Turkey Pinwheels

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:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Make the pinwheels: Spread about 1 -1/2 Tablespoon of it on a large tortilla, place a few slices of turkey in the center and top with slices of cheese.
5. Chill the rolled up tortillas in the refrigerator if you have time, for 1 hour and up to a day in advance.
6. Slice the tortillas into 1/2 – 1 inch circles. Serve.

Helpful Tips:

You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate to store. Refrigerating will also help firm the wraps up and they are much easier to slice into pinwheels when they are cold.

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