Tortilla Roll Ups are filled with cream cheese, ham, cheese, and ranch seasoning. It’s the easiest and quickest appetizer for game day, Easter, or any party or occasion. And it’s always delicious. It only takes about 10 minutes to prep this ham and cheese pinwheels recipe, no cooking required!
What’s in Tortilla Roll Ups
The best thing about this easy pinwheel recipe is that you only need a handful of ingredients (6 to be exact) and about 10 minutes to to put it all together!
- Tortillas: Flour tortillas work best for this recipe. 8-10 inch tortillas are the ideal size, but you can follow the steps with any size–you’ll just need to adjust how much filling goes in each if they’re smaller.
- Cream Cheese: This creates a creamy base for the filling. Let blocks of cream cheese soften and come to room temperature before using. Low-fat and fat-free versions work too.
- Ham: Use finely chopped pieces of ham to mix into the filling. This could be substituted with chopped chicken or turkey.
- Cheese: Use shredded cheese. Sharp cheddar is my favorite for these pinwheels, but use whatever you like.
- Ranch Seasoning: Mix a packet of this into the cream cheese for a nice savory flavor. You can make your own dry ranch seasoning if you like.
- Green Onion: Chopped green onion adds a nice bit of texture and crunch into this snack.
This is such a versatile appetizer recipe. It’s easy to swap out ingredients to make your own variations, so get creative!
Ham and Cheese Pinwheel Recipe Variations
- Spicy: Make these roll ups spicy with the addition of chili seasoning, red pepper flakes, or a spicy ranch mix.
- Mexican: Swap out the ranch mix for taco seasoning, use a Monterey Jack or Mexican cheese blend, and sprinkle in cilantro if you like. These would be delicious dipped in taco sauce! This Mexican pinwheel recipe takes it up a notch with chorizo sausage.
- Vegetarian: Skip the ham, and these still taste amazing. You could sprinkle in some veggies if you like: try bell peppers or cauliflower for some texture.
- Jalapeño Popper: These jalapeño cream cheese roll ups are filled with bacon, jalapeños, and a bit of spice.
- Skip the Tortilla: Make these ham roll ups if you want to skip the tortilla and wrap ingredients in slices of ham instead. This is a great option for keto and gluten-free eaters.
As long as you eat these within 2-3 days, there shouldn’t be any issues with sogginess. The fresher they are when you serve them, the better.
I recommend refrigerating the roll ups for 1-2 hours before slicing. Chilling helps meld the ingredients together so they don’t fall apart after cutting.
These ham and cheese pinwheels are best served cold.
Yes. These are great to make the night before serving, and can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
How to Store Cream Cheese Pinwheels
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days (although they are best if eaten within 2 days). If you haven’t sliced the tortilla rolls yet, keep them whole, and wrap in plastic wrap.
How to Freeze Tortilla Roll Ups
Wrap rolls tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap, and place in a freezer-safe resealable bag. Freeze up to 1 month. Let them thaw in the fridge before serving.
These easy ham and cheese tortilla roll ups are the perfect party appetizer for any occasion. Bring them to a potluck, Super Bowl party, Easter lunch, or serve them for New Year’s Eve or game day.
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
First attempt at these didn’t go so well. The flavor profile was all right, not great…perhaps too strong on the ranch seasoning? Anyhow, the bigger issue was one of tortilla to filling ratio. Way too much filling to tortilla. Made for a very mushy, unsatisfying feeling. The recipe card just said “5 Flour Tortillas” without mentioning a size, so I used the standard size we usually get, which are more like 6″. I now see that the web site itself suggests 8″-10″, so we’ll try these again. Maybe it will be better. Hoping to serve these as part of a wedding reception if we can get them the right consistency.
Sorry to hear these didn’t turn out as expected, Ryan! We hope you have better luck with the larger tortillas!
We tried it again, using 10″, and it was much improved in terms of texture. Also, we reduced the ranch seasoning to two tablespoons and increased the amount of ham slightly (probably more like 3/4 cup). The consensus definitely was it was a bit improvement, although it was suggested to increase the ham even more! We plan to attempt the Mexican style next…I’m expecting that one to be my personal favorite!
So glad to hear you had a better second attempt!
Wow! Ya’all really tore up the woman asking for clarification about the cream cheese amount. She was just asking for help. No need to be mean or rude. Don’t have anything nice to say? Don’t say anything at all! Kindness goes a long way.
Hi Sandy, we always try to answer questions in a helpful and respectful way. Unfortunately, we cannot control what others choose to say!
Love this recipe,been eating it and making it since was a kid.Something that is REALLY good with this ,is to dip them in SALSA! sounds weird but is AMAZING.
Yum! Thanks so much for sharing, Richard!
Recipe says “Equipment Glad® Press’n Seal® for prep”, but I didn’t see anything in the instructions for its use. What do you use it for?
Hi, we used it to keep the tortilla securely rolled during the chill time!
How much does this recipe make? I know it says serves 10, but if I’m serving children and adults that doesn’t really help me.
Hi Kin, this recipe makes 40-50 tortilla roll-ups!
But the recipe calls for 5 tortilla shells? Obviously a person can always double the recipe or even triple it to get the numbers they need, so not really an issue. I think it’s a tasty and simple recipe!
Hi Tom, sorry for the confusion! This recipe serves 10 people, but it makes about 40-50 roll-ups! You slice the rolled tortillas into equal pieces to create 1/2-inch rolls!
Tasty roll ups but I would suggest doubling the meat. I felt the recipe amount was really sparse.
Thanks for sharing, Julie!
Question is it a half of cup of ham on each of each tortilla? Or on all five. Seems like not enough ham?
half a cup for all of them!
Can I use the whipped cream cheese instead of the blocks?
That should work fine. It’s not as dense as the blocks so it will change the texture slightly, but overall it’ll certainly taste the same.
Amazing thank you for sharing
Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer!
I had someone send me this link and I just wanted to thank you for sharing this. Normally, I’d never go out of my way to post on these sites. Anyways, someone made these at a 4th of July cookout and they were amazing. I’m definitely going to make these as well at some point in the future.