Chicken Tortilla Rollups

Easy chicken tortilla rollups or pinwheels is a quick lunch or appetizer with cream cheese, chicken, and Southwest flavors that you can prep the day before or ahead of time. Use some store-bought rotisserie chicken to make the prep even easier. Let’s face it, no one wants to spend time cooking chicken these days, especially when it’s hot out! At the grocery stores where I live you can buy containers of already cut up a rotisserie chicken. Lifesaver. 

These tortilla rollups bring me back to my days when I worked as a cold prep cook at a hotel kitchen. We’d have to make uber amounts of rollups for appetizers for events. One tip I learned there was to soften cream cheese for a bit in the microwave so it was easy to work with. Cream cheese comes in 8 oz containers and do not cook it in the microwave for longer than 1 minute or you might start cooking the cream cheese! Check it after 30 seconds. If you use cold cream cheese right out of the fridge you’ll be wearing your arms trying to mix it.

These  chicken tortilla rollups are only 2 smart points on Weight Watchers using the ingredients listed below. The recipe makes 24 pinwheels.

Here are some other easy lunch ideas you can use rotisserie chicken with. Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Chicken Mozzarella Pasta, or how bout making a simple Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken salad just like at Panera? 

What Ingredients do you need to make pinwheels? 

• 8 ounces of reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 cup of cooked chicken breast, deboned and diced
• ¼ pound reduced fat cheese, shredded
• 1 teaspoon of dried coriander
• 2 tablespoons of fresh or canned jalapeno peppers, diced
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 3 tortillas, (10-inch diameter) – You can also sub Ole Extreme Wellness Wraps or La Banderita Carb Counter wraps
• Vegetable oil, as needed
• Salsa, as needed
• Sour cream, as needed

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN FAJITA ROLLUPS 

1. Mix together cream cheese, chicken, cheese, coriander, jalapeno peppers, and cumin. If the cream cheese is hard to work with stick it in the microwave until it is easy to spread or mix. 
2. Divide mixture into 3 parts and spread each part evenly over each tortilla.
3. Roll up tortilla tightly around chicken mixture.
4. Wrap firmly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
5. Just before serving, cut each tortilla roll into ½ inch slices or cut into 8 equal pieces.
6. Salsa and sour cream serve as dip sauce.

Chicken Tortilla Rollups Variations

Amongst South Western style tortilla rollups there are other ways you can flavor these up. The possibilities are endless. 

• Crack Chicken Pinwheels – Make my recipe for Crack Chicken here, and spread the chicken onto the tortillas. 
  
• Chicken Taco Pinwheels – Add a packet of taco seasoning mix to the cream cheese. 
  
• Buffalo chicken pinwheels – Make my stovetop buffalo chicken recipe and spread that on the tortillas. 
  
• Dill Pickle Pinwheels – Mix together ham, pickles, and cream cheese, spread on to tortilla.
  
• Italian Pinwheels  – Add italian seasoning to the cream cheese. Spread on tortilla, and top it with salami, pepperoni, and mozzarella on top of the cream cheese. 

CAN I MAKE PINWHEELS AHEAD OF TIME?

When I made pinwheels at the hotel we would always make them ahead of time. After you roll the tortillas up, wrap them up tightly in saran wrap. Do not cut them. If you don’t have something covering the wraps they dry out. When you are ready to serve them take them out of the wrap and cut them into circles. 

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