This delicious French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe is perfect for your party. It’s easy to make too! Keep reading to get the full recipe!
Puff pastry is one of the easiest ingredients to use when it comes to making a fast appetizer, dessert or even some finger-food like dinner sandwiches. Wrapping up a bunch of ingredients into a flaky. delicious dough is a quick, crowd pleasing meal. I love using puff pastry pinwheels as simple appetizers during the holidays or even for a Super Bowl party, and this French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe is one of my favorite things to serve.
Working with puff pastry to create this pinwheel appetizer recipe
If you haven’t worked with puff pastry before, it’s easy! You can make homemade puff pastry with my recipe {HERE} or you can buy puff pastry in sheets from the grocery store and use that too. If you haven’t worked with the grocery store version before, you will just need to let it thaw out for about 40 minutes before making anything.
No matter what flavor profile you’re going for, you can wrap it all up in a delicious puff pastry. When working with homemade dough or the sheets from the grocery store, you want to start with a square. The grocery store version will come this way. but if you make your own then you might need to trim the edges.
Adding in the layers
Almost everyone I know loves French Onion Dip so I decided to use it as the first layer in this French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe. You simply want to spread a layer of the French Onion dip onto the puff pastry. I like to start with a thin layer and then once everything is all baked together, I might dunk the pastry or spread an additional layer on top if I think it needs more.
Once the dip is down, I add on caramelized onions. These only take a few minute to cook up prior to making the pinwheel appetizer recipe.
Next I layer on roast beef that’s been sliced thin. This is simply purchased from the deli section of the grocery store. And while I like it to be thin, you can use a larger slice or even add two slices if you like. Just make sure to cover your entire dough surface except the the edge at the top.
Lastly, I add on provolone from the deli section. It melts perfectly between the layers and adds a nice cheesy creaminess to the puff pastry pinwheel appetizer recipe. You can add on one or two slices depending on how much cheese you like.
Baking it up
Before baking, you want to roll the puff pastry into a log. Add some egg wash to the edge for sealing and then slice the logs into pinwheels.
Add the pinwheels to a baking sheet with cooking spray or olive oil. Then brush the top with an egg wash to help the puff pastry brown up in the oven.
These only take about 18 minutes to bake but keep an eye on them. You want the puff pastry to be golden brown and the cheese to be nice and melty.
Tips for making this French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe
- Have all your ingredients next to you and ready to go. You can whip up this French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe in about 5 minutes so once you get going it’s nice to have everything at your finger tips. This includes the egg wash.
- Make sure to oil the baking sheet or use parchment paper. This will help to remove the pinwheels when they’re done baking.
- These are best served hot but you can also serve them at room temperature and have them taste great.
- If you want to make these ahead of time, store them in the refrigerator and then reheat them in the oven.
- When done, you can add more French Onion dip on the side or add it on top of the pinwheels.
Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends! You can find the full recipe for this French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe below. I hope that you love them! For more appetizer recipes, click {HERE}.

French Onion & Roast Beef Pinwheel appetizer recipe
Ingredients
- 1 package puff pastry from the freezer section or 2 homemade puff pastry sheets One box from the frozen section has two sheets in it. This recipe calls for using both sheets.
- 1 package of a favorite French Dip
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1/2 lb. roast beef, sliced thin
- 1/2 lb. provolone cheese
- Egg wash 1 egg plus 3 Tbsp. water whisked
- Parsley to garnish
- Additional French Onion Dip for dipping
Instructions
- Remove puff pastry from the refrigerator and let it thaw for about 40 minutes. If you're using homemade puff pastry it was likely in the refrigerator and you can use it right away.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Add the olive oil to a pan and heat through. Then add the onions.
- Sauté until they soften and then add the butter. Cook about 5 minutes stirring constantly until caramelized. Remove from burner when done.
- Spread the French Onion Dip on the puff pastry, leaving room at the top to seal the roll.
- Add on the caramelized onions.
- Layer on the roast beef and then provolone.
- Roll up the puff pastry and add the egg wash to the edge to help seal the roll.
- Slice in 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces and then add them to lined baking sheets.
- Brush the tops of the pinwheels with the egg wash.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown and the cheese has melted.
Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but when you add the sliced pinwheels to the cookie sheet to bake, what side up are they facing? Do I lie them on their sides and brush with the egg wash? Or, have them standing up and brush the tops with egg wash? (I never made these before, but plan to try, thanks.) Also, do you mind telling me what French Onion Dip you used? I don’t ordinarily purchase this. Thanks again. 🙂
Hi Shelly, Here’s a link to the recipe reel on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZagF4Dh1pk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Hopefully it will answer a lot of your questions. Just in case it doesn’t work, you brush the egg wash on the top seal before you roll it to help them stick together. Then lay these with the spirals facing up and down. The egg wash is then brushed on top of the spirals again. I used Helluva Dip. I think any one you love will work though.