I love taking an afternoon once or twice a month to make up a few freezer meals to pop in the fridge.

These are perfect for a day when you are scrambling around but still need to get a good, filling meal on the table, when you just don’t feel like cooking, or to take to an ailing friend or neighbor to lend a thoughtful hand.

I try to keep two or three freezer meals on hand for just such “emergencies.”

Stuffed Shells is one of my favorite go to meals because its easy, inexpensive, filling, freezes well, and is just plain delicious!  Everyone in my house loves this for dinner, add a salad and garlic toast and its a perfect weeknight or Sunday supper feast!

It may seem like a lot of ingredients but I promise you this is easy  as can be to make.

How to Make Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal

Ingredients:

• ½ pound ground beef
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ box large shells
•  2 cups ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. Rosemary
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. Oregano
• 1 tsp. Garlic salt

Directions:

Begin by cooking your noodles following the package directions, or 8-10 minutes, until tender. Rinse the noodles in cool water to make them easier to handle.

While your noodles are cooking, brown ground beef and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a jar of spaghetti sauce to your beef when it is fully cooked. Spread about a third of this meat sauce on bottom of your pan or baking dish.

In a medium bowl you will combine your ricotta, egg, 1 cup of your mozzarella, parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, rosemary and Garlic salt. Cream all of these ingredients together until smooth.

Next, take your cooked shells and fill each shell with ricotta mixture. Place them into your pan on top of the sauce in rows.

When you’ve finished stuffing all your shells, top the shells with the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle the rest of your cheese on top of the dish.

Now, you can either bake this dish right away and serve it, stick it right into the freezer uncooked, or prebake the dish and then freeze it.

Freezer Directions: To freeze your dish, cover the pan with foil and freeze. Make sure you include the directions on top of the foil so you will be ready when it’s time to cook it.

When you’re ready to serve, thaw in the fridge overnight or cook straight from the freezer. Plan a full extra hour to bake if cooking from frozen and not pre-baked.

Cooking Directions: When you’re ready to cook your meal, cook at 350° F and bake for 50-55 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly.

Freezer Meal Stuffed Shells Recipe

Click below to print/save this recipe.

If you need a good meal to pop in the oven on busy weeknights, these freezer stuffed shells are for you. Print out this recipe to save it for those nights when you’re just not sure what to make!

We even have a post on 60 Easy Dinner Ideas to help you in a pinch.

Here’s another easy meal you can make and freeze half the recipe for later, Creamy Baked Potato Soup. Hop on over to see that recipe too!

What’s your favorite freezer meal?