Cream Cheese Chicken Crescent Rolls

These Cream Cheese Chicken Crescent Rolls have a rich and creamy filling to make an easy appetizer or light meal. 

Crescent rolls wrapped with a chicken or turkey mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and vegetables make an easy handheld meal.

Chicken Swirls

These chicken swirls or chicken pinwheels are easy to make and use common ingredients. Using fresh shredded chicken or turkey from a rotisserie chicken or leftover from another meal is just fine too! 

We typically have canned turkey on hand from our Turkey Farming Family in western Ohio. We also love using leftover chicken in our Shredded Chicken Sandwiches, Buffalo Chicken Dip, or Fiesta Shredded Chicken.

Put the meat in a bowl and mix in sharp cheddar cheese, cream cheese, ranch salad dressing, chopped green onions, chopped red pepper and you’ve got a delicious mixture that tastes even better slathered over crescent rolls.

There are so many options to customize this recipe.  Celery could easily be used in place of either of the vegetables.  The vegetables primarily provide a little crunch to the recipe.  Next time I’ll add bacon too, bacon just brings so much flavor to any dish.

A couple more pinwheel recipes with crescent dough that we love are our Ham & Cheese Roll-Ups and Easy Sausage Crescent Rolls.

Why This Recipe Works

• These chicken roll ups with crescent rolls are perfect appetizers or snacks for parties, tailgating, baby showers or bridal showers.
• Spreading this chicken and cream cheese mixture over crescent rolls and baking makes each bite more enjoyable than a typical snack, appetizer or sandwich.
• Customize this recipe by adding celery, bacon or a chopped ingredient of your choice.
• Ranch creates a wonderful pop of flavor to this simple chicken cream cheese rolls.

Ingredients Needed to Make Warm Chicken Pinwheels

• Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough
• Cooked and Shredded Turkey or Chicken
• Cream Cheese
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Ranch Dressing
• Red Pepper
• Green Onions

Step By Step Instructions

In a medium sized mixing bowl beat softened cream cheese until smooth.

Then add ranch dressing and cheddar cheese. Stir again.

Only use finely shredded and chopped chicken that’s fully cooked.

Add chicken or turkey and chopped vegetables to the mixing bowl.

Stir well until mixture is smooth and creamy.

There’s two easy options to apply this cream cheese filling to the crescent rolls.

Either spread the mixture over a large rectangle of dough, roll-up and slice.

Or cut the crescent dough into rounds, lay on their side and spoon the cream cheese mixture on top.

How To Make Roll-Ups

Open the roll of crescent dough and lay on a cutting board.

Cut into even slices and lay on their side on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Press into cup shapes to allow room for the chicken mixture.

Spoon the chicken and cream cheese mixture into the crescent dough cups.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the dough is golden brown.

Work quickly or chill dough between steps because it gets sticky and more challenging to work with when warm.

Another Options To Make Chicken Pinwheels

Open the tube of crescent dough. Unroll on a large cutting board.

Use fingers to press together the seams and spread the chicken and cream cheese mixture over the crescent dough.

Roll-up and pinch the seams shut.

Cut into slices and turn on their sides on a lightly greased baking sheet.

How to Make Chicken or Turkey Crescent Swirls

1. In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing
2. Add cooked and shredded turkey or chicken, red pepper and green onions
3. On a greased baking sheet, unroll 2 packages of refrigerated crescent roll dough into four equal-sized rectangles
4. Spread chicken mixture evenly over the crescent rolls
5. Roll up like a jelly roll – see picture below for tips
6. Slice and place cut side down on a baking sheet
7. Bake at 375º for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown

How Long to Bake Chicken Crescent Swirls

When using two tubes of refrigerated crescent roll doll and cutting into about 20 swirls, the recipe takes 10 – 12 minutes to bake in a 375º oven.  The swirls are done when the edges are lightly browned.

Sometimes towards the end of the baking time, I rotate the baking sheet to allow the pinwheels to bake more evenly.  Length of baking time can be affected by how much filling is used and by how thick the swirls are cut.

Other Appetizer Tray Ideas:

• Apple and Cheddar Cheese Snack
• Turkey, Cheddar & Bacon Sliders
• Crescent Roll Taco Ring makes a great finger food or an easy main dish.
• Easy Cinnamon Fruit Dip
• How to Make a Fruit Tray
• How to Make a Vegetable Tray

Printable Recipe for Warm Chicken Crescent Swirls

Originally published on September 5, 2019 with updates made on November 9, 2023.