Okay – I put the obvious, vegan, in the title. But you had to know! I mean chex mix is never, ever vegan! Know why? Cause of the worcestershire sauce, that’s why. If you didn’t know, worcestershire sauce has anchovies in it; blech, though I have watched enough Rachael Ray to know that anchovies when heated and broken down are just a salty flavoring. But still, fish in sauce. Yuck. So I had to tackle that beast – the most prominent flavor of Chex Mix. And I did, and made my most favorite holiday snack. Here is the Vegan and Gluten-Free Chex Mix with Homemade Worcestershire Sauce.

First off let me say that chex mix is my all-time favorite snack, and that if I was on an desert island and could only eat one thing for the rest of my life – chex mix would be it. Sugar – eh. Plain old classic Chex Mix would be it. It is also the one snack I don’t eat all the time – which may change now that I know how to make it! This snack is a special one, normally only made by my mom at Christmas. Why? Cause it takes forever and costs a lot and she makes tons for the family to snack on throughout the days. Not weeks, no, we chomp that stuff up. But my SIL went gluten-free and she only gets to enjoy parts of it – just the corn and rice chex and the nuts. So in honor of her gluten-freeness I decided to make this … even though I am in DC and she is in San Antonio, and she won’t get any cause I will eat it all. But still, it’s the thought that counts!

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Can I just say, couldn’t they have come up with a shorter name for that sauce? I mean really, sheesh. But anyway, I Googled how to make the sauce, and of course Martha Stewart was the only one that came up for me. You can go here to get the recipe and how-to, and I will tell you the couple things I did different and a little insight. First the insight – this will stink up your place big time. Like, keep the windows open and a fan going, cause yuck does the vinegar become prominent. Once done the actual sauce gets done boiling and simmering it smells fine, but the vinegar. Woowee, yuck! For the sauce, I thought I had onion powder but didn’t so I added dried onion slices, I added two cloves garlic cause I looove garlic, I used Splenda sugar instead of brown sugar, and instead of the soy sauce I used San-J brand Tamari Sauce. Also, Martha says to strain through a fine mesh sieve or strainer when done but I don’t have one so I used a slotted spoon to get out what I could. I don’t mind a few random onions slices in my food.

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I also made my own season salt which you need for the chex mix seasoning. I don’t know about you, but I think season salt is one of the seasonings that never gets used unless you are making chex mix. It comes in a large container and for the mix you only need 1 1/2 teaspoons of it. Not worth my money. And since I had everything that goes in it, making it was my option. Now again with no onion powder (why I don’t have it is unknown, cause I could have sworn I bought some, hmph) I used a spoon to crush up some dried onion slices and added that to the mix, and I also used Splenda sugar instead of normal sugar. Just dump it all in a small container then mix and voila. Homemade season salt.

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Okay, so normal chex mix has wheat chex in it and normal pretzels and little dried bread bite things. Totally not gluten-free, but easily fixable by just not putting any of those things in it. For the chex I only used the rice and corn, for the pretzels I used Snyder’s of Hanover’s Gluten-Free twists (which I am in love with; these pretzels are slightly sweet and you get a large portion for not a lot of calories and they are crunchier than normal pretzels – dang good!), and for the nuts I had gone to Whole Foods and got about two cups plain mixed nuts and then bought a container of dry roasted not salted peanuts. And that’s it.

Season Salt,

2 Tbsp Salt
2 Tsp Splenda
1/2 Tsp Paprika
1/4 Tsp Turmeric
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder

1. Dump all ingredients in a small bowl and mix.
2. Pour into a spice container or ziplock bag.

Vegan and Gluten-Free Chex Mix,

3 C Corn Chex
3 C Rice Chex
3 C Snyder’s of Hanover’s Gluten-Free Pretzel Twists
2 C Plain Mixed Nuts
1 C Dry Roasted Not Salted Peanuts
6 Tbsp Earth Balance Butter, 1 butter stick
2 Tbsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
3/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Slices, crushed into powder
1 1/2 Tsp Homemade Season Salt

1. Turn oven to 250 degrees and lay two baking sheets out and cover with foil.
2. Dump dry ingredients into a large bowl.
3. In a microwavable bowl add butter, sauce, garlic powder, onion, and season salt. Microwave until butter is just melted. Mix together.
4. Pour half the mixture over the dry ingredients then mix with your hands. Pour rest over and mix, mix, mix.
5. Spread chex mix onto baking sheets and spread out evenly.
6. Bake in 15 minute intervals, taking out to mix so nothing burns.
7. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container or large ziplock bag.
8. Enjoy!