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Cheeseburger Shellys @loavesanddishes.net
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5 from 1 vote

Cheeseburger Shellys

Perfect recipes for guests or family weeknight dinner. Easy to put together, flavorful and a family favorite, every single time!
Prep Time35 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
Course: main
Cuisine: American
Keyword: meat stuffed pasta, meat stuffed shells
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 360kcal
Cost: $15

Equipment

  • Stove
  • Stock Pot
  • colander
  • measuring cups
  • large spoon
  • Measuring spoons
  • 9x13 baking dish
  • table spoon

Ingredients

  • ½ Box Jumbo Pasta Shells 6 oz - prepared per box instructions
  • 2 Tbs Olive Oil
  • 1 lb of ground beef
  • 3 cloves garlic - minced.
  • ½ onion - chopped small
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 block of cream cheese - softened and cut into 1 inch blocks
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 8 oz Triple Cheddar shredded mix
  • 23 oz Spaghetti Sauce 1 standard jar
  • 1-2 Cups Mozzarella Shredded Cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium frying pan over medium heat on the stove top add 2 Tbs Olive Oil. Crumble the ground beef into the pan. Add the minced garlic and chopped onion so that all of them can cook together. Add the salt and pepper.
  • When the ground beef is browned, add the softened cream cheese, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until cream cheese is mostly melted. Stir in the Triple Cheddar Shredded Cheese. Stir in the shredded cheese and then remove from heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
  • In a 2 quart baking dish, spread a little bit of the pasta sauce - maybe ¼ cup. Just so shells won’t stick. Using a household teaspoon, fill each shelly with the hamburger cheese mixture. Once the shelly is full place it in the baking pan. Repeat until the baking dish is full with shellys lined up like little soldiers. You may have more meat mix than shells - or all of your shells may not fit- in that case just put your extra hamburger around in the dish - you can see what I did in my movie here. Save the extra shellys for a different cooking project.
  • Once shellys are in place, cover with the remaining pasta sauce and spread the sauce around to cover. Sprinkle the Mozzarella Cheese on top. Bake for 30 mins until the pasta sauce is bubbling through and the cheese is melting and starting to brown.

Video

Notes

  • As always, use the freshest and most local beef that you can find.  I mean, you only have to see that stuff about pink slime on You Tube once to convince you.  
  • I used Ragu Homestyle Roasted Garlic for this recipe and with good reason, check out the label.  All good stuff in there! 
  • Be careful, the shells might still be hot - test them first!
  • This recipe goes VERY FAST - the thing that takes the longest is for the water to boil.
  • You will notice that I used real onion, real garlic PLUS garlic powder and onion powder to the hamburger meat- you are a real watcher!  That is because we LOVE flavor over here.  You will too!
  • You might also notice that I salted the pasta water AND the hamburger - again, clever person!  Because you want seasoning at all layers of your dinner!  
  • After you drain the pasta - you COULD toss it with a little oil so that the noodles don’t stick together - however, if you are working quickly - the noodles will be fine in the amount of time it takes to brown the hamburger.  If you are going to be even a little longer - hedge your bets and toss with oil.
  • This dish is DELISH warmed over too! It’s perfect Cold - right out of the fridge.  I snuck a bite- I know.  
  • You can sprinkle the top with some Parmesan Cheese too - so good.
  • Garnish with chopped parsley or chives.
Substitutions: 
  • 1 tsp minced garlic in oil for the hand chopped garlic
  • 1 Tbs Onion Powder for the chopped onion (in addition to what is already called for - take out the fresh onion and substitute the onion powder). 
  • Any other type of cheddar cheese for the Triple Cheddar
 
PRO TIP: Extra sauce is always a hit, try adding extra sauce over the noodles,  you won't be sorry.  Sprinkle parmesan over the top and you'll add a ton of flavor.  

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 1021mg | Potassium: 486mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 739IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 307mg | Iron: 2mg