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Our sweet and buttery caramel popcorn recipe only takes 6 ingredients and is made in the microwave!
homemade caramel corn!
Popcorn is our go-to snack of choice for movie nights. When we’re craving something sweet and crunchy it’s always caramel popcorn!
You can find packaged caramel popcorn at lots of retail stores, but the real deal is HOMEMADE popcorn made in your kitchen. It tastes 100x better and fresher – and makes the perfect treat!
We often like to air-pop our kernels for maximum freshness and flavor, but you could easily start with pre-popped corn or microwave a couple of bags. The sweet caramel coating is just 5 ingredients and cooks up in the microwave in minutes! It’s a quick dessert – easy to whip up seconds or thirds! 😉
Crunchier than our Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn, this caramel popcorn recipe is undeniably delicious!
WHY WE LOVE IT:
- Great all year long. It’s a favorite for parties and movie nights, but also great to gift for birthdays and holidays like Christmas!
- Yum factor! Homemade is always better than store-bought and this is caramel perfection!
- Ready in minutes. This is a deliciously easy dessert with its simple ingredients and easy instructions.
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 5 minutes
- 2 (3.29-ounce) bags plain popcorn – Use microwave bags of popcorn or a popcorn maker. You’ll need about 9-10 tablespoons of popcorn kernels or 18-20 cups of popped plain popcorn.
- ¾ cup butter – We use unsalted butter but salted butter can be used instead.
- ⅓ cup white Karo syrup – or another brand of light corn syrup
- 1½ cups brown sugar – We use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar can be used.
- ¾ teaspoon salt – Reduce if using salted butter.
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- variation – Drizzle chocolate or white chocolate over the caramel popcorn while it’s cooling on the cookie sheet, or add chopped nuts.
How Much Popcorn to Make
A 3.25 bag of popcorn contains 2.5 servings, each serving is 2 tablespoons of kernels which makes 4.5 cups of popped corn. For this recipe, you would need 2 bags which is 9-10 tablespoons of kernels or 18-20 cups of popped popcorn.
How to Make Caramel Popcorn
- PREP. Make 2 bags plain popcorn and place it in a large bowl. Remove unpopped kernels.
- A good trick is to pour your popcorn over a cooling rack. The un-popped kernels will fall through the cracks and the popcorn will stay on top.
- CARAMEL. Using a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl add ¾ cup butter, 1½ cups brown sugar, ⅓ cup karo syrup, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes.
- Add ¾ teaspoon baking soda to the melted ingredients. The mixture will foam up. Stir well.
- The longer the caramel topping cooks, the crunchier it will be. This caramel corn recipe is meant to have more of a crunch, but if it is too hard to eat, then it was cooked for too long.
- COAT. Pour over popcorn and toss together evenly coating all of the pieces.
- Place the coated popcorn in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Place it back into the microwave and heat for another minute. For crunchier popcorn, heat it for another minute.
- ENJOY! Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spread the coated popcorn on it to cool. Break apart and enjoy this caramel popcorn recipe!
Stove top directions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, Karo syrup, and salt and stir while the mixture comes to a boil.
- Boil the mixture for 5 minutes without stirring it. Add the baking soda and mix to combine everything and remove from the heat.
- To avoid crystallization, be cautious about scraping the sides of the pot and accidentally stirring in the crystalized caramel.
- Drizzle over plain popcorn in a large bowl, toss to evenly coat, and spread on a lined cookie sheet to cool completely.
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Caramel Popcorn Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 (3.29-ounce) bags plain popcorn
- ¾ cup butter
- ⅓ cup white Karo Syrup
- 1½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Make popcorn and place it in a large bowl. Remove the unpopped kernels.
- Using a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl add the butter, brown sugar, syrup, and salt. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes.
- Add the baking soda to the melted ingredients. The mixture will foam up. Stir well.
- Pour over popcorn and toss together evenly coating all of the pieces.
- Place the coated popcorn in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Place it back into the microwave and heat for another minute. If you want crunchier popcorn, heat it for another minute.
- Allow the popcorn to cool and enjoy!
- Note: If you used salted popcorn, then reduce or omit the added salt.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Break apart and store in airtight plastic bags or containers at room temperature for up to 5 days. The caramel may soften after a few days of being stored. To crisp it up again, place it in the oven set to 250°F for about 5-7 minutes.
Omg! This stuff is great! Thanks for The recipe. I already had everything on hand and it was so fast and easy to follow. I only did half batch to test it out. I Will definitely make another full batch soon!
Love when I have everything on hand! Thank you so much!
so good! I’m gonna make a third batch, but my first two didn’t come out perfect. The first one was grainy; the sugar hadnt dissolved enough in the butter. The second time was SO good, crunchy and even… but the butter seemed to seperate… I had to drained the coolinng popcorn on paper towels because the mixture had a load of grease that wouldnt re-join the sauce. Maybe I didn’t mix it enough?
I wish I knew for sure. I would try mixing real well & see if that helps.
I have had the same PROBLEM with The catamel sauce SEPARATING.
Followed the instructions but the caramel dors mot become hard on the popcorn
I am sorry it didn’t. It should have, so not sure what went wrong. Even after letting it cool, it didn’t harden?
I FOLLOwed the RECIPE and it came out perfect just the best 1st time ever i TRIEd making HomeMAID popcorn. Thank you my kids love it taste like from THe SUPERMARKET. I DIDN’T even put it in the oven just perfect. Juliana from namibia
That makes me so happy! Isn’t so easy & tastes way better! Glad your kids like it! Thank you so much for letting me know that!
this is a pretty good recipe…
I just found that my sugar and butter were not combining so I ADDed a but of milk after everything worked just didn’t HARDEN, but atleast it didn’t go to waste
Well, I am glad it didn’t go to waste. Not sure why they weren’t combining. Glad you still liked it!
Followed the DIRECTIONS perfectly with no deviation. Boiled on medium for 5 minutes on my gas rangetop without stirring per directions. The caramel burnt and made my house smell terrible. Not sure what happened. The only thing i can think is maybe Medium oN a gas range is too high. Pretty disappointed as i don’t have enough ingredients for a second attempt.
I’m so sorry. That’s the only thing I can think of, as well. I know is super hot, so I need to turn it down. I really am sorry it burnt.
What a delicious POPCORN! I like that I can eat it as is, or add treats like M&Ms or marshmallows.
Such an easy treat to make. If you like popcorn you will love this caramel corN!
This stuff is so addicting. Next time I make it, I better double the recipe. It did not last long at our house!
Homemade caramel popcorn is one of my favorites! It’s chewy & so easy to make. We love making it for movie night!