Buffalo ranch chex mix is a crunchy, flavorful snack mix that mimics the flavors of classic buffalo chicken wings and ranch dressing. It's the perfect hot and tangy snack mix for your next party!
Recipe summary
Flavor: Warm buffalo flavor mixed with your favorite ranch dressing herbs and spices!
Made with: Chex cereal, pretzel twists, cheese crackers, and peanuts.
Easy to customize. The mix-ins are easy to customize with your favorite cereals, crackers, and nuts.
Great for parties. It's the perfect crunchy, salty snack for football games, family parties, or movie night at home.
Similar to: Spicy Garlic Chex Mix and Sweet Chex Mix
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Chex cereal - Corn or rice chex are my two preferred options when making chex mix. Feel free to use your favorite variety.
- Cheese crackers - Small cheese crackers like Cheez-it brand or goldfish crackers work well in this recipe.
- Pretzels - Pretzel twists, snaps, or sticks are all great choices.
- Peanuts - Lightly salted or unsalted peanuts work well in this recipe. For nut allergies, omit the peanuts and add another cup of chex cereal, pretzels, or cheese crackers.
- Butter - I recommend unsalted butter since the crunchy ingredients are already salted.
- Buffalo sauce - Use your favorite brand of buffalo sauce for this recipe.
- Ranch seasoning - I used homemade ranch seasoning, but a packet of store bought ranch seasoning also works great.
How to make chex mix
- While your oven preheats, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Melt butter and combine with the buffalo sauce and ranch seasoning.
- Pour the buffalo sauce mixture over the dry ingredients and toss until evenly coated.
- Spread onto a lined baking sheet and bake until crispy and lightly browned, tossing once halfway through.
Variations
Extra spicy: Add ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (or a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce) along with the ranch seasoning.
Other mix-ins: Bugles, wheat or rice chex, goldfish crackers, cheerios cereal, pistachios, cashews, and bagel chips make great options. Substitute with the same measurements for best results.
Nut-free: Substitute the peanuts with your favorite mix-ins like more chex cereal or cheese crackers.
Gluten-free: Corn chex cereal, rice chex cereal, and salted nuts are gluten-free as is. Gluten-free pretzels and cheese crackers can be found at your local grocer. Popcorn also makes a great mix-in option!
Storage
Homemade chex mix will keep for about 1 to 2 weeks in a tightly sealed airtight container at room temperature.
Frequently asked questions
Ranch dressing is a popular savory salad dressing in the US and Canada that's made with buttermilk and herbs. The key flavors of ranch are dill, chives, and parsley. For this recipe, we're using ranch seasoning, which is a dry seasoning blend made with those herbs and spices you'd find in ranch dressing.
Yes, this can be prepared several days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container until ready to serve.
No, ranch dressing does not work in this recipe. Ranch seasoning works because it's dry and has a concentrated ranch flavor. This adds adequate seasoning to the chex mix without the extra moisture.
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📖 Recipe
Buffalo Ranch Chex Snack Mix
Ingredients
Chex Mix
- 8 cups chex cereal, any variety
- 2 cups cheese crackers, like cheez-its
- 2 cups small twist pretzels
- 1 cup lightly salted peanuts
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
- 3 tablespoons ranch seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250℉. Line a large baking sheet (or two smaller baking sheets) with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine chex cereal, cheese crackers, pretzels, and peanuts. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine melted butter, buffalo sauce, and ranch seasoning.
- Pour buffalo sauce mixture over chex mixture and toss until evenly coated.
- Spread chex mix evenly over baking sheet(s) in an even layer. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy, stirring once halfway through. If using multiple baking sheets, rotate sheets between racks halfway through as well.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Bowl not big enough?: If you don't have a bowl big enough to accommodate all of your chex mix, prepare half at a time. Measure half of each dry ingredient into your largest bowl, mix the sauce as directed above, then pour half the sauce over your dry ingredients, tossing to coat. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients.
- Ranch: Dry ranch seasoning can be homemade or store bought.
- Storage: Homemade chex mix will keep for about 1-2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.
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