The Sriracha Cheez-It Snack Mix We Really, Really Want Back

Cheez-It crackers and sriracha. It seems a perfect pairing: the crunchy, salty cheesiness from one of the classic snack foods and the smoky sweet fire of the now-iconic Southeast Asian chili sauce — popular in many kinds of cooking and the star of many food hacks. That's what we got when Cheez-It rolled out its Sriracha Snack Mix, which along with the baked, cheddar-flavored square, featured mini toasts, pretzels, Chex, cheese puffs, and, of course, a generous dusting of sriracha flavoring. 

But just as specialty snack food flavors have a tendency to show up out of the blue, so too can they disappear without warning. That's what happened to the Cheez-It Sriracha Snack Mix. It hasn't been seen in some time. In December 2019, one Twitter user was searching for a bag and decided to tweet directly at the brand, who responded with this: "We're so sorry. Unfortunately, we did end up discontinuing our Sriracha Snack Mix. While there are no plans to reintroduce it at this time, you may want to give our Hot & Spicy crackers a try instead."

The reply from the questioner was, understandably, that it's not the same. It's true that the Hot & Spicy crackers are, well, crackers rather than a snack mix. It's also true that while they are indeed hot and spicy, they don't have the specific tang and sweetness that comes from sriracha flavoring.

The timing around this online exchange is, in some respects, telling. For while we don't know precisely what informed the decision to discontinue the Cheez-It Sriracha Snack Mix, foodies and snack enthusiasts alike will likely know what came several months later. In July of 2020, Huy Fong Foods, the California-based maker of the recognizable sauce, announced that its inventory was dropping due to supply shortages following droughts in areas that farm the red jalapeño hybrid needed for the condiment's base. 

These shortages have only worsened in subsequent years — one more thing we may have climate change to thank for — and Huy Fong Foods currently has only a rough idea of when production and distribution might return to what it once was. As those green-capped bottles have become an ever-rarer sight, their price has increased. On Amazon, 28-ounce bottles of sriracha can go for almost $40.

It's rather sad to think about, especially because, just a few years ago, countless snack companies were rolling out sriracha'd versions of their products. Many, like Lay's Potato Chips, are unavailable at large retailers like Walmart. While Doritos Screamin' Sriracha made a spooky comeback, that was just for Halloween. 

There are still a few options for Cheez-It fans to scratch that spice itch. Among its cracker flavors listed on the Cheez-It website is the aforementioned Hot & Spicy variety, along with Buffalo Wing Cheez-It crackers. Currently, no spicy flavors are offered in its Puff'd, Snap'd, Duoz, or Snack Mix lines. However, a Scorchin' Hot Cheddar variety is available in its Grooves line.

Interestingly enough, sriracha isn't the only iconic hot sauce Cheez-It has ended its relationship with in recent years. Perceptive snackers may remember that the Hot & Spicy Cheez-It crackers once prominently featured a bottle of green Tabasco on the front of the box. But in 2018, a fan again took to Twitter to point out that the green Tabasco had been replaced with a generic hot sauce bottle. 

"@cheezit what's going on here?" tweeted one confused Twitter user. "Are these not Tobasco [sic] official anymore? THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW." Cheez-It responded that it was no longer contracting with Tabasco and had accordingly removed the image from the box. The account also stated, however, that the flavor profile remained the same. As for the Cheez-It Sriracha Snack Mix, it unfortunately seems to be a Cheez-It flavor we'll never eat again.