Pinwheel appetizers strike a balance between easy and fanciful - and are often the hot ticket item at group gatherings. These Fiesta Ranch Cream Cheese Pinwheels offer a Tex-Mex twist that everyone will love - thanks to festive additions like taco seasoning, salsa, black olives, and more!
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I have yet to meet a pinwheel I didn’t like. Cream cheese has magical, flavor-transforming powers. I mean, what can’t you make better by adding cream cheese? And tortillas are the perfect delivery mechanism for whatever cream cheese concoction you want to devour.
If you love easy appetizers made with cream cheese try these Holiday Pinwheels, Cucumber Cream Cheese Bites, or Cream Cheese Cucumber Sandwiches next!
What are Pinwheels?
Pinwheels (also called roll-ups) are a snack/appetizer comprising a cream cheese-based filling rolled up in a large flour tortilla. The rolled-up tortilla reveals a pinwheel shape as they are cut into "coins" and served as bite-sized snacks.
At a minimum, a pinwheel should consist of:
- A large flour tortilla
- Cream cheese
- Seasonings or sauces
- Extras, like shredded cheese, pickled goods, finely chopped vegetables, etc.
Why You Will Love These Taco Ranch Pinwheels
- Perfect for Pinwheel Lovers: As a lover of all things pinwheel, taco seasoned, and coated in ranch dressing, these Fiesta Ranch Pinwheels check a lot of flavor boxes for me. They are incredibly addictive, the savory snack you didn’t know you needed until you take your first bite.
- Simple Ingredients: If your pantry and refrigerator look anything like mine, you likely have all of the necessary ingredients to make these Fiesta Ranch Pinwheels on hand - tortillas, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salsa, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, and black olives (optional, but highly recommended).
- Easy and Cheap: These snacks get bonus points for a pleasing presentation with minimal effort. And minimal cost! You can make a whole bunch of these Fiesta Ranch Cream Cheese Pinwheels for $15-$20 bucks or less.
- Samples While Making: One of the best things about making Fiesta Ranch Cream Cheese Pinwheels is being the person who makes them. Because when it comes time to slice and serve, well, you can’t serve the wonky ends can you? Nope, your guests deserve the prettiest ones. But they can’t go to waste so.... you get to sample each roll x 2, in the guise of quality control. Lucky you.
Ingredients
- Cream cheese - The "glue" that holds this recipe together! You can use either full-fat or low-fat here.
- Sour cream - Adds a lovely tang! Use full-fat or low-fat cream cheese.
- Salsa - Use whatever salsa you'd like here, but I recommend choosing a chunky one like Pace. A chunky salsa adds great texture. You could even opt for a corn or bean salsa.
- Taco and/or ranch seasoning - I like to use both in this recipe, but you might choose to use just Taco seasoning or just Ranch seasoning (taste and adjust to suit your tastes). I used Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning and this taco seasoning. You could also make a homemade taco seasoning.
- Cheese - Shredded Pepper jack, Monterey, or whatever shredded cheese you like works.
- Large black olives - This is optional, but I love black olives. Roughly chop them or opt for pre-sliced to reduce prep time.
- Large tortillas - I recommend large flour tortillas, but you could also get festive and use other colored tortilla wraps, like these fun green Spinach Wraps.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below - keep scrolling!
Fiesta Pinwheel Add-ins
If you want to keep it Tex-Mex, consider adding these to your Fiesta Ranch Pinwheels.
- Diced red onion or shallot
- Diced pepper (bell, jalapeno, poblano, etc.)
- Pickled jalapeno
- Pickled banana pepper
- Avocado
How to Make Fiesta Ranch Pinwheels
To make these Fiesta Ranch Pinwheels, all you have to do is whip up the filling, spread it on a tortilla, sprinkle some extra cheese on top, then roll it up and refrigerate. Playing the waiting game until the filling has firmed up enough to cut into pinwheels is the most challenging part.
- Step 1: Soften the cream cheese. Then, beat the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch and taco seasonings together with an electric mixer.
- Step 2: Add the salsa, a ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and black olives to the mixture. Stir until just combined.
- Step 3: Lay out a tortilla and spread the delicious mixture in a thin layer, leaving about a half-inch of the tortilla un-slathered around the edges (to prevent it from squishing out when rolling).
- Step 4: Sprinkle a quarter of the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese on top. Roll the tortilla up, pressing firmly yet gently as you roll.
- Step 5: Wrap the rolled tortilla securely in plastic wrap to help it keep its shape. Repeat 3 more times, or until you've used up all the filling.
- Step 6: Refrigerate for at least 4-5 hours (or until firm) before cutting into approximately ½ inch pinwheels.
- Step 7: Sample the ends. Serve the pretty ones.
⭐️ Hint: If you need to stack your pinwheels in a container, lay down a sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper so prevent them from sticking together.
Storage Tips
Once the cream cheese hits those wraps, the clock starts ticking. Pinwheels (or any cream cheese roll-up for that matter) are best eaten within 24 hours. They are acceptable for up to 48 hours. Any longer than that and they just get soggy and sad. But these are SO GOOD that you probably won’t have to worry about food waste.
These don't stand a chance in the freezer; don’t even go there.
Top Tips
Using plastic wrap helps the Cream Cheese Roll-Ups maintain shape while they set, and is the key to achieving those perfect little dissected pinwheels.
Plastic wrap also comes in handy for stacking pinwheels in layers; simply lay a sheet of plastic wrap down before stacking to prevent the pinwheels from sticking to each other.
By the way, if you love cream cheese appetizers you should try these Salami Cream Cheese Balls and Pickle Roll-Ups.
More Easy Appetizer Recipes
If you tried this Cream Cheese Pinwheels (or any other recipe on Midwexican), please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the 📝 comments below!
Fiesta Ranch Cream Cheese Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 1 8 ounce package cream cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup salsa (use a chunkier salsa, for texture - I used Pace)
- 2 tablespoons Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
- 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese (shredded, divided)
- 15-20 large black olives (roughly chopped)
- 4 large tortillas
Instructions
- Soften cream cheese. Beat cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch and taco seasonings together with an electric mixer.1 8 ounce package cream cheese, ½ cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning, 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
- Add salsa, ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese, and black olives. Stir until just combined.½ cup salsa, 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, 15-20 large black olives
- Lay out a tortilla and spread the delicious mixture in a thin layer, leaving about a half-inch of the tortilla un-slathered around the edges (to prevent it from squishing out when rolling).4 large tortillas
- Sprinkle a quarter of the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese on top. Roll the tortilla up, pressing firmly yet gently as you roll.
- Wrap the rolled tortilla securely in plastic wrap to help it keep its shape. Repeat 3 more times, or until you've used up all the filling.
- Refrigerate for at least 4-5 hours (or until firm) before cutting into approximately ½ inch pinwheels.
- Sample the ends. Serve the pretty ones.
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