Pickle wraps (aka pickle roll ups) are a tasty combination of dill pickles, cream cheese & dried beef or ham... A crowd-pleasing party appetizer idea!
Pickle Wraps Appetizer
I'm really not sure where this pickle party appetizer recipe originated, but these dried beef pickle wraps have been a holiday appetizer staple in our family since before I could walk - and probably long before that...
Newcomers to our holiday gatherings always have the same reaction when they first lay eyes on these pickle roll ups - probably the exact reaction many of you are having right now. First they ask, "What in the world ARE those things?" And so someone in the know gives them the quick and dirty "dill pickles wrapped in cream cheese and dried beef or ham" spiel, finishing with a recommendation to try them because they will totally rock their world.
The pickle wrap virgin usually looks a bit skeptical at this point and is about to pass them by. But with a little prodding, they will typically decide to give them a try.
It's always fun to watch their reaction. Wrinkling up their nose, they'll take a tiny bite... And then this look of amazement spreads across their face, and just like that, they're a convert for life. Who knew something so simple and unexpected could taste SO good?!
"Best little appetizer!"
Such an odd combination but once you try these, you will be going back for more!
Pickle Roll Ups Ingredients
And by simple, I mean just three simple ingredients - whole dill pickles, cream cheese, and dried beef (or ham, if you prefer ham pickle roll ups). Did I mention they're pretty darn inexpensive to make, as well?
A fun little aside... When I was pregnant for the first time, I craved pickle wraps. So much that I would make pickle wrap sandwiches: dill pickle chips and dried beef layered on toasted slices of bread smeared with cream cheese. Weird, huh?
Anyhow, I mentioned this craving on a forum I was a member of, and American Baby magazine messaged me asking if they could print it in their magazine. I guess that's my five minutes of fame, LOL!
How To Make Pickle Wraps
Intrigued, yet? I highly recommend trying this easy pickle wrap recipe for your next party. It's the perfect make ahead appetizer - just assemble the pickle roll ups ahead of time, and then slice them shortly before guests arrive.
Ready to learn how to make pickle wraps? You start by slicing a block of cream cheese into eight pieces. Easy enough, right?
Now things are going to get a tad messy... You'll sandwich a whole dill pickle between two slices of the cream cheese, and then press and roll the whole thing between your hands to encase the pickle in the cream cheese.
Once you've covered all of the pickles in cream cheese, it's time to wrap them in dried beef or ham. We've always made dried beef pickle roll ups. The salty dried beef complements the sour dill pickles and tangy cream cheese perfectly (IMO), but I know a lot of people also use ham in this recipe. I'm sure it's delicious, too - so your choice!
Here's how I wrap up my pickle roll ups. Take two slices of dried beef and wrap them around each side of a cream cheese covered pickle. I then use a smear of the extra cream cheese left on the cream cheese wrapper to "glue" the dried beef together where the slices overlap.
After you've assembled all of your pickle wraps, you should refrigerate them for about two hours to firm up the cream cheese before slicing. Then slice them into medallions right before serving. The very ends aren't the prettiest (we called them the "pickle butts" growing up, LOL!), so I serve those to my kids or whomever is lucky enough to be around at the moment.
I find that using an electric knife works best for slicing through the pickle wraps without mangling them. Don't have one? You can use a serrated knife instead - it's just a little more difficult to get a clean cut. Consider picking up an electric knife, though. They come in pretty handy during the holiday season!
Give this pickle appetizer a chance - I really think you'll love them too! Just sayin', these pickle roll ups would make a fantastically easy New Year's Eve appetizer...
Printable Recipe ↓
Dill Pickle Wraps Appetizer
Ingredients
- 8 whole dill pickles
- 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese
- 3 (2-ounce) packages dried beef
Instructions
- Pat the whole pickles dry with a paper towel. Slice each block of cream cheese into 8 pieces.
- Sandwich a whole pickle between two slices of cream cheese, and then smash and roll the whole thing between your hands to encase the pickle in the cream cheese.
- Wrap two slices of dried beef around the cream cheese-encased pickle, using some of the leftover cream cheese from the cream cheese wrapper to "glue" the seams together where the dried beef overlaps.
- Chill for 2 hours to firm up the cream cheese. Slice into medallions with an electric knife before serving.
More yummy & easy appetizer recipes to try:
- These bacon wrapped pickles (aka bacon pickle fries) are the perfect double-duty, easy appetizer for any gathering... Keto-friendly for your low carb guests, but still tasty enough to appeal to everyone else, AND they're just 2 ingredients!
- This sweet & spicy bacon wrapped dates recipe will really knock your guests' socks off! They sound fancy, look fancy, even taste fancy, but they're seriously easy to make...
- Forget the vegetable tray, these little individual veggie cups are the perfect appetizer for any occasion... Easy clean up and NO double dipping!
I'd love to see how your pickle wraps turn out... Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!
Dawn says
It says to refrigerate for 2 hours. Can you make these a day or two ahead and just keep in the frig until ready to cut and serve?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Dawn! They're best made the same day, but you can make them the evening before. I wouldn't recommend more than that, because the juice from the pickles will start to make the cream cheese separate from them.
Laurie says
I've been making these for years! I always use Claussen Pickles! I spread slightly softened cream cheese on the corned beef slices. I use 2-3 slices of meat per pickle, depending on size of pickle. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate. Slice before serving.
Grace says
It originates in Germany! My family makes a dish similar to this I’ve been eating it my whole life!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Oh my gosh — that totally makes sense since my family is mostly Hungarian/German. Thanks for sharing!
Sueann Busam says
I looked through all the comments. Recipe says 8 pickles, 8 slices of cream cheese. Then it says place pickle between 2 slices cream cheese. This would only use 4 pickles. Are you supposed to use
Tara Kuczykowski says
Sorry, not at home to look at it more closely, but each cream cheese block should be sliced into 8 pieces (so 16 total) for 8 pickles and then dried beef or ham as needed to wrap them. Hope that helps!
Janice says
I’ve been Making these for years and my mother made them for years prior to that. We mix horseradish sauce with the cream cheese to give it a big kick and use sweet pickles. So good! I also started using jalapeños instead of pickles and that’s great too for a wallop of flavor.
Tara Kuczykowski says
Love these ideas, Janice — can't wait to try them!
Kristina says
Such an odd combination but once you try these, you will be going back for more! Best little appetizer!
Caroline says
Such a fun idea for a party, and so easy!
Elaine Benoit says
I love, love, love pickles and this looks not only unique but delicious! I can't wait to try this.
Lisa Bynum says
Okay, I am very intrigued. My husband is a dill pickle fiend and I think he would go nuts over this. Wonder what it would taste like with salami??
Tara Kuczykowski says
Oh, I bet it would be amazing with salami, too!
Stephanie says
Wow. I love how easy this looks and I bet so good. I love pickles & cheese together so what a great idea.
Jocelyn says
This is one of our favorite appetizers. We make it for every holiday!
Courtney O'Dell says
My family would LOVE these! So easy!
Stef says
I definitely fall into the skeptical camp on this one. I guess I'm going to have to try them. I'm super curious!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Oh, do try them, please! I know they sound so weird, but they're seriously SO good. I'm making them this weekend!
Rachael Yerkes says
Huge pickle fan here, I can't wait to try these!
Liz says
What a great appetizer! And I love how easy it is too!
Beth says
OMGosh - this is the first time I've seen anything like this. I could have fun with this - just as you created it but also switching up pickles or the meat. How fun!
Tayler Ross says
My family loooooves pickles! I can't wait to try these for the holidays!
Liz says
Good. Messy, but easy to make. Went over well at my Midwestern party.
Dawn Keen Gurule says
Our family has been making these for years. All of us kids would be standing at the chopping board when grandma cut them because she would let us have the ends so the plate of them would look pretty!
Tara Kuczykowski says
We always called those the "pickle butts", LOL! And we'd totally argue over who got to eat them... Now my kids do the same. :)
Dawn Keen Gurule says
Our family has been making these for years. All of us kids would be standing at the chopping board when grandma cut them because she would let us have the ends so the plate of them would look pretty!
Sandy Smith says
My mom used to make these for her card parties when I was a little girl in the 60’s. So delicious! I remember my siblings and I getting strict orders not to touch them, but we would always sneak a “couple”. Years later, we were told that mom always doubled what she really needed. I believe she sprinkled the cream cheese with ‘Accent’.
Tara Kuczykowski says
Ooh, I'll have to try them with the Accent. Thanks, Sandy!
Brenda says
@Sandy Smith, I mix ranch dressing mix in the cream cheese.
Brenda says
I had an idea...
I love dill pickles but not a huge fan of cream cheese. But I don't mind cream cheese as much if it is flavored. So you could either mix dill weed into the cream cheese first or roll the cheesed pickle in dill weed before wrapping in the beef.
Or chives...
Or finely chopped scallions...
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Mmm, sounds delicious, Brenda. Thanks for the suggestion!
Kathleen H says
I've made these for years but instead of keeping the pickles whole, slice then length wise in quarters. Spread the softened cream cheese on the dried beef and roll a pickle spear up in the beef. Next time however I think I'll try the HV ranch dressing packet and mix that in my cream cheese. That actually sounds pretty good.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yes, spears are another good option! I actually used to make dried beef, cream cheese and pickle sandwiches when I was pregnant, LOL.
Jennifer says
We use zesty pickles with the peppers in the pickle juice to spice them up.
Tara says
Mmm, I'm going to try this when I make them for New Year's. Thanks for the suggestion!
Elizabeth Bowlus says
I'm confused. In the picture you have pickles that are large whole pickles. I bought the baby pickles. My store only sells armor dried beef. When I wrapped it around the cream cheese covered pickle they were too small to wrap around the whole thing. Has this happened to anyone else who has tried this recipe?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yes, I use the large whole dill pickles. I've always used the Buddig dried beef, so I'm not sure how it compares to the Armour, but it takes two slices of the Buddig to wrap around one pickle. Just use a little bit of cream cheese like "glue" on the overlapping edges.
Lee says
Armour dried beef is a little more salty, which set the favor mixed with the dill pickle and cream cheese. When I first learned how to make them that was the dried beef I used.
Brenda says
@Elizabeth Bowlus, I use Clausen pickle spears and wrap with a dried beef slice with cream cheese spread on it. I don’t cut it into slices.
Jacalyn Margittay says
Hi! This has been a Wisconsin "go to" appetizer/snack for like forEVer! We've always used sliced ham. And if you really want to get exotic mix a packet of HV ranch or GS Italian dress ion into softened cream cheese. Smear it on a slice of deli ham and roll the pickle up! Ta-da - ice fishing snacks!
Debie says
OMG! I am the official "pickle maker" in my family. This has been a holiday staple in our family since I was little girl. Except we shred the dried beef and then roll the pickles in it. Easiest and best appetizer ever!
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
That's awesome, Debie! I'm always surprised to see how many times this recipe has been pinned. People are usually so hesitant to try them, but of course, when they do, they're hooked.
Cindy says
If you make these, just be prepared to have to make them the rest of your life for every occassion you go to. All I ever hear is who is making the pickles!!
Yes, they are that good!!
Denise {Wholesome Mommy} says
Tara! My family used to make these too - even before I was born. :)
Except we used ham. I haven't had them in forever because we quit eating pork. I am excited to see this and try them this way! I'm sure they'll bring back great memories. I'm glad to have seen this! :)
Denise
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
I think you'll love them, Denise! The saltiness of the dried beef pairs really well with the slightly sweet cream cheese and sour pickles.