Whether you’re preparing a spread for a football game, having friends and family over for Christmas or New Year, or just bingeing your favorite Netflix show, having some crunchy-salty snacks on hand is a must! But store-bought snacks, like Chex Mix, can get pricey. Luckily, making Chex Mix at home is super easy and it’s way less expensive than store-bought. This super easy Spicy Chex Mix recipe is just like the classic snack mix but with an optional spicy kick! It’s so easy and so good that you might find yourself making a batch every week instead of buying your regular chips and pretzels!
“Y’all, this Chex mix is SO GOOD. My husband is a bit of a hot sauce aficionado, and we have multiple different bottles of sauces in the house. I’ve probably made this recipe 8 times now, using a different sauce each time, and it’s been so fun to see how the flavor of the mix changes when we use different sauces. We have this smoked onion hot sauce that is my personal favorite so far. Also, I have Celiac, so I make this gluten free by using just rice and corn chex, and using GF pretzels and cheese crackers. I have no need to look for another Chex mix recipe – this will be my go-to from now on!”
Carrie
Ingredients for Chex Mix
Chex mix is super simple to make and the ingredients are quite flexible, which allows you to customize this recipe to fit your needs or whatever happens to be on sale. Here’s what you’ll need to make homemade Chex Mix:
Cereal: This is Chex mix, after all! I like to use a mix of rice Chex, corn Chex, and wheat Chex to give a lot of color, flavor, and texture variation in the mix. To save costs, generic versions of Chex work every bit as well as the brand name!
Pretzels and Crackers: For even more texture and color, we add in some pretzels and crackers into the mix. I like to use cheese crackers and pretzel rods, but you can use any shaped pretzels you like.
Nuts: A few nuts make the mix extra filling. I went with peanuts because they’re the most budget-friendly!
Butter: Butter is essential for making a delicious Chex Mix. It soaks into the cereal, pretzels, and crackers making everything extra lip-licking good, and it helps all of the flavors and seasonings adhere.
Seasoning: For this Chex Mix we used a savory mix of seasonings that include Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt (like Lawry’s), garlic powder, smoked paprika, and hot sauce. The hot sauce is optional, so if you don’t want your Chex Mix to be spicy, just leave it out.
Make it Spicy or Mild
This recipe is really flexible and it’s super easy to make either spicy or mild. To make the Chex Mix mild, simply skip the hot sauce. If you plan to make the spicy version, you can use just about any vinegar-based hot sauce. I’ve used a cayenne-flavored hot sauce, like Tabasco, and even a thicker hot sauce like sriracha. The flavors are slightly different, but great nonetheless!
More Variations to Try!
Aside from switching out the hot sauce, you can swap out the other ingredients to create different variations! Here are some ideas to try:
I use a mix of rice, corn, and wheat Chex, but you can use any combination of these cereals that you like. I’ve even seen mixes made with Cornflakes and Cheerios cereal. I’d use any leftover rice Chex to make our puppy chow for a sweet snack option!
I went for peanuts, but cashews, almonds, or even a bag of mixed nuts would be great.
Switch the seasonings for a ranch seasoning mix, and you’ll have a ranch-flavored snack mix. I think buffalo sauce would be delicious in this variation, too.
I’ve only ever made this recipe using butter. However, if you can’t have butter, you could try margarine, dairy-free butter, or vegetable oil in a pinch (you’ll likely need to reduce the amount called for in the recipe if subbing with oil)—let me know if you try it!
Add some taco seasoning for a fun taco-flavored mix. Or try a different spice blend like Creole (I like Tony Chachere’s), BBQ, or Everything Bagel seasoning.
Chex Mix Add-Ins
If you want to take your Chex Mix up a level, here are some other ingredients you can add:
Rice crackers
Mini-breadsticks
Bagel chips
Oyster crackers
M&Ms (add after baking)
Dried fruit and seeds (to make a spicy trail mix! add after baking)
How to Store Chex Mix
If you don’t end up eating the entire batch in one night (I won’t judge), make sure to store your leftover Chex Mix in an air-tight container like a ziptop bag or a resealable food container. As long as it stays sealed, it should stay fresh for a few weeks. You can also freeze the Chex Mix for about three months (again, make sure it’s sealed air-tight).
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Homemade Chex Mix
This Chex Mix is an easy homemade snack mix with just the right combination of salty, crunchy, and spicy flavors.
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Total Cost $3.82 recipe / $0.48 serving
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings 81 cup each
Calories 388kcal
Author Beth Moncel
Equipment
Splatterware Sheet Pan
Parchment Paper
Ingredients
1.5cupsrice chex$0.23
1.5cupscorn chex$0.23
1.5cupswheat chex$1.05
1cupcheese crackers$0.39
1cuppretzels$0.24
1/2cupunsalted peanuts$0.48
6Tbspsalted butter$0.84
1TbspWorcestershire sauce$0.04
1.5Tbsphot sauce$0.14
3/4tspseasoning salt*$0.08
1/2tspgarlic powder$0.05
1/2tspsmoked paprika$0.05
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 250ºF. Combine the rice chex, corn chex, wheat chex, cheese crackers, pretzels, and peanuts. Stir the dry ingredients together.
Melt the butter in a separate bowl, then stir in the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
Pour about a third of the seasoned butter over the dry ingredients, then stir well. Repeat two more times until all of the butter has been added. Continue to stir the chex mix until everything is very well coated.
Spread the seasoned mix over a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
After baking for one hour, the snack mix will be dry, toasty, and delicious. Serve warm or let cool before serving.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
*Seasoning salt like Lawry’s or a similar generic brand.
Preheat the oven to 250ºF. Melt 6 Tbsp salted butter in a bowl, then stir in 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1.5 Tbsp hot sauce, ¾ tsp seasoning salt (like Lawry’s), ½ tsp garlic powder, and ½ tsp smoked paprika. If you want to make a mild version, just skip the hot sauce.
In a large bowl, combine 1.5 cups corn Chex, 1.5 cups rice Chex, 1.5 cups wheat Chex, 1 cup cheese crackers, 1 cup pretzels, and ½ cup unsalted peanuts. Stir the ingredients together.
Pour about ⅓ of the seasoned butter over the snack mix, then give it a good stir. Repeat two more times until all of the butter has been added.
Continue stirring the snack mix until it is very evenly covered in seasoned butter.
Spread the snack mix out onto a large baking sheet. I covered my baking sheet with parchment for easy cleanup.
Bake the chex mix for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, or until it is very dry and slightly toasty. Let the mix cool completely, then serve.
