This fun movie night popcorn snack mix combines everyone’s favorite movie night snacks all into one deliciously addicting snack mix! With everything from popcorn to candy and even muddy buddies, this snack mix with popcorn has something for everyone!
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The Easiest Snack Mix with Popcorn
My family loves at home movie nights. I’m not sure if they actually like watching the movies or just knowing that movie night comes with special movie night snacks.
In the past we’ve done everything from butterbeer popcorn for a Harry Potter night to homemade grey stuff when we watched Beauty and the Beast.
But I thought it would be fun this week while we were watching the Sandlot (my son is super into baseball these days) to do a popcorn snack mix that combines everything you might get at a movie theater or concession stand while watching a baseball game!
So this movie night snack mix has popcorn, peanuts, and candy all mixed into a base of the classic muddy buddies. It may sound like it’d be a mess but trust me – it’s actually delicious!
Why People Love This Snack Mix
- Customizable – while we put in our favorite candies, you could swap them out with different things easily or leave out ones you don’t like!
- Way more fun than popcorn – no one wants just plain popcorn when you can have a popcorn snack mix filled with popcorn, chocolate, and candy!
- Great for a crowd – having an outdoor movie night with lots of people? This is super easy to whip up in big batches!
Ingredients in this popcorn snack mix recipe
Ingredient Notes & Substitions
- Candy – I’ve included a bunch of typical movie theater and concession stand style candies in this mix that are noticeably chocolate heavy. I like the combination of the chocolate with the salty popcorn but if you prefer something else in the same chocolate realm like Junior Mints or Raisinets, those would be great too. If you are looking for something with gummy add-ins, try these dirt and worms muddy buddies instead.
- Microwave popcorn – make sure you’re using a sweet variety and ideally one with a little butter but not a ton. A kettle corn or sweeter popcorn will make the mix too sweet. You’ll want to pop and cool the popcorn before you start making this popcorn mix.
- Dark chocolate melting wafers – Use milk chocolate wafers if you prefer your snack mix a bit sweeter. Also, if you really want to you can use dark chocolate chocolate chips, but the Ghirardelli melting wafers are definitely my favorite! I don’t recommend candy melts because you really want the actual chocolate flavor.
- Instant pudding mix – make sure you’re using instant pudding mix AND make sure you’re using just the dry mix, not making the actual pudding! I’ve tried this with both chocolate and chocolate fudge and they’re both good!
- Chocolate covered peanuts – I like the size of the peanuts but this is also good with chocolate covered almonds too!
How to make this popcorn snack mix
If you can melt chocolate and make microwave popcorn, you can make this simple movie night snack mix! It’s pretty much that and then mixing things together!
1 – Melt the Chocolate
Start by adding the chocolate melting wafers to a microwave safe bowl and microwaving for 45 seconds.
Stir, then microwave for another 45 seconds. If the chocolate isn’t fully melted at that point, microwave for 15 second increments, stirring in between each, until it’s fully melted.
2 – make the muddy buddies
Pour the Chex cereal into a large bowl then add the chocolate to the bowl of cereal and gently stir with a rubber spatula until everything is evenly coated – make sure not to stir too hard or you’ll end up breaking all the cereal pieces.
Sprinkle the powdered pudding mix onto the cereal then toss until evenly coated.
Tip!
Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes to let the chocolate and pudding mixture set completely before you add everything else in. This will keep the chocolate and pudding mix on the Chex instead of all over everything else!
3 – Add the other ingredients
Once the muddy buddies are dry and set, pour them into a large bowl along with the popcorn, chocolate covered peanuts, and candies. Stir gently to mix everything together.
4 – serve the popcorn mixture and enjoy
Once everything is completely mixed, it’s time to serve the snack mix. You can either just have everyone eat out of the same bowl, scoop it into cute popcorn boxes like these, or let people serve themselves!
This is such a fun addition to any at-home movie night, outdoor movie night, or even just a movie themed party like an Oscars party!
More Mix-In Options
If you don’t like some of the candies we’ve included in the recipe, here are some others that mix well with the popcorn and muddy buddies!
- Sixlets
- Chocolate covered pretzel bites
- Raisinets
- Any sort of chocolate clusters or chocolate covered items
- Mini Cadbury eggs (or save those for these Cadbury egg cookies)
- Junior Mints
- Chocolate covered pretzels – break up the larger ones
- Chocolate covered sunflower seeds
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate drops
- Chocolate teddy grahams
- Chocolate covered acai or blueberries
- Cookie dough bites
- Kit Kat Minis
Tips & tricks
Be quick with the dirt. You want to sprinkle the pudding into the mix before the chocolate sets. This is what will create a nice coating for each piece of cereal.
Swap the mix-ins – don’t like Reese’s Pieces? Swap them out for Sixlets or some other chocolate treat! Same thing with any of the candies – you can really just use whatever you prefer!
Keep it airtight. Since this recipe makes just over 16 cups, you may have some you want to keep for later. Store it airtight at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe FAQs
Why did my muddy buddies get soggy?
This can happen if you don’t stir everything immediately to make sure it’s all evenly coated. Otherwise, areas that are coated in more chocolate will have a greater chance of becoming soggy.
Once you’ve coated with chocolate and sprinkled with pudding mix, you can put it in the fridge to cool down if you prefer.
Does this popcorn snack mix need to be refrigerated?
This snack mix doesn’t need to be refrigerated, just kept at room temperature in an airtight container. These will last for weeks at room temperature. I mean, in theory. They’ll be gone way before that, trust me.
Do I have to use peanuts?
Nope! If you want to make this peanut free, you’ll just need to switch out all of the ingredients that have peanuts or peanut butter and replace them with something else similar.
For example, swapping the Peanut M&Ms with chocolate pretzel rounds (or crunched up chocolate covered pretzels), the chocolate covered peanuts with Raisinets, and the Reeses’s Pieces with Sixlets (or similar). Anything small and chocolate based will work!
More Fun Snack Mixes
Check out even more party snacks you’ll want to make for your next party or movie night. We’ve got something for every occasion!
- Fall snack mix – sweet and salty flavors combined with fall colors from the orange candy corn, the brown caramel corn, and mini Reese’s cups, to the white chocolate-covered pretzels!
- Reindeer chow – the ultimate Christmas snack isn’t just for the reindeer. Kids and adults love it too!
- Bunny bait – this sweet Easter treat is as addicting as it is adorable to look at. A mix of white chocolate-coated cereal, mini marshmallows, pretzels, mini eggs, and more.
- Chex mix – you can’t go wrong with the classic! The original salty, crunchy party mix is where it all began.
- Sweet Chex mix – cereal, nuts, and pretzels are coated in a buttery sugary maple syrup coating and baked until crispy.
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Popcorn Snack Mix
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dark chocolate melting wafers
- 6 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix unprepared
- 1 box instant chocolate fudge pudding mix unprepared
- 4 ½ cups movie theater popcorn 2.75-3oz microwave bag, popped and cooled
- ½ cup Milk Chocolate M&Ms
- ½ cup Peanut M&Ms
- ½ cup chocolate covered peanuts
- ½ cup Buncha Crunch
- ½ cup Reese’s Pieces
- ½ cup Milk Duds
Instructions
- Start by adding the chocolate melting wafers to a microwave safe bowl and microwaving for 45 seconds. Stir, then microwave for another 45 seconds. If the chocolate isn’t fully melted at that point, microwave for 15 second increments, stirring in between each, until it’s fully melted.10 ounces dark chocolate melting wafers
- Pour the Chex cereal into a large bowl then add the chocolate to the bowl of cereal and gently stir with a rubber spatula until everything is evenly coated.6 cups Rice Chex cereal
- Sprinkle the powdered pudding mix onto the cereal then toss until all of the cereal is coated completely.1 box instant vanilla pudding mix, 1 box instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
- Let the muddy buddies set for 10-15 minutes to let the chocolate set.
- Once the muddy buddies are dry and set, pour them into a large bowl along with the popcorn, chocolate covered peanuts, and candies. Stir gently to mix everything together.4 1/2 cups movie theater popcorn, 1/2 cup Milk Chocolate M&Ms, 1/2 cup Peanut M&Ms, 1/2 cup chocolate covered peanuts, 1/2 cup Buncha Crunch, 1/2 cup Reese’s Pieces, 1/2 cup Milk Duds
- Serve immediately and store any leftovers in an airtight container.
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