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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.
I would use less spinach next time. And maybe use fresh instead of frozen spinach for a better flavor. Mushrooms and spices were wonderful.
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
I made this meal for my son before he returned to campus today. He said it was delicious and asked if he could take the leftovers with him. ❤️
Hey Paulette,
Happy New Year!🎆🎈 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! xx
This recipe is delectable! I made it on Christmas day, and my family was obsessed with it. I did one cup of wine and one cup of chicken broth, which was perfect.
Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Carly,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try! xT
Made this for a Christmas Eve dinner party. Absolutely delish! Use the wine, you won’t regret it!
Hey Olivia,
Happy Holidays!!☃️ I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! xT
I made this recipe last night. Needs some tweaking, the sauce is very uni-dimensional. Just needed some more flavor and herbs perhaps, this just ended up tasting meh.
Hi Daniella,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xT
Delicious, easy to make, everyone loved it. I did 1 cup wine wine and 1 cup chicken broth and it felt like the best combination. I will definitely make it again but next time with less spinach and more mushrooms.
Hey Heather,
Happy Monday!❄️ I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xx
Made this for Christmas Eve today and it was a major hit. Per some of the other comments I used half Sauvignon blanc wine and half chicken broth. I didn’t have mozzarella so I just put provolone in the spinach with the ricotta. Less cheese on top.
I tried the sauce and I thought it needed another dimension so I added 1/4 tsp of Kashmiri chili powder.
Would definitely make again for special occasion.
Hey Kellsey,
Happy Monday!❄️ I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xx
I think the comment software is being too effective at screening comments. I can’t seem to find any reviews of people who actually made and liked the recipe. I love to read both good/bad reviews so I can avoid mistakes and/or add what others thought was needed. Please have them fix the algorithm so the reviews aren’t all hidden.
Hi Kellsey,
I can promise you all of the reviews from this recipe are available here, we don’t delete reviews:) Happy Holidays! xx
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that parmesan and some other hard cheeses are not vegetarian (they use calf stomach enzymes) so people will need to find some sort of substitute if cooking this for a vegetarian guest.
thanks!
Thanks for sharing Grace!
Hey! Actually, that is for our vegan friends. Vegetarian is just no meat, where as vegan is no meat or anything that comes from an animal.
Happy holidays!
The picture looks amazing! I did make this for my Christmas party and followed it to a tea. I realized in the picture that you used fresh thyme to sauté the mushrooms and didn’t do that. I think next time I will add fresh herbs, more salt and pepper and use chicken broth for extra flavor.
Hi Jean,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
Adding the milk and wine together at the same time results in a curdled milk. Reduce the wine before adding milk. Also reduce the total amount of wine included in recipe. Just my take on things.
Thanks for making the recipe and sharing your feedback Danee! xx
If you were to make this dairy free do you have suggestions for how to substitute?? I’m
Not dairy free but I’d be making this and have a guest that is.
Hey Amanda,
There’s a lot of dairy in this recipe, I’m not sure how using all dairy free products would result because I haven’t tested it, I might choose a different dish. Here are some pasta recipes that are already dairy free:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/pan-fried-lemony-artichokes-asparagus-pistachio-pesto-pasta/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/golden-sun-dried-tomato-red-lentil-pasta/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/red-curry-noodles/
I hope this helps! xT
I was so looking forward to this but I think 2 cups of wine is way too much wine. I think there should be less wine, more spices and cheese. Maybe 1 cup of wine and 1 cup of chicken stock plus the milk. My family would not eat this and I was disappointed. I have loved some of your other recipes but I think this one needs a big tweak. So sorry!
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
What do you think about using fresh spinach instead of frozen? Any suggested adjustments with that? Thank you!
Hi Ashley,
Sure, that will work, but I would cook it down first and drain. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
To make ahead, what step do you stop at?
Hey Meghan,
You can make just up until the point of baking. I hope you love this recipe! xT
Hi Tieghan – I am so excited to make these for 2 upcoming holiday parties! Could these be pre-assembled and frozen? If yes, after which step should I freeze?
Thank you!
Hey Mallory,
You bet! I would freeze just before baking, that will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Hi Tieghan,
This sounds so delish and can’t wait to make it for Christmas! If I make ahead and freeze, do I bake from frozen or thaw first and then bake?
Or how long will it last in the fridge before baking? Thank you!
I would bake within 2-3 days:)
Hey Perri,
You can really do either! If you bake from frozen, just allow som extra bake time! I hope you love this recipe, let me know how it turns out! xT
Hi Tieghan! For some reason the only bag of jumbo shells I found is 12oz not 16oz, so I got two. Having a party with 6-7 adults and this is the main, should I add some from the second bag to equal 16oz or do you think I could make this with the two bags (24oz) if I added more filling & cheese? Thx!
Hey Samantha,
I would just add some from the second bag, should be just fine! Let me know how this recipe turns out, I hope you love it! xx
I can’t find gluten free jumbo shells to substitute- do you think using manicotti would work?
Hey Kelsey,
Totally, that will be a great idea! Let me know how this recipe turns out, I hope you love it! xx
I can’t find shells (or anything stuffable!) any suggestions or another type of pasta???
Hi Jenna,
You could do lasagna sheets and roll them up! I hope this helps, let me know if you give the recipe a try! xx