These delicious pickle roll ups are the perfect appetizer for any gathering! Only 3 ingredients, 10 minutes of prep time and guests will be raving! These pop in your mouth so easily and will be gone in no time.
Original post: March 2020 | Updated: October 2023
Why This Recipe Works
During my first year in college, my roomie and I had a few foods that we ate all the time: vanilla ice cream, grilled cheese sandwiches made with Texas toast and these totally delicious pickle rollups (aka Midwest Sushi or Minnesota Sushi).
Here’s why you will love them, too:
- These tasty little bites require only 3 simple ingredients and 10 minutes of your time. That’s it!
- When these are served, guests rave every single time. It’s one of the best appetizers you’ll make all year.
- The salty-sweet combination is so simple yet so tasty.
- Cream cheese pickle roll ups are easy, guest-pleasing appetizers that are great for family get-togethers, football games or literally any type of gathering.
- It’s the perfect make ahead appetizer! Prepare as directed and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve.
Recipe Ingredients
Corned beef – Use thinly sliced lunch meat to create this recipe.
Thinly sliced deli ham slices can be used in place of corned beef to create a ham roll up. Or use salami to create salami pickle roll ups. Sliced roast beef can be used, as well.
Literally any thinly sliced deli meat tastes delicious! Avoid thick slices of meat when possible.
Cream cheese – Use full fat spread cream cheese spread or brick cream cheese.
Allow the cream cheese to sit at room temperature prior to preparing your roll-ups up to an hour ahead for easier spreading.
If you don’t remember to do this, simply soften it in the microwave for just a few seconds before spreading.
Dill pickles – Either use small or medium whole pickles or large dill pickle spears.
How To Make Pickle Roll Ups
Step 1
Lay four stacks of corned beef slices (2 per stack) on a flat work surface or cutting board. Using a butter knife, top each slice with a thick layer of cream cheese (it does not have to be pretty).
Step 2
Now place a dill pickle in the center of each stack.
Roll the corned beef slices around the pickles, wrapping as tightly as possible. The cream cheese will act as the delicious glue that holds everything together.
Step 3
Using a sharp knife, cut each pickle cream cheese roll into four equal slices and place on a serving plate.
Recipe Notes
- Cream cheese roll-ups are the perfect gluten-free appetizer to serve at parties.
- Pat each pickle dry with a paper towel before rolling to avoid it slipping around.
- Once you have sliced your pickles into roll-ups, place them back in the fridge right on the serving tray. This will allow the cream cheese to firms up around pickles, creating perfect bite-sized appetizers.
- Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap and snack on them the following day!
- If you want to increase indulgence points, serve alongside a small bowl of ranch dressing to act as a dipping sauce.
- Dress up the cream cheese roll ups by sprinkling bagel seasoning or ranch seasoning over the cream cheese mixture before rolling.
What Kind of Pickles For Pickle Roll Ups
Use small or medium whole dill pickles or large dill pickle spears to create corned beef pickle roll ups. If the pickles are too big, the sliced meat won’t be able to wrap around it the whole way.
Best Pickle Recipes
- Create a bloody mary with food! Add pickles, cheese and salami to the savory drink.
- Pickle de Gallo
- Combine cream cheese, sour cream, fresh dill weed and chopped pickles to create a delicious pickle dip. Serve with veggies and crackers or spread onto flour tortillas to create a savory tortilla roll (aka pinwheels).
- Pickle pizza
- Save time by making quick sweet refrigerator pickles!
- Pickle relish
- Dill pickle pasta salad
How Long Do Pickles Last Unrefrigerated
If you have a jar of pickles staring at you and you are wondering whether to toss or eat, read this post about how long pickles can be left out of the fridge. You will learn everything you need to know about diving into a batch of pickled cucumbers safely.
Are Pickles Vegetables
Pickles can be considered both a fruit and a vegetable. Since they are made by bathing cucumbers in a brine liquid, they are a vegetable. However, technically speaking cucumbers are considered to be a fruit because of their seeds.
Where Did Ham and Pickle Rollups Come From
I’ve always known corned beef or ham and pickle roll-ups to be a Midwestern “thing.” It is believed that this delicious little finger food may have originated from an old German recipe, according to this article in the Des Moines Register.
Easy Holiday Appetizers
These pickle wraps are one of my favorite party foods ever, but if you need other ideas check out these yummy party food ideas:
- Air fryer fries with seasoned sour cream
- Hot ham and cheese sandwiches
- Veggie sheese stromboli
- Easy peanut butter cookies
- Slow cooker mac and cheese
- Best ever chili
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Pickle Roll Ups Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 slices corned beef lunch meat
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 dill pickles small to medium in size
Instructions
- Lay corned beef in stacks of two on a hard surface.
- Spread 1 ounce of cream cheese onto each stack. Place a pickle directly in the center of each. Roll corned beef around the pickles and cut each roll into four equal parts.
Video
Notes
- Cream cheese roll-ups are the perfect gluten-free appetizer to serve at parties.
- Pat each pickle dry with a paper towel before rolling to avoid it slipping around.
- Once you have sliced your pickles into roll-ups, place them back in the fridge right on the serving tray. This will allow the cream cheese to firms up around pickles, creating perfect bite-sized appetizers.
- Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap and snack on them the following day!
- If you want to increase indulgence points, serve alongside a small bowl of ranch dressing to act as a dipping sauce.
- Dress up the cream cheese roll ups by sprinkling bagel seasoning or ranch seasoning over the cream cheese mixture before rolling.
14 dill pickles? I think you may mean 4. 🙂
We have done these on many occasion but use ham instead. Now, we have learned to grind the pickles and ham together in the blender, add the cream cheese and use Ritz crackers Or Club crackers to dip in it…..sooooo Yummy!!!
Love these! I make them with sliced deli ham, snack um dill pickles, and veggie cream cheese..always a hit!
My mother always made these except she used ham and sliced Clauson brand pickles.
They are also really good if you use honey ham.
I make these. Here are a couple tips that might be useful. I always get the cream cheese to room temp and pat the pickles dry with paper towels. Then I put them back in the fridge to harden up the cream cheese again before cutting them.
These are wonderful but the best is when done with real dry beef from a deli, not a jar. I have been asked for probaly 20 years to take these to events.
I had never had these before but made them yesterday for Super Bowl and they were a huge hit. So easy to make and very tasty. I will always have these on my party menus now.
If one doesn't like dill pickles, these are delicious using sweet pickles too. I sometimes use Baby pickles and use 1 slice of meat per pickle.
The first time I made these, I forgot to rinse the salt from the beef…very salty! Now when I make them, I use Fanestil's Party Time Ham instead of the beef. Delicious!
We make these with dried beef– which I know you cannot get in every part of the U.S. We visited family in Kentucky and I looked for it but the people looked at me like I had five heads when I said "dried beef".. Anyways, prosciutto is a great substitute as well! And we always use the Claussen deli style pickles instead of dill.. Fantastic!
Just another recipe to add to my Christmas party list THANKS!
I' e made these for years, but I always used sliced ham and green onion. They are absolutely yummy!!
In search for a simple.& tasty appetizer to bring to a gathering yesterday found this very helpful and a crow pleaser!
For vegans: sushi sheet & tofu sheet ( in a can Japan product) both can be found in Asian Market.
My mom and I have made something like this since I was little. Instead of corn beef we use ham or turkey and put a little garlic powder in the cream cheese and we use green olives and eat them on ritz crackers! To die for!!!!!!
Jessica! SALAMI! Brilliant! I cannot wait to try this. Thank you for sharing!
Megan
Also works well with salami! I've been rolling pickles in slices of salami since I was a kid! Great snack!
I saw this on pinterest and almost fell over. This has been a Christmas Eve staple in our family for three decades. We make ours wil ham and sweet pickles. Love that there are other variations! Thanks for making my day!!!!!!
These are gross! I made these in hopes that everyone would devour them. I couldn't even bring them to the party they were so gross. :(. Maybe it was the corned beef that made them repulsive…
In NC, I have another variation…I use hard Salami, cream cheese mixed with horseradish (to taste) and I use Bread and Butter pickles. Always a hit at parties!