Mom’s Chicken and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

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Published: October 22, 2019Updated: July 21, 2021Author: Camille Beckstrand
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Chicken Pillows, Chicken Roll-Ups or Chicken Pockets - whatever you call these, they're a kid-friendly dinner favorite. Shredded chicken mixed with cream cheese, mushrooms, and diced onion all rolled up in a delicious, buttery crescent roll.
Mom’s Chicken and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

Our mom has been making these for as long as we can remember. These were a staple at our house growing up, and they were always one of our favorites!

Whether you call them chicken pockets, chicken pillows, or chicken roll-ups, these cheesy, chicken rolls are perfect for little hands who always want to “dip” their food (anyone else’s kids the same way?!).

We know that everyone has their favorite way of making this recipe, so here’s ours.

If you love recipes that use crescent roll dough, be sure to check out our French Dip Crescents, Malibu Chicken Crescents, and our Pumpkin Cream Cheese Crescents!

5 Simple ingredients

One of the best things about this recipe? You only need 5 common ingredients to throw it together.

  • Cubed or shredded chicken. You can use rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked chicken, or quickly boil some chicken and chop or shred it.
  • Refrigerated crescent rolls. You could also use thawed Rhodes Roll dough in a pinch.
  • Cream cheese. Any kind will do for this recipe, including low-fat or non-fat.
  • Chopped onion. This is definitely optional. If you have littles that won’t eat onions, feel free to omit these or substitute them for a 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder.
  • Mushrooms. Growing up, our mom always used a small can of mushrooms. When I make them now, I like to use fresh mushrooms diced really small (so my kids will eat them!).

How to make chicken roll-ups

  1. In a large bowl, mix together cooked chicken, softened cream cheese, onion, and mushrooms.
  2. Roll out your crescents, place a heaping spoonful of chicken mixture on the wide end of the crescent and roll it up.
  3. Place on large cookie sheet (you’ll want to use your largest pan to fit them all).
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Watch for the rolls to turn golden, but make sure they don’t burn. This recipe will make 16 roll-ups.

What to serve with this recipe

We love to serve this recipe with mashed potatoes and gravy. Our kids love to dip them in gravy (or ketchup – haha!). These are some of our favorite side dish recipes to serve with these chicken roll-ups:

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Watch how to make our Chicken Cream Cheese Roll-Ups below:


How To store Chicken Roll-Ups

Because of the cream cheese, these tend to get a little soggy the longer they sit. If you do have leftovers, refrigerate them in an airtight container for a day or two and reheat before eating.

We wouldn’t recommend freezing the finished product (again, they would definitely be too soggy), but you could freeze the roll-ups before you bake them. When you’re ready to eat them, pull them out of the freezer, let them thaw, and then bake according to the recipe directions.

More chicken recipes:

Serves: 16

Mom's Chicken and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups Recipe

Chicken Pillows, Chicken Roll-Ups or Chicken Pockets - whatever you call these, they're a kid-friendly dinner favorite. Shredded chicken mixed with cream cheese, mushrooms, and diced onion all rolled up in a delicious, buttery crescent roll.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 14 mins
Total Time 24 mins
Print

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
  • 2 Tablespoons onion (diced - optional)
  • 1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms (drained)
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages crescent roll dough

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Mix together cooked chicken, softened cream cheese, onion, and mushrooms.
  • Roll out your crescents, place a heaping spoonful of chicken mixture on wide-end of crescent and roll it up. Place on large cookie sheet (I use my largest jelly-roll pan). Bake for 12-14 minutes (watch for the rolls to turn golden).

Notes

These are also delicious served with chicken gravy.

Nutrition

Calories: 162 kcal · Carbohydrates: 13 g · Protein: 8 g · Fat: 9 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 26 mg · Sodium: 322 mg · Potassium: 164 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 4 g · Vitamin A: 87 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 23 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Recipe Details

Course: Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: American

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  1. Michael Ann says:
    August 29, 2011
    I'm sold! These look fabulous!! And easy. Love that the most.
    Reply
  2. Desirae says:
    August 29, 2011
    I am sold as well. Already added the ingredients to my shopping list for tomorrow!
    Reply
  3. Lark (SparkyLarky)@ Lark's Country Heart says:
    August 29, 2011
    Yup a staple for my house growing up!
    Reply
  4. imsteelefullofscrap says:
    August 31, 2011
    I will definetly be trying these they look scrumptious!
    Reply
  5. Desirae says:
    September 1, 2011
    These were SO yummy and oh so very filling!
    Reply
  6. Allison says:
    February 25, 2012
    My mom made something similar to this when I was growing up. Instead of rolling the mixture in the crescent roll, she would wrap the roll around the mixture to completely enclose it. Then she would dip the roll in butter and then in seasoned breadcrumbs before baking. They were a hit at our house.
    Reply
  7. anadcock says:
    May 23, 2012
    I'm making these tonight, but I was wondering, can you freeze any leftovers?
    Reply
    • Six Sisters says:
      May 24, 2012
      I'll be honest. They get a little soggy even the next day. I'm afraid freezing them and then thawing them would make them even more soggy! When I was first married I cut the recipe in half since there was only two of us.
      Now that I think about it... I bet you could make them- not cook them- and freeze them that way. I hope this is helpful for you,
      Sincerely,
      Kristen - the second sister
      Reply
  8. candace wilkerson says:
    October 15, 2012
    I've never cooked before so when you say cooked chicken... how do I do that? On the stove? Boil it? In the oven? So lost when it comes to cooking.
    Reply
    • Camille says:
      October 15, 2012
      No worries! You can cook the chicken any of those ways. I am lazy and just like to boil it- just throw the chicken in a pot of boiling water until the insides are no longer pink (15-20 minutes, then just cut the chicken open to make sure it's cooked through). Or you could saute it on the stove top- I just like to cut it into small pieces and throw it in a frying pan on the stove with a little bit of olive oil. Any way would be just fine!
      Reply
  9. Andrea says:
    April 5, 2013
    How do you make the gravy?
    Reply
    • Six Sisters says:
      April 5, 2013
      Where you don't have any drippings, we use cream of chicken soup and dilute it with some water or milk or you can buy the bottled chicken gravy.
      Reply
  10. Lesta says:
    December 13, 2017
    I haven't made this in ages and I wanted to make sure I remembered how. Thanks so much for sharing!
    Reply
  11. Nancy Fox says:
    April 25, 2018
    Make the Chicken Roll Ups as recipe calls for, have your melted butter & bread crumbs ready in each separate bowl & roll each Chicken Roll Up in the butter first then into the bread crumbs, cook @ 350* in oven for 1/2 hour or a light golden brown. I like mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, cooked broccoli, asparagus carrots or corn with mine, & maybe a nice tossed salad to make a complete (yummy) meal. Enjoy with the family & friends. I’ve been making these Chicken Roll Ups for a long time ( 20 or more years so I know there good !!
    Reply
    • Nancy Fox says:
      April 25, 2018
      This is Nancy again !!! ? You can also freeze your Chicken Roll Ups after making & cooking them. Then when your ready to have them for dinner just unthaw & heat them up in the micro wave They are still very good !!! Thanks ?
      Reply
  12. Cathy says:
    April 9, 2019
    How much chicken...1 lb? Didn't see where it said how much of each ingredient. Thanks!
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      April 10, 2019
      Scroll down on the blog post and you'll see the entire recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions. I don't think you scrolled down far enough on the post.
      Reply
  13. Vicki says:
    April 15, 2019
    We’ve been making these in our family for years. We like to add shredded cheese and leave out the mushrooms because the cooks don’t like mushrooms lol. We call them “chicken in a diaper” because when sealed up like someone else mentioned, they look a little bit like diapers.
    Reply
  14. Jessica says:
    April 16, 2019
    What's the sauce in top that's in the main picture?
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      April 18, 2019
      You can use a gravy or cream of chicken soup with a little bit of milk added to it. Then heat it up. Works great as a gravy.
      Reply
  15. Ardis says:
    August 5, 2019
    Would adding a little ranch to the mix taste okay?
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      August 12, 2019
      Adding a little ranch sounds delicious!!
      Reply
  16. Kimberly says:
    September 26, 2019
    What would be a substitute for the mushrooms? Would broccoli chopped very small work as a substitution?
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      October 14, 2019
      You could use broccoli, but you would need to cook it first. The baking time for the roll-ups is not enough time to cook broccoli.
      Reply
  17. Carol says:
    September 28, 2019
    I didn’t see a recipe for the gravy, did you use store bought?
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      October 14, 2019
      We have used store bought, cream of chicken soup, and leftover homemade gravy. They all taste great.
      Reply
  18. Tiffany Aiken says:
    October 24, 2019
    Could I use the canned shredded chicken (sorta looks like tuna) from Costco? Or would that be weird...
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      October 28, 2019
      Hi Tiffany. We are totally about shortcuts and the canned shredded chicken will work great in these Mom's chicken and cream cheese roll-ups.
      Reply
  19. Jessica says:
    December 7, 2019
    Would these be okay made in a soft tortilla wrap rather than the crescent roll? My toddler is kind of hard to cook for but will eat anything in a tortilla wrap.
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      December 19, 2019
      Hi Jessica. We have not baked these in a tortilla. It should work fine and will crisp up a little when cooked.
      Reply
  20. Carol says:
    April 6, 2020
    Can these be made using shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese instead of cream cheese?
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      April 8, 2020
      You could add shredded cheese, but the cream cheese gives the chicken mixture a creamy consistency.
      Reply
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