This Chex Mix recipe is my family’s FAVORITE and yields savory, delicious, flavorful mix every single time!
Growing up, my grandma was not a good cook. She was notorious for microwaving everything, including day-old fast food in the wrappers, and nothing was seasoned properly at all. Needless to say, holidays in which she cooked were less than desirable and I usually ate beforehand or had something stowed away at home to nosh on later.
However, she did make Chex Mix every Thanksgiving and it was pretty good. I wish she’d seasoned it more, but it inspired me to make my own and this is our new family favorite Chex Mix recipe. The best part is is that it is entirely customizable to your family’s preferences. For instance, my grandma used pretzel sticks which my dad and I found dry and boring, so we sub in miniature saltines instead (they soak up all the butter and are soooo delicious!). Don’t like nuts? Leave them out! It’s so simple.
Making Chex Mix
Chex Mix is a simple recipe with a few key components that you can add and subtract from to make your own secret family recipe. But here’s mine!
The “Chex”
Aka, what we’re crunching on. Typically, as the name implies, this is a base mix of Chex cereal – one or two types. I like to use Rice and Corn Chex, but you can also use Wheat Chex. I also add in miniature saltine crackers or oyster crackers (because they soak up an insane amount of buttery goodness!) and nuts like almonds, cashews and peanuts. In addition, you can use:
- Cereals: Wheat, Corn, and/or Rice Chex cereals; Cheerios
- Crackers: oyster crackers; miniature saltine crackers; goldfish crackers; pretzel rods or twists; bagel chips; coarsely chopped crunchy breadsticks
- Nuts: almonds; walnuts; peanuts; cashews; shelled pistachios; Brazil nuts
The “Mix”
The mix consists of the coating, aka – the seasoning! Otherwise you just have a bunch of dry stuff in a bowl! For this you definitely need butter as your base to coat everything, but as far as seasoning goes, my family relies on five key components: Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, all-purpose seasoning salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. And we use a lot. Our version is VERY savory and bold which is how we like it, but you can totally adjust the measurements.
Seasoning options could be…
- BBQ seasoning, such as your favorite prepared dry rub
- Ranch seasoning powder
- Chili lime (Tajin)
It’s totally up to you!
You’ll just melt the butter, whisk in the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce (if using) and seasonings until combined and pour it over your dry ingredients in a large roasting pan. Bake for an hour on low heat, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure everything gets coated thoroughly. Then let it cool! This stuff is ADDICTIVE, so be warned!
Perfect Chex Mix, coming right up!
Family Favorite Chex Mix
This is our Parker Family Favorite CHEX MIX Recipe! We always fight over it and there is NEVER enough because it is SO dang tasty! Savory, crunchy, addictive – this stuff is amazing!
Ingredients
- 8 cups Corn Chex cereal
- 8 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 11 oz (1 box) mini saltine crackers
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 2 cups roasted, unshelled, unsalted peanuts (or raw, unshelled if you can find them)
- 2 cups raw almonds
- 2 cups (4 sticks aka 32 Tbsp) unsalted butter
- 4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4-1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce, optional
- 3 Tbsp seasoning salt (like Lawry’s)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300°F. Add the cereal, crackers, and nuts (or whatever your dry snack mix ingredients are going to be) to a large roasting pan. I like using a disposable foil one for easy clean-up from the grocery store! Mix it up and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco (if using), seasoning salt, and garlic and onion powders until fully combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the cereal mixture in the pan and toss to coat as best as you can.
Bake for 1 hour, stopping to stir the mixture thoroughly every 15 minutes to ensure each piece gets coated well. Sometimes if I am feeling extra spicy, I will sprinkle a little more garlic and onion powder or seasoning salt on during this stirring process for added flavor. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before serving.
Store any leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container, or just throw some foil over the pan it was cooked in. Keeps for a couple weeks if stored properly… if it lasts that long!
Notes
See Notes in the recipe post, but you can totally customize this Chex Mix to suit your family’s preferences. Instead of my seasoning mix, use Ranch seasoning powder instead and whisk it into the butter mixture. Prefer a smoky flavor? Try using a BBQ dry rub powder instead! Love pretzel sticks? Omit the saltine crackers and use them instead.
This Chex Mix is honestly one of my FAVORITE parts about the holidays and I hope you will enjoy it, too!
Craving more snack mixes? Try this recipe…
Best Ever Muddy Buddies Recipe
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
