As a little girl, I was incredibly shy and introverted, so I only went to our town’s Saturday Farmer’s Market twice: once to sit with my godmother at her nutritionist booth (where I learned how to eat cherries), and the other time to visit her again after I cut 10” off of my hair for Locks of Love.
All of the people, strollers, and dogs walking up and down that itty bitty narrow street overwhelmed introverted me, so I put my head down and clutched my mom’s had until we reached the “Ask the Dietitian” booth. However, I was brave enough to lift my head just a few inches when I smelled a particular woodsy, caramel aroma wafting from a stall at the far end of the street.
The kettle corn stand, completely covered in black netting with a handful of deep steel kettles inside, always had a line that snaked down the street and around the animal shelter’s dog park. I knew better than to ask Mom to wait in it, but… Boy was it tempting!
Because of that memory (and a few others from baseball games), kettle corn has always been my favorite variety of popcorn. Caramel corn and dark chocolate covered give it a run for its money, but that sweet, crunchy taste wins in the end.
When I posted a cookbook teaser picture on Instagram after spending my afternoon testing popcorn recipes (yes, there’s going to be one in the cookbook!), many of you asked for tips on the best way to make popcorn. So that’s what we’re talking about today, along with this Skinny Kettle Corn recipe!
There are two traditional ways to make popcorn: on the stove (with oil or butter) and in the microwave (usually air-popped). While I love the ease of the latter where I don’t have any dishes to wash, just a brown paper bag to discard when I’m done, it usually leaves a lot more unpopped kernels behind, and it doesn’t actually work for this recipe.
So we’re making this skinny kettle corn on the stove! You’ll need a medium-sized pot with a lid, tongs, and a spatula. To start, we’ll add a teensy tiny bit of butter or coconut oil to the pot. Chances are, it won’t quite cover the bottom surface, and that’s okay! To make the kernels pop, you mainly need moisture and pressure, both of which are created when we put on the lid.
Once your butter has melted, add 3 kernels to the pot and cover it with the lid. You’ll want to shake the pot back and forth every 3 seconds if using butter to prevent it from overly browning or burning. (You don’t have to worry about that as much if you’re using coconut oil!) Then when those 3 kernels pop (yes, wait for all 3! they tell us that there’s enough heat built up inside the pot), remove the pot from the burner and take out the popcorn with the tongs.
Now we’ll add the rest of the kernels and sugar. Plain white granulated sugar. You guys, I tried really, really hard to make this clean-eating friendly. First I used coconut sugar, which burned too easily and turned the popcorn brownish-black. Next I tried agave, which worked better but still burned too many pieces of popcorn.
So granulated sugar is best. It caramelizes right around when the kernels begin to pop, creating that perfect golden crunchy coating. However, you’ll still need to shake the pot every 3 seconds to prevent it from clumping too much and burning.
Once you count 5 full seconds in between pops and the popcorn threatens to push the lid off, you’re done! Immediately pour the popcorn into a bowl so the pieces at the bottom don’t start to burn, and let it cool. Yes, it’s torture! But the sugar is really hot and will burn your tongue. I promise it’s well worth the wait!
I kind of ate kettle corn for dinner that night. It comes from corn, which is a vegetable… Right?
| Skinny Stovetop Kettle Corn | | Print |
- ½ cup (70g) popcorn kernels
- 3 tbsp (36g) granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp unsalted butter or coconut oil
- Set aside 3 popcorn kernels. Combine the remaining popcorn kernels, sugar, and salt in a small bowl.
- Add the butter to a medium pot, and melt over medium-low heat. Once melted, add 3 popcorn kernels and cover. While holding the lid, shake the pot back and forth every 2-3 seconds until the kernels have popped. Take the pot off of the heat, and carefully remove the popped kernels.
- Add the remaining popcorn kernels, and stir with a spatula until they’re evenly coated with the sugar and salt. Return the pot to the heat, cover, and continue shaking it every 2-3 seconds until you can count 5 full seconds between pops. Immediately pour the popcorn into a large bowl, and let it cool for 5 minutes before breaking apart any large clumps.
Do not raise the heat about medium-low, and if the sugar looks almost completely melted before the second round of kernels begin to pop, reduce the heat to low.
Shaking the pan back and forth every 2-3 seconds will also help prevent the sugar and popcorn from burning. It's better to shake the pan too much than too litte!
{vegan, gluten-free, low fat, low calorie}
More popcorn recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Skinny Sugar-Free Kettle Corn by Crazy for Crust
♥ White Chocolate Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Kettle Corn by Diethood
♥ Toasted Coconut Kettle Corn by Two Peas and Their Pod
Hello, I just signed up for emails because I am in the process of losing weight but will NEVER give up food so I want to start making it healthier and lower fat. Do you have the calorie count for this recipe?
Thanks.
Thank you so much for signing up for my blog’s email updates Alycia! That means a lot to me. 🙂 You can find the full Nutrition Information for each of my recipes located directly underneath the recipe box. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this kettle corn!
Thank you for this recipe. It is the only skinny kettle corn recipe for me that has not led to burnt pans or brown paper bags on fire in the microwave 🙂 The only issue I found was that my kernels did not pop as large as they normally do. I used erythritol instead of sugar, maybe this had something to do with it? Anyway, thanks again!
Wow, thank you Kelle! That means a lot to me! 🙂 I’m really glad you enjoyed the kettle corn! I haven’t tried it with erythritol and don’t know how that would affect the results. However, if you’re okay with Truvia, I’ve used that in this recipe and this recipe, and it worked beautifully both times!
I tried to make your skinny kettle corn with no luck. I did the preliminary test with the three kernels and the pan was plenty hot to pop the kernels. Once I added the kernels with the sugar and salt I could not get them to pop. I left the heat on medium for what seemed like forever and they just sat there. Once I turned the heat up a bit they just burned! I shook every few seconds and that still didn’t help. Any suggestions?
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, June! That sounds frustrating and not like how this kettle corn should turn out at all, so I’d love to help figure out why that happened. 🙂 In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
How fresh were your popcorn kernels?
When you added the three kernels for the preliminary test, they fully popped, correct?
After adding the kernels, sugar, and salt to your pot and covering the pot with the lid again in Step 3, did the lid still form a tight seal?
Did any of your kernels pop during Step 3? Or did the unpopped kernels burn?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit once I know your answers to all of them!
Thank you for getting back to me. The lid did form a tight seal after adding all of the kernels. I finally got some of the kernels to pop but just took the kettle off the stove because it was obvious that the sugar was dark brown and burning. The few kernels that popped were very dark brown like caramel corn or even darker.
It’s my pleasure, June! I’m happy to help. 🙂 You did use granulated sugar, correct? (Just want to double check!)
My recipe also calls for medium-low heat, not medium heat, which it sounds like you may have used. If your heat is too high, then you’ll start to melt, brown, and possibly burn the sugar before the popcorn kernels pop.
High pressure is actually what causes the kernels to pop, which is what you’re trying to create through a tight seal and heating the pot. So if the heat is too high, then the sugar (and kernels!) can brown and/or burn before there’s enough pressure built up inside of your sealed pot to make the kernels pop. Hence why low and slow — aka lower heat! — is best. (Fresh popcorn kernels really help too! They have more water content inside than older ones, and the pressure excites those water molecules, which is what causes the kernels to pop. I give a more detailed nerdy explanation here with my stovetop air popped popcorn recipe!)
Does that make sense?
I hate to be that guy, but this recipe is actually higher calorie than the kettle corn straight from the Oreville Redenbacher microwave bag. I love kettle corn and was looking for a lower calorie way to eat it, but so far this isn’t lower calorie (not to say it isn’t delicious or a great recipe).
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Rhonda! From what I understand, Orville Redenbacher uses sucralose (a sugar free sweetener!) in its microwavable bags of kettle corn, as opposed to regular sugar like in this recipe, so that’s the most likely reason why Orville Redenbacher’s is lower calorie.
However, I have a sugar free version of this recipe here, which is lower calorie! Perhaps that might be of more interest to you? 🙂
Oh that’s lovely! Thank you!
My pleasure, Rhonda! Happy to help! 🙂