If you are looking for an easy to make appetizer, you should try my spinach roll-ups. You can make it up to a month ahead and keep in the freezer.
This appetizer recipe is a long-time favorite. I actually forgot all about it until I was looking through my beloved recipe binder. I discovered this recipe when we were living in Canada. Canada has a great magazine called Canadian Living and I always found really good recipes in it. I miss that magazine come to think of it.
This Spinach and Bacon Roll-Up recipe is my favorite kind of recipe. It can be made up to a month ahead of time and kept in the freezer. You can broil them from frozen at any time that you would like.
I made these for a Christmas Eve Open House years ago and the next day I had numerous requests for this recipe. This easy appetizer recipe is a keeper and I am so happy that it is back in my rotation.
Spinach Roll-Ups Ingredients //
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- half of a small red onion diced
- 1 bag of spinach
- 1 brick of cream cheese
- 3 Tablespoons minced cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon minced jalapeno
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 small flour tortillas
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 slices of thick-cut bacon cooked and crumbled
How to Make // The Steps
Step 1:
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper.
In a saute pan, cook the red onion in the olive oil until soft. Take the onions out of the pan and set them aside. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Drain out the water. Set that aside also.
Spread the cream cheese on a tortilla. I set up an assembly line and laid out all 10 tortillas. Sprinkle the red onions on the tortillas.
Step 2:
Add the spinach and bacon.
Step 3:
Sprinkle with cheese.
Step 4:
Roll the tortillas up. Put them in the fridge for an hour to firm up before you cut them.
Step 5:
If you are going to freeze them, I would wrap them in waxed paper and then put them in a freezer bag. I kept these in the fridge and used them the next day so I did not wrap them in the paper, just a Ziploc bag.
Step 6:
When you are ready to cook them off, trim the ends off of the tortillas and cut them into 6 slices. Make your clean-up a little easier than I did and line the pan with tin foil.
Step 7:
Put the tortillas under the broiler for about 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Variations //
Take this recipe and use it as a springboard. You could make a Mexican version with maybe cheddar and tomatoes. Or maybe a Greek one with feta and olives and peppers. Really, you could use this technique and make a million different versions. You can drop the bacon to make it vegetarian.
These little babies are addictive. You have been warned.
Spinach Roll-Ups
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- half of a small red onion diced
- 1 bag of spinach
- 1 brick of cream cheese
- 3 Tablespoons minced cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon minced jalapeno
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 small flour tortillas
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 slices thick cut bacon cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, jalapeno, cilantro, salt and pepper. In a saute pan, cook the red onion in the olive oil until soft. Take the onions out of the pan and set aside. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Drain out the water. Set that aside also. Spread the cream cheese on a tortilla. I set up an assembly line and laid out all 10 tortillas. Sprinkle the red onions on the tortillas.
- Add the spinach and bacon.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- Roll the tortillas up. Put them in the fridge for an hour to firm up before you cut them.
- If you are going to freeze them, I would wrap them in waxed paper and then put them in a freezer bag. I kept these in the fridge and used them the next day so I did not wrap them in paper, just a Ziploc bag.
- When you are ready to cook them off, trim the ends off of the tortillas and cut them into 6 slices. Make your clean up a little easier than I did and line the pan with tin foil.
- Put the tortillas under the broiler for about 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
