Nuts and Bolts Chex Mix

Nuts and Bolts, or Chex Mix, is a delicious mixture of various crunchy cereals, pretzels, crackers, and nuts all tossed and baked in a savory combination of butter, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. 

This "Nuts and Bolts" Chex Mix can be made with any combination of Chex and other savory cereals, crunchy crackers and chips, and a mixture of roasted nuts. It's a great mix to have on hand when you need a quick snack. 

This is also a great treat to serve with cocktails, for tailgating, for game or movie watching, or for an afternoon snack. 

Chex Mix Ingredient Notes:

This recipe includes all of my favorite add-ins for this snack, but you can easily make it your own. 

Quick confession: I know the name "Nuts and Bolts" usually refers to the pretzel sticks (bolts) and Cheerios (nuts) that typically show up in the recipe. Even though this mixture does not include Cheerios, I still think this mixture reminds me of a box of nuts and bolts all mixed together. 

Cereal:

I used a combination of shredded wheat minis, Wheat Chex, Corn Chex, and Rice Chex, about 10 cups total. You can play around with the proportions and substitute any savory cereal for some of the shredded wheat and Chex. 

Both Crispix and Cheerios would definitely work well. You want something crispy and somewhat sturdy. 

Nuts:

I used a combination of mixed roasted nuts and roasted salted peanuts, about 5 to 6 cups total. 

Pretzels and other Crispy Snacks:

This mixture includes Fritos Corn Chips, pretzel sticks, and bagel chips (I used Stacy's Simply Naked).

"Sauce:"

This mixture is tossed in a combination of melted butter, vegetable oil, Worcestershire Sauce, granulated garlic, granulated onion, lemon juice, and Laury's seasoned salt, and then baked in a 250 degree F oven for 90 minutes. 

The "back of the Chex box" recipe doesn't include roasting the ingredients, which is what I think makes all of the difference in helping the ingredients absorb the buttery mixture. 

If you'd like to play with the recipe, just think of it as 10 cups of cereal, 5 cups of nuts, and 7 cups of crunchy crackers or chips. 

Substitutions:

For the nuts, you can use your favorite combination depending on your preferences. You could add pecans or walnuts to the mix for example. 

For the crunchy crackers or chips, Frito-Lay Munchies (cheesy or hot), Cheetos, or Doritos would be a great option. You could also include cheese crackers, fish crackers, bite-sized pretzels, round pretzels, rice crackers or sticks, Bugles, or oyster crackers. 

You could also use garlic-flavored bagel chips or rye bagel chips. 

For the "sauce," you could also add some cheese powder, ranch dressing mix, or cayenne pepper, for more flavor. Dried herbs would be tasty too! 

For the cereal, if you want to include Cheerios, either regular or whole wheat (not honey nut) are perfect. Well, actually Honey Nut might add a great sweet/salty dimension! 

Tips for Making this Chex Mix:

First, add all of the cereal, nuts, and chips into a large roasting pan. 

Next, heat the butter, vegetable oil, granulated garlic, granulated onion, and seasoned salt in a saucepan or microwave, and pour it over the mixture and toss everything together to fully coat. 

After that, bake the mixture for 90 minutes, tossing everything every 15 minutes until all of the sauce has been absorbed. I set and reset a kitchen timer for 15 minutes six times in a row as a reminder. 

Finally, let the mixture cool completely before storing in an airtight container. 

This Chex mix is great to set out as a nibble, especially if you are serving it with cocktails, wine, or beer. It's loved by both kids and adults. 

If your guests are still a bit shy about a "communal" snack bowl, get some individual amuse bouche dishes to serve this snack. 

More Snack Recipes You May Also Like:

Pretzel Bites

Norwegian Havrekjeks

Garlic and Sea Salt Pita Chips

Cheddar Cheese and Pecan Crisps

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Nuts

Recipes featuring corn chips from the Sunday Funday group to celebrate National Corn Chip Day:

• Cheesy Chicken Nachos With Doritos by Sneha’s Recipe
• Chilaquiles by Palatable Pastime
• Chili Frito Pie by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Elotes Dip by Culinary Cam
• Frito Pie by Amy’s Cooking Adventures

Nuts and Bolts Chex Mix

Yield: 1/2 cup servings (44)

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 1 H & 40 M

Nuts and Bolts, or Chex Mix, is a delicious mixture of various crunchy cereals, pretzels, crackers, and nuts all tossed and baked in a savory combination of butter, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings.

Ingredients

• 3 cups bite-sized shredded wheat cereal
• 1 cup Wheat Chex
• 3 cups Rice Chex
• 3 cups Corn Chex
• 4 cups Fritos
• 2 cups pretzel sticks
• 1 pound mixed nuts
• 1 cup roasted salted peanuts
• 1 cup bagel chips, broken into 1 inch pieces (usually in half).
• 6 ounces plus one tablespoon (13 tablespoons) salted butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1tablespoon granulated onion
• 1 tablespoon Laury's Seasoned Salt
• Juice from 1/2 of a lemon

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Add the shredded wheat cereal, Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Fritos, pretzel sticks, mixed nuts, peanuts, and bagel chips to a large roasting pan (the size you would use to roast a turkey), and toss everything together.
3. In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter, oil, seasonings, and lemon juice.
4. Gently pour the butter mixture over the mixture in the roasting pan while tossing everything together. You can do this in stages.
5. Bake the mixture for 90 minutes, stirring and tossing everything together every 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
7. Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

254.6

Fat (grams)

16.41

Sat. Fat (grams)

3.82

Carbs (grams)

24.49

Fiber (grams)

3.08

Net carbs

21.43

Sugar (grams)

1.77

Protein (grams)

5.5

Sodium (milligrams)

409

Cholesterol (grams)

8.31

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2023/01/nuts-and-bolts-chex-mix.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

Chex Mix, Nuts and Bolts

Appetizer

American

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Recipe inspired by several sources, including Michael Ruhlman, one of my culinary heroes.

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