Fran’s Favorite Chex Mix
Are you throwing a New Year’s Eve party and expecting a lot of people? Here’s a tried-and-true crowd pleaser that will keep your guests happy as they nibble.
I think most of us are pretty familiar with Chex Mix, the buttery, crunchy, and savory appetizer so popular when I was growing up. It seems to have gone out of favor as I rarely see anyone post a recipe for it, and I have yet to see anyone in my circle of friends make it. Somewhere along the line, General Mills started selling their own line of Chex Mix, so maybe people are taking the easy way out and just buying it. Easy—but expensive!
This recipe calls for freshly minced garlic which I call the “secret” ingredient…and, now, the secret is out of the bag, haha. I haven’t seen any other recipe that includes fresh garlic, and it makes a mighty delicious difference.
A colleague made some of this very addictive snack for a pot luck party at work many years ago, and you had to elbow your way in to get some of the tasty treat. I immediately asked for the recipe, and the rest is history.
As you will observe, this makes a rather large quantity of Chex Mix but is easily halved. I have noted some internet recipes for Chex Mix say that you can freeze it. I’ve never had the opportunity to try because there has never been any left to freeze!
Enjoy and Happy 2024!
Fran’s Favorite Chex Mix
Ingredients
- 6 cups Corn Chex
- 6 cups Rice Chex
- 2 cups Wheat Chex
- 2 cups Cheerios
- 4 cups mini bite-sized pretzels
- 4 cups cocktail peanuts
- 4 cups cashew halves and pieces
- 1 lb. of butter, not unsalted
- 5/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
- Fresh minced garlic to taste, 2 to 3 tbl. (the secret ingredient!) – I use 2 1/2 tbl.
Fran’s Notes
You can change up some of the dry ingredients to suit your preferences. Just be sure if you eliminate any of the ingredients that you substitute something else so that the volume stays approximately the same.
Directions
Preheat your oven to 250o F.
Now, get out the biggest bowl you have! Pour all the dry ingredients from the Corn Chex to the cashews into it. Obviously, if you don’t have a bowl large enough to accommodate all the dry mix, then you’ll have to split it up into two bowls. Stir ingredients until they are mixed and evenly distributed.
Melt butter and stir in Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Drizzle the butter mixture over the dry ingredients, stirring as you go to coat the mix as evenly as possible.
Spread the coated mixture in one or two large pans. I have a very large roasting pan that fits all of the ingredients, so I am able to bake the Chex mix on the middle shelf of my oven. If you need to use two pans, then you will have to stagger your shelves in the upper and lower parts of the oven. Also, you will need to switch your pans to the opposite shelves halfway through the baking.
Bake for approximately 75 to 90 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
Let the Chex mix cool; then serve or store in an airtight container.
Source: Adapted from a recipe given to me by a work colleague