Don’t Tell My Mom, But These Delicious Stuffed Shells Rival Her Homemade Ones (They’re the Ultimate Quick Meal!)

When I was growing up, there were a handful of my mother’s meals that always got the household excited. From her impossible-to-replicate chicken cutlets to the Granny Smith apple/onion/parsnip soup she only brought out around Thanksgiving, my mom’s arsenal of recipes is legendary (just ask my friends). But the one meal I would always look forward to with glee was her stuffed shells. 

With her rich cheese blend and delicious homemade sauce, my mom’s stuffed shells are hard to top (your garden-variety frozen shells-in-a-box they definitely are not). I’ve even found certain restaurant shell dishes don’t live up to the savory delight that is hers. So, you can imagine my surprise when I recently found a pre-made deal that instantly transported me to my mother’s kitchen. I’m talking about Mama Mancini’s Stuffed Shells — the closest thing to my mother’s (and probably yours) homemade shells you’ll ever be able to buy.   

Created to bring the deliciousness of homemade stuffed shells to your door at a moment’s notice, Mama Mancini’s Stuffed Shells are the real deal. Featuring handmade pasta, these shells are overstuffed (the brand’s words, not mine) with a five-cheese blend made up of ricotta, fresh mozzarella, asiago, Parmesan, and Romano cheeses for a rich and creamy bite you’re sure to love. Each shell is pre-cooked and hand-filled with the cheese mixture, then flash-frozen to maintain peak deliciousness before being sent to your door, alongside an ample amount of sauce, for the ultimate homemade meal in minutes, not hours. 

As I said above, stuffed shells are one of my favorite homemade meals, but I can’t get home as often as I’d like. So when I came across these shells, I figured, “Let’s see if they can live up to Momma’s.” Reader, I was floored. The shells themselves were delicious (you can taste the quality of the fresh pasta and rich cheeses), but the sauce? It was rich, perfectly seasoned, and tasted like it was right out of my mother’s sauce pot. I couldn’t believe it, but I finally found stuffed shells that rivaled my mother’s.

The best part? Prepping them couldn’t be easier. Start by thawing a package of the shells and sauce overnight. When you’re ready to cook them, line a baking dish with half the sauce, place your shells on top of the sauce, cover the shells with the remaining sauce, pop them in the oven at 350 degrees for half an hour, and boom! You have a homemade-quality meal you and the whole family will be talking about for weeks. 

You can get 18 of Mama Mancini’s Stuffed Shells (that’s three pounds of pasta plus three pounds of sauce!) for $93 when you shop them on QVC today. So whether it’s for an easy quick meal or nights when you’re craving something homemade without all the fuss, I think you’ll find having these shells on hand to be the ultimate dinner rescue. And don’t worry — I won’t tell your mom about them if you don’t tell mine. 

Buy: Mama Mancini’s Stuffed Shells, $93