Chex Mix (the original)

THIS IS NOT my grandma’s recipe, nor is it my mother’s recipe. It’s a recipe designed by a giant manufacturer of breakfast cereal in order to sell even more cereal. But it’s kind of a classic, and I remember my mom making it around this time of year, so I’m sharing it here.

But first, a story.

My boys will be with their dad for Thanksgiving and the long weekend, and Steve is heading to Italy to visit his daughter, who’s finishing up a semester in Bologna. (Oh, how I wish I’d gone abroad during college!) So, I invited myself to my sister’s place, in Vermont, for Thanksgiving. As I usually do when I’m going to be someone’s guest, I started contemplating all the things I could bring to share. Yes, I know there is always enough food and nobody really needs one more snack item. But food is my love language. Let me be me.

With this project on my mind, today at the grocery store I noticed the Chex cereals were on sale. CHEX MIX!, I thought. Everyone loves Chex Mix! Nothing says “holidays” like a big batch of homemade Chex Mix! I grabbed three boxes of cereal, plus some garlic powder and a can of mixed nuts and headed to the checkout.

As I placed my items onto the belt, I said to the clerk, bet you can’t guess what I’m gonna make! She looks at me blankly: “What?”

“CHEX MIX!” I replied, with too much enthusiasm.

“How do you make it?” she asked. What? That threw me for a loop. She appeared to be about my age, and from this country, which means that she must remember a time before Chex Mix came ready-made?

It didn’t always come in a bag, y’all.

“Well, you add three kinds of Chex cereal and mixed nuts and some pretzels, then melt a stick of butter, add some spices and Worcestershire sauce and bake it low and slow…”

“OK?” she said, unimpressed.

“The recipe is usually on the box… so much better than the pre-made version…”

Now, I learned when I was a grocery checker that it’s not really polite to ask about the contents of shoppers’ carts, but I sure would try to guess what someone was going to make based on the ingredients they were buying. If the tables had been turned today, I’d have been like, hey, you gonna make Chex Mix with that cereal? And the customer would have said nah, the Chex were on sale so I’m stocking up.  I buy Chex Mix in the bag, but I like the Sweet & Salty kind.  

Blasphemy!

Here’s the official Chex Mix recipe for the Original Mix. This is the gold standard, therefore, I’m linking to it. Accept no substitutes. There is no need to make up variations when the original is already perfect. That said, you know me – I don’t always follow recipes exactly as written. I do, however, make mine in the spirit of the original recipe.

First, I probably use more than 3 cups of each cereal because I’m lazy about measuring. (Unless I’m baking. Then I’m precise.) I don’t use the tiny bagel chips. Not sure where you even get those. Sometimes I add Cheerios, if we have them, or Goldfish crackers. Definitely tiny pretzels and mixed nuts. Use a very generous cup of nuts, and don’t think about using anything other than the GOOD mixed nuts.

Second, this recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of butter, which is almost one whole stick, so you’d be silly not to just round up and use the whole stick. In fact, I recall that back in the day, the official recipe did call for the whole stick. I guess someone decided to make it “healthier.” They did the same thing with Rice Krispies Treats. (Could the Butter Lobby not have prevented this?) I’m here to say: Use all the butter. And don’t use margarine. It’s not even really a food. Nobody even uses margarine since that rumor went around that its molecular structure is one atom off from plastic. That’s not true, technically, but still, it’s bad for you. Use butter, and don’t skimp.

These folks back me up – they say use a stick of butter for every 10 cups of crunchy stuff (cereal, pretzels). So if you believe that, you should add a couple tablespoons in addition to the full stick.

Third, the addition of “seasoned salt” has, frankly, always baffled me. It’s so vague – the recipe doesn’t specify a brand (someone missed an opportunity for some cross-promotional marketing here). There are so many variations of seasoned salt on the market! I don’t even keep it on hand – though I have been known to mix up Heloise’s version from time to time. In the absence of seasoned salt, I usually increase the garlic and onion powder. If you feel led by the spirit, maybe shake in a little cayenne or paprika, or some chili powder, or maybe some Old Bay? Or skip it; the Worcestershire sauce flavor is dominant and you probably won’t miss the seasoned salt.

Finally, apparently the General Mills test kitchen folks have concluded that it’s quick ‘n’ easy to make Chex Mix in the microwave, but I beg to differ. It may be faster, but is it better? Call me a skeptic, but I take the hour and use my oven. I put the mix in a large oblong pan with sides- I think it’s a lasagna pan, or you could use a big turkey roaster. Anything big enough so you can stir the mix without it spilling out over the sides of the pan. Skip the microwave instructions and follow the oven directions under “tips” on their recipe.

Make a big batch of this and be prepared to make another one. You’ll need to use up those half-boxes of Chex in your pantry, anyway.

Don’t believe me? Well, after I wrote this post, I found this site, which claims to share the original-original recipe, from 1952, plus the author’s variation, which she says dates to the 1970s. Maybe I should have researched first! This variation uses 2 cups (not 3) of each cereal, then 2 cups each of pretzels and nuts. And it calls for a FULL STICK OF BUTTER. See? I am not making things up. That’s how it was, originally. That’s how I remember it. She, too, questions the use of seasoned salt. We traditionalists are of one mind on this matter. Don’t mess with what works.