Sweet and Spicy Snack Mix
This sweet and spicy snack mix filled with rice cereal, pretzels, bagel chips, and nuts is sweetened with maple syrup or honey and has a little hot sauce for a subtle fiery kick. It’s perfect for munching!
(Mostly) true confession: If I make a homemade Chex mix, I will not stop eating it until it’s gone. And my husband is usually right there alongside me, handful after handful. We just can’t resist the stuff! And so I only make it for special occasions like parties or holidays when I can share with family and friends.
This sweet and spicy snack mix is perfect for large crowds and I promise that everyone is going to love it! I enjoy the contrast of sweet and spicy (it’s not that spicy) in this recipe, but I know not everyone wants the heat. Check out my maple nut snack mix for a milder— but still delicious!— variation.
What’s in this sweet and spicy snack mix?
There are two parts to this recipe— all the snacks, and the flavorful sauce that’s mixed in before baking.
Snacks:
- Rice or corn Chex cereal, or a combination of both
- Mini pretzels
- Bagel chips
- Almonds
- Peanuts
- Cashews
Follow the recipe as written, or feel free to play around with mix-ins based on your preferences or what you happen to have on hand. This is perfect recipe to use up any half bags of crackers, nuts, etc. you may have in the back of the pantry!
Sauce:
And while the snacks make the base of this mix, all of the flavor and craveability comes from the sweet and spicy sauce. Luckily, you probably already have most of these ingredients in your pantry:
- Butter
- Honey or maple syrup
- Hot sauce, like sriracha
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Salt
Easy as 1-2-3!
This recipe is SO simple, and requires less than 10 minutes of actual “work”. The oven does the rest!
- Combine sauce ingredients on the stove, whisking until melted and smooth.
- Toss the sauce with all of the snacks. You can use a large bowl, or do it right on the sheet pan.
- Bake at 250° for an hour or so until snack mix is golden and crispy.
This sweet and spicy snack mix will keep for a week or two stored in an airtight container, if it lasts that long. Mine never does!
Other munch-able snack recipes to try
This recipe was originally created for Go Bold With Butter. See the full recipe on their website.
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Sweet and Spicy Snack Mix
Ingredients
- 5 cups corn or rice Chex cereal , or a mixture
- 2 cups mini pretzels
- 2 cups bagel chips
- 1 cup unsalted peanuts
- 1 cup unsalted almonds
- 1 cup unsalted cashews
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
- 2-4 tablespoons hot sauce , per your taste (I like to use Sriracha)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Combine the Chex cereal, pretzels, bagel chips, peanuts, almonds and cashews on a large sheet pan.
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, add butter, worcestershire sauce, honey or maple syrup, hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.
- Heat until butter is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Pour over the Chex mixture and stir to make sure everything is coated evenly.
- Bake in the oven for about 1 and a half hours until snack mix is golden and crisp, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
- Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to several weeks.
Notes
NOTES
- Makes 8 cups.
I’ve made this 4-5 times this year. It was a hit at the Super Bowl and it’s been a gathering favorite every time I make it. I prefer honey over syrup, and like Frank’s for the hot sauce. Thanks for sharing!
Quick question – I don’t understand how the recipe makes only 8 cups when there are 12 cups of ingredients. Shrinkage of 33% is a lot!
Hmm that’s a good question! It may be a little more than 8 cups, but definitely not 12 cups. Big things like the pretzels and bagel chips have a lot of empty space in measuring cups when you measure them, and the small stuff like nuts potentially fill in those cracks when measured together. Hopefully that makes sense!
Add in some Life cereal- a fun game changer 🙂 Love this snack mix!
Oh I love that suggestion, thanks!!
I made this last Christmas using maple syrup and Cholula hot sauce, omitting the garlic. It was a huge hit with my nephews. I’m making it again this year for gifts. Great recipe!
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
First time and smells amazing ! I added smoke papperika and sea salt …. exciting great and easy recipe! Thanks