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Extra-Bold Chex Mix

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Extra-Bold Chex Mix Recipe

It’s no secret that I have a bit of a thing for homemade Chex Mix.

It’s been my favorite snack to munch on ever since I was a kid. I make huge batches each year (including four this past weekend!) to give out as gifts to friends and family around the holidays. And as of now, I’ve posted — not one, not two, not three, but now — four Chex Mix recipes here on the blog, including my Slow Cooker Chex Mix recipe that continues to (um, surprisingly!) be one of the top recipes on Gimme Some Oven.

So much Chex Mix!!!

That said, of all the flavors I’ve tried, I’ve gotta be honest and say that about 90% of the time I stick with my own original recipe. Which is based off of the original Chex Mix recipe on the box, but — ahem — kicked up a big notch. Because when it comes to good Chex Mix, I’m a big believer that the more of that magical, zesty, bold sauce — the better.

So for anyone looking for a killer Chex Mix recipe this season, allow me to introduce you to my go-to recipe.

I call it my EXTRA-Bold Chex Mix. ♡

Extra-Bold Chex Mix Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Wheat Chex

Like I said, I literally made four batches of this stuff over the weekend. So I figured I’d snap a few photos during a batch to show you how zee Chex Mix and I roll.

First off, you’ve gotta start with the rockstar ingredients — All The Chex.

Well, back in the good ol’ days, these were the only three kinds of Chex. Now there are apparently all kinds to choose from at the store. But for my extra-bold mix, I prefer to stick with the holy trinity of Chex — wheat, rice, and corn.

Chex Mix Ingredients

You’re welcome to add whatever other crunchy ingredients to the mix that you’d like. Or you can definitely add in chopped dried fruit, M&Ms, or crackers after the mix has baked. But I tend to stick with what I grew up with — Cheerios, pretzels, and party peanuts. (Pro tip — I especially recommend adding those O’s. They tend to soak up tons of the sauce and get extra flavorful.)

How To Make Chex Mix

Then, they key to this “Extra-Bold”-ness is all in the sauce. I don’t know about you, but I always felt like the original recipe was good, but never quite included as much of that zesty, buttery worcestershire-garlicky-seasoned-salty sauce. So over the years, I’ve upped and upped my amounts of sauce until I feel like I’ve found my happy sauce place.

And the result?!

Extra Bold Chex Mix

Seriously the most irresistible batch of Chex Mix you’ve ever tried.

So give it a try! :)

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Chex Mix Recipe

Extra-Bold Chex Mix

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 47 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 24 servings 1x

Description

This Extra-Bold Chex Mix recipe is made just the way I like it — with lots and lots of extra-zesty sauce.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 9 cups Chex cereal (I used equal parts corn, rice, and wheat Chex)
  • 2 cups mini pretzels
  • 1 cup Cheerios
  • 1 cup peanuts
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and hot
  • 1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons seasoned salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

  1. Add the Chex, pretzels, Cheerios, and peanuts together in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, and gently stir a bit to combine.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt and garlic powder together until combined.  Drizzle half of the sauce evenly over the Chex mix.  Then give the mix a gentle stir to combine.  (I like to stir with a rubber spatula, to help prevent breaking the Chex.)  Repeat by drizzling the remaining sauce over the Chex mix, and stir again until combined.
  3. Microwave uncovered on high 5 to 6 minutes, thoroughly stirring every 2 minutes.
  4. Spread the mix out on parchment paper or paper towels until it has cooled to room temperature. Store in airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

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119 comments on “Extra-Bold Chex Mix”

  1. Everyone loved it! Only change is I baked in 250 oven for 45 minutes and added a tsp paprika. So good!






  2. This recipe is AMAZING!! I made a couple of small changes…..cashews instead of peanuts and the best one…. I couldn’t find any wheat Chex, so I bought a box of Life cereal in its place. As you may know, Life has a little sugar in it and, OH MY GOSH, the salty/sweet flavor of those mixed in was great…..they added a whole new dimension to the tasty treat!!!






  3. What can you use instead of worcestershire? Anchovies …… so gross.

    • I’m almost every natural food store or aisle they make a vegan Worcestershire sauce that subs for this. Tastes the same and very similar in cost.

  4. Hi! Quick question. If you don’t have a microwave, what would be the best way to cook? Crockpot? Stovetop? Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks!

    • Spread out evenly on two cookie sheets, bake for 1 hour at 250° be sure to stir every 15 minutes.

  5. You always agree with a recipe that is like yours. Always Cheerios and Party Peanuts (Planters). Only Butter. Way to go. It will never be there for three weeks!






  6. We got a craving for Chex Mix and went looking for a good recipe and decided to start with this. The Chex Mix Committee could not reach a consensus on the ingredients, so we took a fact-finding trip to the supermarket. We ended up with:

    1 box of Wheat Chex. this was a key ingredient as the finance chairman of the Chex Mix committee felt that store bought snack mixes skimped out on the Wheat Chex.

    1 box store brand Cereal, a mix of rice and corn Chex-like crisps, hexagonally shaped for variety
    1 box store brand mini-cheese crackers
    1 bag of peanut sized pretzel balls
    1 jar of honey roasted peanuts

    We made an attempt to try and calculate exactly how much butter and seasoning to use, then gave up and just decided that doubling the recipe sounded about right, and if it was a little on the high side, more butter and seasoning wouldn’t hurt. I added a teaspoon onion powder to the recipe,

    We did the mixing in a new unscented kitchen garbage bag. It worked like a charm.

    We opted for oven baking at 250 degrees, which was one of many cooking methods we found elsewhere. We roasted it at this temperature for a long time, like 5 hours -until all the moisture pulled out and it was REALLY crisp, at that low temp you don’t have to worry about burning the cereals. It was awesome.






  7. not quite bold enough for me – so I doubled everything (except the chex mix)

  8. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe , I also love the extra bold taste to, its better then the original recipe






  9. I also like to use mixed nuts. I like to bake everything in the oven and I usually make a double batch of sauce also!

  10. The video worried me. I only counted 5 cup of Chex and add ons! Threw me off. 13 on recipe. I even doubled mine. After watching video I had to double check. Lol whew scared I messed mine up.






  11. oh my god WOW is all I can say. I made some of this to give to my family but I’m gonna end up eating it all. Thankfully I can make more!!!!!
    Thank you for this excellent recipe!






    • I added 2Tbls hot sauce and reduced the Worcestershire by the same amount! SPICY!!

  12. Finally, someone who has amped this up enough to be delicious! Craveable!






  13. What kind of seasoned salt do you use in your Chex Mix recipe?

  14. Classic love for this recipe will live forever!! I too can not find wheat chex so I may try the Life cereal to substitute. Thank you for sharing! Love snacking this mix delight!! Muah

  15. Wanted bold flavor, instead got overwhelming saltiness. Triple checked the recipe to make sure I didn’t make a mistake, but I didn’t. I’m going to have to toss this whole batch I just made. Might try again with the increase in Worcestershire sauce still, but without the huge increase of seasoned salt compared to other recipes.

    • I love salt but I used unsalted butter because of the salt in Lawry’s. I use thin pretzel sticks that I break up a bit-they soak up more sauce. But where is the onion powder? Add at least a teaspoon for that original flavor!






    • Similar recipes use 1 1/2 *teaspoons* of salt, not tablespoons. Probably a typo in this recipe.

  16. Microwaving the Chex Mix?? Did I miss the baking-in-the-oven step somewhere? We haven’t had a microwave in the house in over a decade (vastly increases risk of getting cancer and zaps the nutrients right outta the food…no bueno. Do research.)
    Any tips for baking this in the oven instead?
    Thank you!

  17. This recipe is so similar to one I created, that I copied yours so I had actual measurements! My only modification is I use garlic rye chips instead of cheerios and added 1/4 cup of hot buffalo sauce. It’s amazing! thanks for posting!






  18. Excellent! Just love the bold flavor, much better than original Chef Mix!
    Thank you, making a second batch right now.

  19. Wait I’m confused, on a site called gimme some oven, you don’t use the oven??

  20. Great recipe, but microwaved Chex Mix = snack blasphemy. ;-) I like to add the 3-color Goldfish crackers for holiday flair.






  21. If I were to bake in the oven, would you recommend 325 for about 20 minutes? Or is that too long…? And also- I’m planning to double the sauce ingredients:-)

    • Bake at 250 for an hour, stir every 15 minutes with a rubber spatula. I use a big disposable aluminum roasting pan, like for baking a turkey. Baking it makes it the crispiest. Can’t get that from a microwave imho

  22. Love this recipe! The OG Chex mix recipe always seemed to be missing flavor. This one is perfect! I make it every year at Christmas. Thanks!!!






  23. The onion powder is a definite add to for us. I also add cheese crackers. After it is cooled, you can add honey nut chex for an extra sweet taste to go with savory.






  24. Made recipe as directed,EXCEPT,who has a bowl that big that fits in a microwave??!! So I followed the oven directions to spread on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet, and bake at 275 deg for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes then cooling and storing in sealed containers/large ziploc bags.
    The flavor is excellent, better than the “original” chex mix!






  25. A good traditional recipe. But, there’s something about baking it the oven that adds extra crunchiness and that slightly carbonized flavor. I’ll skip the microwave next time.






  26. Cannot wait to try this for New Year’s Day!!

  27. This recipe is delicious!






  28. Seasoned salt? Specifically?






  29. Didn’t come out very good! Wish I baked it instead of microwave it. Pieces came out rubbery and chewy!

  30. This has become my go-to Chex mix recipe. I found it during quarantine and have made it so many times that I know the recipe by heart. One time I didn’t have regular Cheerios, but had Honey Nut Cheerios. GAME CHANGER! If you like sweet and salty combos I highly recommend. And I double the amount of them because they are the best part and everyone picks them out.

    We don’t like pretzels, so the extra Cheerios and some extra peanuts make up for it. Thank you so much for this recipe!

  31. I cut down on the Chex cereal so I can add extra of the other stuff. This is what I use:
    2 cups each rice, corn and wheat Chex
    2 cups goldfish extra cheddar crackers
    2 cups mini pretzels
    2 cups cashews

  32. Love it! Everyone adds their own flair and I am no different. I like the ultra thin salty pretzels sticks vs knots and I use Ghardetto’s garlic rye chips, although they can be hard to find. I have always baked them. Thanks!!






  33. Tony Cachere makes a no salt season salt; it works great! There is no salt butter, low salt nuts, etc.

  34. I hate to be the Negative Nancy here lol…this isn’t BOLD! I live in the south and regular chex mix recipes call for more seasonings than this. Tonys is our go to seasoning, but I would use this or whichever u prefer in place of salt. Maybe even a tad more Worcestershire. I’ve noticed 1 stick doesn’t cover much of this huge batch either so I added an extra stick. You don’t have to agree with my comment but if u want a good bold chex mix, you’re welcome to try it this way.

  35. Make this every Super Bowl. Nothing is ever left for the next day. Always use oven method.






  36. Couple replacement ideas, one of the types of Chex can be replaced with Kix wonderfully and cause peanut allergies are a thing in my house, a 12oz bag of pumpkin seeds works well. I also mixed in a bag of dark chocolate chips after everything cool and it’s amazing.

  37. PERFECT, Supper Bowl treat






  38. Do you have a Peanut Lovers Chex Mix recipe? One of my faves, but can’t find in store anymore. Someone told me they are peanut-free now… who knows if that’s why I can’t find or not. But craving it and can’t find a copycat for it.

  39. Crockpot version, pouring the liquid in, the cereal immediately gets soggy.. I’m at the beginning of my three hours following the recipe and worried I just ruined 9 c of cereal. Is it going to crisp up? I hope so!

  40. I usually add about 2 tsp of Lawrys Seasoning Salt






  41. Just tried this and it’s yummy. Def bold! I don’t have a microwave so I airfried it on 250 for about 10 min, shaking halfway through and it turned out perfect.

  42. I made this recipe and after 4 minutes in the microwave at was almost burnt. Great recipe, but I definitely advise keeping an eye on tour chex.

  43. Love this recipe. I did make a couple of changes as my daughter has a gluten allergy. I replaced the wheat Chex with additional corn and rice Chex, and added some gluten-free pretzels. It turned out delicious!






  44. What kind of peanuts? Can you use salted dry roasted?