I’ll confess that I’m not the biggest fan of popcorn. I typically don’t snack at the movie theater and my other popcorn experiences are mostly limited to microwave bags which are never terribly exciting or delicious. However, I was at the grocery store recently and saw some of those cute old-fashioned looking cardboard popcorn boxes and felt inspired to experiment. I love a good food prop (unfortunately you can barely see it in my final photo).
At first I was going to try making Biscoff popcorn, adapted from this recipe on The Kitchn. I might still try that in the future but OMG you guys, I cannot keep that stuff around. One day and several giant spoonfuls later, I had to get the Biscoff out of my house. It’s like crack. I tried taping the jar shut with masking tape and writing “NO” on top with a Sharpie but instant gratification Jen kept overruling logical Jen. I was too busy to make and photograph the popcorn and my waistline was about to start crying. Bye bye Biscoff! A few days later I went for my next best idea: sweet and spicy curried popcorn. I love curried anything and this popcorn is no joke. Both sweet and salty, it’s addicting without being a bazillion calories. Win win!
Sweet and Spicy Curried Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup popcorn kernels
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, or any neutral, high heat oil
- 1 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter (see notes)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine curry, cayenne, turmeric, and salt. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the kernels and cover.
- When you hear popping, gently shake the pan to prevent burning. Once the popping sound starts to slow down, remove from heat and empty into a large bowl. If many kernels remain un-popped you can repeat the process.
- Melt the honey and butter in a small saucepan or the microwave.
- Pour over the popcorn, cover, and shake vigorously to spread the mixture evenly.
- Sprinkle half of the spice mixture over the popcorn, cover and shake. Repeat the process with the other half of the spices.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
For a curry lover, this is a MUST try recipe! I’m not a microwave popcorn fan but I occasionally enjoy good popcorn. I still have popcorn kernels in my pantry (I think I should have it) so let me try this recipe this week – maybe movie night. And I *just* got cookie butter from Trader Joe’s. Oh boy that with popcorn… I think I’ll stay with curried version for now. I can’t wait to try biscoff flavor either (never tried yet).
I could eat popcorn every single night is my waste-line allows, sadly it doesn’t :(
Love the spicy kick you have going on here.
I am not a popcorn person myself, but my Hubs – he loves popcorn! And he will love this spicy version. I will go for the Biscoff kind :)
I just tried this and it is SO wonderful! I had to revise the recipe a little because I used my air popper for the popcorn, but I love the slightly sweet and spicy taste of this! Thank you!
There are days when all I eat for dinner is homemade popcorn. well…and beer.
I may need to try this lovely adaptation.
As always, thank you for inspiring me! I have included this recipe in my August Roundup. Please stop by and let me know what you think of the post.
I love popcorn but have never had it prepared this way- great recipe and the color is beautiful;-)
I looooooove flavored popcorn! And that cookie butter popcorn sounds amazing. I made it with Nutella once, and it disappeared in hours.
Ooh great idea for popcorn! I snagged some similar boxes when were on clearance at Target because I knew they’d make a great prop. I try not to do that too often but some things are just too perfect for photos.
Something I think my hubby would enjoy :)
This sounds fantastic! I love popcorn, and it sounds like using the curry would allow cutting down on some of the butter and oil.
Brilliant! (again!) I’m thinking I don’t eat popcorn near enough!
All I want to do is eat popcorn now ! I never knew it was so simple.
Holy spicy popcorn! I think I measured the cayenne wrong. Also didn’t have quite enough popcorn. My husband couldn’t eat it, and it took me longer than usual to eat the whole bowl. ;) Hot stuff! And so, so tasty. Usually we just have it plain with salt but I may tweak this recipe and make this again!
Also: Mind if I print an adaptation of it on my blog? With a link to your post, of course?
You can absolutely share an adaptation. Mine weren’t horribly spicy; maybe it’s because you used less popcorn?
Sweet! What a great idea :) I will surely try this.