this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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I eat popcorn fairly often and I was wondering if I can improve on the taste with minimal effort. Do you guys know any good mix I could use instead of salt alone?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

flavacol -- "better living through chemistry"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I was about to scroll by because I have nothing helpful to add, when I saw the last few words „…instead of salt alone“. Salt? You guys are wild! The only thing that belongs on popcorn is sugar (and this way I‘m showing that I‘m German, I guess, while you prove to be from the US, I think. Taste is funny. Enjoy).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You can get popcorn with sweet stuff in the US. My dad used to carmelize sugar in a pan and make cracker jack. And chocolate-covered.

But it's more-frequently a savory snack.

I didn't know that sweet popcorn was a bigger deal in Germany, interesting.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Chocolate-covered? I'm in! Never even thought about that, very cool. I wonder if a cheesy popcorn would be possible as well.

Yeah, if you can buy popcorn somewhere (at the movies, in rollercoaster parks etc.), if it does not say otherwise, it is always sweet. Some booths have both salty and sweet, but not so often.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, my friend, there's this stuff called Chicago Mix that is half cheesy popcorn (just a cheesy powder) and half carmel popcorn. It's a rather tasty blend of salty and sweet.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not from US! I'm from Brazil and sugary popcorn is very common here, I don't particularly like it though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Hah, I guessed wrong then. To be honest, I only tried salty popcorn about 20 years ago, so maybe I should give it another chance. The idea to use bbq herbs or other stuff sounds cool, actually.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sugar is really the thing to add to popcorn over there? That's wild. Here in Norway we're all about the salt and butter also.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

In the movies they sell popcorn, everywhere. And 99% it's sweet, in some rare cases they have both. But never, ever it's only salty. Butter sounds nice, actually. I might buy that when I see it one day 🤔

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I use Lawry's seasoning salt (recipes are easily found online), Montreal chicken spice, taco seasoning, or seasoning mixes that duplicate potato chip flavours. My personal favourites of those are salt and vinegar, all dressed, and cheddar cheese. Or mix some liquid smoke with some salt and let it dry, and then use that for a smoky bacon/hickory sticks flavour (I have also used bacon salt back when I could find it cheaper). I make all my popcorn in a pot with some oil, so any powder sticks pretty well with not much effort.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Garlic powder and the cheap parmesan cheese in the shaker. So good!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I second this. I put garlic powder or flakes on basically everything. Garlic salt works well for this too

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Furikake and arare. The furikake for flavor and the arare for some nice variety of texture. You can find it as Hurricane popcorn all over Hawaii and I think Amazon as well at this point.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have heard people tell of using the seasoning packets that come with ramen noodles.

I'm a purest. I generally just use butter and salt, but sometimes sprinkle on that fake-ish grated parmesan & romano cheese that you shake out of a canister.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm a fan of nutritional yeast and salt

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Agreed, that's the good stuff

I grind the yeast flakes and salt in my mortar & pestle to get a fine powder that sticks much more easily

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I haven't seen that vid in ages, didn't expect it here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Was hoping to see someone post this lol. Love it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I could eat seven bowls of that!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Somehow i had never seen this video before. Honestly? beats Food Network. Now im off to Amazon to buy a Wok and a Coffee grinder. I need to get bomb at making Pepcorn.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Pepcorn is actually and unironically very good.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I pop my own on the stove, and recently found that ghee is a great oil for that giving a light buttery flavor. I sprinkle on a bit of salt and King Arthur “Better Cheddar “. So delicious!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Buffalo sauce flavored popcorn powder is pretty good if you can find it.

Edit: I have this stuff

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Our favourite here is garlic-infused olive oil with nutritional yeast.

It's addictive as hell. Once you get into nutritional yeast, you want to put it on everything.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I've never heard of that, I'll definitely look into trying it. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packets. Just sprinkle some on. Be sure it’s the dry powder!

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Old Bay on popcorn is amazing, I don't make it any other way anymore.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Some dashes of hot sauce can be nice. Doesn’t usually make it too soggy as long as you’re not to wild in the streets with it.

Popcorn is super flexible, if there’s a flavor you like there’s a good chance you’ll like it on popcorn… just have to watch out for texture. You want to add a little moisture but not make it wet, beyond that… you are the artist and the popcorn is your palette 🎨

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

My two favorites are chili powder + sugar and curry powder.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

go on amazon and buy 1kg of flavacol and eat cinema popcorn every night

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I put olive oil on the popcorn first, make sure it's nice and coated and then sprinkle on a mix I previously stirred together in a little bowl:
1/2 teaspoon Chicken Bouillon powder
shake in as much of the following as I want:
Italian Seasoning (usually more of this than the others)
Cinnamon (couple shakes)
Taco Seasoning (or any other kind of premade seasoning mix - the Chili flavor packet from Top Ramen is good) about a teaspoon, maybe
And finish with a lot of nutritional yeast.
Stir really well. I use the end of a wooden spoon kind of like a pestle in the bowl to break up the nutritional yeast flakes.

I'll pop a cup of popcorn at a time and put on maybe 1/3 to half a cup of seasoning. I made it last night for dinner. It takes about a minute to do the seasoning mix.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I spray them with olive oil (from a spray can) and then grind salt over them. I prepare them in a self made bag in the microwave. Very easy and delicious.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Chili lime flavor made with True Citrus lime powder + regular chili powder

Bonus: grind in a mortar & pestle to get a much finer powder that sticks to the popcorn better

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Cheddar cheese powder. The neon orange stuff that stains your fingers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tajin or ranch powder work pretty well too

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ranch powder is a clever idea. Probably much cheaper than the popcorn flavoring mixes they sell. ETA: And Taijin sounds a lot simpler than squeezing out solids from spicy oil.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I got a pack of popcorn flavorings a while back and upon looking at the ingredients list, realized that I was just buying greatly-marked-up versions of things that I could get for far less in bulk, like powdered butter, powdered cheese, etc.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Grated Parmesan cheese

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I eat popcorn every night and I throw literally anything on it. I do it different each night! Are you in the US? You can buy many seasoning blends and they’re all good. McCormick makes ones that are meant for grilling food but they’re good on popcorn, like their Montreal Steak, Brazilian Steal, Montreal Chicken, etc. If you have access to Trader Joe’s they have an Umami blend that is good, their onion salt blend is good on popcorn. Smoked paprika, Garam masala, anything. Nutritional yeast. Go wild!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Carla Music's popcorn

Extra virgin olive oil, for seasoning
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Nutritional yeast
Aleppo pepper (I sub for gochugaru)
MSG
Granulated garlic

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

carla music gets food, i miss her face on ba. i need to buy her book

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