Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells
It’s hard to put into words how I feel about these Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells. But it’s literally my JOB to do exactly that, so I have to try. These are AMAZING. Rich and decadent and packed full of buttery buffalo flavor, with crumbled blue cheese and shredded pepper jack cheese and crunchy celery… wow. I’m officially obsessed. And best of all, it’s a make-ahead meal you can prep in 20 minutes and it makes a ton to feed a crowd.
YUM.
This recipe is easy to make, especially because it uses already cooked chicken (I used rotisserie). I whipped up a quick buffalo sauce (which is nothing more than hot sauce and melted butter), and used it in place of traditional marinara in other stuffed shells recipes.
Spread just a little sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Mix some more with some ricotta cheese, chicken, blue cheese, pepper jack cheese, an egg, and some celery. Stuff some jumbo shells with this mixture and place in the baking dish. Then, top the whole thing off with the rest of the sauce, some more blue and pepper jack cheeses, and bake until bubbly.
If you’re craving buffalo chicken but want something different than wings, you MUST try this recipe.
Other Buffalo recipes
- Buffalo Mushroom Naan Pizza
- Buffalo Chicken Fingers
- Crispy Honey Buffalo Chicken Thighs
- Buffalo Chicken Tacos
- Buffalo Cauliflower “Wings”
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings
Printable recipe below!
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells
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Equipment
- Pyrex Measuring Cup
- Large Bowl
Ingredients
- 12 oz. jumbo shells you will end up using 25 shells
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup hot sauce such as Frank's
- 3 cups cooked chicken chopped or shredded (such as rotisserie)
- 16 oz. ricotta cheese
- 8 oz. pepper jack cheese divided
- 4 oz. blue cheese crumbled (about 1 cup, divided)
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 1 egg
- pinch kosher salt
- fresh cilantro chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted, boiling water according to directions.
- Meanwhile, mix together the butter and hot sauce. (I melted the butter in a pyrex measuring cup and added the hot sauce directly to it.)
- In a large bowl, mix together chicken, ricotta cheese, 1/2 of the pepper jack cheese, 1/2 of the blue cheese crumbles, celery, egg, and 3/4 cup of the hot sauce/butter mixture.
- Spread 1/4 cup of the hot sauce on the bottom of a large baking pan / casserole dish.
- Stuff the shells with the chicken mixture and place in the prepared baking pan.
- Drizzle the remaining 1/2 cup of hot sauce/butter on top.
- Sprinkle the remaining pepper jack cheese and blue cheese crumbles on top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 30, or until cheese is melted and shells are heated thoroughly, with the sides beginning to bubble.
Notes
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Elizebeth do these freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but this post looks promising on how to do it! https://www.thedailymeal.com/1316330/easy-way-freeze-stuffed-pasta-dont-stick-together/
Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth I make a lot of your recipes and they never disappoint! I usually make my own Buffalo chicken dip which everyone loves but I’ve recently been introduced to a deli Buffalo dip that is excellent. How can I adapt this recipe to use a pre made Buffalo dip in order to save time?
Love this idea for a shortcut! Not knowing much about the buffalo dip in question, I assume it has much less chicken and more of the creamy base than the mix used in the recipe. You might consider mixing the dip with more shredded chicken to bulk it up a bit, and then use that for the filling for the shells. Hope that helps as a jumping off point – would love to know how it turns out if you try it!
We decided to follow your recipe. We’ll be making it either today or tomorrow.
Hope it turned out well for you!
I can not explain how worried I was to try this recipe since I usually can’t stand Ricotta cheese. BUT let me tell you- this was AMAZING! I took two chicken breast and seasoned with onion, garlic, S&P then cooked and shredded it myself. Made the recipe take longer (upwards 2 hours cause I’m slow with cutting veggies) but this was AMAZING!!
So glad you liked it! My husband doesn’t like ricotta very much either and sometimes we will substitute cottage cheese for ricotta (in things like lasagna). Might be worth trying next time you are hesitant to try a recipe with ricotta. So glad you liked this one though, even with the ricotta! :-)
My daughter said flavors were spot on, but I changed recipe. More chicken, more celery, used all shells . My problem was with taking foil off; shells became crunchy. Will definitely make again with some tweaks. Thank you for idea!
Glad you liked it! Next time I make it, I’ll try keeping it covered for 40 minutes and uncovered for 10- that should help the situation with the crunchy shells :-)
How many ounces of chicken?
I’d say about a pound (16 oz.), but the recipe is very forgiving, so give or take is fine!
The ultimate comfort food, this will now be in the regular rotation! So so good.
Aw thanks! So glad you liked it!
If shells are boiled then stuffed later and oven cooked are they not mushy when served????
I was worried about this as well, but they did not turn mushy! I think it’s because there is no marinara sauce, which is watery. When there is too much water, the pasta can turn mushy. There was no liquid for the shells to absorb while baking, so they held their shape. Just make sure the shells are al dente when you take them out and you should be fine!