homemade toppings to flavor your popcorn
19 Homemade Toppings to Flavor Your Popcorn
Popcorn is the ultimate happy food. It's simple to prepare and real fun to eat. This snack is enjoyed at movie theaters, parties, or at any time of the day. A delicious, unique topping would just add to the fun.
Smoky Popcorn
Smokey Popcorn
Take hot popcorn in a large bowl. Sprinkle it with Spanish paprika and sugar, and toss well. Drizzle with melted butter, Japanese rice crackers, and furikake (a Japanese seasoning containing sesame seeds, dried and ground fish, chopped seaweed, sugar and salt). Season with salt and toss again.
Spicy Maple and Cashew
Maple Cashew Popcorn
Toss 6 cups popcorn with ¼ cup dry chopped roasted cashews, and set aside. Combine ⅓ cup sugar, ⅓ cup maple syrup, 1 tbsp butter, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground red pepper in a small pan, and bring to a boil. Stir constantly. Remove from heat and cool. Pour the syrup mixture over the popcorn mixture and toss well to coat. Cool and serve.
Brown Butter and Lemon
Brown Butter Lemon Popcorn
Melt around 4 tbsp unsalted butter in a pan and cook over medium heat until it becomes brown. Now add 1 tbsp of grated lemon zest to it. Pour this over 4 cups of hot popcorn. Sprinkle 2 tsp sugar over the popcorn mixture and toss again. Now serve.
Ranch
Ranch Popcorn
Melt around five tbsp butter in a skillet. Add a 28 g pack ranch seasoning mix to it. Now toss this with around 15 cups hot popcorn and 2 tbsp of chopped chives. Season with salt.
Garlic and Herbs
Garlic Herb Popcorn
Melt around five tbsp butter in a skillet. Add around five grated garlic cloves and one tsp each, finely shredded rosemary, sage, and thyme to it. Cook for a minute. Drizzle over 15 cups hot popcorn and toss with two tsp salt.
Cinnamon and Sugar
Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn
Drizzle six tbsp melted butter over 12 cups of hot popcorn. Toss with 4 cups cinnamon cereal, ⅓ cup sugar, two tsp cinnamon and one tsp kosher salt.
Chocolate Drizzle
Chocolate Popcorn
Pour melted chocolate over popcorn and toss it well. There you are... the treat is ready!
Caramel and Almond
Almond Caramel Popcorn
Place 6 cups popped hot popcorn in a large bowl and sprinkle ¾ cup roasted coarsely chopped almonds on top. Melt 6 tbsp butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and 2 tbsp corn syrup in a pan over medium heat. Keep stirring to combine and prevent the caramel from burning. When the mixture comes to a boil and the caramel darkens, remove the pan from the heat. Season with salt. Drizzle the caramel over popcorn and nuts, and toss to coat. Spread on an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Rosemary, Black Pepper, and Parmesan
Rosemary, Black Pepper, and Parmesan Popcorn
Toss 16 cups hot popcorn, one tbsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary, with half a cup unprocessed grated Parmesan, three tbsp olive oil, some black pepper, and two tsp salt.
Cookies and Cream
Cookies and Cream Popcorn
Take 1 cup white chocolate or vanilla melting candy in a pan and melt it over medium heat, until smooth. Remove from heat and pour it over eight cups of hot popcorn. Do not stir yet. Add one cup of lightly crumbled oreos or other chocolate cookies, and stir gently to coat. Let it sit for 45 minutes, and serve.
Mustard and Pretzel
Mustard and Pretzel Popcorn
Whisk together four tbsp melted butter with two tbsp Dijon mustard, one tsp sugar and ½ tsp kosher salt. Take a large bowl and mix the popcorn and pretzels together. Now toss this with the butter-mustard mixture, and serve.
Sriracha and Lime
Sriracha and Lime Popcorn
Take popcorn in a large bowl. Sprinkle around 1½ tsp grated lime zest and some salt over it. Whisk five tbsp melted butter with ¼ cup Sriracha, and one tbsp lime juice. Drizzle this over hot popcorn and toss to coat.
Sticky Marshmallow
Marshmallow Popcorn Balls
Place eight cups of mini marshmallows with six tbsp butter, and ½ cup each, brown sugar and light corn syrup in a skillet. Stir well until everything melts. Add 16 cups hot popcorn and salt to it. Toss well and serve.
Kettle Corn
Kettle Corn
Place some unpopped corn and oil in a pan. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover the pan leaving a slight opening to allow steam to escape. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook until the corn kernels are popped by shaking the saucepan often to prevent the sugar from burning. Immediately pour the popcorn in a large bowl. Add some salt and toss well.
Bacon, Parmesan, and Chive
Bacon, Parmesan, and Chive Popcorn
Cook 6 slices chopped bacon until crisp. Place a bag of popcorn in a large bowl. Toss it with bacon, ½ cup chopped chives, and ½ cup shredded Parmesan. Season with salt.
Salt and Vinegar
Salt and Vinegar Popcorn
Mix ¼ cup vinegar and 2 tsp salt in a small spray bottle. Shake it well to dissolve the salt. Spray over 16 cups of hot popcorn. There is another way. Melt butter in a small pot. In a bowl, mix vinegar powder and salt. Drizzle the melted butter over the popcorn and sprinkle with vinegar powder and salt mixture until the popcorn is coated.
Cheese
Cheese Popcorn
Prepare about 5 cups popcorn and transfer it to a large bowl. Toss it with 4 tbsp cheese powder (add more if needed), some chili flakes, and pepper. Mix well and remove from the flame. Serve.
Caramel
Caramel Popcorn
Melt 1½ sticks of butter. Add a cup of brown sugar and a tbsp of molasses. When the sugar melts, boil it. Stir often so the caramel doesn't burn. Add a tsp of vanilla, ½ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of baking soda, which will make the caramel airy and foamy. You can add other spices or flavorings to the caramel, like cayenne, hot sauce, or cinnamon. Pour the caramel into a large bowl of 12 cups of popcorn and toss well. Spread the caramel corn on a lined baking sheet and bake at 250°F for 30 min.
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter Popcorn
Heat 1 cup honey and ¾ cup sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Stir in 1 cup peanut butter and 1 teaspoon each vanilla extract and kosher salt until smooth; pour this mixture and 2 cups of peanuts over 16 cups of hot popcorn, and toss well. Spread on baking sheets and let it cool.