Popcorn has been one of the world’s favorite snacks since the early 1800s. It doesn’t have a lot of taste on its own, but it’s delicious if you add flavoring. So, what are the most popular popcorn flavors?
The most popular popcorn flavors are butter and salt, caramel, plain salted, turtle, cheddar, and salt and vinegar. Popcorn is inexpensive and easy to make. It’s a tasty and versatile treat, as long as you always have butter, salt, and popcorn seasoning in your pantry.
This article will discuss the most popular popcorn flavors.
Is Butter and Salt Flavor Popcorn Popular?
Butter and salt is a highly popular popcorn flavor. You can find it for sale at movie theaters worldwide. Although countless popcorn flavors have emerged over the years, butter and salt is consistently popcorn lovers’ favorite flavor.
Butter gives the popcorn a rich, smooth, and creamy taste, and salt enhances these flavors.
A benefit of using butter with popcorn is its ability to make the salt adhere to the individual pieces, resulting in less wastage.
However, if you use too much butter on your popcorn, it can make it soggy. That’s why professional popcorn makers use butter-flavored oil or clarified butter instead to combat this problem.
You can make clarified butter at home by melting a stick of butter in the microwave. After allowing it to set for a few minutes, it’ll separate into three layers, and you can use the transparent layer to flavor your popcorn.
How Popular Is Caramel-Flavored Popcorn?
Caramel-flavored popcorn is one of the most popular ways to eat popcorn as a sweet snack. It first became popular in 1893, when it was sold at Chicago’s World Fair, and today you can buy it as a pre-prepared snack or make your own.
Caramel popcorn is popular because it’s rich in sugar, cream, and butter, giving it a decadent, smooth, and fatty taste. Sometimes, people add salt to the caramel to bring out its vanilla flavor profile.
When making caramel popcorn, you need to pour melted caramel over the popcorn and wait for it to harden. This gives it an exciting contrast to the popcorn’s softness.
You can buy jars of caramel from a grocery store or make caramel at home by bringing butter, salt, corn syrup, sugar, and vanilla extract to the boil in a pot. If you’d like your popcorn to have a thin and even caramel coating, consider adding a teaspoon of baking soda to improve the consistency.
If making caramel popcorn is too time-consuming for you, why not buy a highly-rated variety? This Werther’s Originals Caramel Popcorn from Amazon.com comes in a convenient, resealable bag and has at least 693 five-star ratings.
Is Plain Salted Popcorn a Popular Flavor?
Plain salted popcorn is a popular flavor as it’s simple, inexpensive, and enhances popcorn’s naturally nutty and umami taste. It’s a great flavor option for losing weight as it contains no calories.
Eating plain salted popcorn is an excellent way to enjoy a personalized snack as you can add as much or as little salt as you like.
If you want to ensure that the salt sticks to the popcorn, but you’re also trying to cut calories and fat, consider lightly spraying your popcorn with a non-stick spray before salting it.
Is Turtle a Popular Popcorn Flavor?
Turtle is a popular popcorn flavor among chocolate lovers and is most often eaten at Christmastime as a festive snack. Melted chocolate (with optional nut, caramel, or toffee pieces) is poured over freshly-made popcorn and allowed to harden.
Turtle popcorn that’s made with dark chocolate gives it a rich and slightly bitter taste, making it perfect if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Milk and white chocolate make it a sweeter and creamier snack.
Some folks include some cinnamon or nutmeg in the melted chocolate to make turtle popcorn extra-festive.
Zebra popcorn is an interesting visual variation of turtle popcorn as it contains a mixture of dark and white chocolate. It makes a cost-effective and tasty snack for Halloween trick or treating.
Is Cheddar a Popular Popcorn Flavor?
Cheddar is a popular popcorn flavor and is sometimes considered a gourmet variety if herbs are added. It contains melted and hardened cheddar cheese or cheddar cheese seasoning.
White cheddar flavored popcorn tastes the same as regular cheddar popcorn; the only difference is in color. You’re more likely to find white cheddar popcorn in the New England states where it’s not common practice to use the natural yellow food coloring, annatto, in cheddar cheese.
In Wisconsin and its surrounding states, yellow cheddar cheese is incredibly popular, and this extends to popcorn.
Herbs, such as chives or rosemary, give cheddar-flavored popcorn an exciting taste boost and are common in gourmet popcorn.
If you enjoy a kick to your food, you could add in some chili flakes with your cheddar seasoning.
How Popular Is Salt and Vinegar Popcorn?
Salt and vinegar-flavored popcorn has become popular since the early 2000s. It was initially a popular chip flavor but is now one of the world’s favorite ways to season popcorn. You can buy salt and vinegar popcorn seasoning in grocery stores or online.
You can flavor your popcorn with salt and natural vinegar, but the vinegar will make the popcorn soggy and unappetizing.
Most salt and vinegar popcorn seasoning varieties don’t contain dried vinegar but dehydrated acids from apples, citrus fruit, lichen, or milk. This gives the seasoning its distinctive vinegar taste, which pairs well with salt.
Conclusion
Popcorn is a delicious snack enjoyed by billions of people worldwide. On its own, it has a neutral taste, making it the ideal base for sweet or savory flavoring.
The most popular flavors are:
- Butter and salt
- Caramel
- Plain salted
- Cheddar
- Turtle
- Salt and vinegar
It’s quick, easy, and cost-effective to prepare butter and salt or plain salted popcorn. You can make your own caramel or turtle popcorn, or you can buy it in pre-prepared packs.
Cheddar, or salt and vinegar flavored popcorn seasoning, is widely available from grocery stores or online.
