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!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItTry Christmas Crunch
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.
Good flavor but way way way too salty, and I’m a person who loves salty snacks. Definitely should cut the salt in half. It will still be plenty salty.
Hi Cheryl! Did you use the entire seasoning salt recipe, or just the 2 teaspoons called for in the recipe?
Delicious! I used Morton’s Nature’s Seasoning salt and a little extra garlic and onion powders. I used 1.5 tsps. of salt. I also used Country Crock vegan butter for my dairy allergic grandson.
Yum yum! Sounds so good, CarolK! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Just wanted to leave a quick comment in case someone was making this to give to a vegetarian as this is labeled vegetarian, a lot of Worcestershire sauces are not vegetarian. Lea and Perrin’s, for example, has anchovies in it. If you happen to have a Kroger nearby, their store brand (as of the last time I checked) does not contain any animal products. Thanks for the recipe. I was looking for gluten-free Chex mix to share on our teachers treat bar this year as we have several teachers who cannot have all the yummy cookies and things, now they’ll get to have a treat too!
Thanks Melanie!
Excellent for gluten free and dairy free diets. Yummy!
Wohoo! I’m so glad to hear this, Erin!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Made this recipe several times over the holidays this year and it was a huge hit. The seasoning level is just right and I appreciate the gluten free option. I did add extra peanuts though 😊
I’m thrilled to hear that, Dianne! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Can’t wait to make this! One question. Couldn’t you use plain ‘ol General Mills Cheerios?
Hi Gerri! A lot of Celiacs aren’t able to tolerate Cheerios brand O cereal, but if you’re able to then that’s totally fine!
Just a heads up, Lea & Perrins isn’t Gluten-free. French’s is tho.
Lea & Perrins is gluten free in the United States per their website (and the bottle in my fridge!) Are you out of the states?
My favorite! I used a little extra butter and then white cheddar Cheetos, plus some Made Good cheddar-style crackers to give it a little extra “cheesy” flavor, and it turned out great!
Oh I LOVE that!!! Great idea — thanks for sharing!
I’ve been craving chex mix since I saw a friend making it a couple of weeks ago but we need it gluten free. Thanks for the recipe!
I hope you love it, Suzanne!
Thanks for the easy recipe! But what do you do with the extra seasoning salt? I’m confused.
You can use it for anything you use regular salt for cooking-wise!
Can’t wait to try!
I am not from the midwest, but rather from the Pacific northwest, and batch after batch of chex mix would be coming out of the oven from Thanksgiving to New Year lol. Now as an adult I carry on that tradition. My family really enjoys this recipe, we’ve made it dozens upon dozens of times by now. The only tweaks we make from time to time to accommodate preferences is to increase the w sauce to 1/3 cup, or decrease the paprika down to 1/2 teaspoon. Oh, and sometimes cashews instead of peanuts. And smoked paprika and black pepper has made it’s way in there a few times. Well, and sometimes cheese crackers. And this one time chili powder and cumin cause I ran out of paprika ha. You know how chex mix can be lol! But this is a nice, classic recipe. Would recommend.
LOVE that this is a tried and true base recipe for you guys to give your own spin to. Happy holidays, and thank you so much for your recipe feedback and rating, Chloe!
How long does this last once it’s made? If it’s in sealed containers, or does it last longer if you refrigerate it? I couldn’t find info about this, I’m eager to try this recipe if I know the longevity of it for gifts this holiday.
Hi Ruth! In a sealed container it should be food for 5-7 days.
Thanks. I also read the photo of the written recipe; in her original, did she use all of the seasoning salt on one batch?
It’s my understanding that she used that entire mixture in her original!
You don’t use bagel chips? The recipe on the box has bagel chips. Have you tried it with gf bagel chips?
I don’t know of any GF bagel chips that exist on the market. If you find some you can definitely add!