This Frito Snack Mix is some pretty addicting stuff. It’s a mix of Fritos corn chips, Chex cereal, M&M’s, pretzels and nuts combined with a sweet syrup. Watch the video in the post showing you how to make Frito Snack Mix, then scroll to the very bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make it at home!
Frito Snack Mix
This recipe was first shared here on RecipeGirl way back in 2012. I was finishing up the manuscript for The Recipe Girl Cookbook, and my friend Shelly from the blog, Cookies and Cups offered to guest post here and share this recipe.
I’m so glad she did because this Frito Snack Mix has been a RecipeGirl favorite for many years now. People like to make it for parties and lunchboxes and general snacking and dessert. Shelly figured out how to turn Fritos into candy, and it’s pretty delicious!
🛒Ingredients needed:
- Fritos corn chips
- Rice Chex cereal
- pretzel twists
- nuts (your choice)
- light brown sugar
- butter
- light corn syrup
- M&M’s
✏️ How to Make Frito Snack Mix:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
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Preheat oven to 350°F.
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In a large bowl combine the Fritos, Chex, Pretzels and nuts. Set aside.
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In a small saucepan melt the sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium heat. Let the mixture come to a boil and then boil for 4 minutes without stirring.
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Remove the pan from heat and pour over the Frito mixture, stirring to coat evenly. Transfer the mix to a large roasting pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove to stir and bake for an additional 8 minutes.
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Transfer the mixture to a wax paper lined counter and let it cool completely before breaking into large clumps. When cooled sprinkle M&Ms over mix. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
➡️Recipe Tips:
- Keep an eye on the syrup mixture as it boils. You definitely want it boiling, but NOT boiling over. That’s a mess no one wants to clean up. 🙂
- Use whatever nuts you like best in this recipe. In the batch shown here I used pecans, but walnuts, cashews or peanuts would work well, too. Or, you could use a combination of nuts.
- You can also change up the plain M&M’s for peanut M&M’s or perhaps peanut butter M&M’s!
✔️What to do with Frito Snack Mix:
- This is a perfect game day snack. You can make it ahead of time and pull it out when the munchies hit.
- Think what you could do with this snack mix for a Super Bowl Party! If you live near an M&M’s store, get them in the colors of the teams playing and make custom batches of this Fritos Snack Mix.
- When it’s your turn to bring snacks to your kid’s sports event, make up individual bags of this and win or lose, you’ll have some happy kids at the end of the game.
★How to Store:
This snack mix stores well on the counter or in the pantry for up to a week. Just be sure to put it in an airtight container and to reseal it after dipping in for a snack.
❤️Why I love this recipe:
- We host our fair share of game day gatherings, and I love that I can make this recipe a couple days ahead and just pull it out during the game.
- Everyone loved this snack mix and it’s always nice to get so many comliments.
- I also love the versatility of it. It’s perfect for so many occasions and can be tweaked just a bit to fit whomever it will be served to.
More delicious snacking recipes!
- S’Mores Granola Bars
- Caramel Corn
- Soda Can Cupcakes
- Milky Way Brownies
- Reeses Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Frito Snack Mix
Ingredients
- 15.5 ounces Fritos corn chips
- 2 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 2 cups pretzel twists
- 1½ cups nuts (walnuts, peanut, cashews suggested)
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup mini M&M's
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl combine the Fritos, Chex, Pretzels and nuts. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan melt the sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium heat. Let the mixture come to a boil and then boil for 4 minutes without stirring.
- Remove the pan from heat and pour over the Frito mixture, stirring to coat evenly. Transfer the mix to a large roasting pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove to stir and bake for an additional 8 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a wax paper lined counter and let it cool completely before breaking into large clumps. When cooled sprinkle M&Ms over mix. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve been making this recipe for years and it’s always highly requested at work and family functions. One tip, just mix everything from the beginning in the roasting pan and save yourself a dirty dish. I also cool the mix about half way then sprinkle the m&m’s on top. Do not mix or touch until completely cool and this helps the candy stick to the mix without melting or all sinking to the bottom.
Can you freeze this after making it so it lasts longer than a week?
I’ve never tried freezing this mix.
Sorry., I was all set to love this but ended up disappointed underwhelmed. My husband will normally pick at something like this as long as it is within site but he didn’t go back after the initial taste. Tried adding M’s to some of the mix before altogether cool in hopes that the it would still be sticky enough to have them spread throughout the mixture – only resulted in somewhat melted M’s. M’s in all mixtures just sank to the bottom.
This is addicting. So good! Made it with regular red and green M and M’s for Christmas gifts.
Great idea!