Turkey pinwheels are the perfect appetizer - dainty and cute, but also delicious and satisfying. Made with a creamy roasted vegetable spread inside a tortilla, with turkey and cheese, they are sliced into circles and make a great appetizer, snack or lunch.
Turkey pinwheels have been my go-to appetizer for more than a decade. They are really great for parties, can be made in advance and are so delicious too.
Roasting vegetables brings out so much intense flavor. It's my favorite way to prepare veggies. Add some soft cream cheese and mix it all together and you have the most amazing dip/spread. It's so delicious, I often serve it as the main appetizer, served with crackers and lots of fresh veggies to dip into it.
For the turkey pinwheels, I spread this incredibly flavorful roasted veggies spread all over a tortilla, top it with some sliced turkey and cheese, roll it up and then slice into circles and they end up looking like cute little pinwheels.
Make them in advance, store them in your refrigerator and then all you have to do is slice them up before serving. The cream cheese chills and makes the tortilla wraps much easier to cut, so it's actually an advantage to make them ahead of time.
How to Make Turkey Pinwheels Video:
Ingredients for Turkey Pinwheels:
For the Roasted Veggie Spread:
- zucchini - choose a zucchini that is small/medium in size.
- bell pepper - you can use any color sweet bell pepper, red, yellow or orange
- tomatoes - 2 smaller tomatoes or 1 medium/large tomato, any variety of tomatoes will also work
- onion - yellow, white or red onions will all be great
- garlic - choose larger cloves of garlic so they don't burn in the oven
- olive oil - to drizzle on the veggies before roasting (you can also use other oils)
- salt, ground black pepper, to taste
- cream cheese - the cream cheese needs to be softened to room temperature, so take it out of the refrigerator before you start prepping and roasting the vegetables.
For the Pinwheels:
- tortillas - I like to use large flour tortillas, but you can use any tortillas that you like
- sliced turkey - thinly sliced turkey from the deli works the best in this recipe to roll up neatly inside the tortillas. You can use leftover turkey or chicken.
- sliced cheese - any kind that you like, mozzarella, provolone, havarti, cheddar, Swiss, etc.
How to Make Turkey Pinwheels:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Roast the vegetables. Slice all the vegetables and place them on a large rimmed baking sheet. (Remove the seeds from the tomatoes.) Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast veggies until soft and caramelized in some areas, about 20-40 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of your vegetables. Cool slightly.
- Combine veggies and cream cheese in food processor. Pulse the roasted veggies in a food processor until evenly mixed. Add the cream cheese and combine with the veggies until everything is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Make the pinwheels: Spread about 1 -ยฝ Tablespoon of it on a large tortilla, place a few slices of turkey in the center and top with slices of cheese.
- Chill the rolled up tortillas in the refrigerator if you have time, for 1 hour and up to a day in advance.
- Slice the tortillas into ยฝ - 1 inch circles. Serve.
Helpful Tips:
You can make this ahead of time andย refrigerate to store. Refrigerating will also help firm the wraps up and they are much easier to slice into pinwheels when they are cold.
Turkey Pinwheels With Roasted Vegetable Spread
Turkey pinwheels are the perfect appetizer - dainty and cute, but also delicious and satisfying. Made with a creamy roasted vegetable spread inside a tortilla, with turkey and cheese, they are sliced into circles and make a great appetizer, snack or lunch.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 -10 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
Ingredients
For the Roasted Veggie Spread:
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced into circles
- 1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange), seeded and cut into slices
- 2 tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks
- 1 onion, sliced into half circles
- 3-5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- salt, pepper, to taste
- 1 (8oz.) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
For the pinwheels:
- 8 large flour tortillas (or any kind that you like)
- 1 lb turkey, thinly sliced
- 1 lb cheese, sliced (any kind that you like, mozzarella, provolone, swiss, etc)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the vegetables with the oil, salt and pepper and distribute evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Roast in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are golden, some of the vegetables may even start to get charred. That's good.
- Pulse in a food processor to puree the vegetables. You may want to peel of the skin from the tomatoes and the pepper if your food processor doesn't puree well.ย
- Add the softened cream cheese and pulse to combine. Season with salt and pepper. You can also add minced fresh herbs. You can make this spread ahead of time. It's also great served on crackers, bagels, or as a dip with fresh vegetables.
- Spread about 1 -ยฝ Tablespoon of it on a large tortilla, place a few slices of turkey on top of the spread and top with slices of cheese. Roll it up tightly but without squeezing out the spread.
- Repeat with the rest of the ingredients. When you have rolled up all the tortillas, slice them with a sharp knife into ยฝ - 1 inch pinwheels. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate to store. Refrigerating will also held firm the wraps up and they are much easier to slice into pinwheels when they are cold.
Notes
Yields: 1 ยฝ-2 cups of spread,ย approximately 10ย wraps, each cut into 1 inch thick pinwheels
Delicious! Thank you for making it so easy!
We had those wraps on New Years Eve. They were so amazing. I couldn't get enough of them.
I'm so glad you liked, them:).
I made these yesterday for a MOPS event and they were great. I had some of the veggie spread on a bagel this morning, too - very flavorful! A great recipe!
Hi Olga!
I'm planning a party and wondering how far in advance I'd be able to make these?
Thanks!
Zoya
Hi Zoya,
You can make the veggie spread a few days in advance and assemble the pinwheels about an hour before serving. If you make it too far in advance, they will become soggy and mushy.
What size tortilla did you use.
I use the large size, Dani. However, you can use any size for this recipe.
Can these be made a day ahead or they will not be as tasty the next day?
Yep, Lana. You can make it ahead of time. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for a few days.
I was wondering, do you need wait for the vegetables to cool after they come from the oven, or do you put them in a pood processer right away while they're still hot?
Anna, I put them in the food processor right away.
Was garlic roasted as well, or just blended with roasted veggies afterwards?
The garlic is roasted along with the other veggies, Tatianna.
Olga, Would a blender work for this? Ive been wanting to buy the Vita mix blender and I'm wondering if it would work for salsas and recipes like this? Thought maybe you would know? Thanks
Oh, what food processor do you use?
Yelena, I've never used a blender for this, I think it might be too thick for it, but I can't say for sure. I don't have a Vitamix, so I don't know how it works. I have a Cuisinart food processor and I love it.
LOOKS DELICIOUS!!!!! GOING TO TRY!!!
The veggie spread looks yummy! Have you ever tried making hummus? That's next on my list:)
I've made it before. I like eating it with tortilla chips.
They look delicious...will definitely try them out...