Trash Snack Mix

This savory, back-in-the-day snack mix provides a fun variety of crunchy, snacky treats. Use the recipe as written, or combine your favorite cracker- or chip-type snacks totaling 12 cups.

Before I knew about Chex™ Party Mix, I snacked on Trash. Oh yes, Trash. I can still here my grandmother giggling when she said it.

Granny made Trash for our Christmas get-togethers. It was a 1960’s concoction of pretty much any salty, crunchy thing that came in a box or bag.

I had completely forgotten about Trash until I stumbled across a recipe for it in a long forgotten cookbook. Although the recipe’s name was correct and the overall content was something like my grandmother’s recipe, it was not as I remembered Trash from my childhood. I did an internet search for a different recipe and was not at all surprised that my first hit landed me at Cooks.com.

If there is one place on the internet where ‘under the radar’ recipes can be found, it is at Cooks. The recipes are unedited and appear exactly as the contributors write them. Cooks is a haven for recipes otherwise long forgotten. I consistently find recipes there that my little, backwoods southern grandmother used to make and I am so grateful that people have preserved them for ME!

Recipe Notes

Although I read many recipes, in the end I concocted my own recipe. The first batch I made was a dismal failure and went straightway into the garbage can. It was a huge waste of ingredients, but no one was going to eat it, so into the garbage it went. I felt guilty.

With helpful suggestions from my family and a lot of pondering about flavors that blend well together, I came up with what I think is a really great tasting bit of Trash. There are some things, however, that I need to tell you before I give you the recipe:

1. There’s Trash Snack Mix and White Trash Snack Mix. Trash Snack Mix is savory and White Trash Snack Mix is sweet. We’re making regular Trash here.
2. This snack mix has a lot of different crunchy items. Many original recipes call for potato sticks, but I have left them out of this recipe. I found them to be too “fussy” without bringing any taste to the mix.
3. If you don’t want all of those various crunchy, snacky things, then simply mix and match a total of 12 cups of your favorites.
4. My favorite additions are Bugles and Fritos.
5. If you want a spiffed up version of Chex Party Mix^®, check out our Zesty Snack Mix.

Please note: Recipe updated 12 December 2019

Print Recipe

Trash Snack Mix

This savory, back-in-the-day snack mix provides a fun variety of crunchy, snacky treats. Use the recipe as written, or combine your favorite cracker- or chip-type snacks totaling 12 cups.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 12 1-cup servings

Ingredients

For the Snack Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rice Chex®
• 2 cups Corn Chex®
• 2 cups Cheerios®
• 2 cups original flavor Bugles®
• 1 cup original flavor Fritos®
• 1 cup oyster crackers
• 1 cup small pretzels
• 1 cup mixed nuts

For the Seasoning Mix:

• 3/4 cup butter, softend
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder or granulated onion
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

For the Snack Ingredients

• In a large bowl, combine all of the snack ingredients. You will need a total of 12 cups dry ingredients in the combination of your choosing. Set aside.

For the Seasoning Ingredients

• To a medium glass, microwave-proof bowl, add the seasoning ingredients. Cover bowl with wax paper and place in microwave. Cook on high 1 minute or until the butter is completely melted. Remove from microwave and whisk to combine ingredients well.
• Pour the seasoning ingredients over the snack ingredients. Stir to coat all of the snack ingredients well. Transfer to a large baking or roasting pan and spread out evenly.
• Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Turn out onto several layers of paper towels to cool. Store, up to one week, in an airtight container when cool.

Notes

1. There’s Trash Snack Mix and White Trash Snack Mix. Trash Snack Mix is savory and White Trash Snack Mix is sweet. This recipe is for regular Trash.
2. This snack mix has a lot of different crunchy items. Many original recipes call for potato sticks (Potato Stix®), but I have left them out of this recipe. I found them to be too "fussy", being small and pokey. I am pretty sure that they used to be more substantial back in the 60's and 70's.
3. If you don’t want all of those various crunchy, snacky things, then simply mix and match a total of 12 cups of your favorites.
4. If you want a spiffed up version of Chex Party Mix^®, check out our family's Zesty Snack Mix.

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