How To: Stove Top Popcorn

A couple of years ago, I was staying with a friend and her boyfriend when he offered to make us popcorn and he pulled out a pot, kernels, and oil. And I was in awe at how easy he made it look to pop popcorn on the stove.

It’s not that I was unaware that popcorn could be made on the stove, but I had only heard horror stories about catching the oil on the fire or burning the kernels. I would always go the easy route and popped my popcorn in the microwave in the prepacked, not-good-for-you bags.

After a few months of sourcing out a good recipe and building up the courage, I had a Brian stand next to me in the kitchen for support while I attempted stovetop popcorn for the first time. That was almost three years ago, and we haven’t looked back.

I follow this recipe from Simply Recipes, and I’ve recapped it below for convenience. We don’t melt butter on ours and to be honest we quit measuring the oil well over a year ago. We scoop out about two spoon fulls of coconut oil and call it a day.

What You Need:

3 tbsp of coconut oil

1/3 cup of popcorn kernels

Salt to taste

Popcorn bowl

3-quart pot with a matching lid

What To Do:

On the stovetop, heat two large spoonfuls of coconut oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat until the coconut oil has melted.
Once melted toss 3-4 kernels in the saucepan and wait for them to pop.
After the kernels, all pop, add 1/3 a cup of kernels into the saucepan, cover with the lid and remove from the heat source.
Count to 30.
Put the saucepan back on the heat source and simultaneously swirl the pan on the stovetop while lifting the lid to release the moisture from the saucepan. This keeps the kernels from sticking to the bottom of the pan and from getting soggy.
Once the popping slows down, turn off the heat, remove the lid and pour popped popcorn into a bowl.
Add whatever seasoning you like on your popcorn.
ENJOY!

Don’t be afraid to try it. Stovetop popcorn is one of our favorite snacks and once you learn how to do it I promise you won’t go back to microwave popcorn. And two added bonuses: it’s better for you than the microwaveable options on the market and it is incredibly inexpensive.