Homemade popcorn seasonings are a must have for your next movie night! Learn the basics for making your own popcorn seasoning recipes to level up this delicious snack.

The Dish Details

What Makes it Special: Classic salted, buttered popcorn is great, but these seasonings will take movie night to another level! Plus, you probably have a lot, if not all, of the ingredients in your pantry.
Perfect Timing: Popcorn is a great anytime snack, but you can add these gourmet flavors to your game day gatherings, viewing parties, and board game nights, too!
Serving Suggestions: Enjoy as a stand along snack, or add other mix-ins and create a DIY popcorn bar.

Gather Your Ingredients

If you’ve got a spice rack, you’ve got the beginnings of a tasty seasoning mix!

Chili Cilantro Lime

Lime zest
Red pepper flakes
Dried cilantro
Kosher salt

Basil Coconut Curry

Curry powder
Dried basil
Unsweetened coconut flakes
Kosher salt

Rosemary Garlic Lemon

Lemon zest
Fresh rosemary
Garlic powder
Kosher Salt

{For even more flavor combos, try this Homemade Taco Seasoning or these DIY kettle chip seasoning blends on your popcorn!}

Spices being ground in a mortar with a pestle.

Three Methods For Popcorn Seasonings From Scratch

One of the secrets to seasonings that will stick to your popcorn is to start with a fine ground blend. There are three ways to achieve this:

Spice Grinder (Preferred Method) – Place all the ingredients into a spice grinder (I use a Krups coffee/spice grinder) and pulse a few times. Tap or shake the grinder to loosen things up and pulse again. The blades of a spice grinder sit flat and close to the bottom, and the small space creates a good vortex. This makes it ideal for grabbing up and processing all the bits.
Mini Blender – The next quick option is to use a mini blender, something like a Magic Bullet smoothie blender. It’s got extra blades, but also those that sit close to the bottom…that’s key! The process is the same…add all ingredients to the blender and pulse a few times until fine.
Mortar + Pestle – The mortar + pestle will take longer to achieve a fine texture than a spice grinder will, but it can still improve the stickability of your spices. Place your ingredients into the mortar (bowl) and use the pestle to pulverize larger bits. PRO TIP: for chunkier ingredients like flaked coconut and fresh herbs, use a knife to mince them as fine as you can before adding to the mortar.

Tips For Seasonings That Stick

Dry out fresh ingredients – Spread fresh citrus zest and minced herbs across a plate and leave it on the counter for an hour or more. Allowing moisture to evaporate will prevent clumping.
Don’t blend too long – When using an electric spice grinder or mini blender, pulse in short bursts and check often to make sure the mix isn’t turning into a paste.
Drizzle with melted butter – drizzle popped corn with melted butter or olive oil to help seasonings stick.
Season ASAP — don’t wait too long to season your popcorn. As soon as it’s done popping, get seasoning. Any residual oil or steam still clinging to the popcorn will help the seasoning stick (as will that melted butter!).

Storage Instructions

These are small batch quantities, enough for maybe 1 cup of unpopped kernels. Place any leftover seasoning in an airtight container (small spice jars are great), and store with your other spices or pantry items. When incorporating fresh herbs, use within a couple of days.

My Favorite Stovetop Popcorn

While this is really about the seasonings, I figure it couldn’t hurt to share my favorite way to make popcorn…on the stove top!

For 2 servings – use a 3-quart saucepan with a lid, 1 tablespoon of oil (unrefined coconut, olive or avocado), 1/4 cup popcorn kernels (I prefer organic varieties), and 1 tablespoon of melted, unsalted butter.
For 4 servings – use a 6-quart pot with a lid, and double the ingredients above.

Steps for crunchy popcorn:

Add the oil and 3 corn kernels to a heavy-bottomed pot. Put the lid on and place over medium heat.
As soon as all 3 kernels pop, move the pot off the burner. Add the remaining popcorn kernels and give the pot a little shake to evenly distribute. Place the lid on and count to 30, still off the burner (this distributes the heat and primes the kernels for popping).
Move the pot back to medium heat, then tip the lid just a bit so steam has a way to escape (because, steam = not crunchy).
Once the kernels start popping, give the pot a shake every now and then and listen closely. When the popping sounds reduce to only every couple of seconds, turn off the heat.
Tip the popcorn into a bowl, drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with homemade seasoning. Give it a toss and season more, if needed.

More Snack Time Fixes…

This recipe is part of the cozy mystery cooking club series.

Three Homemade Popcorn Seasonings

Linda Feller

Homemade popcorn seasonings are a must have for your next movie night! Learn the basics for making your own popcorn seasoning recipes to level up this healthy snack.

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Snack

Indian, Italian, Latin American, Thai

Equipment

Ingredients

Chili Cilantro Lime

zest of one lime, spread out on a plate to dry for at least an hour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried cilantro
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Basil Coconut Curry

1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried basil
⅛ teaspoon curry powder

Rosemary Garlic Lemon

zest of one lemon, spread out on a plate to dry for at least an hour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Spice Grinder + Mini Blender Instructions

Place ingredients into the spice grinder. Pulse several times until the blend has a fine texture, but not so much that it becomes a paste. Give it a tap or shake partway through to make sure the grind is even.

Mortar + Pestle Instructions

With a knife, mince any larger ingredients as small as possible (like coconut flakes and rosemary). Place ingredients into the mortar bowl. Use the pestle to pulverize large bits and combine the ingredients.

Notes

STORING POPCORN SEASONING: These are small batch quantities, enough for maybe 1 cup of unpopped kernels, which is about two nights worth of popcorn for my small family. Place any leftover seasoning in an airtight container, small spice jars are great, and store it along with your other spices or pantry items.
MAKE IT YOUR OWN: Adjust the ratio of ingredients for any of these blends to suit your taste.

make ahead, no cook

Drop a comment or question!Have a question about recipe variations or techniques? Did this recipe make your taste buds do a happy dance? Let me know in the ratings and comments! Your feedback keeps our kitchen sizzling and helps us cook up more free, mouthwatering recipes for you.