How to Make Healthy, Microwave-Free Popcorn

Brilliant - I have been looking for a healthy recipe that is not in the microwave! Scary stuff to - I ate a whole microwave bag at the cinema the other day :-(

Wow david you are a doc of popcorn thanks.

Great idea LB :)

Try it using coconut oil. Pop it in coconut oil then pour some melted coconut oil over it, as you would butter.

I put a little under half a cup of kernels in a brown paper bag, fold over about half an inch and staple once (trust me, the staple won't explode, haha) and pop in the microwave like you would a store-bought back. Dump into a bowl with a little melted butter, and it's sooo good. Got the recipe from Alton Brown. It's good for when you don't want to deal with the oil and stove top and such. :)

I use olive oil and a bit of sea salt.

Try using olive oil. Kernels don't burn. After popping just sprinkle a little salt. Yummmmmm.

Hi LB: I used to do paper bag microwave popcorn, too, but as I was researching this for the blog post, it occurred to me that brown paper bags may be just as dangerous as the bags they use for microwave popcorn. But it is an incredibly easy (and mess-free) way to make popcorn.

The Mims: LOVE the idea of using coconut oil. So many people are unaware that it's actually a good-for-you fat. It's just not that easy to find in supermarkets.
Victoria von Biel

Canola oil is NOT fit for humans to eat. Do a little research online and you'll be sickened by what you discover about canola oil!

Easy and healthier than the recipe in the article:
Either buy an air popper OR
Put about 1/3 cup popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag, close it up and microwave. I use my microwave's popcorn time setting. If you don't have that setting, just microwave it for the same amount of time you would for a typical bag of microwave popcorn.

Thanks for the recipe! I made some stove top popcorn earlier this week and loved it! I used 2 tbsp of canola oil to 1/2 cup of popcorn. Once it was poppped, I sprayed the popcorn with Pam butter spray so the salt and pepper would stick. It was super delicious- it tasted just like the Kettle salt & pepper chips but with a whole grain instead!

There's a reason movie theater popcorn is considered by most people to be the "standard" they strive for, both in texture and in taste. The Mims is correct on most of the taste: coconut oil. High in saturated fat, yes...but the fat itself is composed of medium-chain triglycerides, which break down very fully and are super beneficial to boosting metabolism, which helps burn off fat in general! And the flavor is unsurpassed. The second thing about popping corn is texture. Getting the corn away from the high heat after popping as soon as possible is VITAL, as is getting rid of the steam immediately. Neither of these are possible in stove-top poppers, frying pans or microwaved bags. That's why theater poppers are designed to throw out the popped kernels and vent the steam so thoroughly.

The best cooker is to use the pot from an old pressure cooker and a Revereware skillet as the lid.
Perfect popcorn every time. But make sure the oil is really hot before you add the unpopped corn.

Popcorn on the stove top is easy and safe. I do it over medium heat and leave the lid off set a little in order to let the steam out.

why not just air pop it? totally easy and no xtra calories

I use bacon grease to pop my corn. You can get away with using less fat to pop the kernals & all you need for flavoring is a bit of salt. About 1 TBLSP of grease to 1/3 cup corn in a 3 qt pan. Yes, bacon grease is animal fat. But it's naturally hydrogolized. I also use it in my electric popper.

Do NOT make popcorn in a skillet. It's too dangerous. A moment of inattention, then raising the lid on a too-hot covered skillet, and you have a fire that you may not be able to put out. I scared the h*** out of myself last year once doing this. Never again. I dug out a hot-air popper among my stored stuff, not used in years. It works fine. A few stray kernels spitting around are easily solved by using a pair of mixing bowls to catch the popped kernels--set one partly on the catching bowl, and partly on the top of the popper. Very convenient, very safe, and you get to control the amount of oil and salt. (I add oil after popping with a simple pump sprayer.)

All you need is an air popper. Or there are bowls that can be bought that can be used to microwave popcorn. They are about fifteen buck,i believe thay are called microwave popcorn poppers. Also using a brown paper bag is not safe. There is a chance that they may catch on fire. Also you have no idea where those paper bags have been.

i love me some day old, heavily salted and buttered movie popcorn. yum!

If a brown paper bag is bad, there is seriously no hope. I appreciate the advice on how to make microwave popcorn inexpensively and with no extra chemicals. I am going to try this. And I am going to put a little real butter on it. And a little reduced sodium salt.