Nuts and Bolts Recipe | Cooking with Nana Ling

The snack that keeps everyone coming back for more. This Nuts and Bolts recipe has been around for a while but never gets old!

Make it for parties, Christmas, to enjoy with a cold one or whenever you feel like a quick and easy snack.

What, Nuts and Bolts?

It’s a crazy name, but this popular snacking mix is said to have got the name since the cereal bits fit into the pretzels a bit like nuts and bolts.

The first references to this recipe appear in the mid 1900s, and in Australia at least it appeared to become increasingly popular during the recession of the early 1990s.

Remember the recession we had to have?

It wasn’t much fun, but people got on with it and The Canberra Times ran a story just before Christmas in 1992 about the ways people were adapting their Christmas menus for tighter times – and highlighted the budget-friendly Nuts and Bolts recipe.

The recipe for Nuts and Bolts

This Nuts and Bolts recipe is inspired by the above recipe and a few I’ve used in the past.

I’ve adapted everything to create what I think is the best Nuts and Bolts recipe.

Follow my recipe or use it as inspiration to create your very own ideal nuts and bolts recipe.

The ingredients for Nuts and Bolts

This recipe is super adaptable, and I’ll add some variation ideas below, but these are the ingredients I use to make about 6 1/2 cups of homemade Nuts and Bolts:

• Nutri-Grain
• pretzels 
• roasted and salted peanuts/mixed nuts 
• French Onion Soup mix
• paprika
• curry powder
• light olive oil.

Ingredient quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

What is Nutri-Grain?

Nutri-Grain is a breakfast cereal that is sold only in Australia and New Zealand.

Not very helpful if you’ve landed here from overseas.

But, as I mentioned above, this recipe is very adaptable. Use Cheerios or Chex or whatever else it is you put in your bowl at breakfast over in your part of the world.

Back here in Australia, I do fancy Nutri-Grain for breakfast and it was sold as “iron man food” as I was growing up.

And before my time, it seems to have been the way cricketers start the day! Pictured below is an ad from the mid 1970s featuring Tony Greig.

How to make Nuts and Bolts

You can absolutely have this nuts and bolts recipe done and dusted in 10 minutes flat.

Start by pre-heating the oven to moderate (180 degrees celsius/355 degrees fahrenheit) and greasing a large baking tray.

Place the Nutri-Grain, pretzels and nuts into the greased tray.

Sprinkle the soup mix and spices over the top of these ingredients and then drizzle with the olive oil.

Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon (while in the tray) and then shake tray gently to ensure the mixture is distributed evenly.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Nuts and Bolts Recipe: variations, tips and storage

This recipe can easily be varied by:

• subbing Nutri-Grain with another breakfast cereal
• subbing pretzels with rice crisps or another salty treat 
• using cashews, macadamias or pistachios instead of roasted and salted peanuts/mixed nuts 
• using Chicken Soup mix instead of French Onion Soup mix
• using garlic powder instead of paprika
• adding cumin instead of curry powder (though I’ve got to say I love my nuts and bolts recipe with curry powder)
• subbing light olive oil for peanut, vegetable, coconut or macadmia oil.

Got another variation idea? Share it in the comments section below.

Store in an airtight container for six weeks or more.

Nuts and Bolts is a great gifting idea. Add to a jar and use some Christmas ribbon for a festive and affordable gift.

For other edible gift ideas, check out my recipes for Coconut Ice, Rocky Road, Turkish Delight, Caramels and Choc Cherry Log.