These Ham Salad Pinwheels are simple to make and pack a punch of delicious flavor that everyone loves. Ham salad wraps are the perfect party appetizer or finger food and can be made for any occasion.
Ham salad is one of my favorite things to make. It's the perfect appetizer for parties or filling for meals like sandwiches. I make a lot of ham to begin with, so an easy ham salad recipe just makes sense for me and my family.
Unlike a lot of people, I make ham year-round. I love to make it for dinner and then use the leftovers for everything from sandwiches to dips.
They're extremely cost-effective. After I got married, I started using bigger hams and turkeys. When we had our son, I moved on to even bigger hams.
One of the best things about all that meat is the leftovers. You can do so much with ham as leftovers, such as sandwiches, soups, spreads, and pot pies. Hambone Bean Soup is one of my favorite leftover ham recipes. This Slow Cooker Ham and Rice Casserole is another, but today we are talking about Ham Salad Pinwheels.
Pair these with other appetizers like Pulled Pork Fries or Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and you'll have a party!
Ham Salad Pinwheel Sandwiches
Delicious ham and other ingredients are combined into a ham salad and then slathered over tortillas. It's a chunkier ham salad that rolls up easily in the tortilla.
After that, they're rolled into ham salad wraps and then cut crosswise into sections to create the ham salad pinwheels.
These pinwheels are the kind of recipe that always hits the spot. They're full of flavor, easy and fun to eat, and they take next to no time at all to make. The most labor-intensive part of the entire dish is making the ham salad, and even that is super easy to do!
One bit of these delicious pinwheels, and you'll be making them for lunches, dinners, parties, and for any other reason you can think of!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Finger Food: These two-bite tortilla rollups are the perfect finger food because they require no fork or knife!
- Easy to make!
- These can be made ahead of time.
- This is a budget-friendly appetizer.
- Even the kids will love ham salad pinwheels!
- Leftover ham salad is delicious on a bagel!
Ingredients in Ham Salad Wraps
There are no complicated ingredients to this ham salad tortilla recipe. The ham salad uses super simple ingredients, many of which are probably already in your kitchen.
- Cooked Ham: Ham and eggs belong together.
- Hard-Boiled Egg
- Celery
- Red Onion
- Cream Cheese: You will need to use cream cheese that comes in a block, and not whipped cream cheese.
- Mayonnaise: Swap with Miracle Whip if that is your preference.
- Dijon Mustard: Dry Mustard would work fine too.
- Sweet Pickle Relish: Dill Pickle Relish is good too, but I'm partial to sweet relish.
- Black Pepper
- Burrito Sized Tortillas: Both flour and whole wheat tortillas are great for pinwheels.
Making the Easy Ham Salad Recipe
You'll simply be mixing everything together for the most part.
Step One: Chop the Ingredients
Place the ham, egg, celery, red onion, cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, and pepper into a food processor. Pulse a few times to break up the ingredients and then scrape down the sides. Continue to pulse until everything is combined and well chopped up, you can leave this a little on the chunky or smooth side depending on your preference.
Step Two: Roll the Tortillas
Place a tortilla on a clean work surface. Spread ¼th of the ham salad mixture over the tortilla leaving a ½ inch border around the outside of the tortilla. Take the bottom of the tortilla and begin to roll it over itself to form a log. Try to roll it tightly but not so tight that the tortilla breaks.
Step Three: Wrap the Tortillas
Take a large piece of plastic wrap and roll the log into the piece of plastic wrap tightly and tuck the ends under. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
Step Four: Cut and Serve
Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight is best. Discard the plastic wrap and cut them into about ½ inch slices.
Substitutions
Don’t have the correct ingredients on hand or want to change something up in this pinwheel recipe? I consider most of these ingredients essential to a good ham salad, but here are some suggested swaps.
- Mayonnaise: Try using Miracle Whip or ranch dressing instead of mayo.
- Red Onion: Replace red onion with green onion, white or sweet yellow onion.
- Mustard: I prefer Dijon mustard, but any mustard will work, even dry mustard.
- Relish: Both sweet pickle relish and dill pickle relish are great in ham salad.
Variations
Want other ways to use this delicious salad? Here are some ideas!
- Instead of ham salad pinwheels, you can make ham salad tea sandwiches. Remove the crust from the bread, then corner to corner cut the sandwich into fourths.
- Alternatively, you can make sliders. They are perfect for a party platter.
- Combine the ham salad with some additional mayo and cooked macaroni for a delicious ham and macaroni salad. This is a great way to use ham salad leftovers!
- I personally enjoy eating ham salad on a whole grain cracker or served as a dip.
If you love recipes like this, you may also like slow cooker chicken salad, Baked Honey Mustard Ham and our Easy Ham and Cheese Pinwheels recipe.
Equipment
All you need are a few basic kitchen tools to make ham salad pinwheels.
- Food Processor
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
- Plastic Wrap
Storage
Refrigerator: Store pinwheels in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Beyond that they will get soggy. The ham mixture alone can be stored for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Unfortunately, ham salad pinwheels do not freeze well at all. The mayonnaise will separate as it defrosts.
Tips
- Make sure you are using burrito-sized tortillas for the perfect sized pinwheels.
- Roll the tortillas with the filling as tight as you can. Then, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours before slicing.
- Serve with a dipping sauce such as tzatziki sauce or ranch dressing.
FAQ
Do you have questions about making ham salad pinwheels? Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about this party appetizer.
Use leftover ham or packaged block cooked ham. I don't recommend using deli ham for this recipe.
The key is to follow the recipe directions and to not overfill. Refrigerating the pinwheels for at least 4 hours will help the pinwheels maintain their shape.
While a food processor is the most ideal way to make ham salad, you can also chop the ingredients in small batches in a blender. You can also hand chop, but it will require some additional to prepare.
Ham is typically salty on its own. Wait until the very end and taste the ham salad, before adding any salt to the recipe.
Try These Ham Salad Pinwheels
You'll fall in love with this easy ham salad recipe wrapped up in a soft tortilla. These pinwheel sandwiches are easy to make and full of flavor.
They're the perfect thing for lunches or parties because they double as both a main dish or an appetizer. Give this party sandwich recipe try, and I know you'll fall in love with it. It's so easy, so good, and so versatile, there's really no reason not to make it!
Video
More Pinwheel Sandwich Recipes
If you are specifically looking for pinwheel sandwich recipes, take a look at:
Ham Salad Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cooked ham roughly chopped
- 1 large hard-boiled egg roughly chopped
- ½ cup celery thinly sliced
- ½ cup red onion diced
- ½ brick (4 oz) cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 large tortillas
Instructions
- Get out and measure your ingredients.
- Place the ham, egg, celery, red onion, cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, and pepper into a food processor.
- Pulse a few times to break up the ingredients and then scrape down the sides. Continue to pulse until everything is combined and well chopped up, you can leave this a little on the chunky or smooth side depending on your preference.
- Place a tortilla on a clean work surface. Spread ¼th of the ham salad mixture over the tortilla leaving a ½ inch border around the outside of the tortilla.
- Take the bottom of the tortilla and begin to roll it over itself to form a log. Try to roll it tightly but not so tight that the tortilla breaks.
- Take a large piece of plastic wrap and roll the log into the piece of plastic wrap tightly and tuck the ends under. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
- Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight is best. Discard the plastic wrap and cut them into about ½ inch slices.
- Serve as needed.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you are using burrito-sized tortillas for the perfect-sized pinwheels.
- Roll the tortillas with the filling as tight as you can. Then, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours before slicing.
- These pinwheels are very flavorful and normally do not need any additional salt as there is plenty of salt in a lot of the ingredients.
- If you don’t like sweet pickle relish you can use dill pickle relish or chopped-up pickles of your choice. I think the sweetness really works for these rolls.
- I would use these rolls within 3 days stored in the fridge, longer may turn the tortillas soggy.
Nutrition
Irene R says
OMG! Love all your recipes.
Karin and Ken says
Thank you for your kind words you just made my day. All the best. Karin
Joey says
These are fun! This recipe is great and simple. It really helped me when I was out of ideas with what to do with leftover ham!
Karin and Ken says
We make this recipe every time we have leftover ham! We love it! Glad you’re enjoying this easy recipe too. All the best. Karin
Octavia says
Wow we love these pinwheels in our house. They are so easy to make and great for so many things. I first made them for a friend's party and now I make them all the time. My kids love them. The trick to making them look perfect is not to forget to refrigerate them before you slice them so they look perfect. So good!
Karin and Ken says
I’m so happy to hear you enjoy these pinwheels as much as we do! The perfect way to use up ham! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. All the best. Karin
Nina says
The ham salad pinwheels was amazing and an amazing way to use up leftover ham. I brought some for lunch and had them for dinner and my family really enjoyed them. Thx ❤️
Karin and Ken says
They’re very tasty and perfect at any time of day! Definitely a great use for leftover ham or any excuse will do to make them. Thank you for taking the time to comment. You made my day. All the best. Karin