Homemade Chex Mix
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This quick and easy homemade Chex Mix recipe is the ultimate crunchy, savory snack mix—perfect for parties, holidays, game day, or anytime you need a simple and delicious crispy treat.
Hey friends! Today we are making Chex Mix and I’m using what I call the ‘fast and dirty’ method, i.e. I use my microwave (which I pretty much avoid at all other times) and we’re just using basic store ingredients. These are things that you probably have in your cupboard already. Let’s make a fast homemade snack!
Hi I'm Mindy!
Homesteader, mama, and home-cook since the ’90s. I share simple, heart-filled meals, raw milk wisdom, free range chickens, and encouragement for the everyday mama. So glad you’re here friend!
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Why I Love This Simple Savory Snack Mix
This “quick and dirty” Chex Mix takes less than ten minutes to put together; uses ingredients you can just keep on hand in your kitchen and then can quickly become something crunchy and delicious! This method uses the microwave, but you can absolutely bake this in the oven. It will use all the same ingredients and ratios, just adds more baking time.
Yield & Prep Time
Yield: 9 cups / 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 min
Microwave Bake Time: 5 mins
Oven Bake Time: 60 min
Total Time: 10 min OR 65 min (plus cooling time)
Grab the pretty printable recipe!
Want to save this recipe for later? Print the recipe card and file it away in your recipe box or binder for easy access whenever needed. ❤️
Kitchen Tools Needed to Make This Easy Crunchy Snack
✔ Large Microwave Safe Bowl (yay for one bowl recipe!)
✔ A Whisk to blend melted butter and seasonings
✔ A Spatula to combine cereal and seasoned butter
If you’re an Amazon shopper – here’s a Homemade Chex Mix shopping list I curated for you!
Homemade Chex Mix Ingredients Needed
- 8 Tbsp Butter, melted
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 ½ tsp Seasoning Salt
- 2 shakes Hot Sauce, optional
- 9 cups Cereal / Snack blend of choiceCorn Chex, Rice Chex, Wheat Chex, Crispix, Cheezits, Goldfish Crackers, Pretzels, Peanuts, Bugles, etc
Grab a Drink & Let’s Get Started
Like I always say… to make cooking more fun, turn on your favorite music and grab a fun beverage! Today I am drinking our raw milk with some Adaptive Cacao added, but with my recipe below you can make homemade chocolate milk or hot cocoa!
Homemade Chocolate Milk – Hot or Cold – watch the LRF Homemade Chocolate Milk video
- 2 cups of Milk (or 1 cup Milk + 1 cup Hot Water for hot cocoa)
- 1 Tbs of Cocoa Powder or Adaptive Cacao
- 1 Tbs of Sweetener (honey, maple syrup, sugar, etc)
- Pinch of Salt
- Splash of Vanilla
- *1-2 Tbs Hot Water, if making cold chocolate milk, see note below
*If you are making cold chocolate milk, start by adding a couple tablespoons of boiling water to your cup with your Adaptive Cacao or Cocoa Powder, this will let the powder bloom and help it mix smoothly into your cold milk and other ingredients.
I really like this Adaptive Cacao and find it’s simple and enjoyable to add to my daily routine to support my overall wellness. You can find it in our Farmers Market Shop in person and online! Alright, you go grab your drink. Let’s get our ingredients together for Chex Mix, and let’s do this!
How to Make Homemade Chex Mix
(Step-by-Step Instructions)
- Melt the butter, 30 seconds in the microwave or in a pan on your stovetop just until it’s melty. Transfer to a large mixing bowl if it’s not already in one.
- Measure and add 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce to the butter (don’t forget to shake up your sauce first! It likes to settle all the goodie at the bottom of the bottle.)
- Add a teaspoon of garlic powder (or just eyeball it – I won’t judge! I cook the same way too!)
- Add in a half a teaspoon of your onion powder
- Add a teaspoon and a half of a seasoning salt (Lawry’s or whatever kind of seasoning salt is your favorite. Just make sure you don’t substitute plain salt – the seasoning salt makes a huge difference!)
- Optional – add a shake or two of hot sauce. (It’s not gonna make it spicy but it does give a little bit of a depth of flavor to it.)
- Combine: I like to use my Danish whisk here to stir it up good! We want it blended well so that when we toss the sauce with the cereal the flavor gets coated evenly.
- Measure out 9 total cups of cereal / snacks. If you don’t measure it and you get too much, then all your goody sauce that you’re putting on there would be too diluted, and it doesn’t taste as yummy.
- Mix it all together and toss it as quickly as possible. Sometimes using a spatula to stir it along with tossing works best.
Microwave Cooking
- With prepared Chex Mix in a microwave safe bowl, put in microwave and cook 2 min
- Remove, toss or stir, place back in microwave for 2 more minutes
- Remove, toss or stir, and cook an additional 30-60 seconds
- Remove and toss one final time and then let cool before enjoying
Adjust your time as needed based on your individual microwave and cereal ingredients.
These times should be a great place to start!
Baking in the Oven
- Preheat oven to 250*F
- Spread prepared Chex on 1-2 metal cookie sheets or jelly roll pans
- Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven to stir then put back in oven
- Repeat 15-minute baking, then stirring until your total cooking time of 45-60 minutes
- After removing from oven final time, stir and let cool
- Don’t forget to turn off your oven when you are done!
Adjust your time as needed based on your individual toastiness preference and cereal ingredients. This temperature and times should be a great place to start!
How to Serve & Store Homemade Chex Mix
Once you are done cooking your Chex Mix, allow it to cool by pouring it out on the counter on a paper bag or sheet of parchment paper (the fast cool method). Or leave it in your bowl or cookie sheet to cool if you are patient. Just toss or stir it a few times as it cools to keep the cereal pieces separated.
This Chex Mix never lasts long in our house—usually gone within a day or two! You can store it easily in a Ziploc bag or just cover the mixing bowl with a lid like I do and keep it right there. This is my easy go to snack if I am going to a get together or having friends over when I just want something super simple that’s gonna take me less than ten minutes. Enjoy!
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Good food brings people together. I'd love to hear how this recipe turned out for you! Share your tips, substitutions, questions, or family memories in the comments below.