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Chex Mix

Quite possibly the best Chex Mix recipe in the world.

Make your sauce, then combine with the "dry" ingredients (Chex, pretzels, cheese crackers and nuts) and cook in a slow oven for one hour.

Ingredient Original recipe
from Chex box
54 cups
(three batches)
Fast no-measure
3 batches

Dry Ingredients

Chex cereal
scant 1 oz per 1 cup
9 c 24 c
2 (12-oz) boxes, or 24 oz total
Small pretzels
1 oz per cup
3 c 16 c
1 (16 oz) bag
Bagel chips 2 c N/A N/A
Cheese crackers
2 oz per cup
N/A 12 c 2 (12 oz) boxes, or 24 oz total.
Nuts
5 oz per cup
1 c salted pnuts 3 c cocktail 1 (16 oz) can

Sauce

Butter
1 stick = 1/4 lb
1 stick 3 sticks 3 sticks
Worchestershire sauce 2 T 6 T 6 T
Tabasco sauce N/A 3 T 3 T
Seasoned salt 2t 1 T 1 T
Basil (opt) N/A 1/2 T 1/2 T
Paprika (opt) N/A 1/2 T 1/2 T
Pepper (opt) N/A 3/8 T 3/8 T
Garlic powder (opt) .5 T 1/2 T 1/2 T
Onion powder (opt) 1 t N/A N/A

For 3 batches of dry ingredients:

Preheat oven to 250 F. If using a large heavy pot, put the pot in there to preheat as well.

  1. Prepare the dry ingredients by combining them gently in a large container. A very large roasting pan or a large canner or a box lined with a plastic bag will work.
  2. Prepare the sauce for one 18 c batch in a large kettle or pan:
  3. Add 18 cups of the dry ingredients to the sauce, stirring gently until all pieces are coated and seasoning is absorbed into the cereal. Slightly shiny crackers will be the clue.
  4. Cook for one hour, stirring every 15 to 30 minutes to evenly brown the ingredients and to avoid having the seasoned butter pool on the bottom of the pan.
  5. Repeat for subsequent batches.

Large Scale Chex-Mix Making

I traditionally make 15 - 18 batches of Chex Mix and gift it to all the branches of the family tree. I do have a process that keeps me from losing my mind.

Sometimes I buy all the ingredients at the same time, which means that I can use the measurements listed in the 'Fast no-measure 3 batches' column to create my order. If you cannot find the size box listed, or if a different size is cheaper per oz, then remember what you really want is not the size but the amount. 3 8-oz boxes of something is equal to 2 12-oz boxes. Feel free to round up or down. A 12.4 oz box or an 11.7 oz box is, for our purposes, the same as a 12 oz box.

Sometimes, like today, I have to work from one ingredient and extrapolate from there. I found cheese crackers on a 2-for-1 sale. I didn't have my recipe with me, so I bought 20 12-oz boxes. Looking at the 'Fast no-measure 3 batches' chart, I am going to need to purchase 10 16-oz bags of pretzels, 20 12-oz boxes (or 16 lbs) of Chex, 10 16-oz cans (or 10 lbs) of cocktail peanuts, and 30 sticks (or 7.5 lbs) of butter. If I decide that's more Chex Mix than I want to make, I can set some of the crackers aside for snacking.

  1. Make sure you have enough empty pans and enough cleared space for the cooked Chex Mix that will be accumulating rapidly. Very large rectangular aluminum foil lasagna pans (12 x 20 x 4 inches) (full steam table size) will hold 48 cups (3 batches) of Chex Mix and can be reused year after year.
  2. Put 8 cups cereal in the pan in which you will cook them in.
  3. Prepare the sauce for one batch.
  4. Pour the sauce over the cereal and stir carefully with a flat edge spatula. You are seasoning the cereal first because it is the blandest ingredient. It will suck up the sauce but leave plenty for the other ingredients.
  5. Add 4-5 c crackers, a cup of peanuts, and 5 cups of pretzels. Stir carefully with the flat-edge spatula. You are using a flat-edge spatula rather than a spoon because the spatula will make much better contact with the bottom of the pan, where the sauce tends to congregate and cook in clumps if not stirred in carefully. If you have no clumps, you will not be tempted to eat them and burn holes in your tongue.
  6. Cook for 60 minutes total, stirring intermittently. Many recipes recommend stirring at 15 minute intervals. If your pan is deep and heavy, 30 minutes should be fine.
  7. At the 30-minute mark, put a stick (1/4 c) of butter in an oven-proof dish and put the dish into the oven next to the pot. If your oven is like my oven, this will be the right amount of time to thoroughly melt the butter without browning it. When this batch is done, your melted butter for the next batch of sauce will be ready to hand. You will save time and your melted butter will be perfect.
  8. At the 60-minute mark, remove the Chex Mix and transfer to a large pan where it can thoroughly cool. DO NOT cover it or package it until thoroughly cool!
  9. If you are continuing your cooking, put the cereal in the pot, mix up the sauce, and repeat.

Addendums

Shipping Chex Mix

I make bushels of Chex Mix in early December and ship them out to children, sisters, nieces, nephews and friends. I used to put all the chex mix for family members who lived closed together in one box, but over the years I realized that sometimes the chex mix didn't get shared as I expected. Now I just take a "don' make me think" approach:
  1. After Halloween, I check my inventory of USPS flat-rate boxes and order more if necessary.
  2. In early November, I purchase the ingredients I will need. Double check your supplies of Worchestershire and Tabasco sauce!
  3. Pick a weekend in late November to do your cookings.
  4. When cooking time comes, carefully open all Chex cereal and cracker boxes and save both the internal waxed bags and the boxes.
  5. Make and completely cool the Chex mix.
  6. Re-pack into the original internal bags and boxes (if a bag rips, I replace it with a plastic zip-lock one);
  7. Pack the boxes of Chex Mix into the USPS boxes;
  8. Print mailing labels, including one for the inside of each box;
  9. Bring to the Post Office or schedule a pickup from the doorstep.
What size shipping box to use?

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