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!
Rainbow veggie pinwheels are easy finger foods for families on the go and are perfect for home, school, or work lunches. Sometimes when I want a lunch that is easy to eat anywhere I make these veggie pinwheels with some homemade chex mix or some chips and a little container of this dill dip.
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!
How Do You Make 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!
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Monte Cristo Sandwich
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches
- Taco Pinwheels
- Ham and Cheese Pinwheels
- Mexican Tortilla Pinwheels
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Veggie Pinwheels Video
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.
Notes
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.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on August 9, 2015 and was updated on August 14, 2017. This post was originally sponsored by Smart & Final.
Love these! A great and tasty little roll-up that is perfect for taking as an appetizer to a gathering. A little tough to get the rolling technique correct initially but after a few re-rolls, I had it perfected! Thank you š
Approx. what size do you mean by “large” tortilla??
8 or 10 inch size!
I made these last Christmas with just veggies for an appetizer dinner party and they were a hit with all ages. Since then I’ve made them with chicken for a more filling dinner for our family. Super easy and very tasty. Making again this Christmas!
These are wonderful. Beautiful to look at and incredible tasty. We crunched up some cashews and added them all over the cheese spread, slightly pressing the pieces in so they would stick. Added an extra flavor and a bit of texture. Putting this recipe in our family recipe folder. THANKS!
This looks great and I plan to do it for the Christmas table. My only beef is that if it’s called Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels, chicken should not be listed as an optional ingredient and listed in the instructions. It should be at the end, like “Variation: Chicken Veggie Pinwheels: Sprinkle X amount of cooked chicken over veggies before rolling.”
My kids love these for lunch so I’ll be making them again next week for the start of school.
I put these gems in the kids lunches and they love having them!
How cute are these! A perfect summer lunch, thank you for the idea!
I made these for my son’s birthday party. I used the onion and chive flavored cream cheese instead of mixing in the ranch. They were beautiful and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi! I found this while looking for a simple wrap recipe for a family party next week – I’m going to try them! But a question – the recipe calls for whipped cream cheese, but in your video it looks like you used normal cream cheese. Which do you recommend? I’m asking as I’m dealing with dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan individuals and I can’t find a dairy-free whipped cream cheese. Thank you!
You can use regular cream cheese, just make sure it’s softened first!
Try Boursin dairy-free cheese: It’s spreadable like a cream cheese and comes in Garlic Herb flavor. I used this and it was a big hit with both vegans/vegetarians and omnivores alike. To make it creamer, you can add some type of dairy alternative “milk” if you want to make it even creamer and more evenly spreadable.
These rolls are so cute! Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Similar to this Rainbow Pinwheel was served at a high school art exhibit. Theirs featured olive and pimento. Afterward, I searched online and found your recipe. Thanks!
How long will these be good for if I make them ahead?
You can make them up to 8 hours in advance!
These look delicious and easy to put together. Iām going to make these for a St. Patrickās day gathering using the āRainbow and Pot of Goldā theme!
Have done this several times for cocktail parties. Very much a hit. I used the Fiesta Ranch dry mix with the cream cheese. Absolutely love it, such an added flavor!! Make a few hours ahead and just roll , out on a plate, refrigerate and cut later. Works great!!
These are just the cutest rolls ever š Veggie sushi maki style! Definitely to try this Christmas as appetizer (or better yet, after Christmas feast to cleanse the system)
Thank you for such a fantastic recipe! I wanted to make something vegetarian for a work staff meeting/potluck that people besides me would actually eat. The recipe was so easy, tasted delicious, and the pinwheels were a hit! First thing to get eaten as a matter of fact and coworkers raved about how delicious they tasted. š Thank you!
So glad they were a hit! Thanks for reporting back!
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!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, thanks so much for reporting back!
I make these often when I need to bring an appetizer to a get-together. Easy, tasty, healthy!
Made these added a bit of wasabi, served with ginger and more wasabi, YUM