Perfectly Sweet n'Salty Popcorn
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This Perfectly Sweet n’Salty Popcorn is quick to make with 5 easy ingredients. It’s an absolute classic popcorn recipe, a total crowd pleaser, and is the ideal accompaniment to every movie night.
Surely popcorn must be the ultimate snack. A bowl of warm popcorn freshly buttered is utterly irresistible and when it has the perfect balance of sweet and salty then it’s impossible not to grab handful after handful.
This Sweet and Salty Popcorn recipe is an absolute classic and so quick and easy to make. Melted butter is sweetened with a touch of sugar, flavoured with sea salt then drizzled over freshly popped popcorn.
No fuss and zero faff with the added benefit of the scent of freshly popping corn permeating the house.
Table of contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s an absolute classic recipe which can be used as a base recipe for all your other popcorn flavour inventions.
- Only 5 very basic ingredients.
- It’s under 15 minutes in total to make.
- The recipe makes enough for your whole family to enjoy.
- You can take this recipe just one step further to achieve Sweet n’ Salty Caramel Popcorn.
Watch the video to see how to make it
How to flavour popcorn
The best way to flavour popcorn is by using butter which has been melted with flavourings of your choice (salt, sugar, spices, cocoa powder, vanilla). Toss warm popcorn through the flavoured butter so that every freshly popped kernel is coated and serve immediately.
For this Perfectly Sweet n’ Salty Popcorn the butter is melted with sugar and salt to achieve our classic cinema flavour.
Ingredients you need
- Popcorn kernels. You can use any popcorn kernels, either butterfly or mushroom shapes.
- Olive oil. To oil the pan which you are popping the corn in. You can use rapeseed oil or vegetable oil.
- Butter. Unsalted as it’s important we can control the amount of salt in the recipe to achieve the right balance.
- White sugar. Caster sugar is better for even melting.
- Salt. Sea salt is what you are after here, not table salt as it is too harsh.
Equipment you need
- Any large saucepan with a tight fitting lid.
- Slotted spoon to scoop out the popped popcorn.
- A large bowl to toss the popcorn in.
How to make Sweet and Salty Popcorn
Popcorn. Pour popcorn kernels into a large pan heated with a slick of olive oil and place the lid on. Wait for the popcorn to have all fully popped before taking off the heat and removing the lid.
✨TIP: So that the saucepan has achieved the ideal temperature for popping, test out 3-4 kernels of popcorn first. Once those kernels have popped successfully you know the pan is perfect for popping. Remove your test popcorn and add the rest of the kernels. They should begin popping immediately.✨
Butter. Melt butter with sugar and salt. As soon as the sugar and salt have dissolved then pour over the popcorn, tossing well.
Tips for Perfect Popcorn
- Do shake the pan every so often to avoid any popcorn sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. If the pan is too heavy then crack the lid a little and sneak in a large spoon to give a gentle stir occasionally.
- Scoop out the popcorn from the pan with a slotted spoon into a large serving bowl. Remove any slightly burnt ones and avoid the unpopped kernels.
- Toss the melted butter over the warm popcorn immediately, stirring well so it’s all well coated.
Sweet and Salty Caramel Popcorn
If you want your popcorn to have a bit of crunch and a toffee like flavour then you can take your recipe one step further:
- Once the butter has melted with the sugar and salt you can keep it on the heat a minute or two longer and keep cooking until the butter reaches a toasty nutty brown.
- The sugar will also have caramelised so when you pour this butter over your popcorn a light caramel will form.
- Toss this butter immediately with the popcorn as it sets quite quickly.
Make ahead
Homemade popcorn should really be eaten immediately after making. However, the Sweet n’ Salty Caramel version is good for about 24 hours as the caramel protects the popcorn from going stale.
Other popcorn flavours
Once you have mastered this recipe then there will be no stopping you. Here are some of our other family favourites for movie night.
Cheese and Onion Popcorn
Omit the sugar from the melted butter and instead add a teaspoon of onion granules. Toss the butter with the fresh popcorn and 100g grated cheddar.
Hot Honey Popcorn
Omit the sugar from the melted butter and instead add 2 tablespoons honey and ¾ teaspoon chipotle (or any chilli) powder. Toss the butter with the fresh popcorn.
Sweet Lemon Thyme Popcorn
Melt the butter with 1 tablespoon caster sugar, zest 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves. Toss the butter with the fresh popcorn.
If you love this popcorn then why not try
I urge you to give this Perfectly Sweet n’Salty Popcorn a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
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Perfectly Sweet n'Salty Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil - mild and light
- 100 g popcorn kernels
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Drizzle the olive oil into a large saucepan with a lid. Turn the heat onto a medium heat and wait for the oil to heat.
- Turn the heat down to low/medium then place 3-4 popcorn kernels into the saucepan and place the lid on. Listen for all the kernels to have popped. When they have remove with a slotted spoon.
- Pour all the rest of the popcorn kernels into the saucepan so they spread out easily in a single layer. Place the lid on and wait for the corn to pop. Give the pan a shake every so often so no popcorn gets stuck or burnt to the bottom.
- Listen out for the popping sound in the pan, the sound will start to slow as fewer kernels are left to be popped. When you are waiting for 3 seconds between popping then remove the pan from the heat.
- Remove the lid and scoop out the fluffy popped popcorn out of the pan and into a bowl, leaving the unpopped kernels (there are often a small amount). Rest for a moment whilst you prepare the butter.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan with the sugar and salt over a medium heat. After a minute or so the butter will start to sizzle, stir to make sure the sugar and salt have dissolved.
- If you are making regular Sweet n’Salty Popcorn remove the butter now and pour over the popcorn and toss well so it’s coated thoroughly.
- If you are making Sweet n’Salty Caramel Popcorn then leave the butter to carry on sizzling. After another minute it will start to crackle will begin to turn brown. Once the crackling has slowed and the butter is a nice nutty brown then remove from the heat quickly before it burns.
- Pour the butter over the popcorn and toss well so it’s coated thoroughly.
- Serve immediately
Video
Notes
Tips for Perfect Popcorn
- So that the saucepan has achieved the ideal temperature for popping, test out 3-4 kernels of popcorn first. Once those kernels have popped successfully you know the pan is perfect for popping. Remove your test popcorn and add the rest of the kernels. They should begin popping immediately.
- Do shake the pan every so often to avoid any popcorn sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. If the pan is too heavy then crack the lid a little and sneak in a large spoon to give a gentle stir occasionally.
- Scoop out the popcorn from the pan with a slotted spoon into a large serving bowl. Remove any slightly burnt ones and avoid the unpopped kernels.
- Toss the melted butter over the warm popcorn immediately, stirring well so it’s all well coated.
Don't know what I'm doing wrong, the butter just melts into the popcorn and I end up with a soggy mess. Following the recipe as written.
It may be that the butter is not being evenly distributed throughout the popcorn. The trick to adding the butter so that it lightly coats each piece of popcorn is to use a big bowl for the popcorn and drizzle the butter in whilst stirring it continually into the popcorn. That way the butter is evenly distributed and it is not a soggy mess! Hopefully this helps.
Be sure to use Jumbo Popcorn for the largest fluffy result. Pop-Secret is the only one I’ve found in the US.
Love this, found you on Foodgawker. I always make stove top popcorn, love your sweet and salty combo. Pinning!
Thanks Jacqueline, I love it too, both as a snack and for an ingredient. Stay tuned for my Popcorn Rocky Road recipe!
I always struggle to make popcorn, without it tasting like charcoal, so am delighted to have this recipe. Thanks!
Thank you Izzy - let me know if you give it a try!