Stove Top Popcorn: Colonel Kernel’s Tasty Treat!

Here at our place, we like popcorn.  Popcorn is one of our favorite snacks.  We especially like it at night.  It’s a light snack that makes movies better.  I’m not sure what is in it that makes movies better.  For more information on that, you’ll need to ask a scientist.  What we like about it is it is quick to make, and much healthier than other snacks.  Sure, you could open up the chips, but the popcorn is going to be slimmer on your waistline.

When we were snacking on popcorn one evening, I began to crave something spicy.  We decided that if adding a little melted butter and salt was good, adding a few extra spices should be great.  Ever since that evening, we’ve played around with all sorts of different spices and toppings.  We’re going to share a few of our favorites with you in this post.  After trying these, play around with a few of your favorite spices.  You’ll never go back to boring popcorn again.

We prefer making our popcorn on the stove top.  No, it isn’t as easy as microwave popcorn, but it really isn’t that much more difficult.  For most of the recipes we will be providing you with today, you could substitute microwave popcorn.  If you opt for that route, be sure to buy popcorn that is as close to naked as you can get.  Otherwise, you are going to be adding lots of calories.  Our favorite microwave popcorn is Orville Redenbacher’s Natural (regular butter).

You will need:

½ cup vegetable oil (you can also use 1/3 cup of vegetable oil for a lighter calorie version.  If you opt for this, subtract 32 calories and 3.7g of fat from each of the totals below.)

1 cup popcorn kernels

A large pot with a lid

Pour vegetable oil into the pot and heat on medium high heat, between 6 and 8.  Make sure the oil isn’t too hot; or else the popcorn will be very small.  Add a test kernel to the oil and place the lid on the pot.  As soon as the test kernel pops, add 1 cup of unpopped kernels and place the lid on the pot.  Remember your oven mits.  Agitate the kernels by moving the pot side to side and in circular motions.  If you have a glass stove top, be sure to read the directions before you agitate the popcorn, so you don’t ruin your stove.  I hope you read them before you started, because if you’re trying to do it at the same time, you’ll have some burned popcorn.  Your popcorn will soon begin to pop.  Continue agitating the corn to keep from burning the already popped corn, until the popping slows, or the popcorn overflows from the pot.  This makes about 10 cups more or less.

Read below for some dynamite flavors:

Butter and salt:

10 cups popcorn

3 tablespoons of butter, melted

Salt to taste

Melt the butter, pour over the popcorn, salt, and stir.

Serving size 1 cup: 188 calories, 18.1 g of fat, 6.2 g of carbohydrates, 1.1 g of protein.

Parmesan:

10 cups popcorn

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Pour olive oil over the popcorn, then add the Italian Seasoning and Parmesan, and stir.

Serving size 1 cup: 143 calories, 12.9 g of fat, 6.3 g of carbohydrates, 1.2 g of protein.

Dill popcorn:

10 cups popcorn
10 tablespoons dill weed
salt to taste

Pour the dill and salt on the popcorn and stir.  Make sure the popcorn is hot, otherwise the dill won’t stick as well.  Add melted butter if desired.

Serving size 1 cup:  143 calories, 11.5 g of fat, 8.0 g of carbohydrates, 1.7 g of protein.

Ranch popcorn:

10 cups popcorn

5 tablespoons, or more to taste, powdered ranch dressing

Add ranch and stir.

Serving size 1 cup:  135.5 calories, 11.3 g of fat, 6.2 g of carbohydrates, 4.3g of protein

White Pepper and Salt popcorn:

10 cups popcorn

White Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Add white pepper and salt and stir.

Serving size 1 cup:  127 calories, 11.3 g of fat, 6.2 g of carbohydrates, 4.3g of protein.

Bacon:

10 cups popcorn

3 tablespoons onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 2.8 oz bag of bacon bits.  We used Hormel black label.

Serving size 1 cup:  180 calories, 14.6 g of fat, 8.6 g of carbohydrates, 1.0g of protein.

Spicy Cajun Butter:

*Warning* This recipe is incredibly addictive.  Try at your own risk 😉

10 cups popcorn
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Melt the butter in a sauce pan.  Add the seasonings and cook in the butter until the seasonings are fully cooked.  You will be able to tell by the smell.  Add Frank’s Red hot to the mixture.  Stir.  Once the mixture has come together, about a minute, add, hot, to the popcorn and stir thoroughly.

Serving size 1 cup:  149 calories, 13.6 g of fat,  6.4g of carbohydrates, 1.1g of protein.

Kettle corn:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup un-popped corn
1/8 cup white sugar
1/8 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt

(For true kettle corn, use all white sugar, for caramel corn, use all brown sugar.)

Heat oil and when the test kernel pops, add unpopped kernels, brown sugar, white sugar, salt and vanilla.  Put the lid on and shake until popcorn has popped.  To make the process easier, have your ingredients ready to add. Make sure to listen carefully to the popping, and take the popcorn off the burner when the popping slows, so you don’t scorch the sugar. Salt again, liberally.

*NOTE:  Sugar gets EXTREMELY HOT when heated, so be careful!!!

**NOTE:  Let the kettle corn cool before you taste it, otherwise you will burn yourself.  You have been warned, and if you can’t wait, I take no responsibility if you do burn yourself.

Dark Chocolate:
5 cups popcorn
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish.  Add the cocoa and the sugar to the melted butter.  Pour over the popcorn and add the chocolate chips.  Stir, and salt to taste, just a pinch.

Serving size 1 cup:  294 calories, 28.4 g of fat,  10.8g of carbohydrates, 1.5g of protein.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Jeff Sykes