New Gardetto’s Snack Mix Review: Gardetto’s Aged Cheddar

I have a very distinct memory of becoming a fan of Gardetto’s snack mix. I was in middle school and my best friend Amanda introduced me to it. (I didn’t say it was an exciting story.) One day, all I knew was Chex Mix, and then Gardetto’s came along with a sophisticated look and rye chips so savory and delicious, people insisted they be packaged on their own. I’m not sure it’s possible to improve upon the flavor of the original Gardetto’s mix, but that hasn’t stopped the brand from trying. A new Gardetto’s snack mix flavor just dropped: Gardetto’s Aged Cheddar.

As a Gardetto’s fan and the taste tester who led our cheddar cheese taste test, I feel highly qualified to tell you whether Aged Cheddar Gardetto’s are worth your hard-earned snack cash. If I promise not to tell any more boring stories, will you read my review?

New Product!

Gardetto’s Aged Cheddar

Amazon

This snack mix contains rye chips, pretzels, breadsticks that look like little loaves of bread, and little square crackers that look like Cheez-Its (maybe they are Cheez-Its—the packaging doesn’t mention the components). The breadsticks and the Cheez-Its appear to have cheese baked in, but all of the morsels are coated in a cheesy flavor dust.

Pros: I swear the rye chips in this new Gardetto’s snack mix taste more like rye than the rye chips in the original Gardetto’s mix. Or like pumpernickel bread, maybe. Either way I can taste the actual chip here, which I guess you could count as a plus even though it mostly means this mix is very unevenly seasoned. Some bites are super cheesy, some are super bland. I do like these breadsticks, though. Typically, breadsticks are my least favorite snack mix element because they taste like almost nothing, but these seem to actually have some cheese baked in, so they have a little more flavor. The Cheez-It crackers are good, too—anecdotally, those were the most seasoned elements in the bag I got.

Cons: This mix just can’t hang with regular Gardetto’s. That savory, Worcestershire sauce sort of flavor is irresistible. Aged Cheddar doesn’t make enough of an impression.

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.