Honey Miso Party Mix

published Dec 8, 2021
sheet pan of honey miso party mix
Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman - Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero

This salty-sweet recipe is packed with roasted cashews, honeycomb-shaped cereal, toasted garlic, and shichimi togarashi.

Serves6 to 8

Makes10 cups

Prep15 minutes

Cook1 hour

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sheet pan of honey miso party mix
Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman - Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero

The holidays are among us and our social calendars are filling up — aka it’s party (mix) time! Whether you’re playing hostess or looking for a festive food gift, you’ll want to keep this crowd-pleasing recipe handy. It checks all the snack board boxes: salty, sweet, crunchy, and delicious. It’s like traditional party mix, but stepped up a few savory notches. Plus, you can make it up to one week in advance, so you won’t miss a moment of the party (or the compliments for this recipe). 

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman - Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero

The Ultimate Umami-Packed Snack Mix

This Chex Mix 2.0 has flavor coming from every direction. For starters, there are the eight cloves of garlic, which you’ll mince, toss with oil, and microwave until golden and crispy (yes, you can steal this technique for future crispy garlic needs).

Next, you’ll whisk honey, white miso, and vinegar into melted butter. I like black vinegar for its deep color and smoky taste, but you can also use rice vinegar. Then, pour this sweet-and-salty mixture onto the rest of the party mix ingredients, which are awesome in their own right: honeycomb-shaped cereal, rice cakes broken into large pieces, roasted cashews, and, of course, the crispy garlic. Top it all off with a generous dusting of shichimi togarashi, a Japanese seasoning made of chili flakes, seaweed, and sesame seeds (amongst other things). Every handful is like a little umami gift. 

Another gift? This recipe is super flexible. If you have other nuts in your pantry, by all means add them in — peanuts, almonds, or walnuts would all be great. You can swap in different cereals, too, or even use mini pretzels or pretzel nuggets in its place. Plus, since the recipe uses exactly half a box of cereal, you can easily double it for larger holiday gatherings — or keep on hand for at-home snacking.

Honey Miso Party Mix Recipe

This salty-sweet recipe is packed with roasted cashews, honeycomb-shaped cereal, toasted garlic, and shichimi togarashi.

Prep time 15 minutes

Cook time 1 hour

Makes 10 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 8 cloves

    garlic

  • 3 tablespoons

    canola or other neutral oil

  • 1/8 teaspoon

    granulated sugar

  • 1/8 teaspoon

    kosher salt

  • 4

    (about 4-inch-wide, 1/2-inch-thick) lightly salted round puffed rice cakes

  • 5 cups

    Crispix cereal, or other honeycomb-shaped cereal (6 ounces)

  • 2 cups

    whole roasted salted or unsalted cashews (about 10 ounces)

  • 8 tablespoons

    (1 stick) unsalted butter

  • 1/4 cup

    honey

  • 2 tablespoons

    white miso paste

  • 1 teaspoon

    black or rice vinegar

  • 3 tablespoons

    shichimi togarashi spice blend

Instructions

  1. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 200ºF. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. Mince 8 garlic cloves (about 1/4 cup). Place in a small microwave-safe bowl and add 3 tablespoons canola oil. Microwave in 30-second intervals until garlic is golden and crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes total.

  3. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. (Reserve and refrigerate the garlic oil for sautéeing or drizzling over greens.) Transfer the garlic to a paper towel-lined plate, season with 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, and toss to combine. Spread into an even layer and set aside to cool.

  4. Meanwhile, using your hands, crumble 4 rice cakes into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups) into a large bowl. Add 5 cups Crispix cereal and 2 cups whole roasted cashews. Add the cooled garlic and toss to combine.

  5. Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1/4 cup honey, 2 tablespoons white miso paste, and 1 teaspoon black or rice vinegar, and whisk until smooth. Immediately pour over the cereal mixture and toss until even coated. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons shichimi togarashi and toss until evenly coated.

  6. Transfer the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Bake, tossing every 15 minutes, until the mixture is lightly toasted and almost, about 1 hour total. Let cool on the baking sheet until room temperature, about 30 minutes (it will continue to crisp up).

Recipe Notes

Storage: The party mix can be made up to 1 week in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.