Chicken Cranberry Salad Pinwheel Sandwiches are filled with chicken, almonds, cranberries, green onions, and feta, rolled up in spinach tortillas. A super easy-to-make holiday party appetizer that tastes even better than it looks.
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You’re going to love these
Everyone’s favorite finger food. Is it even a party if there are no pinwheel appetizers? Not here in the Midwest, anyway. Bring these to your next party and see how quickly they disappear.
Super easy. This is all you do: mix cream cheese, sour cream, and Dijon. Stir in chicken, almonds, cranberries, green onions, and feta. Spread over tortillas and roll up. That’s it.
Make-ahead appetizer recipe. These chicken salad pinwheel sandwiches are best the same day. But, if you wrap the entire roll (before slicing into pinwheels) in plastic wrap, you can store them in the refrigerator for up to a day in advance. Note, they will soften a bit.
Fun anytime snack. These party pinwheels aren’t just for parties. I bet if you made a batch and put them in your fridge, they’d be gone by tomorrow.
Gives new life to leftover rotisserie chicken. Looking for a new way to use up that leftover rotisserie chicken? Here you go!
Ingredients
Cream cheese. Cream cheese makes the filling rich and thick enough to roll up in the tortillas. You can use low fat cream cheese or Neufchatel if you prefer.
Sour cream. Mixing sour cream with cream cheese adds extra creaminess and tang. You can swap it out with low fat cream cheese or Greek yogurt. Just make sure that any swap you make doesn't add too much liquid to the mixture — it needs to be nice and thick.
Dijon mustard. Dijon mustard is a classic chicken salad ingredient, and it also adds a nice acidic tang to these pinwheel sandwiches. You can use any kind of mustard you like.
Shredded chicken. One of the tricks to being able to tightly roll up the tortillas is keeping everything that’s in them relatively small, and about the same size. Which is why I finely shredded the chicken. You can also use shredded or chopped turkey, ham, bacon —- or even smashed chickpeas in place of the chicken.
Almonds. Since so many of the ingredients in these tortilla roll ups are pretty soft, almonds add a nice nutty crunch. You can use toasted or untoasted nuts of any kind. Pecans or pine nuts would be nice, wouldn’t they?
Dried cranberries. The cranberries add a bright hit of sweetness and chewy texture. I used dried fruit to limit the moisture content in the filling and keep them from becoming soggy. You can use dried cherries or blueberries, if you prefer. If you’re serving your pinwheel sandwiches right away, you can use fresh chopped cranberries or berries-- which would taste fantastic.
Green onion. Green onions add nice mild onion flavor. You can use chives, shallots, or red onion.
Feta cheese. Feta brings texture, tang, and salt to these party pinwheels. But use whatever kind of cheese you love the most. Blue cheese or goat cheese would be delicious.
Spinach tortillas. Not gonna lie, I chose the spinach tortillas 100% for the color. And I wouldn't say they taste vastly different from a plain flour tortilla. So, any kind of flour tortilla will work. But, I recommend using 10-inch tortillas, if possible.
Try these party appetizers next
Recipe Essentials
KitchenAid Hand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
This is the mixer I have and it has been through a lot. And it just keeps on going. The whisk attachment is a nice add-on for whipping cream, yogurt, or ricotta.
Serrated Knife
Okay, I don't have this. But I just had to share this one because it has over 12,000 5-star reviews and it's under 25 bucks! Granted, it's a bread knife, so it's a bit long. But judging from the reviews, it'd probably do a heckuva job slicing up your pinwheels.
TIPS
Use room temperature cream cheese. Let your cream cheese come to room temperature before mixing it with the sour cream. This ensures a smooth and creamy mixture without lumps of cream cheese.
Roll your tortillas tightly. To create pinwheels that won’t fall open when you pick them up, roll your tortillas up as tightly as possible.
Wrap the rolled tortillas in plastic wrap. Plastic wrap will help the rolled tortillas hold their shape.
Chill the roll ups for a few hours. Chilling the rolled up tortillas for a few hours before slicing them gives the cream cheese a chance to firm up again. This will make it much easier to slice your pinwheels and achieve a nice round shape.
Slice with a serrated knife. Slice the pinwheels with a serrated knife to keep from flattening the tortillas rolls while you cut them.
How to Make Chicken Cranberry Salad Pinwheel Sandwiches
Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and Dijon mustard together with a hand mixer.
Add the chicken, almonds, cranberries, green onions, and feta cheese. Stir until combined.
Spread the mixture onto a tortilla, leaving a ½ inch border along the sides and top.
Tightly roll up the tortilla.
Repeat with the remaining chicken salad and tortillas.
Tightly wrap the tortilla rolls in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the rolled up tortillas for several hours to allow the filling to become firm.
Remove the plastic wrap and slice the tortillas with a serrated knife into pinwheel sandwiches.
How to Make Chicken Cranberry Salad Pinwheels [VIDEO]
Chicken Cranberry Salad Pinwheel Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 4 sliced green onions
- ½ cup feta cheese
- 3 10-inch tortillas
Instructions
- Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and Dijon mustard together with a hand mixer.
- Add the chicken, almonds, cranberries, green onions, and feta cheese. Stir until combined.
- Spread the mixture onto a tortilla, leaving a ½ inch border along the sides and top.
- Tightly roll up the tortilla.
- Repeat with the remaining chicken salad and tortillas.
- Tightly wrap the tortilla rolls in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the rolled up tortillas for several hours to allow the filling to become firm.
- Remove the plastic wrap and slice the tortillas with a serrated knife into pinwheel sandwiches.
Nutrition
FAQs
You can make these pinwheel sandwiches up to a day in advance. Do note, however, that the tortillas will absorb some moisture overnight, and they will be softer than the day you made them. So it is best to serve them the day of.
To keep your pinwheels from getting soggy, limit the moisture in the filling ingredients. For example, too much sour cream can make the cream cheese mixture too wet. Or if you add fresh fruit or vegetables, it can also add moisture to the filling.
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