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
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)
Sweet & spicy seasoning –
- Butter
- Worcestershire sauce
- Honey
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper
- Chili powder
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
MORE HOLIDAY GIFT RECIPES
- Candied Walnuts
- Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
- Hot chocolate sticks
- Christmas Popcorn
- Chocolate covered pretzels
- S’mores Puppy Chow
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📋Sweet and Spicy Chex Mix Recipe
Ingredients
Dry Snack Mix –
- 9 cups chex cereal I used a combination of rice, corn and wheat chex cereal
- 1 cup mini pretzels twists
- 1 cup mini pretzel rods
- 1 cup mini bread sticks
- 2 cups nuts I used a combination of almonds, whole cashews and pistachios
- 1 cup bagel chips I used Rye bagel chips. You can use plain bagel chips
Sweet & Spicy Sauce For Seasoning –
- ¾ cup butter melted
- 2 tablespoon Worcestshrire sauce
- ½ cups honey
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven at 250 F.
- In a bowl add all three types of chex cereal, mini pretzel twists, mini pretzel rods, mini bread sticks, bagel chips and nuts.
- In a microwave safe bowl melt butter. To melted butter add worcestshrire sauce, honey, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cayenne pepper and chili powder. Whisk well.
- Pour the seasoning sauce over the dry snack mix.
- Using a spatula mix to coat all dry ingredients evenly.
- Transfer the chex snack mix contents onto a baking tray.
- Spread it into one even layer.
- Bake in preheated oven at 250 F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until everything turns crispy evenly.
- Remove snack mix from oven and let it cool completely.
- You can serve it straight away for snacking or keep it stored in air tight container for up-to 3 weeks.
Video
Notes
- 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.
- Seasoning: If making for kids leave out chili powder and cayenne pepper completely or reduce the quantity.
- 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 variations on seasoning.
- 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.
Comments & Reviews
Ted says
I’ve made this recipe twice for parties. People eat it up. Very tasty. Just the right amount of sweet and savory.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Glad you loved the recipe Ted, thank you
Debt says
Will try this for friends way for kids without pepper
Debbie says
I have since tried with pistachios along with itty bitty pretzels,peanuts and rice and corn Chex.
Great snack mix.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Thank you Debbie. So glad to hear you loved the recipe!
Kim says
Not spicy at all and not enough sauce
Michelle says
This is perfect for the holidays! I can think of a lot of family members who’d love this as a gift
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Michelle
Jamie says
This made such a lovely snack for my nieces and nephew! I love the flavor the sweet and spicy sauce gave to the chex mix!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you
Amanda says
LOVE homemade Chex Mix for the Holidays. Thanks for sharing!
jyothirajesh says
Glad you liked it. Thank yo Amanda
Jenni LeBaron says
This sweet & spicy chex mix looks delicious! The bagel chips are always my favorite part! I’m positive this would be devoured in my house.
jyothirajesh says
Made a big batch and it’s already over, a big hit with my family too. Do try it, I’m sure it’ll be devoured.
Patti@PattyCakesPantry says
I love to make a big batch of Chex Mix to have on hand during the holidays, but I’ve never added cayenne, chili powder, and honey to mine. All I usually add in the way of heat is dash or two of Louisiana hot sauce. I also never thought to add bread sticks and bagel chips. Your comibnation sounds like it would taste so much bolder with the combination of sweet and spicy. I will definitely be giving this a try.
jyothirajesh says
Thank you
Shelley says
This is such a fun recipe! Seeing your post brought me straight back to my childhood, when we’d have some sort of similar Chex Mix at Christmas at my grandmother’s house. I’m sure it was one of the vintage versions like you describe! I love the updates here – especially the yummy pistachios and cashews!
jyothirajesh says
Glad you liked it. Thank you Shelley
Tom Braeger says
I made this and the seasoning is fantastic! Homemade is the way to go! Thanks!
jyothirajesh says
So glad you tried and liked it Tom. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
Anna says
Love this simple but delicious snack idea! And anything with a bit of heat added to it, and I’m all over t! These would be just perfect for all the festive gatherings in the upcoming holiday season!
jyothirajesh says
I love spice too Anna. This was delicious! Thank you
Colleen says
Except for the bagel chips, this is the exact recipe that my mom made for every single party and gathering, (and always at Christmas) when I was growing up. I haven’t thought of it in years, so thank you for sharing!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Colleen.