A treat many enjoy at the movies, as well as at home: popcorn. At the movies, usually you get maybe two options. Freshly popped popcorn, or a box of caramel popcorn. On the other hand, when you make it at home, there are a plethora of popcorn snack recipes you can create and enjoy alone or if you HAVE TO, share with your friends and family.
Popcorn Snack Recipes to Make at Home
Since I’ve got an aspiring chef in the house (she’s on the path to a culinary career), we’re more inclined to pop up fresh stovetop popcorn and create delicious homemade snacks. Sure, movie buttered popcorn is amazing and a solid choice for viewing movies, or playing some board games. However, why stop there! Get wild and creative with a relatively inexpensive treat.
Sweet Treats
Salted Caramel
I’m not a huge sweets lover, but when I go for something sweet I enjoy caramel or a toffee crunch kind of situation. When you have an urge for something sweet without going for the box of candies that you’ve had sitting around for months, make The Recipe Critic’s Salted Caramel recipe!
Cotton Candy
If you’re a sugar lover, or have sugar-loving kids, there’s not much sweeter than cotton candy. Pure sugar, am I right? Well, you can create Just as Good Gluten Free’s Cotton Candy recipe (and, if you’re like me and can’t eat super sweet stuff for more than a couple of bites, you can store this popcorn snack recipe in airtight container for later).
Peppermint Bark
Peppermint conjures up holiday vibes. Popcorn on a cold winter’s night definitely makes you feel cozy. Mash the two together with The Soccer Mom’s Peppermint Bark Popcorn and you can create those holiday cozy nights all through the winter!
Salted Cinnamon Sugar
Even though I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon, I know others love it. Somehow the popcorn and salt balance the cinnamon flavor rather well with Sprinkles and Sprouts’s Salted Cinnamon Sugar recipe. Would I eat it all day, no. But, over the holidays, I’d totally take a few handfuls to enjoy with some hot chocolate. ‘Tis the season, ya’ll.
Cookies and Cream
Oreos are the star of the show for The Cookie Rookie’s Cookies & Cream recipe. Well, the popcorn is kind of the star, but honestly, it’s more of the underlying star that lets Oreos shine.
Birthday Cake
Have a birthday coming up, and want to serve a fun popcorn snack along with all of your other party foods and desserts? It’s time for The Endless Meal’s Birthday Cake recipe! It says sprinkles are optional, but it definitely needs a little color. If you’re not a sprinkles lover, use some coarse sugar in different colors.
Cracker Jack
Brown Eyed Baker’s Homemade Cracker Jack recipe tastes fresh, unlike the boxed ones you buy at the local movie theatre or grocery store shelves. You’ll never buy a box of it again.
Butterscotch
Much like toffee and caramel, I’m a fan of butterscotch. Why not combine a fresh popped batch of popcorn with a delicious butterscotch topping like The Little Stuff’s Better than Butterkist Crunchy Butterscotch recipe.
Chunky Monkey
Love Chunky Monkey ice cream? Yeah, me, too. What I most enjoy about This Mess is Ours’s Chunky Monkey Popcorn recipe is the gluten-free and GMO-free ingredients they recommend.
Reese’s
Many people shy away from fun popcorn snack recipes because they think they’re too complicated. It’s just easier to buy snacks from the local store, but honestly, most recipes aren’t crazy expensive. If you have a microwave, it’s even quicker. If you don’t, you’ll have to melt stuff on the stove top, which takes a little extra time but still totally worth it. Why? Because you get to pick the ingredients you use instead of the chemically overloaded shelf stable stuff in boxes and bags!
Creations by Kara’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup recipe lets you buy the chocolate, popcorn, peanut butter, and peanut butter cups that fit your dietary desires!
Nutella
The world’s infatuated with a hazelnut spread called Nutella. Is it any wonder someone would want to use it as a popcorn topping? Of course not! Tanorria’s Table does an amazing job of incorporating Nutella and hazelnuts into a Nutella Popcorn recipe everyone will love.
Savory Snacks
Cheddar
Cheese is life! Why would anyone miss the chance to create a bowl of cheddar popcorn? The Spruce Eats has a super quick Cheddar Cheese snack recipe to enjoy any day of the week!
Garlic Parmesan
Movie nights are fun mother-daughter dates. If you’re trying to save money and doing it at home, make it a bit more special with a savory popcorn experience! Making Bessie Bakes’s Buttery Garlic Parmesan recipe together makes your date even more special!
Buffalo Ranch
If you want to create Taste of Home’s Buffalo Ranch recipe at home, I recommend buying, or making a buffalo wing dry SEASONING instead of the sauce if you don’t want your popcorn to get soggy.
Savory & Sweet Treats
Maple Bacon
What’s more romantic on a couples date night than bacon with popcorn? Not much! Salt and Baker’s Maple Bacon Popcorn uses not just bacon, but also bacon grease. WHAT??!!! Yup. You’re going to want this recipe on date night, no doubt.
No one ever needs a reason to enjoy a big bowl of freshly popped popcorn! It’s the kind of treat you can make quickly for yourself, a small gathering, or a big crowd. When you want to enjoy popcorn on a whole new level, step out of your kitchen comfort zone and dive into one of the many delicious recipes we’ve shared today. You don’t have to wait for National Popcorn Day to make fun flavored popcorn snack recipes!
