The Ultimate Smoked Chex Mix
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This smoked Chex® mix takes things to a whole new level and I must warn you that if you show up at a football party with this stuff, you'll most likely be locking yourself into bringing it every single time. Things this good create high demand!
I went to the store and picked out all of my favorite salty snacks including Rice Chex and Corn Chex to throw into the mix and of course you can do the same thing.
The flavored butter is also something you can change up if you wish by making it more or less spicy, using a different hot sauce, etc.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Smoker Temp: 180°F
- Recommended Wood: Pecan
The Snack Mix
- 1 cup of Rice Chex®
- 1 cup of Corn Chex®
- 1 cup of pretzels (small knot shape)
- 1 cup of mixed nuts
- 1 cup of Club® minis multigrain crackers
- 1 cup of Cheez-its® Grooves
- 1 cup Snyder's of Hanover® pretzel pieces (I recommend cheddar cheese flavor)
The Flavored Butter
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 1-2 TBS of Tabasco®
- 2 TBS of Jeff's original rub
Here's the snacks that made the cut for my smoked Chex mix:
Measure out 1 cup of each snack and pour them into a large foil pan.
Combine the Chex mix gently with a spatula.. I used a silicone spatula and stirred the mix very carefully to ensure I would not break any of the crackers or crumble the Chex pieces.
The flavored butter is mostly butter but we'll also add some hot sauce and plenty of my original rub .
If you have another barbecue rub, it may work fine however, it is very important that the rub is low in salt. My original rub works so well on so many things because it is based on flavor NOT on salt. Salt should NOT be the flavor, salt should bring out the flavor that's already there.
Seems simple to me but when I go into the store or online and I see all of the rubs that are based on salt, I just shake my head.
Get a microwave safe measuring cup or bowl and add ½ stick of butter.
Note: In this picture, I had doubled the recipe since I knew I would be making a double batch of the snack mix
Melt the butter in the microwave first– this takes about 30 seconds in mine and if it needs more, I put it back in for another 15 seconds.
Once the butter is melted, add 2 TBS of Jeff's original rub and 1 TBS of Tabasco® hot sauce (or your own favorite hot sauce).
You can use more Tabasco® if you prefer.. 1 TBS gives it a hint of Tabasco® but no more. Feel free to crank it up!
Stir the concoction really well to combine.
Stirring the butter mixture constantly, drizzle it over the snack mix as evenly as possible until you've used every drop.
Now, use a silicone spatula to very gently mix the snacks around so that every piece is coated well.
Sprinkle on more (about 2 TBS) of the Jeff's original rub then give it one more stir with the silicone spatula.
The coated snack mix is now ready for the smoker.
Setup your smoker to maintain indirect heat of 225°F. If you are using a pellet smoker, I recommend going with 180°F or the low smoke setting for better smoke flavor.
Once the smoke is going, place the pan(s) of snacks into the smoker and close the lid.
Stir the mix every 20 minutes for more uniform smoke flavor.
Smoke the snack mix for about an hour or until the snacks are as crisp and smoky as you like.
In a pellet smoker, you'll want to keep it at 180°F (or in it's special low smoke setting) the entire time for maximum smoke and keep this going for about 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes.
Remove the pan(s) from the smoker and bring into the house to cool.
Serve the snacks right away.
If you are not serving them right away:
Allow them to cool completely on the counter then store them in zipper bags.
Smoked Snack Mix for the Big Game
Ingredients
The Snack Mix
- 1 cup of Rice Chex®
- 1 cup of corn Chex®
- 1 cup of pretzels
- 1 cup of mixed nuts
- 1 cup of mini club crackers
- 1 cup of Cheez-its® grooves
- 1 cup Snyder's of Hanover pretzel pieces (I recommend cheddar cheese flavor)
The Flavored Butter
- ½ stick of butter
- 1-2 TBS of Tabasco®
- 2 TBS of Jeff's original rub
Instructions
- Measure Measure out each of the snacks into a large foil pan.
- Melted Butter/Rub Melt the butter then add the hot sauce and 2 TBS of Jeff's original rub and mix well.
- Drizzle Drizzle the butter mixture over the snack mix and stir well to coat.
- Setup Smoker Setup your smoker to maintain indirect heat of 225°F. If you are using a pellet smoker, I recommend going with 180°F or the low smoke setting for better smoke flavor.
- Smoke Once the smoke is going, place the pan(s) of snacks into the smoker and close the lid.
- Stir Stir the mix occasionally for more uniform smoke flavor.
- Smoke Smoke the snack mix for about an hour or until the snacks are as crisp and smoky as you like. Note: In a pellet smoker, I recommend 180°F for 2 hours.
- Cool Remove the pans from the smoker and bring them into the house to cool.
- Serve Serve the snack mix right away.
- Store If you are not serving them right away: Allow them to cool completely on the counter then store them in zipper bags.
Made this for the Super Bowl party. I was very skeptical that the snacks would take on any smokey flavor. Boy, was I wrong. They turned out GREAT. Everybody loved them (except one gal from England that thinks ketchup is too spicey.)
Questioning instructions in article vs. printed. Ingredients needed lists 2T rub mix for the butter, but the directions in the article says add to butter the 2 Tbs then later says sprinkle more (2T). Should the ingredients list be doubled or show 2T in separate places needed? The printed directions doesn’t say to sprinkle more on. Not sure if using amounts correctly. Thank you!
Jeff, I follow your recipe exactly but have modified it just a bit for lower sodium. Since most of the snack items included contain some salt, I make up a batch of your original rub, less the salt, just for this recipe! It is still plenty salty but it does cut down a bit on the sodium. I have family who has tried it both ways and agree it tastes better with no added salt!
How to store for long periods. I can’t work with my smoker at times in the winter here in Illinois. Is there any way to preserve a large batch? IF I can keep out of it. Thanks in advance for suggestions or even the painful truth of no.
By the way I like the addition of Goldfish.
This is my favorite! I like to add a generous amount of honey to mine before smoking. It really gives it that sweet, salty, smoky flavor that is irresistible!
I’ll normally double the recipe add Hot-N-Spicy Pork Rinds and Gold Fish to the mix, use Frank’s Red Hot Sauce instead of Tabasco. My family loves it. I’ve been told not to bring any more to work with me, my manager can’t stay out of it.
My daughter was on the Keto diet, so I smoked her some using a Keto Snack Mix marketed at Sam’s Warehouse and the Hot-N-Spicy Pork Rinds. She loved it.
The main thing is to throw whatever you want together for the mix, add some rub and a hot sauce and smoke it.
I have followed your recipe for these several times and love them. This last time I added gold fish.
I love all of your recipes
What wood did you use? Hickory? Thanks! Judy
Judy, I have used multiple woods for these, pecan was the best in my opinion and it’s what I recommend.