This Pesto Tortilla Pinwheels recipe is an easy party food that can be put together in no time! Perfect for any fun event – including holiday parties, baby showers, and more!
Whether you’re planning a holiday party, baby shower, bridal shower, or just a casual get-together with friends, tortilla pinwheels are a delicious, and easy, party food! This recipes needs only a few ingredients: cream cheese, pesto, Parmesan cheese, and tortillas. I added sliced turkey deli meat to mine, but you could also use sliced ham deli meat or leave it out if you prefer.
To begin making them, you will first blend together cream cheese, pesto (I used a homemade Swiss Chard Pesto), and shredded Parmesan cheese.
The blended mixture is spread onto flour tortillas. I used large 12″ tomato and chili flavored tortillas because I like the color they bring to the pinwheels, but you could use any variety you prefer.
I added sliced deli meat is placed on top of the cream cheese/pesto mixture. You could totally go without this, but I liked the addition.
Please note: leaving the meat off does NOT make these pinwheels vegetarian, as most Parmesan cheeses are not vegetarian. There are a few Parmesan cheeses that are vegetarian-friendly. If this is a concern for you or your guests, you might find this article helpful: Parmesan Cheese: Veg or Not?
The tortillas are rolled up tightly and then refrigerated for a few hours.
After being refrigerated, slice into pieces. Usually the ends of the rolled tortilla are discarded because they aren’t filled with much, but this is always becomes a snack for my husband who eagerly awaits the pinwheel scraps.
Place your pinwheels on a serving plate or tray however you would like. There are many ways to display tortilla pinwheels, but one of my favorite ways is to stand them on the tortilla edge and place a toothpick in the top of them. If serving these at a Christmas party, try to use red toothpicks, which look great with the green pesto.
Pesto Tortilla Pinwheels Recipe
PrintPesto Tortilla Pinwheels Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1/2 cup pesto
- 2/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 3 large flour tortillas (12″)
- 1 pound thinly sliced turkey or ham deli meat
Instructions
- In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, pesto, and Parmesan cheese until smooth. Spread 1/3 of the mixture on top of one of the tortillas. Top cream cheese/pesto mixture with turkey or ham. Roll up tortilla tightly and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
- Remove from refrigerator and unwrap. Slice into rounds and display on serving plate or tray.
Notes
–Smaller tortillas may be used, adjust the amount of cream cheese/pesto mixture.
–If time is an issue, you can skip the refrigeration before slicing or refrigerate for less time. However, for best results, refrigeration is recommended.
Want more party food recipes? The rest of the #SundaySupper food bloggers have created a recipe that is perfect for holiday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, and more. Here’s list of all the other recipe — check them out and tell them I sent you!
Starters, Appetizers & Snacks
- Pesto Tortilla Pinwheels from Home Cooking Memories
- Honey Pecan Baked Brie from Supper for a Steal
- Pinenut stuffed Dates from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
- Bloody Mary Shrimp Cocktail from A Stack of Dishes
- Mini Curry Chicken Salad Phyllo Cups from The Weekend Gourmet
- Antipasti Bites from Blueberries And Blessings
- Spinach Dip in a Pumpernickel Bowl from The Foodie Patootie
- Parmesan and Mushroom Focaccia from Basic N Delicious
Soups, Salads & Sandwiches
- Mini Shrimp & Egg Salad Sandwiches from The ROXX Box
- Broccoli Bacon Salad from Country Girl In The Village
- Chicken Salad on Endive from Magnolia Days
- Creamy Asparagus Soup Shooters with Shrimp from Gourmet Drizzles
- Alphabet Soup from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Main Dishes
- Savory Cheesy Kale Tart with Chiles from Shockingly Delicious
- Penne Ala Vodka from I Run For Wine
- Easy Baked Ziti from Momma’s Meals
- French Country Flat Pie from Webicurean
- Crustless Spinach Quiche from Family Foodie
Cakes
- Vanilla Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Strawberry Shortcake Push Pops from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Mini Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting from Damn Delicious
- Coconut Rum Cake from The Foodie Army Wife
- No Bake Lemon Cheesecakes Shots {Two Ways} from Cravings of a Lunatic
- Baby Blue Cake Pops from Neighborfood
Cookies, Brownies & Dessert Bars
- Lemon Sandwich Cookies with Pink Lemon Curd from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
- Chocolate Covered Mcaroons from Gotta Get Baked
- Pastel Pizzelles from Growing Up Gabel
- Chocolate-Balsamic Macaroons from Foxes Love Lemons
- Raspberry Lemonade Thumbprint Cookies from In The Kitchen With KP
- Healthy Chocolate Bars with Fruit, Nuts & Coconut from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
- Fudgy Carob Brownies from Pies and Plots
- Pistachio Biscotti from Curious Cuisiniere
Sweet Treats
- Shortbread Maple Cream Freezer Tart from A Beautiful Bite
- Espresso Panna Cotta from Crazy Foodie Stunts
- Bite-Size Pecan Tarts from Juanita’s Cocina
- Brigadeiros from Food Lust People Love
- Rosewater Raspberry Meringues from girlichef
Drink Recipes
- Slushy Mango Mojito from The Urban Mrs.
- Pretty in Pink Punch from Noshing With The Nolands
- Pink Lemonade from Peanut Butter and Peppers
These pinwheels looks so good! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us at Funtastic Friday.
Love these easy and delicious Pinwheels! Thanks for joining us at the Family Joy blog link up party! xoxo
Thanks so much for sharing this post on Worthwhile Wednesdays. I’ll be featuring it on my 9th day of the 12 days of Christmas Series: Party Appetizers on December 9th.
Thanks again,
Allie (www.craftyallieblog.com)
I love this simple yet sophisticated appetizer! Thanks for sharing this on Throwback Thursday – I’ll be pinning it to our board so be sure to follow us!
My kids would love these! Thanks for linking up to the Tasty Tuesday linky party last week. I have pinned your recipe to the Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board. I hope that you’ll join us again this week!
just maderhesesnd you’re right… Discard the ends. I didn’t chill them and they cut up fine (use a sharp knife — probably would have been easier if chilled). They’re really pretty. Using a regular bag of tortillas, it uses a entire bag. The pesto mix is just enough. I put five slice softened per pinwheel and laid them all out in an aluminum pan for transportation. Easy and fun to make.
Nice idea but Parmesan is made using calf rennet and is unsuitable for vegetarians. So this one is for meat eaters only 🙂 I love the idea though, they look great!
Hi Laura,
Thank you for commenting and pointing this out…I had no clue on this and will change the text to reflect that. I got to wondering if there was a vegetarian versions, so I did a bit of checking and found a few options here in the US. BelGioioso Cheese has one and while I haven’t tried their vegetarian Parmesan, I have enjoyed some of their other cheeses. Not sure if that’s available in the UK.
Not a problem, I only know as my sister and brother in law are vegetarians so they have educated me on what they can eat 🙂
We do have Parmazano in the UK, which I think is made with vegetable rennet. I don’t think it is as nice as Parmesan but is a good alternative for vegetarians.
Brandie, Happy New Year!! I’m no longer doing my Tasty Thursdays linky party, but celebrating 2014 by joining forces with some other great bloggers for Best of the Weekend linky party each week. I’m featuring 12 of my favorite Tasty Thursdays features to start the year. This post is my favorite from June. Hope you will follow me to the party and link up your latest creations. Thanks, Nichi
http://www.mandatorymooch.com/2014/01/best-of-weekend-week-34.html
These look so delicious, Brandie. I’m featuring this post on my Tasty Thursdays party this week. Thanks for linking up!! Nichi http://mandatorymooch.blogspot.com/2013/06/tasty-thursdays-45.html
Hope you are having a great week and thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
I would have thought this was guacamole. I much prefer pesto! Love this idea.
these look delicious.
Debi and Charly
Swiss chard pesto, love that! I need to try your recipe. These sound so yummy. Although I’m kind of weird about lunch meat, but I think thinly sliced peppers and onions would be great for a vegetarian version to add a little more bulk.
Brandie, thanks for being such a fabulous host this week! I loved the theme. These pinwheels are super pretty and so simple to make! They’d be perfect at any party, or even just for a regular weeknight meal. I love this. And regarding your shower dry spell, I wish my friends ‘n family would slow down. It feels like the husband and I have a thousand people in our lives because we’re constantly going to birthdays, baby and bridal showers. It’s fun but man it’s burning a hole in my pocket cause you know you can’t show up empty handed.
I love these, and you’ve demonstrated that presentation is everything! I usually see them just shoved into a gross old tupperware container, and they don’t look nearly as appealing as you’ve made them here 🙂
Thanks for hosting SS!
To me these are the perfect party food. Easy to pop into your mouth, one after the other 🙂
Thanks for hosting this past week!!!
These look so yummy! I am sure that they would be a huge hit at a party!
I’ve got potluck coming up, I’m going to make these! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’m at the stage in my life where everyone is having babies, so I have more than enough opportunities to make shower food. I love having another easy and pretty recipe in my arsenal!
These take the prize for being easy and delicious Brandie! And so many filling options. Great idea. Thanks for hosting today!
Thanks Paula! I love delicious things that don’t take me a lot of time…and you are right, so many ways to fill these!
Thanks for hosting!! These pinwheels are picture perfect!! They are always a popular choice at showers as they are so cute!!
This looks fantastic. I think this would also be a great lunch box idea. I have been stuck on more creative ideas for pack lunches these days so this is definitely going on my list.
They are great for packing for lunch! I even recently made Tortilla Pinwheel Lollipops, with a stick inserted to make a fun lunch for kids: https://homecookingmemories.com/kid-lunch-ideas-tortilla-pinwheel-lollipops/
Love these delicious little bites! Love the pesto addition and that you can change it up by using different flavored tortilla’s! Thanks for hosting such a fabulous event!!
Thanks Tammi! And it’s been so much fun hosting…I’m really glad I had a chance to participate.
These look so easy & beautiful ! Must make for my next party ! The step by step pics are very helpful ! Healthy too ! Thanks for sharing & great hosting !!
I love these…pinwheels are still popular for holiday parties and showers. My husband likes me to make them because they’re filling and easy to eat. Love your homemade pesto!!
Yum! I love making little pinwheels like these. The are so simple and such a nice treat.
Thank you so much for hosting this fantastic event, Brandie. These look amazing! I would also love to have your Chard Pesto recipe 🙂
Thanks for hosting! These look great–I wish I had this recipe yesterday for my mom’s birthday party!
Swiss chard pesto sounds absolutely amazing and I think these pinwheels would be great for any party! Thanks for hosting this week.
Love a good pinwheel, and is your Chard Pesto recipe posted somewhere? That sounds deelish! Thanks for being such a good #SS host!
Thanks for hosting this week! Your pinwheels look super simple to make and delicious – a great combination!
Thanks for hosting us this week, Brandie! Your pinwheels look scrumptious!!!
Oh my…I’d just keep it whole on the tortilla and eat this as lunch! Thank you so much for hosting, Brandie!
Thank you so much for hosting this week’s Sunday Supper event! You have done a fantastic job!! I love your tortillas. I actually have some pesto in my freezer that I need to use. Now I just need to throw a party so I can make these.
It’s funny, I haven’t been to a shower in ages, but YES – pinwheels are one of those foods I expect to see at a shower. ha! I love yours, the pesto is a fantastic idea (don’t think I’ve ever had one like that). Thanks so much for hosting this week, Brandie.
What a pretty appetizer! Pesto makes everything taste better. Great event btw, thank you for hosting!
Those are beautiful, Brandie, with all the colors showing from inside and their red toothpicks on top! I have a feeling I would have moochers waiting for the scraps as well. 🙂 Thanks so much for hosting today. Such a fun theme!
What a great recipe, and love the swiss chard pesto idea! Thanks for hosting this week, what a fun theme!!! 😉
Thank you so much for hosting this week’s #SundaySupper. This is such a great event and you have done such a great job!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so glad you are part of our group and that you are as passionate about #SundaySupper as I am!
These are beautiful!!! I want them at my next shower! (Well, I’m already married and have two kids…maybe one of my girlfriends, I’m done!) Thank you so much for hosting such a wonderful and fun event!
Yummy! I make pinwheels a lot as an appetizer or snack in the summer months. The combination of pesto and parmesan cheese has my mouth watering!