I tried this recipe the other night for a zombie movie night with friends. The end result: delicious flavor, difficult texture to manage.
The texture issue was mostly my fault. It would probably be better to spritz the pepper/butter mixture onto the popcorn.
I also substituted half the butter for olive oil. Partly for health reasons and partly because I was out of butter. Either way, everyone LOVED the popcorn. Crunchy with an addictively spicy aftertaste.
A deceptively simple recipe that everyone should try.

My boy is on a salt-free restriction but we love popcorn so this worked out fantastic.
A few notes on our experience:
-We used his AlsoSalt (it’s a sodium-free blend with KCl, among other things).
-He has a relic of an air popper (swear it’s from the 80s) which got us 4 very fast cups of fluffy white without using oil (we did use the entire butter mixture later though). In the future, I’d rather do a stovetop version with coconut oil, so it tastes a little more like movie theater. The air popper is just so foolproof though!
-Used a habanero instead of the jalapeno. the little orange flecks were beautiful and packed a punch!
This is a fantastic savory treat, something he’s been missing a lot. We are packing the rest to take with us camping this weekend.
PS. A lot of people are talking about nutritional yeast and how much they love it on popcorn. What’s it taste like? What is so “nutritional” about it? I’d love to try it out.

Very nice.. thanks mommy

yummy
what will they think of next!

Hot with fresh or grated Parm and spicy Mrs Dash or Spicy Lawry’s.

My favorite has always been a little curry powder, some parmesan, and black pepper. There’s something really great about the sweet and spicy with the salty cheese.

i make one that tastes almost like a carbonara–with grated parmesan, salt and pepper.
also, i’ve been dying to make the spicy popcorn recipe from the Fat cookbook by Jennifer McLagan.

This recipe makes me pretty excited about that popcorn cookbook. I might have to pick up a copy.

I love the ideas, here’s what I’ve been doing:
After the popcorn is popped, use a microplane to grate raw garlic, then a hard cheese like parm-regg, then garlic, then parm to your taste (the cheese pushes the garlic and oils through the microplane) then in the same pan I cooked the popcorn (I use a wok with a lid), I melt my butter (sometimes half butter, half olive oil) it’s still hot so I don’t even turn the heat back on, pour it over and sprinkle sea salt and my hubby loves fresh ground black pepper. Of course it does not need much salt because of the cheese, let me know if you try it. Happy snacking!

This is a really interesting idea. I wouldn’t have necessarily thought to do this. I will give this a try sometime soon!

Oh I am home from school today and was looking to cook something yummy during my free time, and now I’ve found it! Can’t wait to try it!

EXCELLENT NO MORE WORDS TO SAY

Hello Heidi,
I loved the jalapeno with tequila & lime Kettle Chips, so I’m sure I will this one, too!
Been raining and can’t bother to go out for serious grocery shopping, so I just fixed some up with a few of my kitchen cupboard staples: sea salt and shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven ‘spice’ mix) with a bit of deeply aromatic toasted sesame oil. Oh, and a squeeze of yuzu juice, too. Not too bad 🙂

This recipe sound sooo delicious! Bums me out that I have braces and can’t eat popcorn for another 9 months… 🙁

This looks amazing! My sister got me hooked on freshly popped and buttered popcorn sprinkled with ranch dressing mix, so yummy!!

Orville Redenbacher’s “Natural” line has a chili lime flavored microwave popcorn that I love. But after reading the horror stories about popcorn butter lung, I have moral problems with supporting an industry that has made so many workers sick and refuses to acknowledge the harm its causing.
This looks like it would taste very similar, and although it’s a lot more work than simply popping a bag in the microwave, at least I won’t have workers dying from suffocation on my conscience.

omg I’m in heaven 🙂

We have been eating a lot of popcorn lately, and enjoying it very simply with melted butter and salt, but I’ve also been thinking of variations. We got so excited about fresh popcorn that we even bought an air poppe! Heidi, did you find that you had any soggy popcorn with the wet toppings? Even butter sometimes does that, especially since it’s hard to truly evenly distribute the topping.
Great idea!

Gosh, I would have had a great night if I was eating those-I am going to plan a movie night and whip this out as a snack!
Please visit my blog for my ‘eating your words’ challenge.
http://savorthethyme.blogspot.com

Gosh, I would have had a great night if I was eating thsoe-I am going to plan a movie night and whip this out as a snack!

sounds just the snack for me…i love tequila!!!!!just shots…so the lime and other ingredients will complete the glug!!!!!

Oh my gosh, heaven! I cannot wait to make this! And eat it! And I probably won’t even share! thank you!

There must be something in the air—popcorn is everywhere! I just made, ate, and posted about caramel popcorn, though the recipe doesn’t come from that book…

ohmygosh. popcorn is my favorite food group. this is fantastic. i must try it.

A friend of mine had a popcorn recipe in one of the cookbooks she wrote and although I don’t remember the exact proportions, I whip it up all the time. You just add seasoning salt, brown sugar and hot sauce into the melted butter before pouring over the popped corn. Perfect for anyone who loves sweet and salty!!

So many great ideas – many that I would have never thought of!
I’d also mention that cooking the popcorn in clarified butter is fantastic – it has a higher smoke point, great flavor – delicious. Coconut oil is a great alternative as well.
Keep the great variations coming. -h

this looks nummy. Our fave has been with the best olive oil we can find, Parmesan (or Pecorino if that’s what’s in the fridge) a bit of fresh cracked pepper and…wait for it… truffle salt. Love in a bowl.

Delicious! The short time in the oven dried it perfectly. I was worried the cumin would overwhelm but the lime cut through it nicely.
I made a half batch and subbed 1/2 tsp jalepeno powder and it was SPICY!
I also nuke my popcorn in a plain paper bag on the popcorn setting; no oil needed…

Kenny’s Cajun Corn is also great! It has just the right kick!

My favorite decadent way to eat popcorn is to add fresh rosemary to the oil, add a little melted butter once popped, toss with grated parmigiano reggiano and a handful of toasted pine nuts.
For the person who was asking about good popcorn, I like white popcorn best. I use this Amish kind, which you can order from Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/bhue7d
(And I think Williams-Sonoma sells it as well.)

I can’t wait to try a batch of fresh from the stovetop popped-corn. I’m thinking that to increase flavors–and break this up into a quick no-prep popping: mix the lime, zest and tequila into softened butter then put back in the fridge to set before melting. Then when you want a special treat, just melt flavored butter while the corn pops & mix dry rub or have that mixed ahead of time too. Both will last in storage. Also, love the idea of baking to decrease those soggy butter kernels.

Popcorn is my all time favorite food. In our family, we each have a popcorn pot. It is sacred and nothing else can be cooked in it! We are big fans of melted butter with the “Kraft Macaroni and Cheese” Cheese stirred in. It comes in a container like the Kraft parmesan. Sooo good. My husband likes to steal all the cheesy pieces. He would love this version with all those great flavors. I’ll check out the book – Thanks!

I love this idea so much I twittered it yesterday. Bravo.

When I was living in Spain in college the woman I lived with made popcorn every night to watch her soap operas. She put pimenton and sugar on it. Delicious! I still make it the same way now that I’m back in the States. Sometimes she would mix in sunflower seeds too.

Right up my alley – I love popcorn!

I’m sorry, I don’t speak english, but I see your blog always. is wonderful, beautiful…. MERAVIGLIOSO in Italy!!!
Very compliments! Ciao!

I’ve had wasabi popcorn, but chili lime tequila? I’m all over it… yum.

This looks delicious, as per usual Heidi! However, I wanted to tell you about a yummy find – Trader Joe’s offers this amazing Wasabi Sesame oil; it makes a delicious salad dressing with some rice vinegar, lemon juice, pepper, etc. Just beware the kick!
Tegan

Funny, a friend just told me about this cookbook last week. I can’t wait to pick up a copy … popcorn is one of my most favorite things. And this chile/lime recipe sounds spectacular!

Maple kettle corn. Add 1/4 cup of maple syrup to the oil (though I use canola — more neutral than olive oil) and kernels before popping. The maple gets just a bit caramelized just a bit, and the result is perfect maple-y kettle corn. So. Good.

All you had to say was tequila. This is a must try.

I would only add that the initial popcorn recipe would benefit from a change to coconut oil – it has a higher smoke point than olive oil so is better for this application, I believe.

Ahh..The sound of corn popping…Then the smell….I will be try’n this 1 tonite…

Get out of here. Why didn’t I ever think of doing something like this? LOVE!

I eat popcorn nearly every day. No joke! It is one of my favorite snacks. This version sounds awesome, although I would probably have to try to tweak it in order to use less butter. The flavor combo is a definite temptation! Thanks for sharing it!

Love this idea! I am not eating dairy so I’ve been using extra virgin coconut oil to pop popcorn in, which is delicious. I’ve just seasoned with sea salt, it needs nothing else. But I’m going to try this recipe and a few other suggestions here, and use a little EVCO in the recipe instead of the butter.

We love popcorn at our house, and this flavor combination would be such a hit! Thank you for sharing the recipe. That book is definitely going on my gift giving list for several family members. They’ll get such a kick out of it!

Wonderful!!! A very special snack

Delicious!!

thank you kind lady for all your wonderful recipes – but i made this today and it is absolutely great

Thank you for livening up my staple snack!!! I really have no words to describe how amazing this popcorn is. The flavors combine perfectly and you’re left wanting more. Good thing the batch I made was serving eight and not one!

my hubby and i recently went to the tokyo disney theme parks and enjoyed their popcorn extravaganza! a myriad of fun little carts sell theme-flavored popcorn in different areas: sea salt popcorn in the mermaid lagoon, curry popcorn in the arabian coast, honey popcorn near winnie the pooh’s honey hunt, even a strawberry popcorn–but i forget where! at home, we usually just give our freshly popped kernels a few grinds of course black pepper. i like it hotter than he, so when i’m by myself, i prefer chipotle!

Nutritional yeast and safflower oil (for popping because of the high heat). It’s absolutely addicting.

I like to toss popcorn in red chili pepper infused olive oil and shower it with sea salt. Mmmm. Sometimes better than the movie.

I like to toss popcorn in red chili pepper infused olive oil and shower it with sea salt. Mmmm. Sometimes better than the movie.

nutritional yeast, cayenne, salt & pepper, and onion powder is the best! i also like curry on mine.
can’t wait to try this chile, lime, tequila combo on popcorn AND corn on the cob!

This recipe sounds great, as I also like spicy lime flavors. Now the real trick is to sneak it in my big purse to the movies. I never get movie theatre popcorn because I have no idea what is in the stuff, and I hate the smell of the fake “butter” food.

mmm I am on a popcorn kick since getting my Whirley Pop… I am totally going to try this one out 🙂

Tequila laced popcorn – how heady!!!
Move over Garrett!!!

My husband and I make chili-lime-cheddar popcorn, but I’ve never thought to use tequila. Thanks for sharing!

My favorite recipe for popcorn comes from a cookbook from the Junior League of San Diego. Steep dried chiles in melted butter and drizzle over popped corn, sprinkle with garlic powder. I deviated from the original by using my favorite pepper, chipotles.

I can’t wait to try the Chile Lime Tequila Popcorn recipe. Here’s one of my favorites:
MADRAS POPCORN
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
1/4 cup popcorn kernels
Blend all seasonings together in a small dish and keep near stovetop. Heat the oil in a lightweight lidded saucepan or wok. The oil is ready when one kernel pops. When it does, add the rest of the corn and put the lid on. When the corn starts popping, lift the lid just enough to pitch the seasonings into the pan. Cook and shake until the corn is quiet.

Love it such adult flavours and with that hint of jalapeno the kids are sure to keep their hands out of my bowl of popcorn!

Could you cut a potato into wedges and toss it with this butter sauce, then bake it for flavored french fries?

At my house we have a “Secret Ingredient” to savory popcorn…so if you promise not to tell…it’s Nutritional Yeast.
Yup, simple, discreet, inexpensive and healthy. Include it with salt and some chile pepper for a quick fix.
For Sweet popcorn a Tb or 2 of melted butter and about 5 cubed Caramel candies (aprox 1 carmel for 1 cup popped corn) melted over a medium/high heat, soon as it begins to bubble and melts evenly pour over salted, buttered popcorn (Note:butter with either butter or a spritz of spray on oil) stir quickly with two wooden spoons (or if you are brave; your hands) until well mixed; Enjoy! Its my six year old granddaughters “Must Have” at Gran’s house!

HELLO! Tequilla, lime and popcorn… I’m in love. Thanks for this one!
That book looks like a great one!

Not what you would expect for popcorn, but sounds like its worth a try!

I’ll have to check out this book, thanks for the recommendation! I’m a big fan of rosemary parmesan popcorn, but all of your flavors sound wonderful as well.

I’ve been really into Rancho Gordo’s red popcorn lately, can’t wait to try it in this recipe.

I wondered if you were travelling to Chile or Mexico. Then I realised that you spell Chilli (chili) with an E.
The popcorn sounds fun, so I might try it for my kids, who love chilli in their food.

What a great blend – Nothing better than changing up an old favorite.
I usually add Garlic powder or Emeril’s seasoning for a nice change of pace as well

My husband spotted this in my emails and we had to try it… just came out of the oven and it is wonderful! We added some cilantro to the mix for some extra flavor… yum! Now off to find the book!

Sometimes I use lemon, butter, hot sauce and parmesan. Other times I use my favorite curry combination. Depending on the curry I might add cocoanut shreds.
Penzey’s Spices has some wonderful spice blends that would work well on popcorn; Their Rocy Mountain Seasoning or their Sunny Paris would be wonderful.

Perfect timing for the Oscars! I also agree with meleyna – I generously sprinkle mine with furikake, and add arare, or rice crackers. But I’ll try this tonight. Thanks!

I went right away to Amazon to see what I could find out about this book. It was there. When looking “inside” there I found the recipe for the Smoked Paprika Popcorn…imagine my excitement! Just finished making it and it’s wonderful! Just may have to buy this book.
Heidi…do you bake the popcorn to bring back the crispness or to bake in the flavor…or both? The recipes shown didn’t include that step so I’m thinking it’s your idea. (?)

I have to agree with kjerstiye – nutritional yeast on popcorn tastes amazing.
I have an air popper which is so much better than microwaved popcorn. It is a cheap investment too ($15- $20) for a great snack with endless variations.
Also…although I am a fairly tried and true vegetarian and avoid non-natural products, I have to confess that using cooking spray instead of butter/olive oil really cuts down the fat. The olive oil spray works great with Herbes DeProvence…and the plain old canola spray works with everything else.
Honey mustard topping from the spice section in the grocery store that is for grilling sprinkled on top of popcorn is my latest favorite!!

I love funky popcorn 🙂

This looks great! I just made and posted about your chickpea burgers, http://rawforamonth.blogspot.com/2009/02/perfect-veggie-burger-no-bread-required.html, another great success. Thanks for the wonderful recipes!
Arika

Mmmmmm! This is such a fun idea!
The flavor combination sounds intriguing.

These ideas sound great! There are times when my food cravings are more about “crunchiness” and I use popcorn as the fix. I’m especially liking the idea of smoked paprika since it is one of my current favorites. Never even remotely considered putting it on popcorn. (now I’m wondering why!) Going to the kitchen right now & experiment.
Thanks again Heidi…just love this site!
ps…As a kid I grew up on farms. We used to pop milo sometimes instead of corn. Results are a really small popped kernal and has a different flavor. It’s been so long I’m not remembering just what kind of different. I’ve thought recently about popping milo, but don’t know where to find a source for safe milo.

Love the flavors in this!

That sounds great! I like my popcorn tossed with garlic that is cooked in butter with some chile molido. A little lime juice might set those flavors off nicely. Gonna havta look for that book. Popcorn is our favorite snack in my house.

Yum, this looks delicious Heidi! Popcorn is one of those healthy snacks that I love because I can eat it by the handful and not feel a bit guilty.
What kind of popcorn kernels do you like to buy?

that’s something more grown up that i’d be willing to serve during movie times 🙂

Stumbled upon this one by accident while not paying attention to what I was doing, however it yielded some pretty unusual and tasty results:
Caramelized Wasabi and Black Truffle Popcorn
4 quarts air popped popcorn
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1-2 tsp (to taste) strong, dry wasabi powder
1/2-1 tsp (to taste) black truffle salt
(or crushed dry porcini mushrooms, mixed with appropriate portion of sea salt)
Over very low heat, melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in dry wasabi powder and watch closely until butter turns light caramel color. Be wary not to cook too long as wasabi will quickly taste burned.
Drizzle butter through popcorn and toss thoroughly. Sprinkle popcorn with salt and toss again.

I have this book…I tried the Buffalo Popcorn, and it just…didn’t work for me. I couldn’t get it to look like yours does, the butter just “melted” all the popcorn. I mean, it tasted good, but it lacked the popcorniness.

Very interresting indeed!

I was raised cooking Greek food and wanted to incorporate some of my favorite flavors into my popcorn. Growing up, we had a popcorn pot, a tradition handed down from my father who was raised in New Orleans. We seasoned this pot with garlic salt and only used it for popcorn, until it had a wonderful flavor. So when I recently bought myself a brand new popcorn pot for seasoning, I immediately began thinking of create things to try. This is my favorite of the recipes I created:
LEMON DILL POPCORN
Popcorn
Canola Oil
Soy Butter
Lemon Juice
Garlic Salt
Dill
Pop popcorn in canola oil.
Once popped, turn the burner off. Melt some soy butter in the pot that is still warm. Add lemon juice and let the heat reduce the liquid a little.
Toss popcorn with garlic salt, dill and the lemon butter mixture.
The resulting popcorn is tangy and has a bite with a wonderful dill flavor throughout. It’s also really pretty with all the little green flecks. This has become a big hit at parties and sleepovers.

Perfect timing with the Academy Awards on tonight — I’ll have to whip up some!

This sounds really good. I remember watching something on food network and they suggested using lime juice and chili powder instead of butter for a healthier corn on the cob topping. This recipe sounds very similar, except with the extra kick of some “ta-kill-ya” 😉

Spread the popcorn evenly over the baking sheet and vake until the popcorn is dry, 5 to seven minutes.
What does “vake” mean?
Recipe sounds wonderful.
HS: That’s what happens when I try to type too fast. 😉 Thanks for the heads up.

A whole book about popcorn? Crazy! I think all we’ve ever done is sprinkle Cajun seasoning on microwave varieties. Which is good, don’t get me wrong, but not all that creative.

Can someone please recommend sources for high-quality popping corn? I’m stuck in the rut of buying supermarket corn, because it’s all I know.
Thanks!

This corn sounds yum and I can’t wait to try, but I must pipe in on this one, as it’s right up my alley… We air pop the corn, add Bragg (or tamari) from a spray bottle (we just keep it in the fridge), flax seed oil (just like butter), vegit seasoning (or your favorite), and grated parmesan and/or brewers yeast. Yum!

We especially love that you even “vake” the popcorn for a true Mexican flavour!
Jalapeno powder would also be a good addition…and of course a cold Corona man.

YUM YUM. We love popcorn! Usually we’re making homemade kettle corn with ghee, but I’m going to have to give this recipe a shot. We’re all about lime stuff.

Boy this sounds good! Love the flavour combo!

try buttermilk power with dried dill and kosher salt, along with some melted butter or olive oil of course.

olive oil+ nutritional yeast + garlic powder = best popcorn topping ever!
…although… this lime one looks pretty good!

I was just thinking to myself that it might be nice to watch a movie tonight. I’m thinking “Happy Go Lucky.” Now I’m just gonna have to make some popcorn to go with it – this looks superb!

I realize bacon isn’t part of your normal repertoire but my husband has me convinced that Bacon Popcorn is amazing. He pops the corn kernels in bacon fat and adds chopped up pieces of smokey bacon to the bowl just before serving. We don’t eat this on any regular basis, but he did convince me to make it as a treat at his latest guys party and it went down fast. Me, I prefer your version here!

When we were in Ecuador two years ago we were delighted to find popcorn used as an accompaniment to soups. Try spooning a little popcorn atop a bowl of soup…it is amazing!

I guess I have something to bring to the Oscars party I’m attending tonight…by the way, if you’re into popcorn (or just cool photos) you must check out the cover of the Fall 2008 Gastronomica…gorgeous shot of a kernal of popped corn.

I guess I have something to bring to the Oscars party I’m attending tonight…by the way, if you’re into popcorn (or just cool photos) you must check out the cover of the Fall 2008 Gastronomica…gorgeous shot of a kernal of popped corn.

Oooh, this will be perfect for the Oscars tonight! Thank you!

When we make popcorn in a pot we add Tabasco with the oil and kernels at the very beginning. It comes out with a wonderful spicy favor. Just don’t have your head over the pot when you remove the lid!

Perfect Academy-Awards snack, and better than chips with a big margarita! Plus, what a great gift for my many popcorn-loving friends. Thank you!

I am a true popcorn lover, so that book sounds perfect for me! Growing up, my family and I used to make homemade popcorn every single night. It was a tradition carried on from when my dad was growing up and his family did the same.

I am a true popcorn lover, so that book sounds perfect for me! Growing up, my family and I used to make homemade popcorn every single night. It was a tradition carried on from when my dad was growing up and his family did the same.

i am pretty plain jane when it comes to popcorn and clearly need a wake up call – thanks for sharing these ideas!! my only variation to the norm is that i don’t ever use butter. instead i drizzle a good dose of extra virgin olive oil over the hot kernels and follow with a shake or two of sea salt – a giant bowl of that, a good chick flick, wine, and i’m pretty much in heaven!

I looove “real” popcorn. I sprinkle mine generously with furikake and a drizzle of sesame oil.

My husband makes Rosemary and Black Pepper Popcorn and I just love the savory flavors. For “sweet” I love Harry and David’s Moose Munch…maybe we can make a homemade version.

Fresh lime and tequila flavours sound like just the ticket to lift the popcorn.
Laura’s photography is great so I’m looking forward to checking out the book when it reaches the UK. If anybody has Sally Schneiders book, The Improvisational Cook, this also has some great popcorn flavouring ideas.

Ah, my favorite snack dressed with tempting toppings. Who’d a thunk!
Thanks for steering me to some new adventures.