Two of my favorite things – Mexican and pasta – are coming together for this recipe: Stuffed Mexican Chicken Shells! (Some call them Taco Stuffed Shells.)
One of my favorite things about this dish is that it makes TWO big 9×13” pans, so you can save one of the pans for a busy night when you don’t have time to make dinner, or take one of the pans to a friend who could use a delicious dinner.
If you were to bring me a pan of these stuffed shells, I promise you that we would be friends for life!
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken Breasts, cooked and diced
- Black Beans
- Green Onion
- Green Pepper
- Red Pepper
- Cream Cheese
- Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
- Chicken Broth
- Cumin
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- Salsa
- Jumbo Pasta Shells
How to make Stuffed Mexican Chicken Shells
- Cook pasta shells in well salted, boiling water until al dente (still have a little bite to them- if you cook them too long, they will be difficult to stuff). Drain the pasta and set aside while you make the filling.
- For the filling, add diced chicken, drained black beans, green onions, diced peppers, and cumin into a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, chicken broth and undrained tomatoes with chiles. When thoroughly combined, pour it over the chicken mixture and mix well (if you have trouble incorporating the cream cheese and tomatoes, you can heat it slightly in the microwave).
- You will need either 2 9×13″ baking pans OR one large baking sheet. Spread 3/4 cup salsa in the bottom of each 9×13″ baking pan.
- Using a spoon, fill each of your cooked pasta shells with chicken mixture, setting them into the salsa-covered pan. Continue until all shells are filled and arranged in the pans.
- When the pans are full, drizzle the shells with the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa (1/4 cup per pan) and then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Cover the baking pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Storing and Other Tips
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Using a rotisserie chicken is a great shortcut for this recipe.
After you cook the shells al dente (you don’t want them to be too soft or they won’t hold their filling!), the wiggly noodles can sometimes be hard to stuff.
I found that the easiest way is to hold the cooked shell in one hand and then use the other hand to hold a spoon and scoop the filling inside.
How To Make This A Freezer Meal
To freeze a pan of these shells, prepare as directed except leave off the salsa and shredded cheese topping.
Use an air-tight covered container, a disposable aluminum pan that comes with a lid (you can get them at most grocery stores), or you can even place the shells in a gallon-sized resealable bag.
The shells will stay good in the freezer for up to 30 days.
When you are ready to eat, remove shells from freezer. Pour the salsa in the bottom of the pan, add the shells to the pan, then top with remaining salsa and cheese. Bake as directed.
Pasta does tend to get mushy when thawed, so if you are going to be freezing these shells, I recommend cooking the shells ONE MINUTE LESS than al dente, just to keep them from being too mushy.
Serving Suggestions
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Slow Cooker Refried Beans
- Twisted Cheese Breadsticks Recipe
- Seven Layer Green Salad Recipe
Stuffed Mexican Chicken Shells (Freezer Meal)
Ingredients
- 4 cups boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
- 15.5 ounces black beans, 1 can, rinsed and drained
- 6 green onions, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 24 ounces cream cheese, 3 (8 oz blocks) softened, not melted
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes with green chilis, 2 (14 oz cans) rotel, or store brand
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 cups salsa
- 40 Jumbo Pasta shells
Instructions
- Cook pasta shells in well salted, boiling water until al dente (still have a little bite to them- if you cook them too long, they will be difficult to stuff). Drain the pasta and set aside while you make the filling.
- For the filling, add diced chicken, drained black beans, green onions, diced peppers, and cumin into a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, chicken broth and undrained tomatoes with chiles. When thoroughly combined, pour it over the chicken mixture and mix well (if you have trouble incorporating the cream cheese and tomatoes, you can heat it slightly in the microwave).
- You will need either 2 9×13" baking pans OR one large baking sheet. Spread 3/4 cup salsa in the bottom of each 9×13" baking pan.
- Using a spoon, fill each of your cooked pasta shells with chicken mixture, setting them into the salsa-covered pan. Continue until all shells are filled and arranged in the pans.
- When the pans are full, drizzle the shells with the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa (1/4 cup per pan) and then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
What a fantastic idea! Definitely giving this a try 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
This looks and sounds so delicious, thank you for the recipe!
These look yummy ! Can’t wait to try them and love the new picture =)
Oh my goodness! I love this dish. Can’t wait to share the recipe with our Cabot Facebook friends. PS The picture is really, really adorable.
Wonder if you could just mix the stuffing with cooked pasta instead of stuffing the pasta?
What size cans of tomatoes did you use?
You totally could- that is actually a pretty good idea! I think that I would use a smaller sized shell though.
14 oz cans! Sorry about that.
We had this for dinner last night and it was delicious! I’ve tried a few different taco stuffed shells recipes and this is by far my favourite. I halved it because we don’t have room in our freezer at the moment (it’s in dire need of a cleanout!) but next time I definitely will, I love doing this style of freezer cooking! Also, a trick I learned for incorporating cream cheese is to use a potato masher and just smash it in there, it works relaly well! Thanks for the great recipe! It’s definitely going into the make again file!
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This recipe was very good!!!! The only thing I changed was, I did not have chicken broth or cumin. So I used water and taco seasoning in place of those items. I’m sure it didn’t make much of a difference, it was delicious!
I made this for a group meal, and it was a HUGE hit. Since I was making such a large quantity, I did it a little differently. I cooked the chicken with the Rotel, cumin, black beans, and taco spices in a slow cooker. I then shredded the chicken and folded in the cream cheese. It got rave reviews, and I thank you for the recipe.
I made this last night and it was delicious! I used the 1/3 fat cream cheese and couldn’t tell a difference.
Thanks for the shout out! It was fun!
I made this over the weekend for a girlfriend who just had twins. I baked one and left the other as a freezer meal for her to cook later. It was a big hit! I left out the green onions and green pepper since I didn’t have those on hand, but everything else went in to my pasta shells. I added some fresh cilantro on top of each shell, just for prettys-sake! My husband and I used the leftover filling as a taco dip the next day, so yummy!
Can I replace the cream cheese with yogurt?
I was wondering what I could use instead of the cream cheese?
I know Greek Yogurt is sometimes used as a substitute for cream cheese, and so is hummus. It comes in a lot of flavors. Just a few ideas! It will alter the taste from what the recipe calls for.
Yogurt is used as a substitute for cream cheese. 🙂
I want to try this in the crock pot on Sunday while we’re at church. What do you think?
You would have to adjust the recipe for the crock pot. Not even sure what to tell you. Boil the pasta shells before putting into the crock pot. Let us know how it turns out. Sorry we can’t help you much. We have only made it as the recipe directs.
Made this tonight. Used low -fat cheese and cream cheese. Added chopped, fresh cilantro to the cream cheese mixture. It was OUTSTANDING. So, so yummy!!!
this was very good! I think this will get added into our normal rotation. I chopped the chicken really fine — thinking that would work better for my picky toddlers — and proved to make for a god texture. However, I’m not sure if it was the salsa I used but it had some KICK! That was great for my husband and I but too much for the kids. This makes a ton — so be prepared to freeze!
About how many chicken breasts equals 4 cups. I know it will vary depending on size but I just wanted to make sure I had enough. Thanks 🙂
1/2 pound of chicken is equal to about 1 cup. Chicken breasts vary in size. I would use about 5 chicken breasts. A little extra is fine.
What is the best way to cook the chicken?
Just boil it or grill it.
Could you use foodsaver bags to freeze it instead of baking pans?
That should work fine if it’s a freezer bag.
We made these tonight – so delicious! I used 3 cups of shredded chicken. Can’t wait to make them again!
Any suggestions for a substitute for the cumin? My husband hates that flavor and the smell.
It’s just 1 teaspoon, so probably just leave it out.
YUMMILICIOUS!!!! I was looking for something new and flavorful for my sort of picky hubby. I loved this recipe, easy to make, no special fussy ingredients, not a lot of time to put together. I cut in half and still have another meal for the two of us in the freezer! (I didn’t use cumin – didn’t affect flavor at all).
So, getting back to my fussy eater. Let me just say, he didn’t go back for seconds, oh no, he went back for third helping!! He loved it and told me to thank whoever gave me the recipe. Definitely a keeper
Than you Six Sisters!!
I substituted fat free refried beans for one of the blocks of cream cheese. And I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese for the other two blocks. It turned out great! Next time, I think I’ll leave out the chicken broth, it wasn’t really necessary for me.
Made this today with ground turkey instead of chicken! Froze one big pan and had the other for dinner. My husband loved it, kids didn’t like the black beans, but they ate the rest!
How long do you suppose this would keep in the freezer? A few months?
It should last for a month if wrapped well or in an airtight freezer container. Could last longer, but we have never frozen them for longer than a month. So we don’t want to mislead you by telling you longer.
Made this tonight – but used small 1″ shells and just mixed everything together, topped with cheese and baked (more casserole like). Kids loved it. Great flavor! Used two boxes of shells and followed the amounts for everything else (except cream cheese, because I misread how many boxed were needed, so substituted sour cream for the rest). It was enough to make for dinner with left overs AND put one in the freezer!
I liked these a lot will definitely be making again. I halved the recipe I did everything the same except I added a whole packet of medium taco seasoning & it came out yummy 🙂
Reading your comment about the hummus or greek yogurt as substitutes for cream cheese, got the wheels turning in my head. I love greek food and was thinking of using the yogurt and perhaps chick peas in place of black beans. Maybe add some greek olvies and feta instead of cheddar… I’m not a cook so not sure if this would work. What do you think?
How would I make this a freezer meal?? Would I put it all together and everything and then just freeze it all in a casserole dish?? I’m sorry, I’m new to freezer meals so I’m just use to seeing it all poured into a gallon size ziploc bag. lol
I put one pan in the oven to bake for dinner and then wrapped the other uncooked pan with foil and threw it in the freezer for another night. When you are ready to eat it, pull it out of the freezer 24 hours in advance and let it thaw in the fridge. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
I did a freezer meal prep day with my mother and we tried out this recipe as a first time to be added to the others. The recipe prep was simple and fun to do. The best part of this recipe.. is eating it. It is soooo delicious!
I was wondering has anyone ever tried using ground meet instead of chicken.? (Replace chicken stock with beef too)
How many people does this feed?
Fills about 40 pasta shells. Most people eat more than one. So around 15 servings.
Can it go from freezer right to the oven? if so how long would you bake it for?
You’ll want to thaw it first in the fridge.
I usually double this recipe and put it in 8inch square pans then vacuseal the whole thing before freezing. Makes like 9or 10 pans and they’ve stayed very well like that for many months. Wouldn’t recommend doing it with just airtight containers or foil covering since air can still sneak in….but otherwise good keeper.
Love this recipe! Make huge batches at a time and freeze (as described above) and besides throwing in a can of corn for additional color I have no complaints!
I’ve taken it straight from freezer to oven (only thawing while sitting on counter while oven preheats), needed to add about 10-15 minutes but otherwise perfect!
So glad it worked out well. Thanks for the update on the cooking time out of the freezer to the oven.
I make this recipe a LOT. It is favorite for work potlucks and freezer meals for families with new babies.
I’ve found some ways to make it faster and I thought I’d share. Hint, use your Cuisinart!
1. I often make this with a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (save the carcass for bone broth!) But have also made it with (thawed) grilled chicken slices from the grocery freezer section. Either way, I throw the chicken in the Cuisinart and give it a few pulses to chop it up.
2. I chop the green onions and peppers in the Cuisinart.
3. Instead of trying to do the cream cheese mix by hand, I put the cream cheese in the Cuisinart with 1 can of the tomatoes. Let it go until it is just combined. Then you can Mix in the other can quite easily by hand. I haven’t noticed a texture difference.
4. I totally skip the extra chicken broth since I don’t need it.
Made this tonight and it had some really good flavor! I did add more spices though. I found it difficult to mix the cream cheese and tomatoes to make it smooth. I ended up having to microwave it a little after removing the cream cheese. Then, I used my immersion blender and it worked great. I think next time I will just use a different noodle as it was tedious to get the filling in the shells. Still, great idea and very tasty!
So good!! I halved the recipe and just mixed everything with small pasta shells and it fit in a 9×13. Worked perfectly!!
So sorry to ask, since it’s covered above in the directions. But I do wonder since I’m making this for someone else 🤔
If freezing, can I/do I FULLY assemble (salsa on bottom of pan and on top of shells, then cheese), or do I have to leave her the directions to do that before baking? Salsa and cheese needing to be added on top right before baking are not deal-breakers for me, but I’d like to think I could at least put the salsa on the bottom of the pan when assembling for the freezer. The more ‘fully ready’ this is as a give-away meal, the better 🥰
Thank you VERY much, in advance, for the recipe and for your time in answering this!!
To freeze a pan of these shells, prepare as directed except leave off the salsa and shredded cheese topping. Use an air-tight covered container, a disposable aluminum pan that comes with a lid, or you can even place the shells in a gallon-sized resealable bag. When you are ready to eat, remove shells from freezer. Pour the salsa in the bottom of the pan, add the shells to the pan, then top with remaining salsa and cheese. Bake as directed.
I make this recipe all the time & everyone I know LOVES it! I’d like to make a batch of just the filling & freeze it & then boil & fill the shells & bake later when I thaw the mixture – would that work?
The filling will freeze great.
I made a few changes, but this was so delicious! This is a new family favorite.
1 tsp. Chili powder
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 Jalapeño diced
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
yummy
made this for work and it was gone within an hour . i started thinking i was making a jambalaya and added cumin and chilling powder to the meat but i didn’t have a few ingredients and searched for something else to use the meat with . this photo popped up and i was SO drawn in. thanks so much. i had to print 4 copies in same day to co-workers. it’s worth trying EveryOne
I made this for a freezer meal for my son and his wife for when they brought their newborn baby home. It’s a keeper! Soooo delicious.