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Puffed kernels of corn are an iconic movie-night treat, and in as little as five-minutes you can whip up a fresh and healthy homemade batch of this affordable crunchy treat right in your microwave with just two ingredients and one brown paper bag!
Even better, you can season it to your heart’s content to make your movie night extra sweet…or salty depending on how you like it!
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- This snack is clean-eating, gluten-free, vegan/vegetarian friendly.
- It’s made using just three simple, wholesome ingredients…
- And it can be made in about 5 minutes!
- You can eat it right out of the bag meaning there is no clean up!
- It makes a great light snack option or movie-night must-have.
- It is easily customizable and can be enjoyed plain, salted, cheesed, sugared etc. depending on your topping preference!
A Little About This Recipe
Microwave popcorn always seemed like a specialty thing and for the longest time I always thought you needed a special kind of popcorn kernel, oil and especially a special bag! Little did I know that you can make your own microwave popcorn right in your microwave using just regular popcorn kernels and a regular brown paper bag…that’s right, the same kind you use for sandwiches! It’s that easy and convenient and guys I’ll level with you here, this method is far healthier for you in all regards when compared to the highly processed prepackaged microwave popcorn, and on top of this, this method is just as easy and cheaper too!
Why Does Popcorn Make a Great Snack?
Popcorn is one of my favorite snacking options because it’s not only easy to make, it’s also very cheap and it’s healthy too! Plain, unseasoned popcorn is a whole-grain snack that is gluten-free, high in fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants, low in fat and calories, and it’s vegan/vegetarian friendly, and clean eating. More to that, it can be made using minimal additives or none at all and that puts YOU in control of what and how much things you add to it from oils and butters to salt and other toppings. But of course, as with all things, the best way to enjoy this treat is in moderation so don’t forget about the importance of portion control.
And for the foodie nerds like myself, if you’d like to maybe learn All About Popcorn including fun things like how it pops, types, pop to un-pop ratios etc. I’ve written up a short article that details some cool facts and even addresses some “popcorn myths”!
And as a final note before we jump into this recipe, if you don’t have a brown paper bag or microwave, you can still make this treat on your stovetop using my Perfect Movie-Night Popcorn Recipe.
Here’s What you Need to Make this Simple Snack:
- Popcorn Kernels: You can use any popcorn kernel type of your choice though white and yellow are the most common types.
- Oil: I highly recommend using either unrefined virgin coconut oil or ghee -as it’s the no-so-secret industry secret to making movie theater-flavored popcorn. However you can also use any clean eating cooking oil of your choosing just be sure your oil of choice has a high smoke point.
- Brown Paper Bag: This is a standard, plain, unadorned brown paper bag that measures 5⅛” x 3⅛” x 10⅝” (13cm x 7.9cm x 27cm). At this size, your bag will be about half full once popped which is great if you want to add toppings to it and shake it around. Ensure your brown paper bag has no other adornments on it; no print, no handles, no stickers or tape. Absolutely DO NOT use a plastic bag for this recipe.
Let’s Make Popcorn!
Rub or toss the coconut oil onto the popcorn kernels.
Place the oiled kernels into your brown paper bag.
And fold the top of the bag over a few times. It doesn’t have to be perfect or tight, but folded over enough that it keeps the popcorn in the bag as it pops.
Place your bag onto the middle of your microwave plate, being sure that it is free to spin on all sides including the top without touching.
Tips for Success:
- Do not walk away from your popcorn! It only takes a few minutes for popcorn to pop and mere seconds for it to start burning! Stick around and listen for the popping to slow. Once your popping is reduced to 1-2 seconds between pops, stop your microwave and let the bag sit for about 30 seconds before removing it and opening it.
- Ensure your bag can spin freely on the plate and isn’t stuck, jammed or tipped over.
- If you smell burning at any point during popping immediately stop your microwave and take a peek at the bag. Steam and smoke/burning smell are two different things, steam is perfectly expected, smoke is not!
- If you have a lot of unpopped kernels remaining, you can try putting them back into the empty bag and popping them again.
- If your microwave has the popcorn button, you can use it! For reference, mine is a 1000w microwave and I use the 3.5 oz setting and for me it’s exactly the right timing.
- To minimize clean up, you can place a clean, dry paper towel under the bag and on the microwave plate and then place the brown bag with the popcorn on top it before popping, and once done, you can eat right out of the bag, you can even drizzle in some butter and salt into the bag, close the top and shake it around, so no dishes! Speaking of which…
Toppings!
When it comes to toppings, I’m a purist. A drizzle of melted butter (or ghee if I have any on hand, using it is a great tip to not have your popcorn go soggy on you and give it a great movie theater flavor!) …
…And a healthy pinch of salt. Toss to disperse the ingredients and enjoy!
But that’s just me, you can get as fancy or as simple as you like! Perhaps some caramel corn is more your style? 👇
What about this fancy zebra striped caramel corn?? 👇👇
However you enjoy this simple popped-treat, there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s healthy, delicious, and now it’s so easy to make your own microwave-version right at home!
Homemade Microwave Popcorn
Equipment
Instructions
- Coat the popcorn kernels with the coconut oil and place them into a brown paper bag.¼ cup popcorn kernels, 1 tsp coconut oil
- Fold over ½" of the top of the bag two to three times to close it and place the bag into your microwave
- Microwave your popcorn on full power until the popping is reduced to 1-2 pops per second. * see notes For reference I use a 1000w microwave and it takes about 3½ min with next to no pops for the first minute. Microwaves and wattages do vary widely so don't walk away from your microwave.
- Once done, stop your microwave and let your bag sit for 10-20 seconds before opening. Be careful as it will be hot and release some steam.
- Top your popcorn with whatever topping you like and enjoy!
Notes
- My brown paper bag measures 5⅛" x 3⅛" x 10⅝" (13cm x 7.9cm x 27cm) and is usually about half-way filled once my popcorn has popped. This is great and allows me to add my toppings and shake my bag to get everything evenly distributed!
- Do not wait until the popping stops completely or else your popcorn will end up burnt.
- Ensure your bag can spin freely on the plate and isn't stuck, jammed or tipped over.
- If you smell burning or see smoke at any point during popping, immediately stop your microwave and take a peek at the bag.
- If you have a lot of unpopped kernels remaining, you can try putting them back into the empty bag and popping them again.
- If your microwave has the popcorn button, you can use it! For reference, mine is a 1000w microwave and I use the 3.5 oz setting and for me it's exactly the right timing.
- To minimize clean up, you can place a clean, dry paper towel under the bag and on the microwave plate and then place the brown bag with the popcorn on top it before popping, and once done, you can eat right out of the bag, you can even drizzle in some butter and salt into the bag, close the top and shake it around, so no dishes!
Nutrition
