Tortilla Pinwheels With Cream Cheese Filling

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 20 mins
Servings: 36 servings

These tortilla pinwheels are very popular, especially in situations when you have to prepare food and need to be able to keep it ready to serve for a long period of time, as they can stand at room temperature easily. Filled with the flavors of cheese and green chiles, they've got a Mexican approach and they're totally dippable. Serve with salsa, ranch dressing, sour cream, guacamole, or use your favorite dip ideas.

The filling for these roll-ups is a basic chile, green onion, and cheddar cheese mixture, but there's a lot you can do with this method, and it just depends on what your favorite ingredients are. Add some hot sauce to this to spice it up, or use a spicy Monterey jack cheese instead of cheddar. Try Mediterranean flavors with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese (and dip into hummus), or feel free to experiment with other ideas, such as shredded rotisserie chicken and Caesar dressing, smoked salmon and cream cheese, or treat them like mini-sandwiches by filling them with tuna, crab meat, roasted turkey, or finely chopped ham.

Tortilla pinwheels with creamy cheese vegetable filling next to a bowl with guacamole

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Ingredients

  • 8 ounces sour cream

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

  • 6 green onions, chopped

  • 4 ounces chopped green chiles, drained

  • 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)

  • Dash salt, or to taste

  • Dash freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

  • 5 to 6 large flour tortillas, at room temperature

  • Salsa, optional for serving

  • Ranch dressing, optional for serving

  • Sour cream, optional for serving

  • Guacamole (or other dips), optional for serving

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for tortilla pinwheels recipe gathered

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  2. Place the sour cream and cream cheese in a bowl mix with an electric mixer on low until well blended. Add the green onions, chiles, and cheddar cheese. Beat just until blended. Taste and add salt and ground black pepper, as needed.

    Tortilla filling ingredients in. bowl

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  3. Spread mixture thinly and evenly over tortillas to within about 1/4 inch of the edges.

    Smooth creamy filling spread over tortilla on a cutting board

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  4. Roll each filled tortilla up jellyroll fashion, wrap each tortilla in plastic wrap, and refrigerate if you're making ahead.

    Tightly rolled up tortillas wrapped in plastic on a plate

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  5. Serve with your favorite salsa or a few different dips. Ranch dressing, guacamole, and sour cream are all good choices. Slice, serve, and enjoy.

    Tortillas cut into even sections, served with the cut side up

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How Far Ahead Can I Make Tortilla Pinwheels?

This is an easy make-ahead appetizer or snack. You can make these the day before you're ready to serve them and keep them wrapped, whole, in the fridge for at least 4 hours or up to 24.


Just before serving, slice each tortilla pinwheel in 1/2- to 3/4-inch rounds and arrange on serving plate. The tortillas will become dry if sliced too far in advance.

How to Store Tortilla Pinwheels

These will keep for up to four days in the refrigerator once they're made.


You can also freeze pinwheels for up to two months. Freeze them individually on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment, and then transfer to a zip-close bag.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
92 Calories
6g Fat
6g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 36
Amount per serving
Calories 92
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g 8%
Saturated Fat 3g 16%
Cholesterol 16mg 5%
Sodium 126mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 6g 2%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 2mg 8%
Calcium 64mg 5%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 44mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)