Have you ever done it? Have you ever popped your own popcorn on the stove? That’s the way we used to do it when I was little (shortly after electricity was invented and before microwaves began invading people’s kitchens). It’s the best way to pop perfect popcorn, all kernels popped and none of those ingredients that you can’t pronounce on the side of the microwave popcorn bag.
Here’s how to pop popcorn on the stove:
You need three things: Canola or vegetable oil, sea salt and popcorn (I think the Orville Redenbacher brand works best). You might wish to have butter or some other kind of seasoning to toss with your popcorn. I’m going to give you all kinds of recommendations for how to jazz up your popcorn at the end of this post.
Choose a pot that has a pretty large surface area. Mine was 5-inches deep and 9-inches across. You don’t want the popcorn kernels to be crowded too much or piled on top of each other. Before you get started, make sure you have a lid that fits on the top of that pot 🙂
You’ll need enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. I used 3 to 4 tablespoons for 1 cup of popcorn. Add the oil to a COLD pan.
Add your popcorn kernels to the COLD oil.
Make sure the kernels are all coated with oil and are sitting in a shallow puddle of it.
They should be all spread out in the pan like this- not piled on top of each other.
Add a little bit of sea salt to the coated kernels. I like to add salt in the cooking process, and sometimes I add more after it’s all popped too. You can skip this part if you prefer to add it after.
Turn the heat to medium and heat up the kernels and the oil at the same time. Shake the pan back and forth to evenly distribute the heat to all sides of the kernels. Keep shaking it back and forth. It’ll be a little noisy. Your spouse may tell you, “Shhhhhhh!” because he can’t hear the TV. Not that my spouse did that or anything. I’m just sayin’.
Eventually (a minute or three or four later), the first kernel will pop.
Get the lid on your pot quickly because that popped kernel has a whole lot of friends who are going to begin popping almost immediately. Keep sliding the pot back and forth over the heat until all kernels are popped. Tell your spouse to go hang out in the backyard if he’s still griping about the noise.
In just a few minutes, the popping sounds will slow down and come to a halt. Remove your pot from the heat, and you’re ready to jazz up your popcorn for consumption!
You can certainly top your stove-popped popcorn with a generous amount of melted, salted butter. Sometimes I love it that way best. But I’m going to give you a whole lot of suggestions for making regular old popcorn way more delicious. I’ve gotta thank my Facebook followers for those suggestions, since they left me like a gazillion ideas for serving up popcorn in super cool and delicious ways. Here are the suggestions that sounded best to me:
A few sweet (dessert) suggested add-ins:
1. chocolate syrup + peanut butter
2. caramel
3. mix in junior mints, hot tamales, chocolate chips, reeses pieces, m&m’s or sugar babies
4. maple syrup
5. melt marshmallows with brown sugar and butter and mix in
And the savory suggested add-ins:
1. sea salt + freshly ground pepper
2. maple and bacon
3. Parmesan + freshly chopped rosemary
4. butter + cajun spice + brown sugar
5. fajita seasoning
6. cayenne pepper or tabasco
7. Parmesan and pepper
8. butter-flavored olive oil
9. ranch seasoning
10. white truffle oil + Parmesan
11. brewers/nutritional yeast
12. chili oil + garlic powder + curry powder
13. cheese packet from a macaroni & cheese box
14. Old Bay Seasoning
15. Dill pickle seasoning (not sure I’ve ever seen that)
16. Meat tenderizer (what?? Really?)
See how easy it is? And how many fun things you can add in? Kids go nuts over stove popcorn too since the whole “popping” process is noisy and scientifically amazing. And man, it tastes waaaaaaaay better. Please tell me that you’ll end the microwave popcorn madness. It’s just as easy to do on the stove, it pops up perfectly and with just three ingredients- you know what’s in your popcorn. It also makes for good snuggle, TV/Movie-watching time on the couch. Now go pop away!
How to Pop Popcorn on the Stove
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup canola, vegetable or coconut oil
- 1 cup popcorn kernels
- sea salt, optional
- melted butter or additional mix-ins, optional
Instructions
- Take out a pot with a large surface area (one that has a matching lid). A 5-inch deep, 9-inches across pot is perfect for 1 cup of popcorn.
- Pour in the oil and then add the popcorn kernels. Sprinkle in a bit of sea salt, if desired. Shake the pan around to evenly distribute the kernels and coat them with oil. The pan should be big enough so that the kernels are not over-crowded and/or piled on top of each other.
- Turn heat to medium and begin to slide the pot back and forth over the burner. Keep sliding/shaking the pan back and forth to evenly distribute the heat to all sides of the kernels. Eventually (3-5 minutes later), the first kernel will pop. At this point, put the lid on the pan. Keep sliding/shaking the pan back and forth and the other kernels will begin to pop. Keep that pan moving back and forth until the popping slows down and the kernels are all popped. Remove the pan from heat.
- Toss popcorn with melted butter and/or other seasonings, and serve immediately.
Notes
- A few sweet (dessert) suggested add-ins from RecipeGirl readers:
1. chocolate syrup + peanut butter
2. caramel
3. mix in junior mints, hot tamales, chocolate chips, reeses pieces, m&m's or sugar babies
4. maple syrup
5. melt marshmallows with brown sugar and butter and mix in - And the savory suggested add-ins from RecipeGirl readers:
1. sea salt + freshly ground pepper
2. maple and bacon
3. Parmesan + freshly chopped rosemary
4. butter + cajun spice + brown sugar
5. fajita seasoning
6. cayenne pepper or tabasco
7. Parmesan and pepper
8. butter-flavored olive oil
9. ranch seasoning
10. white truffle oil + Parmesan
11. brewers/nutritional yeast
12. chili oil + garlic powder + curry powder
13. cheese packet from a macaroni & cheese box
14. Old Bay Seasoning
15. Dill pickle seasoning (not sure I've ever seen that)
16. Meat tenderizer (what?? Really?)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for the recipe. We popped the corn, added some sea salt and chopped up York mints and added some mini chocolate chips. Mmmm.
i have tried going with a store brand versus orville redenbacher because it is more than double the price! but i have been disappointed and noticed a pretty big difference both times. have you tried any other brands? what is it that makes orville redenbacher so much better?!
I’m not sure what makes it better, but it works well so that’s what I stick with!
I haven’t bought microwave popcorn in many years…love to pop it on the stove. We prefer the white. I would recommend if you have a stove with a glass top surface, don’t shake the pot back and forth. I use a dish towel, lay it across the top to cover both warm handles, and shake it mid air. The towel keeps the lid on. I will try coconut oil tomorrow. Olive oil makes popcorn really tough. I use it mixed with canola oil. I love it best just plain with salt, but the Parmesan I will try!
There is a very serious problem with your recipe! DO NOT wait until the first kernel pops before you put the lid on!
Heating a pot with oil and popcorn in it without a lid on it is asking for a nasty hot oil burn! When the kernels “pop,” they are actually exploding. If someone is standing near that pot when the first kernel explodes, it can send a splash of burning/blinding oil into their eye!
Cover the pot BEFORE heating the oil! Your instructions as they are written could result in serious injury and liability for YOU Ms. Lange. I highly recommend changing your posting immediately before someone gets badly hurt.
yes, indeed you should be careful for sure!
Does it have to be a stainless steel pot or could it be anodized or nonstick?
I only use stainless, but you can certainly try something else!
This recipe was awesome. I had cut it in half and it still worked great. Thanks so much for posting the recipe.
I always do popcorn this way. I am not a fan of the microwave. If it weren’t for my husband, we wouldn’t even have one. He even bus the microwave popcorn, but my kids always say, “We want mom’s popcorn.” It really tastes way better popped on the stove.
I pop my popcorn on the stove top with ORVILLE RENDENBACHER NON-GMO and just LOVE it with white or black TRUFFLE OIL and salt……or just use a little canola or corn oil with TRUFFLE SALT.
I love that idea!
Here’s why I switched to stovetop instead of microwave:
NO MORE BURNT POPCORN!
In the microwave, oven, the microwavesscontinue to heat the popcorn even after it has popped. And you can burn the core of every single kernel.
On the stovetop, as long as you don’t put your heat too high, you’re not as likely to burn it. AND, if you do, you’ll only burn the ones that were touching the pan.
Plus, no chemical taste coating your mouth, of course.
My mother always put just one or two kernels in the oil as testers; once those popped, she put in the rest of the kernels and put on the lid.
I’m going to have to try the splatter screen!
Easy instructions finally made a good batch today, I was just winging it prior.