Road trips often call for tasty snacks so you can keep the munchies under control while you’re on the road. At other times, you need a snack that can satisfy everyone at a backyard cookout, movie night, or any other get-together. For all these occasions and more, Chex Mix seems to be an obvious pick. But is Chex Mix really vegan safe?
Traditional Chex Mix is vegan. However, most of the flavored varieties of Chex Mix are not vegan friendly since they contain whey protein or color additives. Additionally, some may contain refined sugar which is processed using bone char. The best vegan and healthier alternatives to Chex Mix are Thrive Market Paleo Snack Mix and Kay’s Natural Pass the Peas Chickpea Chips.
Today, let’s take a closer look at Chex Mix, its ingredients, and break down which flavors of this favorite party snack you can enjoy safely without breaking your diet.
Contents
What’s in Chex Mix?
Chex Mix is a classic road trip snack that includes a few different snacking ingredients: small pretzels, Chex cereal, and so on. Each of these ingredients is created from grains or other plant-based ingredients, so you would think that Chex Mix is always vegan friendly.
Indeed, the main ingredients in Traditional Chex Mix and a couple of other flavors are vegan safe, including whole wheat, enriched flour, sugar, yeast, just to name a few.
However, some versions of Chex Mix have added flavors that are derived from animal products. Unfortunately, the majority of Chex Mix flavors include seasonings or powders that are not vegan safe. For vegans, that means you’re limited to just two varieties of Chex Mix if you want to stick with your diet.
What Ingredients Should You Avoid?
To create the right flavor and texture for some of their more popular Chex Mix varieties, the manufacturer includes ingredients like dried Parmesan cheese, whey protein, and color additives.
- Whey protein is made from animal products and dried cheese is a dairy product. So, both of those are no-goes as far as vegan friendliness is concerned.
- Some color additives are also non-vegan. Specifically, you’ll want to avoid Red Dye # 4, which is derived from a specific type of beetle. In many cases, manufacturers crush the beetles in order to get the dye.
- Many types of Chex Mix include refined sugar that is finalized using bone char. Bone charring is created by carbonized cattle bones from the meat industry. Naturally, any sugar made in this process is not vegan in spirit even if it might be vegan on paper.
To that end, vegans should only eat Chex Mix flavors that lack major flavor additives, powders, or sugar.
Non-Vegan Chex Mix Flavors
In total, the Chex Mix flavors vegans should avoid include:
- Cheddar
- Bold
- Max’d Buffalo Ranch
- Max’d Spicy Dill
- Honey BBQ
- Sour Cream & Onion
- Turtle
- Trail Mix
- Dark Chocolate
- Jalapeno Cheddar
- Hot & Spicy
- Honey Nut
Chex Mix Nutritional Information
As we mentioned we mentioned above, the majority of Chex Mix flavors aren’t on your side if you’re looking for vegan snacks. However, there are a couple of Chex Mix flavors you can safely munch on without breaking your diet.
Let’s break down the ingredients of these two Chex Mix flavors so you know for sure that you can enjoy them without feeling guilty.
Traditional Chex Mix
Traditional Chex Mix is where it all began, and it includes the court formula found in most other Chex Mix varietals. That said, it lacks some of the problematic ingredients found in the advanced flavorings and powders described earlier. It’s a great all around snack for parties or for munching by yourself in the middle of the day.
Its ingredients are:
- Whole wheat
- Degermed yellow cornmeal
- Enriched flour
- Vegetable oil
- Sugar
- Rye flour
- Salt
- Maltodextrin
- Yeast
- Spices
- Dextrose
- Distilled monoglycerides
- Baking soda
- Yellow corn flour
- Try sodium phosphate
- Calcium carbonate
- Autolyzed yeast
- Dried onion
- Dried garlic
- Hydrolyzed soy protein
- Barley malt syrup
- Fumaric acid
- Citric acid
- Caraway
- Disodium inosinate
- Disodium guanylate
- Natural flavor
- Sodium diacetate
- Freshness preserved by BHT
Nutrition Facts:
- 130 cal per serving
- 5 g fat or 4% DV
- 230 mg sodium or 10% DV
- 23 g carbohydrate or 8% DV
- 2 g fiber or 6% DV
- 2 g sugar or 4% DV
- 2 g protein
- 4% DV of iron
Ghost Pepper Chex Mix
If you want real Chex Mix from the brand that started at all, your only other option is a vegan is the Ghost Pepper flavor. Fortunately, this flavor is one of the tastiest offered by Chex Mix. As you’ll see from the ingredient breakdown below, it doesn’t deviate too much from classic Chex Mix and it doesn’t include problematic ingredients to provide its spicy flavors.
Its ingredients are:
- Whole wheat
- Degermed yellow cornmeal
- Enriched flour
- Vegetable oil
- Sugar
- Rye flour
- Salt
- Maltodextrin
- Yeast
- Spices
- Dextrose
- Distilled monoglycerides
- Baking soda
- Yellow corn flour
- Try sodium phosphate
- Calcium carbonate
- Autolyzed yeast
- Dried onion
- Dried garlic
- Hydrolyzed soy protein
- Barley malt syrup
- Fumaric acid
- Citric acid
- Caraway
- Disodium inosinate
- Disodium guanylate
- Natural flavor
- Sodium diacetate
- Freshness preserved by BHT
- Caramel color
- Calcium carbonate
- Paprika extract
- Baking soda
Nutrition Facts:
- 130 cal per serving
- 4 g fat or 5% DV
- 210 mg sodium or 9% DV
- 22 g carbohydrate or 8% DV
- 1 g fiber or 5% DV
- 3 g sugar or 5% DV
- 2 g protein
- 4% DV of iron
Healthy Vegan Alternatives to Chex Mix
In the mood for a healthy or vegan alternative to Chex Mix? Luckily, there are lots of alternatives to Chex Mix if you want to get your crunch on without risking problematic ingredients derived from animals or unethical practices. Let’s take a look at some of these alternatives now.
Kay’s Pass the Peas Snacks
Alternatively, you could try these healthy vegan snacks from Kay’s. As the name suggests, they are simple chickpea snacks that include non-GMO ingredients and no trans fats whatsoever. Most importantly, they are totally vegan and made in the USA, so you can rest assured that they are produced using sustainable practices.
Its ingredients are:
- Chickpea flour
- Tapioca starch
- Pea protein concentrate
- Potato starch
- Cane sugar
- Sunflower oil
- Maple syrup
- Sea salt
- Natural maple flavor
- Molasses powder
- Natural hickory smoke flavor
- Black pepper
- Pea fiber
- Xanthan gum
Nutrition Facts:
- 115 cal per serving
- 5 g fat or 4% DV
- 245 mg sodium or 11% DV
- 17 g carbohydrate or 6% DV
- 1 g fiber or 4% DV
- 3 g sugar or 4% DV
Thrive Market Paleo Snack Mix
Thrive Market doesn’t disappoint once again with this Paleo diet-friendly snack mix, which is one of the closest direct competitors you’ll get to traditional Chex Mix. It’s also totally gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians, vegans, and anyone in between.
Its ingredients are:
- Banana chips
- Cashews
- Pecans
- Organic apple cider vinegar
- Organic coconut aminos
- Sea salt
- Olive oil
- Turmeric
- Paprika
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
Nutrition Facts:
- 160 cal per serving
- 11 g fat or 14% DV
- 140 mg sodium or 6% DV
- 11 g carbohydrate or 4% DV
- 1 g fiber or 4% DV
- 3 g protein
- 300 mg potassium or 6% DV
- 8 mg iron or 4% DV
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Chex Mix is not as vegan safe as you might have initially thought, especially when you consider that most flavors of the party snack are non-vegan due to their ingredients or manufacturing practices. Still, you can always stick with traditional Chex Mix in a pinch or check out some of the vegan friendly alternatives described above.
Related Questions
Does Chex Mix contain dairy?
The traditional Chex Mix and Ghost Pepper flavors described above do not have dairy. However, some of the other Chex Mix flavors that are not vegan friendly also include dairy byproducts, such as cheese dust. Therefore, if you are intolerant toward certain types of dairy products, most Chex Mix flavors will also not be great choices for your snacking.
Is Chex Mix halal?
Yes, most Chex Mix varieties should be safely halal.
Can you make your own vegan Chex Mix?
Absolutely. In fact, this may be one of the best ways to ensure that you don’t accidentally ingest non-vegan ingredients. Put together your own Chex Mix by adding popcorn, small pretzels, Chex cereal, and anything else you like to customize your snack.