Sweet Salty and Spicy Chex Mix Recipe

This sweet, spicy, crunchy, salty Chex mix recipe is the perfect snack for the holiday season and great for gifting! It’s easy to make and a definite crowd favorite. Get your holiday party started with this delicious addictive snack.

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About Chex party mix
Ingredients
How to make it
Useful tips
Chex mix flavors
Common questions
📋Sweet and Spicy Chex Mix Recipe

About Chex party mix

One of the easiest snacks you’ll ever make. Simply mix all the ingredients, pour the spicy buttery seasoning, and bake. The best part, customize it with any mix-ins of your choice.
The wonderful combination of sweetness from honey, spicy kick from cayenne and chili powder, saltiness of pretzels, and crunch from Chex cereal makes it a favorite snack for parties!
If you look back at the original Chex mix recipe that was made during the 50s the snack mix had no pretzels and the recipe called for margarine instead of butter. Over the years the recipe was modernized and customized based on people’s choices and preferences.
Make this snack mix following the original recipe or give your modern twist, it sure is to become one of your favorite savory snacks to munch on. Think of game day, football snacks, kids’ lunch box snacks, or every other family gathering, this homemade party snack would fit it perfectly for all. It pairs perfectly with beer too.
The wonderful combination of sweet, spicy, and salty snacks is super addictive.
If you are looking easy to easy-to-make, fuss-free holiday gifting food, this would be an AMAZING choice! Your family and friends are sure to enjoy it! Guaranteed to be a crowd favorite!

Ingredients

Dry Snacks –

Chex Cereal (I used a combination of rice, corn, and wheat Chex cereal)
Mini pretzels twists
Mini pretzel rods
Mini breadsticks
Nuts (I used a combination of almonds, whole cashews and pistachios)
Bagel chips (I used Rye bagel chips. Plain bagel chips works too)

dry snack mix ingredients for chex mix recipe

Sweet & spicy seasoning –

Butter
Worcestershire sauce
Honey
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder

ingredients to make chex mix recipe seasoning sauce

How to make it

Chex snack mix has three types of Chex cereal in it. They are rice, corn, and wheat Chex cereal. You can use equal quantities of all three Chex cereals or reduce the amount of wheat Chex cereal. I have used 1 cup of rice Chex cereal and ½ cup of both corn and wheat Chex cereal. Feel free to use the 1:1:1 ratio of all three cereals if you prefer it.

Other mix-ins are pretzels, nuts, and candies. A mix of both pretzel twists and pretzel rods can be used. For nuts, use pecans, whole cashews, almonds, pistachios, and/or macadamia nuts. Along with this mix, I added mini breadsticks. I avoided the candies.

dry snack mix in bowl for chex mix recipe

Doesn’t stop just there. Think of adding some crackers – mini oyster crackers, Ritz crackers, cheese crackers too. The more mix-ins you include, the better it’s going to taste. And the flavors are going to enhance. Don’t shy from adding more variety of ingredients.

It’s the seasoning that is going to give this snack that spark of flavor. Sweet and spicy flavored seasoning makes a great holiday snack.

To make the seasoning, you’ll need to melt butter and mix in Worcestershire sauce, honey, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt.

Pour this seasoning over the snack mix and give it a good mix to coat everything evenly with the seasoning.

Spread it over a baking tray into one single layer.

homemade chex mix ingredients spread on baking tray

Bake in pre-heated oven at 250 F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the mix turns crispy. To prevent burning, be sure to stir it once or twice in between.

This snack mix can be made in the oven, microwave, or even a slow cooker. Once the snack mix is crispy, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely. Place it in airtight containers and store it in a cool place for up to 3 weeks.

Useful tips

Use the best quality ingredients for the best taste. The quality of butter used in the recipe will matter, use premium quality butter.
Be gentle while mixing buttered seasoning with the dry snack mix so they don’t break.
Adjust the seasoning as per your taste preference. Experiment with different seasonings for the snack, check below for various flavoring options.
Don’t forget to stir every 15 minutes while baking. This prevents the snack mix from burning at the bottom and ensures even baking.
Adjust baking time according to your oven temperature. Note: every oven temperature varies and you may want to adjust the baking time accordingly to make sure the snack mix is crisped enough or reduce the time to prevent it from burning.
Allow to cool completely before you store the snack mix in air-tight jars.

Chex mix flavors

Make the snack mix different each time with different seasonings. Here are some ideas for flavoring –

Cajun Chex mix: use the recipe mentioned below and use 2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning with melted butter and bake until crispy.

Taco Chex mix: skip onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and Worcestershire sauce from the recipe. Add 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning with 1 teaspoon of cumin powder along with melted butter and follow the recipe as mentioned below.

Ranch Chex mix: a substitute for the mentioned spices 1 packet of ranch seasoning mixed with butter and use as mentioned.

Barbeque Chex mix: substitute Worcestershire sauce with ½ cup of BBQ sauce and follow the recipe as it is.

Common questions

Is this snack mix spicy?

Not too spicy, I would say it’s mildly spicy.
Honey cuts down the spiciness making this Christmas snack mix mildly spiced. If you are someone who loves spice, I recommend you increase the amount of chili powder and cayenne pepper. You can also sprinkle the spice powders once the snack mix is baked and out of the oven while it’s hot.

What other flavors and variations can I make?

This recipe can be customized according to your preferences –
Make it your own: If you don’t like any ingredient, feel free to replace it with another ingredient that you prefer, or leave it out.
Gluten-Free – use rice Chex, pretzels, and gluten-free bagel chips.
Nut-Free – Leave out nuts and use seeds like pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds instead.
Flavoring or Seasoning: If making for kids you can leave out chili powder and cayenne pepper completely or reduce the quantity and add it.

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