Easy and healthy lunch ideas can be hard to come by. Fact: Alex and I are both terrible about planning ahead on lunches. This is especially true when we’re packing lunch for our son’s preschool lunch. So this new tortilla roll ups recipe is all about making a healthy lunch as fast as possible. The pinwheels are packed with healthy veggies rolled into a tortilla with a bit of hummus: and MAN, they are so tasty!
Ingredients in this tortilla roll ups recipe
A “traditional” pinwheel recipe uses lots of cream cheese to hold it together. Alex and I don’t buy a lot of cream cheese, but we always stock our fridge with hummus. Turns out, hummus is a fantastic plant-based substitute for cream cheese for holding a pinwheel together. This makes it a viable vegan option: though we threw in a bit of optional shredded cheese! Here are the pinwheel ingredients we landed on:
- Bell pepper
- Green onion
- Baby spinach
- Black beans
- Mexican spices (chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder)
- Hummus
- Shredded cheese (optional)
- Wraps (use spinach wraps or gluten free wraps of your choosing)
The technique: rolling a pinwheel!
Now, the only part of this tortilla roll ups recipe that requires any amount of technique is rolling it up! Alex and I actually had to practice this a few times before we got it exactly how we wanted it. Here are a few pointers on how to roll up a pinwheel perfectly:
- Roll it tightly. When you’re rolling, roll it as tightly as possible: this helps the rolls to stay together once you slice them.
- Don’t worry if some of the filling falls out at the end! As you roll the pinwheel, the ingredients will be pushed toward the end of the roll. Don’t worry if a few fall out at the end of rolling – this is expected.
- Cut off the ends. When you make a pinwheel recipe, you’ll cut off both ends of the roll — these sides won’t make a wheel shape because they don’t have a flat edge. You can eat them yourself while cutting the rest!
Tortilla roll ups variations
There are lots of ways to customize this tortilla roll ups recipe! First of all, once you get comfortable with the method, you won’t even have to measure quantities at all. Just spread with hummus and layer with veggies — you can also approximate on the seasonings. Or, use a seasoning blend like taco seasoning or fajita seasoning instead of these spices.
You can really use any combination of veggies you’d like for the interior. The veggies in the recipe below we chose to keep it super colorful. Truly anything will work! For a vegan variation, you can omit the cheese. And for a gluten-free variation, use a gluten-free wrap.
Serving this pinwheel recipe
Alex and I made this tortilla roll ups recipe when our niece and nephew were in town visiting, and they loved it! Our toddler Larson was also all about it. So we think we can safely call it kid approved. (Right?) It’s also so easy to make that it’s perfect for beginner cooks like college students.
If you’d like, you can serve the pinwheels with salsa for dipping: it takes them to a whole new level! But they taste great without it, too. For lunch logistics, that might be the easiest option. We’ve also served this as a kid-friendly family dinner recipe: it’s a great way to pack in veggies. And Alex and I ate the leftovers as a no-think adult dinner, too. So it works for everyone!
