PopCorners are a great snack to have in your backpack, and they’re a brilliant way to treat yourself to popcorn when you’re away from home. However, though they taste like popcorn, you may find yourself wondering what they’re made from. Are PopCorners made with popcorn, or is this delicious snack made of something completely different?
PopCorners are made with popped yellow corn (not popcorn), sunflower oil, salt and the flavoring of the bag such as added evaporated sugar for kettle corn. They are popped like popcorn and come in the shape of a triangle chip and are strong to be able to use for dipping.
In this article, I’ll explain how corn is used to make both popcorn and PopCorners. I’ll also explain what flavors are available, and answer some other questions about this snack.
What Corn Is Used To Make PopCorners Chips?
If you’ve ever opened a packet of popcorn kernels, you may realize that they look nothing like the corn on the cob you can find in your supermarket’s vegetable section. There’s a reason for this.
While both are varieties of corn, the corn you eat for dinner and the popcorn you eat for dessert are different.
There are four major varieties of corn:
- Sweet corn – eaten with meals
- Field corn – ground into meal or animal feed
- Ornamental corn – used for decorations
- Popcorn – POPCORN! Eaten as a snack
PopCorners uses sweet yellow corn to make their popped snack.
What Flavors Are PopCorners Available In?
PopCorners are available in many flavors, including traditional flavors like kettle corn and sea salt.
Here’s a complete list of all PopCorners Chip flavors:
- Kettle Corn
- White Cheddar
- Sea Salt
- Spicy Queso
- Sweet Chili
Note: PopCorners also come in the Flex and Flourish lines (these are not the triangle chips referenced in this article)
What Makes PopCorners Unique?
PopCorners have some key features such as they are gluten-free and kosher. They use only non-GMO corn. All flavors are made in a peanut and tree nut-free facility to ensure there’s no cross-contamination. They also offer vegan flavors.
Here’s a list of vegan PopCorners Chip flavors:
- Kettle Corn
- Sea Salt
- Sweet Chili
Each PopCorners pack has between 90-130 calories per serving, depending on flavor. The chips also have between 0-4g (0-0.14 oz) of fiber, 1-10g (0.035-0.35 oz) of protein, and 12-20g (0.42-0.71 oz) of carbohydrates per serving (depending on flavor).
Are There Any Other Ways To Eat PopCorners?
While you can eat PopCorners by themselves as a snack, you don’t have to be constrained to only eating them out of a bag.
You can eat PopCorners as part of numerous different recipes. If you think that the chips would be a good addition, try substituting them for another ingredient in a recipe you already love. Once you’re confident about cooking with PopCorners, you can even come up with new recipes.
One of my favorite ways to include PopCorners in other food recipes is to replace the tortilla chips in my favorite nachos recipe with PopCorners – I prefer to use either the Sea Salt or Sweet Chili flavors. You can try the Spicy Queso flavor too!
Once you have a bag of PopCorners ready, the rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward. All you need is:
- Refried black beans
- Salsa
- Avocado spread or guacamole
- Sour cream (optional)
- Grated cheese of your choice
- Shredded chicken (optional)
To make this dish, you’ll need to:
- Preheat your oven
- Once your oven is hot, spread the PopCorners chips on the sheet pan. Use only the whole chips to make it easier to eat once cooked.
- Place a small amount of beans, salsa, and chicken on top of each chip.
- Sprinkle all the chips with the grated cheese.
- Bake for about 5 minutes until the cheese starts to bubble. While you wait for the nachos to bake, crush the remaining chips.
- When the nachos are baked, remove them and let them cool a little. Then, top with avocado spread/guacamole and sour cream.
- Sprinkle with the crushed PopCorners for added crunch, and top off with a little more cheese, depending on your preference.
There you have it – your PopCorners nachos are ready to serve!
Note: You can also use the small bags and use each flavor of PopCorners to figure out which one you like the best or you may like them all.
Four Fun Ideas On Ways To Use PopCorners
Idea #1: PopCorners come in a colorful bag depending on the flavor. These are great to add to a gift basket depending on the theme of the design. For a fiesta gift baskets I use: Spicy Queso and Sweet Chili (PopCorners) in a basket with a jar of salsa, a jar of queso dip, a bottle of ready made margaritas or a bottle of tequila (depending on the person), a lime, two avocados, and a shaker of sea salt/kosher salt.
Idea#2: For a fun dessert we like to make Kettle Corn Smores. We lay out Kettle Corn PopCorners on a baking sheet lines with parchment paper. Warm the marshmallow fluff and drizzle across the PopCorners. Melt milk chocolate and drizzle it across the fluff. Crumble graham crackers and sprinkle them on top of the melted chocolate and marshmallow fluff. Yum!
Idea #3: (Christmas) For elf on the shelf, one night I have the elf lying by the big bag of Kettle Corn Popcorners. I have emptied all but a few chips (stored them to eat later). I make a little Popcorners bed coming out of the bag that the elf is on and it looks like elf feel asleep while eating all the Popcorners. I crumble a chip to make it look a little messy.
Idea #4: (Christmas) I am putting the red bags of Popcorners Kettle Corn in the Christmas Stockings. I am also adding the green bags of the Sea Salt flavor. They are 1 ounce bags and will fit well in the stockings. I know most everyone will open them to snack on while they look through the rest of their stockings
