Turkey Avocado Roll-Ups

5 min Prep 2 Servings
Turkey Avocado Roll-Ups

Watch how it’s made

Every step in 0:56 — from the ingredients to the finished dish.

There is no recipe here in the usual sense. Turkey, avocado, a leaf, roll it. Five minutes and 5 grams of carbohydrate, which is the lowest number on this site.

It earns its place for a specific reason: it is the thing to make when you have no time, no plan and are about to eat something you will regret. Snacking is where most people lose the thread, and the solution to that is not a better snack recipe. It is a snack that requires no recipe.

Read the turkey label

This is the only place this can go wrong. Deli turkey ranges from a single ingredient to a long list, and some brands add dextrose, corn syrup solids or honey during curing. Those carry carbohydrate you would not expect in a meat.

Look for the shortest ingredient list you can find. Turkey breast, water, salt is what you want. Anything ending in -ose is added sugar.

Sodium is the other thing to check. Deli meats are cured with salt and a portion can carry 600 milligrams or more. Lower-sodium versions are widely sold and taste no different in this.

Avocado does the binding

Mashed rather than sliced. Slices slide out when you roll; mashed avocado acts as glue and holds the whole thing together.

It is also the fat, and the fat is why this holds you. Turkey alone is lean protein and disappears fast. Turkey with 15 grams of fat alongside behaves quite differently.

The leaf is structural

A spinach or lettuce leaf inside the roll stops the avocado soaking into the turkey and gives you something with a bit of resistance to bite through.

Baby spinach is easiest since the leaves are already the right size. Romaine works if you tear it down.

Rolling them so they hold

Lay two slices of turkey overlapping by about half. Spread the avocado over the whole surface, not just the near end. Add the leaf and any vegetable, then roll tightly from the short edge.

Cut each roll in half on a diagonal. It is presentation rather than function, but it makes something that took four minutes look like it took fifteen.

A note on this as a habit

The reason we included something this simple is that complexity is the enemy of consistency. A snack you can make without thinking, from things that live in the refrigerator anyway, is the one you will actually reach for at four in the afternoon.

Keep the components in. That is the whole strategy.

Ingredients

  • 8 slices deli turkey breast (low sodium, no added sugar)
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 8 baby spinach leaves
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, cut in thin strips
  • 1/4 cucumber, cut in thin batons
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)
  • Salt and black pepper

Instructions

  1. Mash the avocado with the lime juice, salt and pepper until spreadable.
  2. Lay two slices of turkey on a board, overlapping by about half.
  3. Spread the mashed avocado over the whole surface, and the Dijon if using.
  4. Lay a spinach leaf on top with a few strips of pepper and cucumber along the short edge.
  5. Roll tightly from the short edge and cut in half on a diagonal.
  6. Repeat to make four rolls, two per person.

Nutrition (per serving)

240 kcal
Calories
5 g
Carbs
24 g
Protein
14 g
Fat
4 g
Fiber

Tips

Spread the avocado right to the far edge, not just where the filling sits. That last inch is what seals the roll shut when you finish rolling, and without it the whole thing unwinds on the plate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Some deli meats are cured with dextrose, corn syrup solids or honey, which adds carbohydrate you would not expect in a meat. Look for turkey breast, water and salt.

It can be, at 600mg or more per portion. Lower-sodium versions are widely available and taste the same in this.

A few hours, wrapped tightly. The avocado browns slowly under the turkey since there is little air, but they are best the same day.

Cream cheese, a thin smear of the edamame avocado dip from this collection, roasted red pepper, or a little hummus. All keep the carbohydrate low.

References

Where the general guidance on this page comes from. Figures are population-level recommendations, not advice for your own situation.

Glucose Smart Kitchen Team

We are a small team of home cooks and keen readers of nutrition guidance, not doctors or dietitians. We write the site we wanted when diabetes first came into our own lives: recipes that work on a weeknight, and plain explanations of the advice published by bodies like the ADA and the CDC.

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