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.
Where do you find gluten free pretzels and bagel chips?
Snyder’s makes a gluten free pretzel that is very good.
This is such a great seasoning recipe! I’ve used it mulitple times and it tastes great no matter what else you add/substitute.
I’m soo glad you loved it, Alexandra! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Does anyone have her Buffalo Cheddar-Ranch Chex Mix recipe? The link redirects me to the regular Chex Mix; we miss the Buffalo!
I will email it to you, Michelle!
For my family’s taste: decrease Worcestershire to 4.5 teaspoons. Try Crispix for a slightly sweeter taste. Or try honey roasted peanuts.
Yummy!! So glad you were able to make it your own, Angela! My husband’s family always includes Crispix in their mix, but they’re not gluten free so I personally need to steer clear.
I usually follow your recipe but because of gluten sensitivity vs. celiac disease, Crispix can be ok for me. Wish they would certify a few more cereals but know it is pricey for the manufacturing plants.
Can this be made in small batches in the microwave? My oven is on the blink and I really need this~
That should be fine!
Sooo good! I used the broken bits of pretzel chips at the bottom of the bag instead of regular pretzels and added them in at the beginning and it turned out awesome. Adding the worcestershire in dashes at the stirring intervals is a stroke of genius.
Sounds fabulous, Jessica!! I’m so glad you loved it the chex mix! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Not sure if you know this already or not but Worcestershire sauce usually has gluten in it.
At the time of this writing, 1/22, in the US, Lea and Perrins is gluten free. As always, be your own advocate and check labels before purchasing/consuming.
HELP!!! You’ve changed your recipe. Can I please have the original with the seasoned salt?
I went to make a batch today and noticed the change, too! My husband says this version is good, but previous version was better!
From the old version I have saved:
“By the way, the original Chex Mix recipe calls for seasoned salt which is CRAZY easy to make at home. It’s just 1-1/2 Tablespoons salt, 3/4 teaspoons each paprika and garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon each sugar and onion powder.”
So I think it’s the same ingredients, just without calling it seasoned salt
Hi guys!! This recipe just incorporates the seasoned salt ingredients into it so you don’t have to make the SS separately (since you don’t even use all of it for this recipe anyway!) Sorry for the confusion!
I’ve been digging through the comments to see if anyone else made this sort of comment! I know this is the recipe I’ve used before but I’ve never been able to make it as good as the first time I did! And I thought I was going crazy but now I’m realizing maybe it was because the recipe changed! I remember making the seasoning and then you saying how much to use. Can you advise on that?! I swear it tasted different! It was spicier or something!
Did this get updated from 2022? I made it a bunch last Christmas, but don’t remember the homemade Seasoned Salt as an ingredient…can you list it both ways, maybe? It seems like maybe it was this way with the seasoned salt, then changed, and now changed back?
I mean from 2021. LOL. It IS 2022 now. :D
Hi, yes, could you please post the old recipe? I have made that one several different times and really liked it, however, came to the site to make it for my family’s holiday celebration this weekend and noticed the seasoned salt, instead of just the measurements for the spices. Also, the new version tastes pretty bland and just like salt…I can’t really taste the spices at all. Thank you!
This is my go-to chex mix recipe!
Woo! Thrilled to hear it, Dexter!
Hi, I love your story and your blog. Even tho’ I could be your granny, your blog is an inspiration to me for my IBS blog. This trail mix is so perfect and I can change it for low fodmap and IBS safe. Would you mind if I tweak this recipe on my IBS blog and credit Iowa Girl Eats for the original? Even tho you are not an IBS person, celiac people have much in common with us. Wheat allergy for one, even tho it isn’t gluten for us, it is a fodmap called fructan. Also, does your brother still give out blogging advice? If so, where can I find it? Merry Christmas to you and your adorable family.Btw every time I ask BLue Sky to help me with my blog, I show them yours and I say to them, “I want to flow like this one.” They never can do it (sob)
No problem at all, Joan!
Oh my goodness! I have been waiting for a gluten free recipe for Chex mix! Thank you so much! It will satisfy my salt and sweet cravings all at once!
Cant keep enough around. Only wish I could find corn chex.
Thought Worcestershire sauce wasn’t GF because of the malt vinegar in it? Is there a substitute for this sauce?
Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce contains no malt vinegar and is GF. That said, I believe the Lea & Perrins sold in Canada is *not* GF, so read labels carefully.