The Best Old Fashioned sweet & Salty Kettle Corn Recipe (2024)

Posted on Published: July 23, 2018- Last updated: April 25, 2023

Love Old Fashioned Kettle Corn? Try the best homemade kettle corn recipe you can make right in your own kitchen! The perfect blend of sweet & salty popcorn!

This Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe originally publishedOct 24, 2012. It has been updated with new tricks and images for your convenience.

I am a complete popcorn fanatic as I mentioned a while ago when I posted my Old Fashioned Popcorn recipe. But my absolute favorite snack is homemade Old Fashioned kettle corn recipe!

I discovered that I’m rather picky when it comes to kettle corn! My favorite store purchased Kettle corn is Indiana Popcorn Kettle Corn.

But in our area, I usually only see it in the stores around the Holidays. Plus buying it each time I get a craving can get rather expensive when you have a family full of popcorn fanatics. One bag barely lasts us one movie!

And no, I can’t be happy with other brands, because far too often they are far too sweet and not enough salt for my liking. The Indiana Popcorn is just right. I love the perfect balance between sweet and salty.

Thankfully for my sanity and pocketbook, this homemade kettle corn recipe provides all that but at a more frugal price!

Table of Contents hide

2Old Fashioned Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe

2.1Ingredients

2.2Instructions

Sweet & Salty Old Fashioned Kettle Corn Recipe

This Kettle corn recipe is quite simple. There is no need for fancy gadgets, pans or the sort. Although, it is a little easier to make if you have a whirly pop pan. It’s very simple, wholesome and full of natural ingredients that anyone can make it at home!

Old Fashioned Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe

Love Old Fashioned Kettle Corn? Try the best homemade kettle corn recipe you can make right in your own kitchen! The perfect blend of sweet & salty popcorn!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1/2 Cup popcorn kernels
2 tablespoons sugar
Sea salt to taste.

Instructions

Cooking in Stove Top Regular Pan

Combine all the ingredients into a large pot onto the stove.
Cover with a good lid
Turn the burner to High heat.
Once you hear the first pop, gently shake the pan back and forth over the burner.
Keep gently shaking the pan back and forth until the popping sound slows down.
Turn off the heat and wait for the popping to stop.
As soon as the popping has stopped, dump all popcorn from the pan into a large bowl and sprinkle with Sea Salt to taste.

Cooking on Stove Top in Whirly Pop Pan

Combine all the ingredients into Whirly Pop onto the stove.
Close the lid tightly
Turn the burner to High heat.
Once you hear the first pop, Start turning the handle to prevent popcorn from burning.
Keep turning until the popping sound slows down.
Turn off the heat and wait for the popping to stop.
As soon as the popping has stopped, dump all popcorn into a large bowl and sprinkle with Sea Salt to your preferred taste.

Notes

I use glove hot pads to keep my hands from burning from the steam that escapes while cooking.
The great thing about the coconut oil is that is has a lower melting point, so it not only tastes better, but it also cooks up into kettle corn a lot faster than other oils.
You can use Brown sugar instead of white if you prefer
You can also add cinnamon to taste.

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For me, the oil makes all the difference. I’ve tried this recipe with regular oil, butter, and olive oil. None of them taste half as good as when I make it with Coconut oil.

Not only does it have more health benefits, but also the coconut oil gives it the perfect flavor without tasting greasy. And believe it or not, it does not add a coconut flavor!

You can also add in some cinnamon or brown sugar if you prefer, but we preferthe simple white sugar at the present.

In our kettle corn recipe, you simply combine all the ingredients into a large pot or whirly pop pan onto the stove. While you can easily make this with just a standard pot on the stove, I really do love my Whirly Pop pan.

It makes it easier to keep the kernels moving to prevent burning. And it also makes it easier and safer if kids want to help make the Kettle Corn!

You want to make sure your pot has a good lid, so it will keep the popcorn from flying everywhere and burning you. I also use glove hot pads to keep my hands from burning from the steam that escapes while cooking.

The great thing about the coconut oil is that is has a lower melting point, so it not only tastes better, but it also cooks up into kettle corn a lot faster than other oils.

You can use regular table salt, but we prefer the flavor of the sea salt and you use a lot less with the sea salt.

Get Old Fashioned Kettle Corn recipe to fit your tastes

The great thing about making your own homemade Kettle corn is that you control just how sweet or salty you want. I can get the perfect blend of sweet and salty that I can hardly ever find from a store purchased kettle corn.

The other great thing is that with making your own homemade kettle corn recipe, you can add in things like spices, cinnamon, brown sugar or other fun things.

You also have the luxury of knowing that your kettle corn is made from all natural ingredients and doesn’t have any processed ingredients.

Use Homemade Kettle Corn recipe for gifts

Kettle corn also makes delicious goody treats! It’s a lot more cost friendly to hand out kettle corn in treat bags when you make it yourself versus when you buy from a store. It doesn’t take much effort either.

You can portion into treat bags and use for Birthday Parties, Halloween treats, Party treats and favors, and even Holiday gift/treat plates!

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