Who craves the sweet and salty taste of Homemade Kettle Corn? It’s not quite popcorn and not quite caramel corn. Making this fair favorite at home is easier than you imagined. Stop waiting for the next State Fair to get your sweet and salty fix. Use this Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe and make it today!
What is Kettle Corn?
Kettle Corn originated with the Dutch settlers. They sold it fairs and made it for other festive occasions. Kettle Corn was originally cooked in large cast iron kettles. The popcorn has that sweet and salty taste combination that we love from the sugar and salt used to season the popcorn.
Nowadays, kettle corn is still found at state fairs and carnivals. It’s also sold at craft fairs and farmers markets. Though it’s sold at these places, it’s usually bagged and ready to go. On occasion, you’ll see it being made in the kettles at these fairs adding some nostalgia from years ago.
Why You Should Make Homemade Kettle Corn at Home
I’m not telling you to stop buying kettle corn when you’re at the state fair or that annual arts and crafts show you never miss. Supporting local businesses is important. What I am saying is that I’ve got a great argument for making it yourself!
Making Homemade Kettle Corn is Surprisingly Easy – Make this recipe once and you’ll wonder why you thought it was difficult to make or haven’t tried to make it before.
You Have the Ingredients – Kettle Corn Ingredients are Popcorn, Oil, Sugar and Salt. Four Ingredients that are in your cabinet already.
Homemade Kettle Corn is Cheap – Don’t overthink the cost paid for this snack at the fair. You’ll wonder why you’re not making kettle corn for a living. All I’m going to say is the cost of ingredients is under $1.00 and the amount you pay at the fair, for the same amount of popcorn, costs up to $10.00. Can you say 90% savings!
More Salt, Less Sweet – Adjust the amount of salt and sugar until it it hits your taste buds perfectly. No one will know and I won’t tell.
It’s Satisfying – I always love when something I make at home comes out as good as something I buy. This is one of those recipes.
How to Make Kettle Corn with a Whirley Pop
I am all about a useful cooking gadget, utensil, or appliance that helps me in the kitchen. My post about gadgets that make cooking easier has a list of some of the ones I use and really like. The Whirley Pop is definitely one of those items. It’s the easiest way for making popcorn on the stove. More importantly, it NEVER burns on me in the Whirley Pop. They’re not expensive and I use it regularly. You can find them HERE.
- Add the Oil, Popcorn and Sugar to the Whirley Pop.
- Put the lid on the Whirley Pop.
- Turn on the burner to medium-high heat.
- Crank the Whirley Pop to coat the kernels in the sugar and oil.
- Continue cranking the Whirley Pop and keep everything moving.
- When the kernels start popping, continue cooking and cranking until the popping slows down to about 1 pop every 3 or 4 seconds.
- Remove from heat and pour popcorn into a large bowl.
- Add salt to popcorn and toss the popcorn around to distribute the salt.
- Transfer the popcorn to a cookie sheet for a couple minutes to cool, separating the popcorn some.
- Transfer back to the bowl and enjoy!
How to Make Kettle Corn on the Stove
Making popcorn on the stove without a Whirley Pop for me is a no go. It’s not something I enjoy or am good at. For you superstars that make it this way with success, I offer kudos and respect.
Even with stove top instructions that work for everyone else, I’m a mess. While I do not cook my popcorn this way, I’m providing instructions for those of you making kettle corn at home with this method.
I’m open to any additional instructions or tips that help improve my stove top game. Please leave those tips in the comments section below the post!
- Add the Oil, Popcorn and Sugar to a pot that has a tight fitting lid.
- Stir or shake around the popcorn to coat the kernels in the sugar and oil
- Put the lid on the pot.
- Turn on the burner to medium-high heat.
- Give the pot a shake every few seconds to keep the ingredients moving
- When the kernels start popping, continue shaking the pot for a couple seconds and returning the pot to the heat for a couple seconds.
- Continue the shaking and returning process until the popping slows down to about 1 pop every 3 or 4 seconds.
- Remove from heat and pour popcorn into a large bowl.
- Add salt to popcorn and toss the popcorn around to distribute the salt.
- Transfer the popcorn to a cookie sheet for a couple minutes to cool, separating the popcorn some.
- Transfer back to the bowl and enjoy!
Kettle Corn Tips and Notes
- I played around with the sugar and salt amounts until I found the perfect salty sweet taste I was looking for. Increase the sugar and salt amounts to suit your taste.
- Use your oil of choice – We all use different oils. Vegetable, Canola, Peanut, and Coconut are all great oils for the homemade kettle corn recipe.
- I love using Popcorn Salt anytime I make Homemade Popcorn. It’s much finer than kosher or table salt and coats the popcorn more evenly.
- Transfer all the popcorn out of the hot pot after cooking it. You don’t want any leftover sugar to caramelize or burn in the pot.
- I like using the cookie sheet after tossing the popcorn in the salt. It lets the popped kernels separate and cool.
I hope you try making kettle corn at home using this recipe or a variation of it. Maybe you even consider a whirley pop is something worth having in your kitchen. It doesn’t take any longer than microwave popcorn and the little bit of dish washing time is worth it for the great popcorn it makes.
Looking for more easy snacks? Try these other great recipes
Homemade Kettle Corn
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Popcorn Kernels
- ⅓ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 Tbs Vegetable Oil or Oil of Choice
- ¼ tsp Popcorn Salt or ½ tsp. Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Add the Oil, Popcorn and Sugar to the Whirley Pop.
- Put the lid on the Whirley Pop
- Turn on the burner to medium-high heat.
- Crank the Whirley Pop to coat the kernels in the sugar and oil.
- Continue cranking the Whirley Pop and keep everything moving.
- When the kernels start popping, continue cooking and cranking until the popping slows down to about 1 pop every 3 or 4 seconds.
- Remove from heat and pour popcorn into a large bowl.
- Add salt to popcorn and toss the popcorn around to distribute the salt.
- Transfer the popcorn to a cookie sheet for a couple minutes to cool, separating the popcorn some.
