Homemade Stovetop Popcorn Recipe
Homemade Stovetop Popcorn Recipe
It's cold and rainy outside and projected to stay this way all weekend. For most, this weather is the perfect excuse to stay in and relax. What better than to lounge around in your yoga pants and binge watch Netflix? But beware; we all know mindless eating is closely associated with the couch. Instead of denying yourself a snack, choose one with minimal guilt instead.
(Side note: David and I just started watching Sneaky Pete on Amazon Prime and I highly recommend it!).
Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks and can be healthy in small doses and when few ingredients are used. It's a whole grain, packed with fiber and can be low in calories. If buying it pre-popped, choose one with 3 ingredients maximum: either straight air-popped, or whole grain popcorn, oil (not palm), and salt. I like Skinny Pop Original as they use only popcorn, sunflower oil and salt. Stay away from those with artificial colors & flavors, palm oil, and basically anything else that is not a natural flavoring. While browsing the prepackaged microwavable popcorn, I see that a lot of them list sucralose as an ingredient. Pop Secret's secret is out. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener/sugar substitute. If you want sugar, use sugar; learn to stop eating and buying artificial anything.
Speaking of sugar; kettle corn is made with the same base as popcorn (oil and salt) but has sugar added as well. While equally delicious, it's a sure bet for adding additional calories to your snack. The choice is yours.
Going to see Black Panther? What makes movie theater popcorn taste so good is the butter-flavored seasoning salt (chemical) by the name of Flavacol. Needless to say, this ingredient is best avoided or eaten sparingly at most. Personally, I can down a large, (I didn't say jumbo!) movie theater popcorn myself, and plan to do so tomorrow night. However, I know it's a cheat meal. We all have our guilty pleasures ;-)
On another note: I'd been wanting to try making my own popcorn for awhile now and finally made it for the first time a couple weeks ago. What had I been waiting for?! As most of you have probably heard, popcorn has one of the highest retail markups at roughly 900-1300%!! Why we agree to pay this when it is so incredibly easy to make is beyond me.
Like I said; it's clearly healthier to air-pop your corn kernels and eat it unsalted, otherwise, here's the next best alternative:
Popcorn (Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan):
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Popping Corn
3 TBSP oil of choice (sunflower, olive, peanut, etc)
Salt
Directions:
Heat oil and 1-2 kernels on high in a large saucepan with lid. When you hear the kernels pop (it only takes about 30 seconds or so), add the remaining 1/3 cup corn kernels and shake to cover in oil. Continue to shake the pan throughout the popping to avoid burning. Once popping slows to a couple seconds in between, remove from heat immediately and pour into a large, dry bowl. Add salt to taste...unless you have a heavy hand.
Feel free to season with nutritional yeast for a nutty/cheesy flavor or other natural herbs/spices such as thyme or oregano. I highly suggest weaning yourself off butter; you'll live.
Enjoy!
-Mallory
