As kids, stuffed shells were a regular at the dinner table. We love challenging ourselves to make our old favorite, non-vegan dishes. So with the help of our mom, we created this delicious recipe. It is a favorite amongst our vegan and non-vegan friends and family! Also, we love that it is super easy to make and the perfect dish to make for a crowd. You can make it ahead of time, refrigerate and then bake when ready!
These stuffed shells are a delicious take on the classic stuffed shells. We make a rich cashew cream by blending (we love THIS blender for the creamiest cashew cream):
Garlic
Lemon juice & water
And to make the “ricotta,” we mix the cashew cream with:
Extra Firm Tofu (pressed)
Spinach
& Spices
We stuff the filling into jumbo shells and top it all with sweet potato and marinara – YUM (use THIS to easily stuff the shells)! And the addition of sweet potato gives makes for an absolutely amazing combo. You won’t regret giving these a try!

We love to serve these with a simple salad (loving poppyseed dressing lately & most are surprisingly vegan!) Check out this one! 🙂 Garlic bread is another easy side. Just slice fresh, vegan bread in half long ways, spread a good amount of vegan butter on top (we use this one) and cover with garlic salt & parsley, then bake at 400°F for about 10 minutes!


Cashew & Tofu “Ricotta” Stuffed Shells w/ Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato can sub for butternut squash
- ~25 jumbo shells
For the cashew cream:
- 1 1/2 cups cashews soaked in warm water for 4 hours (if you're on a time crunch, you can pour boiling water over cashews and let sit for 15 mins)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup room temperature water more if needed
For the tofu ricotta:
- 1 14-16 oz package extra firm tofu pressed then crumbled
- 1 – 2 cups chopped spinach or kale
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp chives dry or minced fresh works
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper omit if you do not like spice
For topping:
- 1 24 oz jar marinara sauce add more if you like it extra saucy!
Instructions
- Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Place on a baking pan with some olive oil and roast at 375°F for ~25 minutes. Once done, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Place all ingredients for the cashew cream into a blender and blend until completely smooth. Add water as needed.
- In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the tofu ricotta. Pour the cashew cream into the bowl and mix it all together.
- Fill each shell with the filling (check out the easiest way to do this above!) and top each with a few cubes of baked sweet potato.
- Spread 1/4 of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a large glass baking dish. Place the shells on the dish.
- Drizzle the rest of the marinara sauce over them all.
- Cover with foil and bake for ~30 minutes. Enjoy!
Looks amazing! Will be making this tonight! BUT what about the dreamy bread? Store bought? Your recipe? Looks so chewy and good! Thanks for the recipes!
Hi Shelia,
Thanks so much! We hope you love it 🙂 the bread is a fresh store-bought loaf of sourdough! It’s so chewy and delicious–the perfect side for this dish!
so delicious!!! the sweet potato compliments the ricotta so well! will make again!
Yay! We are so happy to hear that!! Thanks so much for making our recipe 🙂
I absolutely love this recipe. But I have always made it and baked it the same day. Can you make he filling the day before?