These Mexican pinwheels are a quick and easy lunch recipe, they’re colorful and full of healthy veggies. Dip in salsa for the win!
This post was created in partnership with ALDI. All opinions are our own.
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 Mexican pinwheel 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! We got all of the ingredients for this recipe at ALDI: a great place to stock up on back to school ingredients that are organic and affordable.
Love ALDI? This recipe is part of our ALDI Meal Plan.
Video: How to make pinwheels (1 Minute!)
Want to try it too? Are you an ALDI fan? Let us know if you head to ALDI and make this recipe! Tell us in the comments below or tag us on Instagram: @acouplecooks and @aldiusa.
Ingredients in this Mexican pinwheel 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)
For our Mexican pinwheels, we ordered these ingredients from ALDI and they showed up at our door (using their Instacart service). We’ve been working with ALDI all year and are thrilled at how affordable all their organic options are. It makes lunch box meals like these accessible for people of all budgets. That, we’d say, is a lunch time win.
*COUPON: ALDI now delivers groceries to your door using Instacart. Use the code ALDIACC for $10 off your first three ALDI orders on Instacart of $35 or more.
The technique: rolling a pinwheel!
Now, the only part of this Mexican pinwheel 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!
See the video above for how we arranged the veggies!
Pinwheel variations
There are lots of ways to customize this Mexican pinwheel 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 (ALDI offers LiveGfree Gluten Free Wraps!).
Serving this pinwheel recipe
Alex and I made this Mexican pinwheel 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!
Looking for more lunch recipes?
Looking for lunch-time inspiration? Here are a few more ideas:
- Hummus, Glowing Green Hummus, or Garlic Herb White Bean Dip, veggies and crackers, cheese slices
- Easy Chickpea Salad Sandwich
- Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich
- Healthy Egg Salad with Basil
- Mexican Quinoa Recipe
This Mexican pinwheel recipe is…
Vegetarian and vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free without the cheese. For gluten-free, use gluten-free wraps.
Print
Mexican Pinwheel Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
These Mexican pinwheels are a quick and easy lunch recipe, they’re colorful and full of healthy veggies. Dip in salsa for the win!
Ingredients
- 1 organic green onion
- 1/2 organic red pepper and ½ orange pepper (or 1 red pepper)
- ½ cup organic black beans
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup Simply Nature Organic Classic Hummus
- ½ cup organic baby spinach
- ¼ cup shredded cheese (optional)
- 2 large L’oven Fresh Spinach Wraps (or gluten-free wrap of your choosing)
- ½ cup Simply Nature Organic Salsa, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Thinly slice the green onion, red pepper and orange pepper. In a small bowl, mix the black beans and sliced vegetables with chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and kosher salt.
- Spread hummus in a thin layer with 1/4” around the edge of each tortilla. Place half of the spinach in a layer in the middle of each tortilla. Place the peppers in a line on one side, and the black beans in a line on the other side (see the photo). Sprinkle half of the cheese on each tortilla.
- Tightly roll up the tortilla, keeping it as tight as possible and rolling smoothly at the end (don’t worry if a little bit falls out!). Slice off the ends and either eat or discard; then slice the remainder into 8 pieces. Serve immediately with salsa (optional) or refrigerate until serving. They’re perfect for lunches.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
Keywords: Mexican Pinwheel, Pinwheel Recipe
Thank you for a really good recipe! The video was helpful too. I didn’t have any spinach so I added shredded carrot and some broccoli. They were easy to make and so delicious. Just perfect for a quick, healthy snack or lunch. It’s my new favorite recipe.
I have been looking to add more raw veggies to my diet and i came across your website. I loved these. It is really what i crave most days. i changed it a little: sundried tomato hummus, regular onion finely sliced, and romaine lettuce finely sliced. i also added tomatoes, since i had them as well. I cannot wait to buy your recipe book.
I love this recipe! I make it wrap-style, and eat for breakfast. Extra wraps can be stored in the fridge for a few days.
★★★★★