I love kettle corn. This sweet, salty, crunchy snack is satisfying–and addictive! I have never liked plain popcorn, but I sampled real homemade kettle corn at a party when I was well into adulthood and fell in love. Back home, I was determined to figure out how to make my own. I love to caramelize anything in my kitchen, so I played around with the technique until I could make crave-worthy kettle corn at home.
Kettle corn is a fun snack to serve to guests of any age. And if you need to serve a crowd, it’s hard to find a cheaper snack than homemade kettle corn. All you need are popcorn kernels, oil, salt and sugar. My grocery store sells 2-pound bags of popcorn kernels for $1.65. I calculated that I can make 4 quarts of kettle corn for 37¢.
How to make kettle corn
You’ll need:
- 1/2 cup popcorn
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons oil (I love coconut oil for this, but regular vegetable oil works great)
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
Set a large pot over low heat while you’re getting your ingredients together. (I use an old, banged-up 6-quart Calphalon stockpot.)
Have a bowl at the ready to catch the freshly-made kettle corn. It will be hot–keep this is in mind when choosing your bowl.
Turn heat to medium and add oil to the pot. Add three popcorn kernels to the oil.
When two of the three kernels have popped, pour the rest of your popcorn into the pan.
Add lid and shake pan periodically while corn is popping.
When popping slows, pour the sugar and salt into the pan and cover. Count to ten. Turn the burner to low.
Using a wooden spoon, stir the popcorn and salt mixture, scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir. (A flat-bottomed wooden spoon is ideal.) The sugar will begin to melt and brown. Be careful–the kernels can still pop!
When the kettle corn is a pretty amber color in spots, dump it into the bowl. The kettle corn will be hot!
Let cool a few minutes before serving.
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- Add the oil to the pan. Add 3 kernels.
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- When 2 of the kernels pop, add the popcorn.
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- When popping subsides, add the sugar and salt.
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- Stir, scraping the melting sugar off the bottom of the pan.
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- Stir, stir, stir.
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- When kettle corn is a spotty amber color, dump into bowl to cool.
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Yum! I’m going to have to try this. Thanks for sharing.
What a great idea. Thanks!
yummm…gonna have to try this and THEN do the milk chocolate drizzle over the top to satisfy Sonny Boy’s pops corn addiciton … Came over from WFMW … thanks for sharing!
Milk chocolate drizzle sounds good!
We are definitely going to try this! We enjoy organic popcorn every Friday night in our home and it is BEST in coconut oil! Thank you for sharing! (We have tried to make this in the past, but flopped)
I’ve tried the method where you add the sugar to the oil first, then the corn. And it worked OK.
This sounds good!
Yes, I have tried that method and really want to love it. But I always end up with a nasty burned mess! I’m glad it works for you at least!
I am SO glad I found this! I tto tried one of those recipes where you put the sugar and oil in together and got a nasty, burned mess in my pot. I thought we just wouldn’t be able to make kettlecorn at home. Today I decided to look around for a different recipe. I am going to make this for an after school snack for my kids and the neighbor kids.
This is officially delicious! Even my junk-food-junky teenager (who never likes the homemade version of anything) loved it and was mad when it was gone.