Meatball Stuffed Shells is an easy dish of my favorite comfort food, and using your pellet grill to do the baking not only adds a bit of wood-fired flavor but also keeps you from heating up your kitchen in the warmer months too.

Traeger Meatball Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells are one of my favorite meals, but typically you’ll find them stuffed with cheese. That version is amazing, but I wanted to try something a little different. 

We took my typically meatball mix, minus the breadcrumbs and bread, and put it right into par-boiled large shells before getting topped with marinara and copious amounts of cheese and baked off in your pellet grill. 

More Easy Traeger Recipes here!

Do you have to use a grill?

Nope! I love using my pellet grills for baking, but if you don’t have one you can definitely cook this in the oven and it’ll be delicious. 

If you do use a pellet grill, you’ll get a bit of smoke in the mix. If that isn’t your thing and you still don’t want to use the oven, just cover the dish tightly while cooking.

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What is the best kind of meat for meatball stuffed shells?

I prefer beef for meatballs, or a mix of beef and pork. With these, since the meat isn’t precooked in the shells I tend to go ALL beef, and get a lean variety that is 90/10 or 95/5, if you can find it. 

We get all of our meat these days from ButcherBox! Their ground beef tastes amazing, is grass-fed, and is lean enough to not leave behind copious amounts of grease without sacrificing flavor.

Make this with a Smoked Baked Potato!

What are some good jarred sauces to use if you don’t want to make your own?

I love to whip up my own marinara for dishes like this. It is simple, and SO much better than the average sauce you can buy on the store shelves. A version of this homemade marinara is perfect. 

If you want to pick something up from the store, my FAVORITE “fancy” brand of marinara is Victoria Marinara. It is a bit on the pricy side, at $8.99 a jar in my area, but worth it if you love a GOOD sauce. 

If you want to buy a more budget-friendly sauce, my favorite lately has been the Simply Ragu line. The traditional and chunky marinara varieties are fantastic.

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How do you know when it is done?

That is a great question because when it comes to meat covered in cheese and sauce, it is hard to tell just by looks. 

For a dish like this, I ALWAYS do a temp to make sure I’ve got my bases covered and don’t overcook it “just to be safe”. 

My go-to thermometer is the Thermapen Mk4. After going through 4-5 Amazon thermometers over the years, and none of them held up, my Thermapen has been going strong for two years running. They are high-quality, accurate, and lightning-fast.

What else can you serve with stuffed shells?

So many things. My garlic breadsticks would be the first vote on my list. They are fluffy and the perfect thing to dunk into a vat of that marinara you just made. 

Reader Reviews!

Made this with our leftover prime rib bones & meat. Best beef barley soup I have ever had/ made!! The flavor is wonderful and it comes together quickly if you have the bone broth made ahead of time. I will be making this again and again! Love, love love!

– Sheri G

I made the Traeger Meatball Stuffed Shells for dinner last weekend.  Everybody just LOVED them!  My 4-yr-old grandson kept saying “Ummm” after each bite.  All of my grandchildren are picky eaters and they all had seconds.  My husband told me to definitely keep this recipe.  It’s so easy to make and so delicious to eat!  Thank you, Nicole, for sharing this recipe!

– Teresa Bass