Nut-Free Trail Mix: Trailblazing Recipes From Salty to Sweet

I've been fortunate to escape the legume peanut allergy all my life. But as for the rest of the nuts you find laced in with trail mix? Not so much. In fact, I didn't even know I had a nut allergy until I was out of college. I had (wrongly) assumed that nuts caused everyone to have an itchy throat and gums. The idea of a nut-free trail mix never even crossed my mind. 

So I soldiered on and continued to have an itchy mouth whenever trail mix was on the table. And then I learned. Since then, I dodge and weave through trail mix selections, avoiding the itchy ingredients. But I've found making a nut-free trail mix at home is not only an easier way of life, but it's a lot kinder on my wallet. 

I'm a big fan of the equal parts approach to my nut-free trail mix recipes. Not as much as measuring with my heart, but the equal parts approach has never steered me wrong.

Ingredients

• 1 cup popcorn
• 1 cup pretzels
• 1 cup chocolate candies
• 1 cup cereal rice squares
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup shelled and roasted sunflower seeds

Instructions 

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and stir to mix. Snack away!

Mosey on down to the tropics, where the beaches are soft and sandy, the sun is shining, and there's nary a coconut in sight in your trail mix.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried pineapple
• 1 cup dried banana chips
• 1 cup dried mango
• 1 cup pretzel sticks
• 1 cup twisted mini pretzels
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Mix all of the ingredients together into a bowl. If you want to add a little more tropical flavor, you can add some coconut flakes. But only if that's not one of your nut allergies. 

If you can't already tell, I'm a big savory fan over here. Salt, onion, garlic, give 'em all to me. This trail mix walks the line of a famous rice square cereal mix and doesn't cost me $5 a handful. Thank goodness. Now I have room in my budget for that new coffee place down the street. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup pretzels
• 1 cup popcorn
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup crackers such as cheese or square baked whole wheat wafers, broken into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients.
2. Add the olive oil and seasonings.
3. Stir well to mix.

Optionally, you can add all these mixed ingredients to a pre-heated 300°F oven on a baking sheet and toast for about 10 to 15 minutes. 

On the occassion I am looking for something sweet, or I want my roommate — sorry, partner, to stop mooching off my stash, I like to make up this sweet nut-free trail mix. They're your roommate when they're eating your snacks, but your partner when they have snacks. I don't make the rules. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup granola, plain or chocolate
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• ½ cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup cranberries
• 1 cup banana chips
• 1 cup rice square cereal

Instructions

Mix together in a bowl. 

Double up on the chocolate chips if you use plain granola, or add chocolate candies or chocolate-covered pretzels or popcorn for that sweet, sweet trail mix crunch. 

I am a fruit fiend. A fanatic for fruit. I have a foam finger that says "#1 Fruit Fan." What I'm saying is, I love fruit. Any type of fruit. But I'm also a texture eater, so I when I'm hunting for a snack, what I'm really looking for is something crunchy, and a banana should never be crunchy. Except in this recipe. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup pretzels
• 1 cup rice crackers, broken into pieces
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dehydrated apples, chopped
• 1 cup dried mango, chopped
• 1 cup dried banana chips
• 1 cup dried mango, chopped
• 1 cup raisins

Instructions

Mix together in a large bowl.

I'm a big fan of adding chopped dehydrated orange wheels to my fruit trail mix, but those can be a little too bitter for others, so use your judgment. Shockingly, coconuts don't fall under my nut allergy, so I also like to add a cup or so of coconut flakes. 

Ah, the holidays. It's the time of year when the world falls in love and everyone adds nuts to everything. Cake? Nuts. Muffins? Nuts. Pie? Nuts. Halloween candy? Nuts. Fudge? Nuts. Enough with the nuts, people. This holiday-themed trail mix that you can tweak from holiday to holiday and season to season? Absolutely no nuts. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup caramel popcorn
• 1 cup pretzels
• 1 cup holiday candy
• 1 cup yogurt covered pretzels
• 1 cup dried cherries

Instructions

Mix your ingredients in a large bowl.

For Halloween, give this a try with candied corn. When Thanksgiving comes knocking, this is great with dried cranberries, and for Christmas, just about any chocolate candy is great. As for Easter, add some tiny marshmallows or miniature chocolate eggs. 

Drooling and dreaming of other ingredients to toss into your homemade nut-free trail mix recipes? I gotchu, my trail mix friend. These ingredients will tickle your tastebuds and delight your dopamine sensors a little extra. 

• Crunchy: Pretzel sticks or twisted, cereal squares, popcorn, rice crackers, cheese crackers, flavored pretzels or rice squares, granola clusters, dried edamame.
• Dried Fruits: Cranberries, chopped or halved apricots, dried cherries, raisins, chopped dried mango, chopped dried pineapple, banana chips, dried apple, dried papaya
• Seeds: Chia seeds, sunflower seeds plain or flavored, pumpkin seeds (plain or flavored), chia seeds, flaxseed, hemp seeds.
• Chocolates and candy: Milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chopped nut-free chocolate bars, candy-coated chocolates, marshmallows, gummy candies, caramel-covered popcorn.
• Seasonings: Onion powder, garlic powder, salt or sea salt, pepper, truffle salt, Italian seasoning, cinnamon, allspice, Herbs de Provence.
• Think outside of the box: Yougurt-covered fruit, chocolate-covered fruit, roasted crunchy chickpeas (plain or flavored), fruity and sweet cereals, broken up graham crackers (plain or flavored), crushed chocolate-creme sandwich cookies, wasabi peas.

Whether you're heading up to a mountaintop, need a little something to get you through an afternoon slump at your desk, or you're a professional snacker, there's no need to carefully scour ingredients or worry about whether a wayward nut snuck itself into your next handful. Rest easy and snack easier with nut-free trail mix. Carry on, snackers!