This is a delicious comfort food kind of meal!
Pasta shells stuffed with spinach and cheese, what could be better than that?
Between the tomato sauce and spinach it even earns you an extra point.
How I kept it low in points:
Making my own marinara sauce was an easy way to lower the points. Even a reduced fat jar of spaghetti sauce (29 ounces) can be 13 points.
The marinara sauce I made only had 1 point for 29 ounces.
Instead of using whole ricotta cheese I used reduced fat ricotta, that saved 8 points.
I also used part-skim mozzarella cheese instead of regular mozzarella cheese.
Click here to view your WW Personal Points and track it on your app.
How to make Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shells:
The first thing I did was got the sauce cooking. I bought a 29 ounce of tomato sauce and added it to a medium saucepan.
Add the seasonings to the tomato sauce – garlic powder, dried minced onion, Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Bring the sauce to a simmer and add in the grated Parmesan cheese. Turn the heat to low and let it cook while you get the noodles ready.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the jumbo shells. Cook the shells 2 minutes less than the package directions call for.
Since we’re going to bake the noodles you don’t want them to get over cooked.
Drain the noodles and let them cool off.
In a medium bowl add the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, spinach and garlic powder, mix together.
I used frozen chopped spinach that I let thaw overnight in the fridge. Squeeze out any excess water.
Add a cup of the marinara sauce to an 8×8 pan.
Fill each shell with the spinach mixture, then add it to the pan.
Once all of the shells are filled pour the remaining marinara sauce over it.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Once it’s done cooking you can top it with fresh basil or Parmesan cheese, just make sure to add any extra points.
This pasta dish goes great with a low point salad. It also makes a great lunch if you have any leftovers.
My new cookbook The Ultimate Weekly Meal Plan is now available as an ebook! The paperback and ebook versions both include 12 weeks of meal plans with 60 recipes. Each week includes a shopping list to make the recipes for the week.
Here is a small sample:
Yield: 4 servings
Click here to view your WW Personal Points and track it on your app.
- 16 jumbo pasta shells
- 29 oz. tomato sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 8 oz. frozen chopped spinach (thaw and squeeze out any water)
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
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Add the tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, dried minced onion, Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer then add in the Parmesan cheese. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook.
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the jumbo pasta shells and cook 2 minutes less than the package directions call for. Drain the pasta and let it cool.
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In a medium bowl add the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, spinach and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix together.
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Add 1 cup of marinara sauce to an 8×8 baking dish.
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Fill each of the shells with the spinach mixture and add the shells to the baking dish.
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Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Here are some more WW friendly recipes:
Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon and Garlic
If you’re looking for some zero point recipes, check out my post 20 Zero Point Recipes or my post 20 (More) Zero Point Recipes. Both are filled with delicious recipes that won’t cost you a single point! They’re perfect for days when you’re running low on points, or trying to save up points for a night out.
If you’re looking for dessert recipes you can visit 50 Weight Watchers Freestyle Desserts. It’s filled with delicious desserts perfect for Weight Watchers!
Are you looking for a meal plan that’s Weight Watchers friendly? I have over 100 meal plans that you can choose from and I post a new one each week. Click here to check them out!
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