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    Home » Recipes » Appetizer

    Cream Cheese Pinwheels

    BY: Kimberly Grabinski PUBLISHED: 16 Aug, '21 UPDATED: 20 Mar, '23 26 Comments

    RecipePrintComments
    4.65 from 14 votes

    This fun appetizer is perfect party food and serves as a tasty, quick snack on busy workdays. These cream cheese pinwheels are beyond delicious and use deli ham to wrap the delicious cream cheese mix and crispy bacon. With only 5 ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, you won't find an easier and better-tasting snack!

    cream cheese pinwheels with black olives and ham
    Contents
    • Pinwheels with Cream Cheese
    • 🍽 What you need
    • 🔪 How to make Pinwheels
    • 💭 Top Tips
    • 📖 Variations
    • 🧊 Storing
    • 👪 Serving Size
    • 📋 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Pinwheels with Cream Cheese

    Pinwheel sandwiches are common party appetizers at buffets, BBQs, or picnics, but I prefer to snack on them or make them for kids' packed lunches or grandkids.

    Pinwheels are mainly served in a flour tortilla and filled with various ingredients like bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and some form of meat like ham, turkey, sausage, chicken, and roast beef.

    For this cream cheese pinwheels recipe, I use big slices of round deli ham to replace flour tortillas and wrapped the cream cheese mixture seasoned with ranch seasoning and cooked bacon. The whole thing takes approximately 10-15 minutes to roll up that will give you 10 servings.

    As an alternative, use thinly sliced leftover roast beef instead of round deli ham.

    Pinwheels are also a great appetizer as they are low in carbs and can be made vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free.

    🍽 What you need

    When buying meat like ham, turkey, sausage, or chicken, buy big slices. You may need to ask the butcher specifically for thinly cut meat. You'll also find the best variety and freshness by requesting it directly from the butcher. And in my experience, at least 1-2 options are discounted every week.

    To save time in the kitchen, I recommend buying canned sliced olives rather than unsliced seeded olives.

    🔪 How to make Pinwheels

    Learn how to make cream cheese pinwheels in 4 easy steps. All you need to do is form a layer of ham, smother it with cream cheese spread, bacon, and olives. Roll it up, wrap it, and serve.

    cream cheese pinwheels steps

    Instructions

    1. Place the ham on the chopping board so that each piece overlaps the other, then combine cream cheese with the ranch mix and spread it evenly over the ham.
    2. Sprinkle the black olives on top of the cream cheese and place the bacon pieces over.
    3. Once the pinwheels are filled with the ingredients, carefully roll them up as tightly as possible. (long side facing)
    4. Cut each pinwheel in half if you want to serve them straight away or wrap each in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge, ready to serve later.
    cream cheese pinwheels final

    💭 Top Tips

    • Make your pinwheels super cheesy with a layer of shredded cheddar cheese on top of the bacon bits.
    • Do not skip the plastic wrapping step if you want your roll-ups nice and tight, as this helps keep the tortilla tightly wrapped.
    • If the cream cheese spread is not spreading easily across the ham, microwave it for 10 seconds to warm it up. Alternatively, you can mix some sour cream with the cream cheese filling to make it more spreadable.
    • Pinwheels are fantastic for dipping in a homemade enchilada sauce, ranch dressing, or sour cream.
    • Use a piping bag for the cream cheese filling to spread it over the ham easier and quicker without any mess.

    📖 Variations

    If you're looking for some tasty pinwheel inspirations, try some of these easy variations for your next super bowl or holiday party.

    Ham and Cheese Pinwheels

    Classic pinwheels are outrageously easy to make and combine buttery pastry wrapped around delicious cured ham and swiss cheese. This is one of my go-to recipes to take with me when traveling and for picnics.

    Salmon Pinwheels

    If you love Salmon, try thinly sliced salmon filled with a cream cheese mixture, avocado slices, cucumber, then rolled up in smoked salmon slices. I usually have these salmon pinwheels for breakfast as they have all the ingredients needed for a hearty, healthy breakfast.

    Sausage Pinwheels

    If you love sausage rolls, you will love sausage pinwheels filled with cream cheese and baked in low-carb eggless cheesy chewy pastry. I usually make these when I host a BBQ, as I usually make homemade burgers and use the leftovers for pinwheels.

    🧊 Storing

    These easy cream cheese pinwheels are excellent for meal prep and store any leftovers in the fridge.

    Fridge

    Place each pinwheel in plastic wrap and tightly twist the ends, so it becomes completely tight. Place them inside an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days maximum.

    Freeze

    I do not recommend freezing cream cheese pinwheels. The dairy in cream cheese will become liquified upon thawing and spoil the texture of the roll-ups.

    When I want to freeze pinwheels, I substitute the cream cheese for cheddar cheese or another variant. Make sure to tightly wrap each one in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container for up to 4 months.

    👪 Serving Size

    The recipe makes enough pieces to share with 10 people, and you can make them with or without flour tortillas. This recipe is easy to scale and I typically make batches of about 40 and store half.

    Cream cheese pinwheels are probably one of the easiest appetizers you can possibly make in less than 15 minutes and one of the most requested snacks in my house. My kids go crazy for tortilla roll-ups, so much so that I hardly even buy bread, as roll-ups are a substitute for a sandwich!

    📋 Recipe

    cream cheese pinwheels with black olives and ham

    Cream Cheese Pinwheels

    This fun appetizer is perfect party food and serves as a tasty, quick snack on busy workdays. These cream cheese pinwheels are a low-carb, Keto, gluten-free alternative to tortilla roll-ups, and use deli ham to wrap the delicious cream cheese mix and crispy bacon. With only 5 ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, you won't find an easier and better-tasting snack!
    4.65 from 14 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved! Share
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 0 minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes
    Servings: 10
    Calories: 143kcal
    Author: Kim Grabinski

    Ingredients
     

    • 8 slices ham - thick sliced (or double up thinly sliced lunchmeat)
    • 5-8 slices bacon - cooked
    • 4 oz cream cheese - softened
    • 1-½ teaspoons homemade ranch seasoning
    • ¼ cup black olives - chopped

    Instructions

    • Place the ham down on a cutting board in overlapping rows 4x2.
    • Spread cream cheese over the salami. If your cream cheese is too hard to spread with a knife, you can try placing it between two sheets of wax paper and rolling it flat with a rolling pin and then placing it onto the salami or ham.
    • Sprinkle the ranch seasoning on the cream cheese and then add the black olives. (alternatively, you can blend seasonings into cream cheese before spreading).
    • Lay the strips of bacon across the cream cheese in the short direction.
    • Carefully roll the pinwheels - long side to long side, rolling as tightly as possible.
    • Hold the roll securely and cut into 1-2" pieces.
    • Serve as an appetizer or wrap each piece individually with plastic wrap for single-servings.

    Notes

    • Make your pinwheels super cheesy with a layer of shredded cheddar cheese on top of the bacon bits.
    • Do not skip the plastic wrapping step if you want your roll-ups nice and tight, as this helps keep the tortilla tightly wrapped.
    • If the cream cheese spread is not spreading easily across the ham, microwave it for 10 seconds to warm it up. Alternatively, you can mix some sour cream with the cream cheese filling to make it more spreadable.
    • Pinwheels are fantastic for dipping in a homemade enchilada sauce, ranch dressing, or sour cream.
    • Use a piping bag for the cream cheese filling to spread it over the ham easier and quicker without any mess.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 543mg | Potassium: 101mg | Vitamin A: 165IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.3mg

    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe Rating




    1. April

      April 23, 2017 at 6:02 am

      Silly question....do u add mayo to the herbs for the homemade ranch? Maybe I miss read or looked over it.

      Reply
      • Kim

        April 23, 2017 at 8:23 am

        Not silly at all! You sprinkle the ranch mix / herbs on the cream cheese. You can also blend it into the cream cheese before spreading it on the salami.

        Reply
    2. Laura

      April 30, 2017 at 4:38 pm

      Thank you so much. I made these for a potluck at church (I did leave the olives out) and received rave reviews.

      Reply
      • Kim

        April 30, 2017 at 5:29 pm

        Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate you taking the time to do that!

        Reply
    3. Anna

      May 10, 2017 at 7:51 pm

      How many carbs per serving is in these

      Reply
    4. Linda

      June 08, 2017 at 3:12 pm

      5 stars
      Can you tell me calorie count and carb count please?

      Reply
    5. Linda

      June 28, 2017 at 7:57 am

      5 stars
      Awesome recipe. Thanks! Also love your story; sounds like something I would do to my kids.

      Reply
    6. Natalie Mitchell

      September 11, 2017 at 7:15 pm

      I don't understand why the ingredients calls for more then the ingredients during the perparation. For example 1-8oz cream cheese and you onlu use 1/2. Then it calls for 3 Tbsp of ranch seasoning and you use 1-1/2 tsp, 1/2 cup of olives and you use 1/4 cup. I also found it hard to roll, am I doing something wrong?

      Reply
      • Kim

        September 12, 2017 at 7:59 am

        Hey thanks for noticing that discrepancy on the ingredients. The recipe was started with the intent on have 2 layers in each pinwheel and it didn't work out, and I missed editing that when I left out the step to repeat it. Anyhow. Thanks, I corrected it.

        I think if your lunchmeat is too thick or too thin it may be hard to roll. It does take a minute to get it started, that's sort of the hardest part. Good luck!

        Reply
    7. Emily

      November 16, 2017 at 4:09 pm

      Just an FYI... in one list of ingredients it says "4 cup of black olives" not 1/4 (that would be a heck of a lot). ? Looks good though. Just looking into keto and came across this.

      Reply
      • Kim

        November 16, 2017 at 6:54 pm

        Hey thanks, I fixed it!

        Reply
    8. Jamie

      January 03, 2018 at 11:31 pm

      Hi! May I ask.......why the need to make your own ranch seasoning? Can I simply use Hidden Valley?

      Reply
      • Kim

        January 04, 2018 at 6:44 am

        You can. I don't because they tend to put preservatives in those kinds of things so I like to make it myself. But you definitely can use a pre-packaged ranch seasoning.

        Reply
    9. Kim

      January 12, 2018 at 1:02 am

      Can you tell me what the carb count/quantity?

      Reply
    10. Sarah

      February 04, 2018 at 6:44 pm

      Definitely had a blonde moment and put the whole ranch seasoning in my cream cheese!!! So our pinwheels were VERY rich! Haha, but we loved them anyway.

      Reply
      • Kim

        February 04, 2018 at 8:38 pm

        Oh no LOL! Well I'm glad you liked them anyway.

        Reply
    11. Pam

      February 07, 2018 at 4:38 pm

      OK I'm not really stupid but have a stupid question how many can I eat for one serving?

      Reply
      • Kim

        February 08, 2018 at 6:52 am

        There is no such thing as a stupid question! It really depends upon how big you cut the pieces. The nutrition information is based on cutting it into 9 pieces. If you cut it into more, then that will change it but it's at least a good place to start.

        Reply
    12. Kimberly

      June 20, 2018 at 10:30 am

      Is one slice one serving?

      Reply
      • Kim

        June 20, 2018 at 10:33 am

        The nutrition is calculated based on 10 servings per recipe. So if you cut it into 10, they yes, 1 slice = one serving. Hope that helps

        Reply
    13. Kwhitby

      July 15, 2018 at 1:13 pm

      Planning to try these... I make some individual wraps that are similar, using Kraft chives and onion cream cheese. That would make these even simpler when we’re in a hurry or just being lazy!.

      Reply
    14. Yaya

      August 07, 2018 at 5:41 pm

      5 stars
      I made 2 of these for a potluck. They are hard to roll and my ham lunchmeat kept splitting, so I just covered with more ham where it split and used waxed paper to roll up. Put in the fridge for an hour, then sliced. Made homemade ranch which is absolutely delicious! I will never buy the packets again!!

      Reply
    15. Celina John

      January 01, 2019 at 9:56 am

      5 stars
      I tried this and the taste was awesome, I really like it.

      Reply
    16. Deb

      July 14, 2019 at 5:45 pm

      I made mine with ham and i crumbled up the bacon and then added colby jack shredded cheese then i put another layer of ham on top then rolled up easier. Not sure about the nutrition facts but it was very yummy!! Thanks for sharing!!

      Reply
    17. Deb

      November 06, 2019 at 11:07 pm

      This sounds tasty and simple. Just what Im looking for in a Thanksgiving appetizer. I think I'll finish them with a stuffed green olive on the end of the toothpick.
      Ty for sharing

      Reply
      • 730 Sage Street

        November 06, 2019 at 11:28 pm

        Yes these are easy and work great as a tasty appetizer. Love the addition of green olives. Have a great thanksgiving!

        Reply

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    Kim @ 730 Sage Street

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