My mind exploded the day I discovered how to make microwave popcorn from scratch! Popcorn is one of my top ten favorite foods. I’ve been making popcorn on the stove for years, but this way is cleaner, simpler, and healthier.
It’s one of the healthiest snacks you can have if you make your own bag of microwave popcorn!

1. What Is Wrong With Branded Popcorn?

Branded microwave popcorn may have palm oil, flavorings, sugars, excess sodium, and butter.
Take control over what you put into your body by learning how to make your own microwave popcorn. You have the ability to transform a processed food item into a healthy whole food.
Branded microwave popcorn is more expensive. When you make your own microwave popcorn, the cost is absolutely minimal.

2. How Do I Make Perfect Popcorn In The Microwave?

These are a few suggestions to follow to ensure you make a wonderful batch of popcorn every time.

1. Don’t overfill the bag—only put in enough kernels to cover the bottom of the bag, no more!
2. Make sure the microwave is set to 4 minutes or more. It shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes, but you don’t want the microwave to stop while you’re popping. If the microwave stops working, you will not be able to restart it and continue popping.
3. You only need a spoonful of oil or butter.
4. Before heating, shake the kernels to coat them in the oil.

3. How Long Should You Pop Popcorn In The Microwave?

The time it takes to fully pop depends on the size of your brown bag and the power of your microwave.
The standard procedure is to stand by and listen for popping noises. Stop the microwave when there is a two-second interval between pops. You risk scorching your popcorn if you wait much longer.
The entire process takes about 2-3 minutes.

4. How Much Popcorn Does It Make?

Depending on how big your bag is. My brown bag was quite little and could only hold around 2 tablespoons of kernels. Once popped, popcorn expands to 40X its size, leaving me with 4 cups of popped popcorn.

5. What Is The Best Oil To Use For Healthy Microwave Popcorn?

When you make microwave popcorn, you can use vegetable, coconut, or olive oil. I don’t recommend olive oil if you want a light texture with minimal flavor. Instead, use coconut oil.
Butter is another fantastic flavoring choice. Just keep in mind that it won’t be as healthy.

6. Can You Make Microwave Popcorn Without Oil Or Butter?

You can make microwave popcorn without oil, but you risk burning the seeds before they pop. Without a little oil, your toppings (such as salt) will not adhere to the popcorn.

7. Popcorn Brown Bags

Brown paper bags are available to buy on Amazon. You can even re-use them for a second or third time before discarding them.

8. Microwave Popcorn Calories

2 tablespoons un-popped popcorn kernels (30 grams) equal 4 cups popped popcorn.
4 cups of microwave popcorn have 180 calories if you use 5mls coconut oil and a pinch of salt.
Not bad given a little 36g packet of chips contains 190 calories.

11. How To Make Re-usable Microwave Popcorn Bags? 

Another option is to make a material bag that you can re-use.

Check out this great DIY re-usable popcorn bag tutorial for a more sustainable option. 

12. Is Stovetop Popcorn Better Than Microwave Popcorn? 

This is entirely dependent on the amount of oil used. You use more oil to coat the bottom of the pot while making popcorn on the stove. 

The brown bag microwave method pops kernels differently. You’ll notice the popcorn is lighter and fluffier as a result. Preparing popcorn in the microwave is easier, faster, and less messy than making it on the stove. 

13. Is Microwave Popcorn Bad For You?

When purchasing branded microwave popcorn, keep an eye out for added harmful ingredients. These processed bags may contain palm oil, flavorings, added sugar, salt and butter.

This home made microwave popcorn is not harmful. It’s considered a healhy snack when eaten in moderation.

14. Is Microwave Popcorn Cancerous?

Previously, branded microwave popcorn caused a dangerous lung illness known as popcorn lung. Diacetyl, a chemical used to give microwave popcorn its buttery flavor, was to blame.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are chemicals used inside microwave popcorn bags to prevent oil from seeping through them. PFCs can degrade into perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOC), a recognized carcinogen that has been linked to cancer (1). 

15. Is Popcorn Healthier Than Crisps or Chips

Popcorn is a whole grain snack that is high in fiber. Crisps are heavy in saturated fats and highly processed. Even though the calories per serving are similar, popcorn is a healthier snack with less fat.

16. Is Homemade Microwave Popcorn Healthy

Popcorn is a whole grain, so yes, it’s healthy. Whole grains help to lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.
What we put in the popcorn makes it less healthy. Ingredients such as sugar, butter, extra salt, and so on.
Popcorn also has a lot of fiber and phenolic acids, which are great antioxidants.

17. Is Microwave Popcorn Fattening?

If you make microwave popcorn and limit the oil you use, it will not be fattening in moderation.
Added Sugars, salt, butter, and flavorings may be present in branded microwave popcorn. These are the fattening ingredients, not the popcorn itself.

18. How To Make Microwave Popcorn Better

1. Use only fresh popcorn seeds. If you buy or use outdated seeds, the popcorn will be stale and chewy rather than light and fluffy.
2. Stick to a brand of kernels that you know yields great popcorn.
3. Experiment with different flavors (see below)

19. How To Make Kettle Corn From Microwave Popcorn

The best method for making kettle corn is to use the brown bag microwave popcorn method. Add a teaspoon of butter and two teaspoons of brown sugar to the bag after you’ve added your seeds and coconut oil. Give everything a good shake before microwave as usual.

The end product will be a delicious blend of salty and sweet, buttery popcorn.
The best part is that there will be no mess to clean up!

Consider swopping out the sugar for healthy homemade date syrup. It’s a great way to make the snack refined sugar free.

20. What Healthy Snacks Can I Make With Microwave Popcorn

Kettle Corn

See above- mix butter with coconut oil, salt and sugar all in the bag before microwaving. the result is a salty sweet buttery dream.

Chocolate & Coconut

Sprinkle dried coconut pulp (from making your own coconut milk) with cocoa powder or cinamon to your popped bag of popcorn.

Chocolate Chips Or Astros

While the popcorn is still fairly warm, chuck in a couple of chocolate chips or astros into the bag and shake up.

Cinnamon & Honey

sprinkle cinamon and a small stream of honey into the bag of popped popcorn. Shake up and serve in a bowl.