Puff Pastry Taco Pinwheels
Puff Pastry Taco Pinwheels have taco meat, cream cheese, cheese, and veggies in puff pastry for a fun snack or party appetizer. These are Mexican-inspired pinwheels in flaky puff pastry, and they even use leftover taco meat, veggies, and cheese to make them! The creamy, cheesy taco filling is insanely tasty wrapped in buttery puff pastry. Ready in 25 minutes and perfect for sharing.
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Why the recipe works
My family is getting sick of me making dinner, then feeding them the same leftovers for days and days. So when I put out my Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe, followed closely by my Best Ever Ground Beef Taco Meat recipe, I immediately started working on ways to use the leftovers. Hence, my Taco Breakfast Sandwich and now these taco pinwheel nibbles.
Who doesn’t love puff pastry treats, right? And puff pastry is easy to use: it thaws quickly (see below); it is MUCH easier to work with than phyllo dough or even crescent dough; and it has better ‘staying power’ so these can be cooked and brought elsewhere for sharing.
This recipe works because these Mexican puff pastry pinwheels are delicious. It’s that simple. The facts that they use leftovers and are ready in minutes are bonus.
About the ingredients
- Prepared taco meat. I’m partial to my own Ground Beef Taco Meat, but you can use whatever you like.
- Cream cheese.
- Chopped veggies. Doesn’t everyone pile all their leftover taco fixings veggies in a bowl or baggie or is it just me? Just grab a handful and chop them up some more. I use red and green bell peppers, green onion, and tomato in our tacos. Shredded lettuce too, but I keep leftover lettuce separate to prevent wilting. As an alternative, 1/4 cup Pico de Gallo or 2 tablespoons salsa will work. Just be sure to drain excess liquid first.
- Shredded cheese. This can be whatever shredded cheese you have on hand: cheddar, cheddar blend, taco cheese, Mexican cheese blend. Whatever.
- Puff pastry. Just one sheet, but this recipe is easily doubled.
- Egg. For the egg wash to give that golden color to the dough.
How to make these puffed pastry taco pinwheels
First an extra note on the puff pastry: Do not be put off by the puff pastry! Puff pastry is not hard. It doesn’t even take time to thaw. Just put 1 sheet frozen in the microwave for 15 seconds, flip, microwave another 15 seconds, and it’s ready. Seriously easy.
Once the dough is thawed, we just spread that out. In a bowl, we mix the taco meat, cream cheese, and veggies. In another bowl, we mix the egg with a tablespoon of water.
We spread the meat mixture evenly over the dough, then we top with the shredded cheese. Then we roll it up and slice. I do like to take the very ends off (which end up wonky) and discard so each pinwheel ends up looking its possible best. Brush with egg wash and bake. Then enjoy all your pinwheels.
Puff Pastry Taco Pinwheels
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup prepared taco meat
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup finely chopped veggies such as green and red bell peppers, tomato, and green onion
- ½ cup shredded cheese
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400℉.
- In a bowl, combine the taco meat, cream cheese, and veggies. Spread mixture evenly on pastry sheet.
- Sprinkle cheese over meat layer.
- Roll up the dough to form a log and pinch the seam to seal (using a bit of water on your finger helps to get the seam to seal).
- Using a serrated knife, slice off the very ends and discard. Slice the remaining “log” into 12 pinwheels. Lay pinwheels on parchment paper on a bake sheet.
- Brush the dough with egg wash. Bake at 400℉ for 20 minutes or until golden outside and cooked through inside.
