Gluten-Free Chex Mix is salty, crunchy, and totally addicting. Just like the original, only gluten-free!
“This is our go-to recipe every year. It’s so good! I started buying Trader Joe’s gluten free everything bagels and use a whole bag of 4 to make bagel chips to add to the mix. Delicious!”
My husband and I are both from the Midwest, and have fond memories of our respective mothers baking Chex Mix nonstop during the holidays growing up.
My husband’s Mom trades Chex for Crispix, and adds Cheerios, while my Mom uses traditional ingredients but her personal twist is adding extra dashes of Worcestershire sauce each time she stirs the mixture in the oven.
The mere thought of a butter and worcestershire sauce-soaked square of corn chex is enough to send me running into the kitchen right now, ha!
All that said, Chex mix is a deeply personal concoction, which became even more personal after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. The holidays, especially, became a time of worry and sadness about having to say goodbye to cherished dishes and traditions – including having the scent of baking Chex Mix embed itself into the walls during the months of November and December.
Or so I thought. My crispy, crunchy, super-savory Gluten Free Chex Mix recipe is just as easy as the original, but made gluten free!
Ingredients Needed
Truthfully, homemade Chex Mix is already 75% gluten free – there’s just a few easy tweaks that need to be made to get it fully there. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Rice Chex: already gluten free.
- Corn Chex: already gluten free.
- Gluten Free O’s Cereal: I like O’s cereal in my Chex Mix because they get super crunchy in the butter and worcestershire sauce. Be sure the brand you buy is both gluten free AND unsweetened (or naturally/lightly sweetened, in a pinch).
- Peanuts: I like Planter’s Lightly Salted Roasted Peanuts which only contain “peanuts” and “sea salt”. Other varieties, including their regular salted flavor, contain extras.
- Butter: for that signature, golden-brown crunch.
- Worcestershire sauce: adds lots of savory, umami flavor. In the United States, at the time of this writing, 11/25, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce IS gluten free.
- Mini Pretzel Twists: I’ve tried countless GF pretzel brands, and Snyder’s Gluten Free products taste identical to regular hard pretzels.
- Homemade Seasoned Salt: salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and a wee pinch of sugar add salty, savory flavor to the Gluten Free Chex Mix.
Make It Your Own
Like I said, Chex Mix is highly personal – it seems no two families make it the exact same way. That said, here are ways to customize your Chex Mix:
- Go cheesy: add Cheetos (which ARE gluten free!) or gluten free cheese squares. I love Simple Mills Cheese Pop Mmms.
- Bagel chips: to my knowledge, GF bagel chips don’t exist, though reader Brooke commented she makes her own from GF Bagels to stir in at the end. Brilliant!
- Add crunch: corn nut-style snacks make a great, mega-crunchy addition.
- Go nuts: swap or cut the peanuts with cashews, pistachios, almonds, etc.
- Add flavor: since the pretzels aren’t coated in the butter mixture, they’re unflavored. That said, feel free to swap for flavored gluten free pretzels, like honey-mustard, or spicy buffalo.
Sure, sugar and spice scream “holidays” – but so does the combination of seasoned-salt, butter, and worcestershire sauce. Let’s get you some Gluten Free Chex Mix to start snacking on!
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How to Make Gluten Free Chex Mix
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients, EXCEPT…
Start with your cereal. Wheat Chex is NOT gluten-free so we’re ditching it and sticking with gluten free Rice and Corn Chex, plus gluten free O’s cereal. Add the cereals to an extremely large mixing bowl then add gluten free peanuts.
Aren’t Cheerios Gluten Free?
Cheerios are labeled gluten free, though General Mills uses a mechanical sorting method to separate oats from rogue, gluten-containing grains that may have gotten mixed up with the oats in the growing fields or during processing. This method is not 100% accurate and I’ve heard of folks getting sick after eating Cheerios. As a person with Celiac Disease, the risk isn’t worth it and I steer clear.
Gluten Free Peanuts
Peanuts can be difficult to find gluten-free (all nuts are naturally gluten-free but they can get cross contaminated when processed on lines shared with gluten-containing products). That said, I’ve eaten Planters lightly salted roasted peanuts for many years without issue.
Notice that we are NOT adding gluten free pretzels at this time, as we’d typically do when making traditional chex mix. Gluten free pretzels are almost always made with rice flour, which takes on an almost stale texture when coated in the butter and seasonings, and then baked. That said, we stir them in at the end.
Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients.
To a medium-sized mixing bowl or cup add butter then microwave until melted, 60 seconds. Add gluten free Worcestershire sauce and homemade seasoned salt then stir to combine.
Drizzle the butter mixture over the cereal mixture then stir with a large spatula until everything is evenly coated.
Step 3: Bake the Chex Mix.
Pour the mixture into a large baking dish, like an 11×17″, then bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, or until the cereals are light golden brown.
Step 4: Add the pretzels.
While the Chex Mix is still warm, stir in the gluten free pretzels. Again, these don’t hold up well to being baked which is why we add them now.
Cool then scoop the Chex Mix into an airtight container and keep within arm’s reach on the kitchen counter for 3-4 days, or pour into a bowl and dig in.
Whether you serve this irresistible snack mix for the holidays, or any occasion in between, I hope you love every crunchy, savory bite – enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 cups Rice Chex
- 3 cups Corn Chex
- 3 cups gluten-free O’s cereal
- 1 cup gluten free peanuts, Planters Lightly Salted Roasted Peanuts, recommended
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons seasoned salt, recipe below
- 1 cup gluten free mini pretzel twists, Snyder's recommended
For the Homemade Seasoned Salt (NOTE: You will not use all of this!)
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Combine the ingredients for the Homemade Seasoned Salt in small bowl then set aside.
- To a very large mixing bowl, add the Rice Chex, Corn Chex, O's cereal, and peanuts then set aside.
- To a medium-sized mixing bowl or cup, add the butter then microwave until melted, 60 seconds or so. Add the worcestershire sauce plus 2 teaspoons Homemade Seasoned Salt (again, you WILL NOT USE ALL the seasoned salt!) then stir to combine.
- Pour the butter mixture over the cereal mixture then stir with a spatula to evenly coat. Pour the mixture into a 11×17" or larger baking dish then bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, or until the cereals are light golden brown. Stir in the pretzels then cool and serve.
Notes
- If you are typically sensitive to salt, cut the seasoned salt amount down to 1-1/2 teaspoons.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I just wanted to say thank you! I made this today for Super Bowl and it turned out perfect. My daughter is doing a gluten elimination test for this month and I’ve been stressing as I learn how to cook this way without cutting out too many of her familiar favorites. This is the 2nd recipe from your site that I stumbled on this week (made the meatballs last night), and I have to say that you are making this all seem much less daunting! Thank you!
This states it’s gluten free, but please note that the recommended Worcestershire sauce, Lea & Perrin’s, is NOT gluten free.
My bottle specifically states gluten-free. Always important to check all packaging though!
Additionally the website lists their product as gluten-free: http://www.leaperrins.com/Products/The%20Original%20Worcestershire%20Sauce
I made 2 mistakes with this. I printed the ingredients list from the first page I saw with them listed. I guess this included the 1 1/2 tbs salt and 2 tsp seasoned salt. Wow too much salt. Should have read all the way to the end of the recipe before starting. Oops. The second thing, my glass baking dish is 13×9. my large metal baking pan with sides would have been better. Oh well, I will try again tomorrow. I am always happy to find a gluten free recipe. It was not as easy 20 years ago.
I’m so glad you put this up! I love Chex mix , but I’m gluten intolerant and allergic to corn – makes life interesting at least. I have another friend who’s celiac. I just use rice Chex and it is always a hit at game nights! Thanks!
Bumped up the worchester sauce to a bit more than a qtr cube, doubled the garlic, and add a lean qtr cup of sirachia sauce.
Are all onion and garlic powders gluten free or just certain ones?
I use Tone’s, which are gluten-free!
I made this yesterday. It was a HUGE hit! I took it to another level, though. After it cooled, I also added Chocolate Chex, Vanilla Chex, and some Gluten Free Cheese crackers. It became a sweet and salty mix that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
Hi there! This looks yummy! What happens if you bake the GF pretzels? I want to make sure the pretzels get lots of the spices and flavors.
They get really hard and almost stale tasting, unfortunately!
I made this, baked for one hour and cooled for several hours. It tasted good, but it didn’t totally crisp up, a lot of the Chex pieces are chewy. Any idea what I did wrong? It’s also more tangy tasting than spicy. Thanks!
Hey Tom! I would say you probably just need to bake it longer as oven temperatures can vary. I usually remove a few pieces then let them cool for a couple minutes before eating to gauge the crunchiness before removing the whole batch from the oven.
Love your recipe! I’ve added 1 C Milton GF cheese crackers, broken up, to the dry mix, and 1 tsp of lemon juice to the sauce. Try it… you’ll like the additions! Thanks for a great, zesty recipe!
Ooo, love the idea of lemon juice – we will definitely give that a try!
Whaaaa you don’t have to bake on a cookie sheet? This makes me so happy, no more dreading the burnt fall out pieces in the bottom of the oven. I always just assumed you HAD to make them on a cookie sheet for maximum crispness or some silly chemistry heat ratio surface area thing. Thank you so much.
You don’t indicate if your garlic powder is gluten free.
So im making this as i type this message its in mo oven realized that the seasoned salt that i made i was only suppose to use 2 teaspoons of it yeahhhhhh i accadently read it wrong and poored the whole cup in it so this should be interesting.