These are crescent roll dough pockets filled with a seasoned mix of ground chicken and minced turkey ham, baked until golden. They come together in under 30 minutes and hold up well through the week, which makes them genuinely useful beyond the night you bake them.
Before you start
The one technique that actually matters here is getting the ground chicken fully cooked before it goes into the dough — ground poultry must reach 165°F (74°C) internally, and the short bake time alone won’t guarantee that if the filling goes in raw. Cook and cool the filling first, then fill the rolls. The second thing worth doing: chop the turkey ham fine enough that it blends into the chicken rather than sitting in chunks. A food processor works, but a sharp knife and a few extra seconds of chopping gets you there too. Uneven pieces push through the dough seams and cause leaks.
Smart swaps
- Turkey ham (Maple Glazed Honey style): Regular deli turkey ham works fine. Avoid thick-cut slices — they’re harder to mince evenly. Skip the garnish on top of the rolls — not worth the extra dish.
- McCormick Perfect Pinch chicken seasoning: Any MSG-free poultry seasoning blend is a direct substitute. A pinch of dried thyme, onion powder, and paprika mixed together also covers it.
- Pillsbury crescent roll dough: Any refrigerated crescent dough works. If you use a seamless crescent dough sheet, cut it into triangles yourself — roughly the same size as the pre-cut version.
Keeping and reheating
Baked rolls keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze them in a single layer first, then transfer to a zip bag — they’ll hold well for up to 2 months. Reheat straight from the fridge in a 325°F (163°C) oven for 8–10 minutes; this keeps the dough from going soggy, which a microwave will cause. From frozen, add 5 more minutes. The filling reheats evenly because it’s already fully cooked, so you’re just warming through rather than cooking again. Pre-cooked filling on its own freezes just as well — portion it into small bags and pull out only what you need.
What can go wrong
- Filling is wet and the dough tears: If the cooked chicken mixture has excess liquid, the dough gets slippery and hard to seal. Drain or pat the filling dry before rolling.
- Rolls burst open during baking: This usually means too much filling or loose seams. Use a modest amount per roll and press the dough edges firmly together before placing seam-side down on the pan.
- Bottoms brown too fast, tops stay pale: Dark baking sheets run hotter underneath. Use a light-colored or insulated sheet pan, or place a second pan underneath as a buffer.
- Filling tastes flat after reheating: Garlic powder and black pepper can fade when the filling sits. Mix the seasoning in just before filling the rolls if you’re prepping in stages, rather than seasoning a batch you plan to refrigerate overnight.
- Dough sticks to the work surface: Crescent dough is sticky when warm. If your kitchen is hot, chill the opened dough for 5 minutes before unrolling — it handles much more cleanly.
Gratifying Chicken and Turkey Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
6 ounces ground chicken (minced chicken)- 16 ounces dinner rolls - Pillsbury
- 1 packet chicken seasoning - without MSG
- 3 ounces turkey ham - Maple Glazed Honey
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place manually chicken in an electric chopper and mince.
- Remove dark edges of turkey ham slices and chop the ham. Mince ham in your electric chopper.
- In a large bowl, thoroughly mix minced chicken and turkey ham.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of McCormick Perfect Pinch Original chicken seasoning.
- Add garlic powder and ground pepper to taste.
- Open dinner rolls packages and carefully unroll the dough, separating it into triangles.
- Place a spoonful of minced chicken and turkey ham filling in the centre of each triangle.
- Roll up as per instructions on the package.
- Rolling dough triangle with filling.
- Curve each roll into a crescent shape.
- Place dinner rolls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes, as indicated on the package.
Nutrition
Common questions
Can I make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it?
Yes — the cooked filling keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days before you fill and bake the rolls. Store it in a sealed container and bring it close to room temperature before filling so the cold filling doesn’t slow the bake unevenly.
How do I know the ground chicken filling is fully cooked?
Use an instant-read thermometer — ground chicken needs to hit 165°F (74°C) with no pink remaining. Color alone isn’t reliable with ground poultry, so the thermometer check is worth the 10 seconds it takes.
Can I bake a big batch and freeze them before baking instead of after?
Freeze them after baking, not before. Unbaked crescent dough doesn’t freeze well in its filled form — the dough texture suffers and the seams tend to open. Fully baked rolls reheat cleanly and hold their shape.
What dipping sauces work well with these?
Ranch, honey mustard, or a simple garlic aioli all pair well with the chicken and turkey ham filling. If you want something with a little heat, a sriracha-mayo mix takes about 30 seconds to stir together and works just as well.
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