You don’t have to go to a shopping center or wait for the carnival to be in town to snack on some kettle corn. While you can find bags of it at your local grocery store, leaving the house or spending money may not be an option. Luckily, kettle corn only requires a few common household items, so you’ll be able to recreate the flavor with the popcorn you have at home, even if it’s already popped.
To make kettle corn with already popped popcorn, you’ll need sugar and oil to create a glaze. You’ll then incorporate this mixture thoroughly into the already popped popcorn. The end result will be a salty and sweet snack.
With already popped popcorn, you may be sacrificing a bit of quality. However, you’ll still be able to achieve the sweet and salty flavors. Below, I’ll tell you what you need to make your own kettle corn and how to do it.
What Ingredients Are Needed For Kettle Corn?
Kettle corn has been around for hundreds of years, and the recipe has more or less remained the same. There’s plenty of room for customization, but in its most basic form, kettle corn only requires a few different ingredients.
The ingredients needed for kettle corn include:
- Granulated or brown sugar
- Vegetable oil or butter
- Salt
- Popped popcorn
If you don’t have vegetable oil, any oil will work. However, if the oil you’re using has any distinct flavors, like olive oil, you might add flavors to your popcorn that you don’t want.
How Do You Prepare Kettle Corn?
Traditionally, kettle corn was prepared with a cast-iron kettle over a hot fire, but these days, you can use a variety of different equipment. Luckily, you won’t need any special equipment to create your own kettle corn at home.
To prepare kettle corn with already popped popcorn, you’ll use your heat-resistant cooking materials to create a smooth and sweet glaze. This will then get incorporated into your popcorn.
What Supplies Will You Need?
At-home kettle corn doesn’t require any unique supplies. The exact supplies you need might depend on how you do it, and there are a couple of different ways.
To make kettle corn at home, you’ll need:
- A medium to large bowl (or 2) with lids
- A small bowl for seasoning
- A stovetop pan
- A wood spoon or rubber spatula
Once you’ve gathered up all of the supplies and ingredients, you’re ready to start putting things together. Creating your own kettle corn only takes about 10 minutes.
What Steps Are Required For Making Kettle Corn?
There are essentially two different ways to recreate kettle corn at home, and each of them will have different results. You can either use a dry seasoning or make a glaze to go over your popcorn. Traditionally, kettle corn is made with a glaze consisting of oil and sugar, but this requires more time.
To make kettle corn follow these steps:
- Gather ingredients and supplies.
- Incorporate sugar mixture or glaze into popcorn.
- Shake until popcorn is thoroughly covered.
- Serve immediately.
How Do You Make Kettle Corn Seasoning?
It doesn’t take much to create a kettle corn seasoning for popcorn. Most kettle corn simply uses sugar and maybe some salt.
Kettle corn seasoning is made with either brown or granulated sugar and salt. You can add this directly to your popcorn or heat it on the stove with oil to create a glaze.
While kettle corn is traditionally made with granulated sugar, you’re free to use brown sugar in its place. The brown sugar will make the popcorn a bit more caramel, but since brown sugar is naturally stickier, it might incorporate into the popcorn a little bit better. You could also coat the popcorn in melted butter before adding the sugar to help it stick.
Many people add salt to their sugar and mix it together. However, if your popcorn is already salted to your liking, you don’t necessarily need to add any more.
How Do You Make a Kettle Corn Glaze?
Kettle corn is typically cooked with oil and sugar in a kettle. When the oil and sugar heat up and mix together, it creates somewhat of a glaze that coats the popcorn as it pops. However, you can still recreate this glaze and use it on already popped popcorn.
To make a kettle corn glaze, follow these steps:
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan or pot.
- Add granulated sugar.
- Stir mixture until incorporated.
- Add popped popcorn or pour over the popcorn bowl.
- Cover bowl or pot and shake vigorously.
You’ll want the glaze to be a little warm but not scalding hot. Once the sugar has dissolved into the oil, you’ll combine the glaze with the popcorn.
If you heated the oil in a large enough pot, you can pour the popcorn into the pot. In any other case, you can carefully pour the glaze over the popcorn while it’s in the bowl. Next, you’ll cover the pot or bowl and shake it around vigorously.
Once the glaze has covered all of the popcorn, you’re ready to eat.
How Long Can You Keep Homemade Kettle Corn?
Kettle corn is often an addicting snack, but if you manage to have some leftovers, you’re probably wondering how long you’ll be able to keep them.
You can keep homemade kettle corn for about a week, given that you store it properly. While popcorn doesn’t rot, it can go stale, and reach a point where it isn’t very appetizing to eat.
To properly store your kettle corn, you’ll want to put it in an airtight container. This will help you extend its life for as long as possible. Exposed popcorn will become unpleasant to eat quickly, so it’s important that the container protects it.
If you don’t have a proper container, you could store the popcorn in plastic bags. As long as the bags are sealed well enough, the popcorn should hold for at least a couple of days.
Conclusion
It’s possible to make kettle corn with already popped popcorn. All you have to do is follow the steps in this guide to create your glaze, and then mix that glaze in with your popcorn.
The end result will be a quick and tasty treat that you’ll want to make again and again!
