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These Creamy White Wine Mushroom Stuffed Shells are the perfect baked pasta for cozy November and December nights with family and friends. Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells, creamy buttery béchamel sauce, and golden caramelized mushrooms all come together in this vegetable-focused pasta dish. It’s rich, cheesy, full of wonderful flavors, and so delicious! Top the stuffed shells with fresh thyme before serving for an extra pop of color. This is a great make-ahead dish for Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving, and all the upcoming holiday dinner parties.
I say this every year, but in terms of the Thanksgiving menu, I think it’s nice to have a vegetarian main course option that’s just as exciting (if not more so) than the turkey. There are so many people who either don’t eat turkey or just don’t love it enough to get super excited about it on Thanksgiving.
For those people out there (and I know there are a lot of them), provide something extra delicious!
For many years I’d do a yummy vegetable-focused lasagna. But this year, I’ve got something new and delicious…stuffed shells!
I based this recipe on my aunt Katie’s white lasagna that I’ve loved since I was a kid. Her béchamel sauce was the secret, she made A LOT of it so the lasagna was never dry.
These shells are basically her lasagna, but in the form of stuffed shells, and with the addition of a bit of wine (which she would love).
The details – make the béchamel
Start with the mushrooms. Just cook them up in a bit of butter and add lots of thyme. Then pull them out of the skillet and start making my Aunt Katie’s béchamel.
It’s butter, garlic, basil, and oregano mixed together with flour. You’ll then add milk and a good amount of wine. As the sauce thickens the wine will cook out. Stir in the cheese and season up the sauce with salt and pepper.
Assemble
Now that the sauce is made, the rest is easy. Boil-off the shells, then mix the ricotta cheese with thawed spinach.
Grab a baking dish and spoon some of the béchamel into the bottom. Start stuffing the shells with the ricotta, then place them into the dish. Pour over the remaining béchamel, sprinkle on some cheese, and then finish with the mushrooms. Cover and bake until that cheese is bubbling up and golden…
It’s going to smell delish.
Perfect dinner to entertain with over the next couple of months. You can prepare the dish in advance, keep it fully assembled in the fridge, and then bake before serving. Love dishes like this for holiday entertaining…they make life so easy!
Hoping these stuffed shells are the perfect start to your week! My tip? Test out the recipe this week and then perfect to your liking for Thanksgiving!
Looking for other easy holiday dinners?? Here are my favorites:
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash 4 Cheese Pesto Lasagna
Crispy Prosciutto Cheesy White Lasagna
One Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta Bake
Lastly, if you make these Creamy White Wine Mushroom Stuffed Shells, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Creamy White Wine Mushroom Stuffed Shells
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 693 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter
- 3 cups shiitake or cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups dry white wine or chicken broth
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pound jumbo pasta shells
- 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded provolone
- 2 (10 ounce packages) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium pot. Add the mushrooms. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes or until golden. Add the thyme, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook 4-5 minutes, until fragrant. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet. 3. To the skillet, add the reaming 6 tablespoons butter, the garlic, basil, oregano, and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add the wine, then the milk. Bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth. Set the cheese sauce aside.4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and boil the pasta until al dente according to package directions.5. In a bowl combine the ricotta, provolone, and spinach. 6. Spread 1/3 of the cheese sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Working with one pasta shell at a time, spoon 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mix into each shell, placing the filled shell into the baking dish as you go. Sprinkle over 1/2 cup mozzarella, pour the remaining cheese sauce over top. Top with a 1/4 cup of parmesan and then the mushrooms. Cover and bake 25 minutes or until the top has bubbled up. Remove the foil and bake another 15-20 minutes. Serve with fresh thyme.
While this dish isn’t super quick to throw together, it is totally worth the time! I love a good cheesy mushroom dish. We served it alongside chicken cutlets and some greens. I’m definitely going to try and make it into the lasagna next time!
Hey Kari,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for giving it a go! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
Made this for Ash Wednesday and it was a prefect meatless meal!! couldn’t find jumbo shells, so I used frozen pre made ones. I also caramelized some onions and made saute spinach to mix with the mushrooms. Everyone loved this! We will make again. I would also use slightly less wine or stock next time.
Hi Lissa,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! xx
This week has felt super heavy with the war in Ukraine and I needed a comfort meal to get ready for the week ahead. I have had this saved for ages and finally made it! It is everything it is supposed to be; gooey, cheesy, and with just enough flavor! The mushrooms are the perfect umami kick.
Hi Kristin,
Awesome!! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week:) xx
Please edit this recipe!! This is way too much white wine. I love your recipes and wine but this is overpowering!!
Hi Emma,
Sorry you did not enjoy the recipe, you can always use broth in place of the wine. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These were sooo good! My whole family loved them. My husband said I should put the cheese sauce on everything I make from now on. Definitely will be making these again!
Hey Mandi,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
This was SO good!! We had some butcher box ground sweet Italian sausage that we added before we put it in the oven to bake and it was PERFECT!
Hey Taylor,
Happy Wednesday!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
These were great and made enough for days of leftovers. I used veg broth after reading comments and added some spice vegetarian sausage on the top at the end. It’s really heavy (aren’t all stuffed shells though), but delicious!
Hey Sarah,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
O. M. G. This was AMAZING!! I veganized it and holy wow. So so good. Thank you
Hey Diane,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great day:) xxT
a friend send me this recipe and so i made it for her and it was a hit. i used half wine half broth. since i added the wine first, most of it burned off and it was a nice balance. i also only had mozzarella but it was still great. thanks!
Hey Sara,
Happy Friday!! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xxT
I was so excited about this recipe as I was making it and as it was cooking. It smelled wonderful. However I was not at all pleased with the result. The wine flavor was overpowering to say the least. I felt nauseated after eating it. This recipe would probably be better with chicken broth, but unfortunately I was so turned off by the result that I likely won’t try it again.
Hi Bri,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
So good! I was looking for something delicious to make for my vegetarian friend after surgery and this is perfect! My non-vegetarian husband also loved it!
Hey Sherry,
Awesome! Thanks a lot for making this recipe. I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thursday❄️ xxT
Can this be frozen before baking?
Hey Irine,
Yes, that will work well for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
This turned out so yummy! I used chicken broth and it couldn’t be better.
Hey Jenny,
Thank you so very much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Made this for a Thanksgiving side dish and it got 5 star reviews from the family!
Hi Shelley,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Rhode Island was also hit by the jumbo shell shortage! I found an old box in the cabinet from my daughter’s Tamatoa costume a few years ago but they expired in 2019, womp womp…. Manicotti worked great. I really wanted my house to smell like carmelizing onions, so I put two onions in the slow cooker first thing in the morning. An hour before cooking, I added the mushrooms and thyme. I added half of that mixture to the filling and put the other 1/2 on top. I didn’t find the wine too overwhelming. This was super delicious and has reheated well twice! Thanks for a great dish! Now I really need to move over to your “healthy” list!!!
Hey Michelle,
Wonderful! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
This was dish was a hit at our Christmas dinner! Even the meat eaters raved about how good it was. Just a note, based on the reviewers’ comments about the strong wine taste, I subbed the wine for veggie broth. It turned out perfect! I would also say this took me much longer than 30 minutes for prep time. It was definitely worth the extra time! My husband is already asking when I’ll be making this next.
Hi there,
Thank you so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas!?? xT
I was a bit disappointed by this recipe, the white wine taste was far too overwhelming as other reviewers have noticed. I felt like I could barely taste the cheese and other flavors.
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear it wasn’t enjoyed. xTieghan