Made with homemade pimento cheese, these pimento cheese pinwheels are an easy and delicious appetizer to serve at your next party or get-together.
Anyone who knows me in real life (and some of my online friends, too) knows how much I love good pimento cheese.
With my momma having been raised by her southern momma and grandmother, there’s a lot of southern food that we both grew up eating, including my great-grandmother’s pimento cheese.
I will happily eat pimento cheese and crackers all day long, but I also love it in a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, on fried chicken sandwiches or burgers, and – my newest obsession – in these pimento cheese pinwheels.
These simple pinwheels were inspired by my favorite cream cheese ranch roll ups and the way they disappear like *snaps* that at every party. This version uses just a handful of ingredients and can be made ahead, so they’re pretty much begging to be made for your next get-together.
WHAT ARE PIMENTO CHEESE PINWHEELS?
There are a few different types of pinwheel appetizers that you’ll see floating around online. Some of them are made with crescent roll dough or puff pastry and are served warm, while others are made with flour tortillas and are served cold.
These fall into the latter category. I wanted to create a simple, cold appetizer that could be made the night before and cut and plated right before serving, no oven required.
I also wanted the flavor of the pimento cheese to really shine, so I kept the filling ingredients pretty simple.
If you love pimento cheese, these pinwheels are absolutely the appetizer for you.
HOW TO MAKE PIMENTO CHEESE PINWHEELS
So let’s chat about how to make these pimento cheese pinwheels. They’re so simple, you’ll be shocked you didn’t think to do this sooner!
Ingredients you’ll need
You’ll need 4 ingredients to make this recipe:
- Softened cream cheese: I don’t normally approve of cream cheese in my pimento cheese, but these pinwheels are the exception. Just like with vegetable pizza, a bit of cream cheese added to the pimento cheese gives it just the right texture to create the filling for these pinwheels.
- Pimento cheese: I like to use my homemade pimento cheese for this recipe. If you don’t have time to make your own, you can use some from your grocery store’s deli. You’ll need 1 ⅓ cups for this recipe.
- Sliced green onions: I like adding some sliced green onions into this pinwheel filling for a bit of extra flavor and texture.
- Burrito-size flour tortillas: The filling gets rolled up in large flour tortillas. These are usually labeled as “burrito size” and are around 10-12 inches in diameter. You will need 3 of them for this recipe.
Making these pinwheels
Grab a large mixing bowl and combine the softened cream cheese, pimento cheese, and green onions until well combined.
Depending on how much effort you want to use, you can do this with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. It’s entirely up to you.
Once the filling is well mixed, divide the mixture evenly between the flour tortillas. Spread it over each tortilla, leaving about ¼ to ½-inch around the edge of each.
Roll up each tortilla tightly and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or foil. Chill them in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
When you’re ready to serve, unwrap the tortillas and cut into slices. You can cut the slices as thick or as thin as you like; I usually get around 60 pieces out of this recipe.
MAKING AHEAD
Since pimento cheese pinwheels need to chill for a minimum of 4 hours, they are perfect for making ahead of time and plating up right before your party starts.
You can easily make these the day before. You could even make them up to 2 days ahead of time if needed. I wouldn’t go much longer than that, though, because you risk the outside of the tortilla getting a bit soggy.
If you want, you can slice all of the pinwheels and plate them up before the party gets started. However, you can also just slice one tortilla at a time and refill the platter as the pinwheels get eaten. This is what I recommend if it’s warm outside.
If you’re really feeding a crowd, feel free to double this pimento cheese pinwheel recipe – it doubles really well!
Pimento Cheese Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 ⅓ cups homemade pimento cheese
- ¼ cup finely sliced green onions
- 3 burrito-size flour tortillas 10 or 12 inches
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, pimento cheese, and green onions until well combined.
- Divide the mixture between the tortillas. Spread evenly over the tortillas, leaving about a ¼ to ½-inch border. Tightly roll up the tortillas. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap or foil and chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
- Cut into slices before serving.
I made this with chopped black olives added. Scrumptious.
Sounds delicious, Carla! Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
I made this with a good quality store bought pimento cheese due to time constraints. I added some extra diced pimentos, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, a little black pepper to taste and sprinkled some finely chopped fresh chives over the pinwheels. I used a mixture of regular tortillas and spinach and herb tortillas. They were devoured. Thank you for a great recipe idea!
I’m so glad you loved them, Tammy! Thanks for sharing!