I were to buy a traditional ricotta my cost would be at least $1.50 per 100 grams. So, making this recipe vegan might even result in a tiny bit of savings.
Let me know in the comments below how you like this recipe and remember to give it a star rating! If you love the idea of the ricotta in stuffed shells but want an even quicker option then just pour on some tomato sauce and let me know how you like it!
Print
Vegan Stuffed Shells – Tofu Ricotta & Pumpkin Sauce
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan stuffed shells recipe bakes in just 15 minutes. A simple tofu ricotta, slightly sweet pumpkin sauce, crispy sage & toasted pecans!
Ingredients
Pasta
- 30 jumbo shells pasta (about 200 g)*
Tofu Ricotta
- 350g extra firm tofu
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder (use fresh garlic if desired)
- 1 tbsp sage (chopped)*
Pumpkin Sauce
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup unsweetened plant milk
- ½ cup vegetable broth (homemade for extra savings)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ginger)
Garnish
- ¼ cup pecans, toasted
- 2 tbsp fresh sage*
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- For the ricotta: Add all of the ingredients (except the sage) to a blender or food processor and pulse until combined. For a smoother ricotta blend longer but for a more textured ricotta you can stop your blender earlier or even crush the tofu by hand and stir in the remaining ingredients. Once blended, stir in the chopped sage and set aside.
- Blend all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- You can cook your pasta shells according to the package instructions while you blend the sauce. When the shells are al dente, drain the pasta water and toss the pasta in a bit of olive oil to prevent the shells from sticking together.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Pour two thirds (or 400 ml) of the pumpkin pasta sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish (mine is 9×12). Scoop about 2 ½ teaspoon of ricotta into each pasta shell and lay the shells in the pumpkin sauce. With all of the shells filled, drizzle the remaining sauce over the shells. *If you are preparing this in advance and baking it later you could reserve the remaining sauce separately and pour it over the shells just before baking. You can also freeze this recipe at this point (see notes for more instructions).
- Bake, uncovered, at 425 F for 15 – 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the ricotta is just starting to brown.
- While the pasta is baking you can quickly make some crispy sage by heating a touch of oil on a frying pan and adding the chopped sage. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set the sage aside for garnish.
- Garnish the baked jumbo shells with crushed toasted pecans and the crispy sage.
- Leftovers will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Notes
Approximate Cost: $10.62 Canadian. My tofu ricotta recipe without the added sage costs me just under $1 per 100 grams. If I were to buy a traditional ricotta my cost would be around $1.50 per 100 grams.
To freeze these stuffed shells, compile all of the elements. Instead of proceeding to bake the shells, cover them well for the freezer and freeze. When you’re wanting to bake them, allow them to defrost in the fridge overnight. Once defrosted, bake according to the recipe (425 degrees F). They may take an extra 10 minutes in the oven for the sauce to bubble and the shells to get slightly browned. The only difference I’ve noticed is that the tofu ricotta ends up a little softer with a bit more moisture in it then when it is baked fresh. I was delighted to see that the pumpkin sauce had no noticeable differences in texture!
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian Inspired
Leave A Review