🍂🌻 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🌻🍂🍁 Chuckwagon Fall Recipe of the Day — Tuesday, September 15, 2026

🍂🌻 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🌻🍂

🍁 Chuckwagon Fall Recipe of the Day — Tuesday, September 15, 2026

🍗🧀 Creamy Harvest Chicken & Bacon Stuffed Shells with Garlic-Parmesan Sauce 🥓🍁

Good morning, folks! 🤠🍂

Today's recipe is one of those creamy, cheesy, stick-to-your-ribs suppers that makes the whole house smell wonderful!

We're stuffing jumbo pasta shells with seasoned chicken, crispy bacon, spinach, ricotta, and cheese, then covering them in a homemade garlic-Parmesan cream sauce and baking everything until hot, golden, and bubbly.

It's perfect for a busy Tuesday—and you can even assemble it ahead of time! ❤️

🍗 Chicken & Bacon Filling

• 24 jumbo pasta shells

• 2 cups cooked chicken, finely chopped or shredded

• 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

• 1½ cups ricotta cheese

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

• ½ cup grated Parmesan

• 1 cup chopped fresh spinach

• 1 large egg

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• Salt to taste

🧄 Garlic-Parmesan Cream Sauce

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• 2½ cups milk

• ½ cup heavy cream

• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• ½ teaspoon dried parsley

• Salt and black pepper to taste

🧀 For the Top

• 1½ cups shredded mozzarella

• ¼ cup Parmesan

• Reserved crispy bacon

• Fresh parsley

🔥 Let's Get Cooking!

1️⃣ Cook those shells.Preheat your oven to 375°F. Cook the jumbo shells just until al dente according to the package directions.

Drain and rinse briefly with cool water so they're easier to handle.

2️⃣ Make the filling.Combine chicken, most of the bacon, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, egg, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

3️⃣ Make that creamy sauce! 🧄Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute.

Slowly whisk in the milk and cream. Simmer gently until the sauce thickens.

Reduce the heat and stir in the Parmesan, garlic powder, parsley, salt, and pepper.

4️⃣ Build that casserole.Spread about 1 cup of sauce across the bottom of a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.

Stuff each shell generously with the chicken mixture and arrange them in the dish.

5️⃣ Make it cheesy! 🧀Spoon the remaining cream sauce over the shells.

Top with mozzarella, Parmesan, and the remaining bacon.

6️⃣ Bake it!Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake another 10–15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the filling reaches 165°F.

Let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

⭐ MawMaw's Chuckwagon Secret

🧀 Cook those shells just until al dente!

They'll continue cooking in the oven, so slightly firm pasta helps keep them from becoming mushy.

And here's a great time-saver: assemble the whole casserole the night before, cover it, and refrigerate it. The next evening, you've got supper almost ready to go!

🍽️ Serve It Up With

🥗 Apple-cranberry harvest salad🫘 Garlic-butter green beans🥦 Roasted broccoli🥖 Warm garlic bread🍎 Sweet tea or cold apple cider

🍂 And for dessert?

🍎 Apple Cider Cinnamon Sugar Donut Cake

A moist apple-cider cake brushed with butter and covered in cinnamon sugar. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream or a cup of coffee! ☕🍎

💜 Tuesday Chuckwagon Encouragement

Sometimes we think a blessing has to be something big before it's worth celebrating.

But some of life's greatest blessings are wonderfully ordinary.

A meal on the table.A safe place to sleep.Someone calling just to check on us.Laughter coming from another room.Another morning God allowed us to wake up.

Today, don't get so busy looking for something extraordinary that you miss all the ordinary blessings God has already placed around you. ❤️

📖 Scripture for Today

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights..."

— James 1:17 (KJV)

🍁 Tuesday Table Question

Which stuffed-shell combination would disappear fastest at YOUR house?

🍗 Chicken & bacon🥩 Beef & three cheese🌭 Italian sausage & mozzarella🥦 Broccoli & cheddar🍄 Spinach & mushroom🧀 Extra-cheesy four cheese

👇 Tell us in the comments! And if you've got a favorite casserole, pasta dish, or family recipe, share it with our Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks family!

🍂🤠 Happy Tuesday, Friends!

May your table be full, your home be warm, and your heart recognize the little blessings that make an ordinary day beautiful.

Faith ⭐ Family ⭐ Friends ⭐ Food ⭐ Memories ❤️🍁🌻