A not-so-shocking truth: The best popcorn doesn’t come from a bag. As strange as it may sound, popping your own popcorn requires only the most basic cooking skills—and we’re not talking about the microwave here. The benefits of homemade popcorn are enormous – it’s easy and incredibly cheap to make.
Whether it’s for movies, the Oscars, a Netflix binge, or a healthy snack, it’s time to make popcorn. Here are four basic tips and an easy recipe to get you started.
Get your Dutch oven
Your most important tool will be a dutch oven or heavy stock pot. Grab a bottle of olive oil or good old vegetable oil. Add 3 tablespoons to the pot (this is enough to pop 1/2 cup of corn kernels or about 8 cups of popped corn kernels). It sounds like a lot of oil, but without oil, steam won’t form in the pot, and without steam, the corn won’t pop. The oil also coats the cracked kernels and gives the spices something to stick to.
Increase the heat
Place the pan over medium heat and pour in 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels. It can be any variety – red, white, yellow, organic – it doesn’t matter. Stir them with a spoon or spatula to coat them with oil and continue stirring until they begin to sizzle. Place the lid on the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.
Listen to
You have to listen to what’s happening in this pot. Do not leave the room or answer calls for the next few minutes. It won’t take long and soon there will be a bang. Once it starts, it’s so exciting. Lots of banging and popping. Then after a minute or two it slows down a bit. Now it’s time to pick up the pot and shake it vigorously up and down with the lid closed. This prevents the dreaded layer of unpopped kernels at the bottom. Let the popping continue, but if you see wisps of smoke coming from under the lid, immediately reduce the heat to medium. If the cracking subsides to a short burst every few seconds, turn off the heat. Place the lid at an angle to allow some steam to escape. After allowing the steam to release for a minute, pour the popcorn onto a rimmed baking sheet or your largest, widest bowl. You are ready to prepare the corn.
Put it on
Immediately drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil over the popcorn. Do this while the corn is still hot so that it coats the popcorn. Stir thoroughly so that all the popped kernels are coated with oil.
Finally, let’s talk about the toppings. There are so many ways to add pop to your popcorn. You can add spice blends (like the cheesy and spicy blend below that tastes like healthy Doritos). Olive oil or any other liquid oil works well with spices and ensures they stick to the seeds.
Just add salt and pepper, parmesan cheese or togarashi – the sky is the limit.
Whatever you do, don’t forget a little sea salt and a big bowl to enjoy.
Active time: 10 minutes Total time: 10 minutes
Cheeseless, cheesy + spicy popcorn
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 cups (88 g) freshly popped popcorn (made from 1/2 cup (110 g) kernels)
- 1/4 cup (60g) olive oil
Directions
Finely grind nutritional yeast, crushed red pepper and salt in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle.
Arrange popcorn on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with oil; Toss to coat. Sprinkle with some of the nutritional yeast mixture and stir well, adding more of the mixture to taste.
Note: If you choose to make this spice blend, be sure to do so BEFORE crushing the corn so it is ready to apply and stick onto freshly crushed and oiled kernels!
Servings: 4 | Serving size: 2 cups
Nutritional value (per serving): Calories: 224; Total fat: 15g; Saturated fat: 2g; Monounsaturated fat: 10 g; Polyunsaturated fat: 2 g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 587 mg; Carbohydrates: 20g; Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 0g; Protein: 4g
Originally published February 10, 2019; Updated February 2026
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