Vegan Mexican Pinwheels! Planning your next party? Don’t skip these healthy and pop-able appetizers.

Served with a side of salsa and fresh lime wedges, these Vegan Mexican Pinwheels are full of plant-based goodness and bright Mexican flavors. Perfect for entertaining, you can’t eat just one; these pinwheels will be gone in a flash.

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients.

Hi there, Ameera here!

These pinwheels are fun, festive, and a great way to switch up your appetizer game. We enjoyed them dolloped with salsa and squeeze of lime. They also make a great kid friendly lunch; Yasmeen loved them.

You gotta give this one a try!

Tips for Success:

• Flavor: Served with a side of salsa and lime wedges, these easy Vegan Mexican Pinwheels have beautiful bright Mexican flavors.  They are perfect for entertaining.  No one can resist them.
• Herbs/Spices Amounts: We did several kitchen tests.  Our family was completely divided over the amount of spices that this recipe needed.  The list of ingredients in the recipe card are minimum amounts, lightly flavorful, yet still fantastic.  Feel free to ramp up the spices to reach your personal preferences.  Also, keep in mind that there are many tortilla brands available.  If you select a flour tortilla, then you might feel that the spice amounts listed are perfect.  However, if you select a whole grain tortilla, the spices may need to be ramped up because the tortilla is thicker and has more flavor which then influences the amount of spices needed to ensure the pinwheel filling is flavorful as they will compete with the tortilla flavor.
• Number of Tortillas: The number of tortillas that you will need is largely dependent upon the size of the tortillas. We used 5 Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Tortillas.  These tortillas are approx. 8 ½ to 9 inches in diameter. If you use a smaller tortilla, you will need more tortillas.
• Selection of Tortillas: Selecting a great tortilla is important.  You need tortillas that can be easily rolled and will hold their integrity.  Some tortillas are simply too fragile to use in this recipe.  We used Food for Life Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain tortillas.  They are super sturdy, but they can also be slightly challenging to slice because they are very sturdy.
• Rolling the Tortillas: Spread the filling all over the tortilla, then scrape back the actual filling ingredients (corn, peppers, beans) so that about 1/8 of the top of the tortilla is only covered with a very light amount of the cream cheese mixture.  What happens is when you are rolling the tortilla tightly, the filling tends to squeeze out at the very end of the rolling process.  You don’t want any of the actual filling ingredients at the very end, only a little of the cream cheese mixture to act as a glue to hold it together. Then once filled place them seam side down on the plate or in a container.  The blog photo shows you where to stop the actual filling amount.  It does not show the light layer of cream cheese glue.  We did this just to show where to stop with the chunkier filling mixture.
• Vegan Cream Cheese: We used Kite Hill Cream Cheese simply for convenience.  Feel free to use our Vegan Cream Cheese recipe or your favorite vegan cream cheese recipe. If you use a homemade cream cheese, make the cream cheese the day before this way it will be set before using.
• Salsa: Use your favorite mild, medium, or hot salsa.  We used a medium salsa simply because it can hold up to the cream cheese without feeling spicy/hot.
• Regular Chili Powder: Feel free to use your favorite chili powder, just be sure to select a mild one and not one that has a lot of heat to it.
• Jalapeno Pepper: Feel free to substitute the jalapeno pepper for 1/3 cup of finely diced green bell peppers.
• Black Beans: We used canned black beans.
• Corn: We used canned corn.
• Cutting the Pinwheels: Use a very sharp thin-bladed knife to cut the pinwheels, this will prevent the filling from being squeezed out when cutting the filled tortillas if the knife is dull.
• Serving: Serve with a bowl of salsa and fresh lime wedges.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep for 3 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered container.

These pinwheels cannot be frozen.

Pantry Products:

• Tortillas: We used Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Tortillas.  Feel free to use your favorite tortillas.
• Salsa: We used Tostitos Medium Chunky Salsa.
• Vegan Cream Cheese: We used the 8 oz. package of Kite Hill Cream Cheese.  It is Whole Food Plant Based.  Feel free to use your favorite store-bought cream cheese or make your own.

Kitchen Products Used:

• Sharp knife

If you try these fun and flavorful appetizers, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.

Vegan Mexican Pinwheels

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 25 Minutes (+Rest Time)
• Yield: 32 Pinwheels 1x
• Category: Appetizer
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Served with a side of salsa and fresh lime wedges, these Vegan Mexican Pinwheels are full of plant-based goodness and bright Mexican flavors.

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Ingredients

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Filling Ingredients:

• 8 oz. vegan cream cheese *
• ½ cup mild or medium salsa *
• 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast 

Additional Filling Ingredients:

• ½ cup very finely diced red bell peppers
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, very finely diced *
• ¼ cup very finely sliced green onions
• 2/3 cup black beans *
• 2/3 cup corn *
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro (+/-) 

Herb/Spice Ingredients:

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon chili powder (+/-) *
• 1/8 teaspoon cumin (+/-)
• 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (+/-)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander (+/-)
• pinch to ¼ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) * 

Other Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 tortillas (# of tortillas is largely dependent upon size) *

Serving Ingredients:

• Fresh lime wedges
• Salsa

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Instructions

1. Place all the Herb/Spice Ingredients into a small box, whisk well, set aside.
2. Place all the Filling Ingredients and the Herb/Spice Mix into a medium-sized bowl, mix well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
3. Next, stir in the Additional Filling Ingredients, stir well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
4. Place the tortillas on a plate.Cover them with a damp paper towel.  Place them in the microwave to slightly warm (to remove the chill).  Keep them covered in the damp paper towel as you work to prevent cracking.
5. Lay a tortilla flat on a cutting board. Place 1/3 to ½ cup (depending on size of tortilla) of the filling mixture onto the center of the tortilla. Use the back of a spoon, kitchen knife (not sharp), or rubber spatula to spread the filling all over the tortilla, then scrape back the actual filling ingredients so that about 1/8 of the top of the tortilla is only covered with a very light amount of the cream cheese mixture.Reference blog photo and read notes for details.  Roll the tortilla up tightly.  Place the rolls onto a plate, seam side down, and cover them a damp paper towel to prevent cracking.
6. Repeat the process until you have used all the filling. Cover the tortilla rolls with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator for 2 hours.
7. After two hours, remove one tortilla at a time from the refrigerator.Using a sharp knife, cut the tortilla in half, then take each half and cut into ½ to ¾ inch pinwheels.  The end pieces should be set aside (to eat later) as they will not have very much of the filling mixture in them to serve to family or guests.
8. Repeat until all the filled tortillas are sliced into pinwheels. Arrange on a serving platter with a side bowl of salsa and lime wedges. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until later.

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Notes

*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.

*Servings:  Makes approx. 32 pinwheels

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