These veggie pinwheels are a rainbow of colorful fresh veggies with ranch flavored cream cheese, all rolled up inside a spinach tortilla wrap. The perfect back to school lunch!
Where has the summer gone? It feels like June was just yesterday and now today is our first day back at school! Along with the new school year comes the need for healthy and easy back-to-school lunch options. Turkey sandwiches can get kind of boring, which is why I have been working on some more creative ideas like these rainbow veggie pinwheels!
Let’s talk about how to make rainbow veggie pinwheels. I took a large tortilla, added a layer of ranch spread and then layered on a rainbow of thinly sliced veggies. I used red bell peppers, carrots, yellow bell peppers, spinach and shredded purple cabbage, but you could swap out for other colorful veggies if you prefer. Other great options would be broccoli, green beans, orange bell pepper, thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash, or cucumber.
Pretty right? You want to keep the veggie layers thin so that the pinwheels will hold together. The tortilla gets rolled up tightly and then sliced into pinwheels. My girls were thrilled with these, one of them said they reminded her of a veggie sushi! I used my homemade ranch dip powder for the spread but store bought ranch powder will work fine too. It works best to cut the vegetables into long strips; if you cut them small they’ll be more likely to fall out of the pinwheels. You can add a little shredded chicken or sliced deli turkey for extra protein if you prefer, but that’s totally optional and honestly I think these veggie pinwheels are pretty perfect as is.
I’ve included a video that shows you just how simple it is to make the rainbow veggie pinwheels. Enjoy!
Still hungry? Follow Dinner at the Zoo on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for more great recipe ideas!
This post was originally published on August 9, 2015 and was updated on August 14, 2017. This post was originally sponsored by Smart & Final.
Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 4 large tortillas
- 2/3 cup whipped cream cheese (can use light)
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch powder (you can also use store bought)
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper strips
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot strips
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced yellow bell pepper strips
- 1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup cooked shredded chicken (optional)
Instructions
- Mix together the cream cheese and ranch powder until thoroughly combined.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the 4 tortillas.
- Leaving a 1 inch border on all sides, lay out 2 tablespoons of each vegetable in rows across the tortillas; top with shredded chicken.
- Roll up each tortilla tightly; if the ends don't stay shut you can add a bit more cream cheese to seal. Cut crosswise into pinwheels and serve.
Recipe Notes
Make Ahead: The pinwheels can be made the day before you plan to serve them.
Little Helpers: The kids can actually make these themselves with your supervision, just give them a spoon or spatula to spread the cream cheese instead of a knife.
Carolyn West says
Oh I love the veggie pinwheels – they do look like sushi, and my kids love anything that looks like sushi. #client
Sara says
Thanks Carolyn, it ups the fun factor!
Beth says
There used to be a Asian quinoa salad on this same pin, but I see you’ve revelry updated it. Do you know how I could track that down again? Thanks.
Sara says
I will be putting that quinoa salad in a separate post, I haven’t haven’t had a chance to do it yet! Please send me an email [email protected] and I’ll send you the recipe. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Sesame lime sounds so good! What a perfect Asian flair to throw in!
Sara says
Thanks Rebecca!
Marye says
These are beautiful and they look so delicious!
Sara says
Thanks Marye!
[email protected] says
So colorful and delicious looking! I gotta try that quinoa – right up my alley!
Sara says
Thanks Judy, the quinoa is great with all the different colors and textures!
Julie Ladendorf says
What happened to the Asian Quinoa Salad recipe on your site?! I made it the other day and it has suddenly vanished?
Sara says
I’m sorry for the inconvenience, I’m in the process of moving that recipe into its own post. It was confusing to people to have two unrelated recipes in the same post! Please email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the recipe so that you have it while I’m creating the new post for it. Thanks!
Chrisy @ Homemade Hooplah says
Loving the “two for one” with this 🙂 I’d gladly eat both. Beautiful photos, too!
Sara says
Thanks Chrisy!
Stephanie says
These are just too pretty to eat! I love how colorful they are!
Sara says
Thanks Stephanie, my kids were entranced by the rainbow effect 😉
Angela | Mind Over Batter says
Gah – This is so pretty and colorful!! My moonbug would looooove this in a packed lunch. And let’s face it, so would I!!
Sara says
Thanks Angela, I’d want it for lunch too 🙂
Julia says
These are beautiful! I am all about eating the rainbow and I feel like this would be a great way to get my kids to eat extra vegetables. I love that sesame lime quinoa salad!
Sara says
Thanks Julia! My kids would probably reject the veggies if they were plain, but they ate the pinwheels without complaint!
Justine | Cooking and Beer says
These are soooo beautiful! Pretty food is the best kind of food. 🙂
Sara says
I totally agree!
Healing Tomato says
These veggie pinwheels are making me very hungry. Look at all those wonderful veggies you have put in them. I can’t wait to try it.
Sara says
Thanks, they’re easily made vegetarian if you omit the chicken!
Kelley says
Holy cow! This looks amazing!! So colorful
Sara says
Thanks Kelley!
Joanie @ ZagLeft says
I love how colorful both of these recipes are. A delicious, healthy lunch that everyone in my family would love and the dressing in the quinia salad sounds perfect.
Meg @ With Salt and Wit says
Talk about colorful! I love the idea of loading pinwheels with veggies as another way to sneak them in! I could easily add some meat to my hubby’s to hold him over through the long afternoon!!
terrie says
Looks wonderful, am always looking for cold salad options. I love Quinoa but seem to make the same salads. Am going to like your page
Sara says
Thanks so much Terrie!
AngelH says
These rainbow veggie pinwheels are awesome! I love them. They are so pretty that everyone that sees them wants to try them. Great, easy, healthy lunch to pack for my daughter to take to camp.
Kathryn says
What size are the tortillas?
Sara says
These are extra large, 10 inch size. You could do smaller with less filling!
Katherine says
What kind of tortilla are they?
Sara says
They’re spinach wraps from Mission tortilla, but regular tortillas work too!
Juliette says
Would I be able to make the veggie pinwheels the night before? Or would they get too soggy?
Sara says
The tortillas soften a bit but I’ve never had an issue with them getting soggy!
Marla says
These were easy to make and delicious!! I did add some Finley chopped chive to the cream cheese mixture. Turned out really good and was a hit at the party. Thank you for sharing!
Cara says
Very pretty. I might try this with cream cheese too.
Sheri says
Made these added a bit of wasabi, served with ginger and more wasabi, YUM
Sharon says
I make these often when I need to bring an appetizer to a get-together. Easy, tasty, healthy!
Catherine says
This recipe has it all: simple, healthy, filling, travels relatively well, and nice presentation. I made these while camping (precut the veggies and mixed ranch and cream cheese at home) and they were enough to satisfy 2 hungry campers after a 4 hour bike ride. I think the ranchy cream cheese might be the secret ingredient; they tasted way better than I thought they would. Thanks for posting this awesome recipe!!
Sara says
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, thanks so much for reporting back!