Vegan Veggie Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 26 jumbo shells approximately 2/3 of a box, cooked
- 1 jar 25 oz tomato sauce, your favorite (I used Aldi's Tomato Basil)
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil or oil of choice
- 3 garlic cloves pressed or minced
- 1 onion diced
- 5 oz fresh spinach
- 8 oz mushrooms diced (I love baby bella)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1 block of firm tofu pressed and crumbled
- 3/4 cup hummus I like the classic flavor, but garlic would be good too
Instructions
- Cook the jumbo shells as directed on the box. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
- Heat a saute pan with 2 Tbsp oil over medium heat, saute onions and mushrooms until soft. Add garlic. Saute until fragrant. Add spinach. Saute until wilted. At the end, add salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, crumble pressed tofu to resemble the consistency of ricotta cheese. (To press the tofu, place between two towels. Put a heavy can on top and let it sit for as long as you remember. Thirty minutes to hours is good)
- Mix hummus into crumbled tofu. Mix in veggies.
- In a 9x13 inch pan, pour 1/3 of the jar of sauce and spread evenly.
- Stuff each shell with 2 Tbsp of tofu/veggie mixture. Place each shell into the pan. Continue until all the shells and filling are used up. Pour the rest of the sauce over the shells.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the shells look steaming hot.
Notes
How-to-Use:
Athletes: 4 shells have 20 grams of protein - perfect for post exercise recovery nutrition. But, please, don't stop at 4 shells! You can certainly have more. Listen to your body and eat until satisfied.
Healthy Eating: Consider these everything you need at a meal all wrapped up in one. (One cute little noodle that is!) Seriously - these are packed with plant based protein and vegetables with a side of carbohydrates. Absolutely perfectly balanced!
Kids: Are your kids stuffed shell fans? I promise they won't have a clue these don't have cheese. Not a stuffed shells fan? Put one on their plate with something they do enjoy. Exposure is a huge part of getting kids to accept new foods.
Other Thoughts:
- You could easily make these ahead of time - or the filling ahead of time. Really, they're ideal for meal prep!
- Don't like mushrooms? Add a different vegetable instead.
- My recipe made exactly 26 super stuffed shells. I couldn't quite fit them into my 9x13 inch pan in an aesthetically pleasing way. So, I put 6 in a smaller dish, It's up to you how you finagle yours.