These Chicken Salad Pinwheels are the perfect snack, light lunch, or appetizer! A little sweet, a little salty, creamy, and delicious! Easy to make and guaranteed to be a hit with family and friends.
Other appetizer recipes we love: Dolma, Caprese Skewers, and classic Deviled Eggs!
Not many appetizers more enjoyable than pinwheels – I don’t know a single soul who doesn’t love them! And understandably. Tortilla roll ups are affordable, portable, versatile, easy, and delicious!
They’re great for a party, simple lunch, afternoon snack, light dinner, school lunch box, or picnic. Pinwheel recipes are also beautiful, making them perfect for a holiday platter!
Ingredients you need for these Pinwheels
For this pinwheel recipe, I took my ever-popular and beloved chicken salad recipe and converted it. It’s crazy easy, with wonderful flavor and color, all wrapped up into bite-sized finger food.
- Flour tortillas – can’t have tortilla roll ups without tortillas! I used 9-inch burrito size flour tortillas, which is what I recommend. You can use a smaller size, but your pinwheels will be smaller, too.
- Cream Cheese – a cream cheese mixture gets spread onto the tortilla, which becomes the base and also helps everything adhere together.
- Apple, Pecans, Dried Cranberries, and Scallions – these ingredients all get blended into the cream cheese. They provide a salty, sweet, and tart combination of flavors that is fantastic!
- Deli Chicken Slices – rotisserie seasoned deli chicken slices are delicious and easy. If you can’t find it in the lunch meat section, you can also grab some from the deli counter or use very thinly sliced leftover roasted chicken.
- Monterey Jack Cheese Slices – Monterey Jack is soft, buttery, with a fairly mellow flavor, so it pairs well with the other ingredients.
- Romaine Lettuce Leaves – I love the crispness of Romaine and it’s beautiful dark green color, which is a nice contrast from the light tortilla and chicken.
- Seasonings – mustard, salt, and pepper round out all the flavors.
How to Make Pinwheels
Like all pinwheel recipes, these chicken salad pinwheels are crazy easy to make. (Scroll to the bottom for the complete printable recipe.)
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, cranberries, apple, pecans, scallions, mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper; mix until incorporated.
Spread 1/3 of the mixture evenly onto each tortilla. - In center of tortilla, place 3 slices of cheese next to one another.
- Next, layer enough chicken slices to cover tortilla.
- Then lastly, add your romaine lettuce on top of that.
- Starting at the short end, roll tortillas up tightly and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to set up. (If chilling for longer then one hour, wrap tightly in plastic wrap before placing in the refrigerator.)
- When ready to serve, slice into 1-inch pieces (using a serrated knife) and place on a serving platter, either stacked or in a spiral pattern.
Recipe Variations
Possible variations for pinwheels are practically limitless. For this particular recipe, here are some suggestions:
- Instead of a regular flour tortilla, use the spinach or herb-flavored variety.
- Swap out the chicken for roasted turkey.
- Replace the romaine with butter lettuce or spinach.
- Gouda or Havarti cheese are good replacements for the Monterey Jack.
- The tartness from Granny smith apples give great balance to the sweet cranberries, but you can use any type of apple you like!
- If you don’t like pecans, simply leave them out.
Tips for making the best Tortilla Roll Ups
You don’t need any special skills to make Pinwheel sandwiches, but here are some tips for optimal results:
- Use soft flour tortillas – fresh, soft tortillas ensures they won’t crack when rolling them up. I don’t recommend using corn tortillas. Even the best quality ones don’t roll the same or deliver optimal results.
- Make sure your cream cheese is softened – if your cream cheese isn’t softened, you’ll struggle to mix in the apples, pecans, cranberries, and scallions. You also run the risk of tearing the tortilla when trying to spread it.
- Chop up your mix-ins really well – make sure your apples, pecans, and dried cranberries are chopped finely, so they get evenly distributed throughout the cream cheese. This will also make it easier to spread.
- Shred any hard cheese – if choosing a hard cheese instead of the recommended cheese slices, you’ll need to shred or grate it or the tortillas won’t roll properly. You can also incorporate the shredded cheese into the cream cheese mixture, if preferred.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly – if the apples, pecans, and cranberries are all clumped together, redistribute them. You want great flavor in every bite!
- Roll them up tightly – the tighter they are rolled, the less chance they will unravel when sliced.
- Allow time to chill – these need time to chill or they won’t hold together well, so at least chill them an hour before slicing and serving. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate, then simply remove from the fridge, slice, and serve.
- Slice with a serrated knife – we have found slicing with a serrated knife delivers cleaner cuts than using a regular knife.
How to Store Pinwheel Sandwiches
These can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator up to 1 day in advance. I don’t recommend longer than that because the tortilla tends to soften up too much. I also recommend storing them whole and slicing right before you’re ready to serve.
Leftovers can be stored, tightly wrapped, in the fridge for up to 2 days.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Other appetizers to try!
- Reuben Pinwheels
- Antipasto Charcuterie Board
- THE BEST Texas Caviar
- Fruit Kabobs
Watch the video for Chicken Salad Pinwheels
Chicken Salad Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries , roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup finely diced Granny Smith apple
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 3 9-inch (burrito size) flour tortillas
- 12 ounces (16 slices) rotisserie seasoned deli chicken slices
- 9 slices Monterey Jack cheese
- Romaine lettuce leaves , ribs removed
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, cranberries, apple, pecans, scallions, mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper; mix until incorporated.
- Spread 1/3 of the mixture evenly onto each tortilla.
- In center of tortilla, place 3 slices of cheese next to one another.
- Next, layer enough chicken slices to cover tortilla.
- Then lastly, add your romaine lettuce on top of that.
- Starting at the short end, roll tortillas up tightly and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to set up. (If chilling for longer than one hour, wrap tightly in plastic wrap before placing in the refrigerator.)
- When ready to serve, slice into 1-inch pieces (using a serrated knife) and place on a serving platter, either stacked or in a spiral pattern.
Video
Notes
- Read all the tips and watch the video for best results!
- These can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator up to 1 day in advance. I don't recommend longer than that because the tortilla tends to soften up too much. I also recommend storing them whole and slicing right before you're ready to serve. Leftovers can be stored, tightly wrapped, in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
Other Notes
awesome game day snack along with some of your other ones thank you
Good recipe for my family i’l share it with them too bec it’s a healthy food thank u.
Lovey…recipes, beautiful presentation!