Caramel Popcorn

Recipe video above. The secret to a great caramel popcorn that's evenly coated with caramel with a thin, crispy coating of caramel (rather that globs of sticky caramel) is baking soda and baking the popcorn to dry it out. This caramel corn stays crispy for 2+ weeks!!! CARAMEL COVEREAGE: Use 1/3 cup kernels for full caramel coverage (very sweet, like candy pieces), 3/4 cup for "normal" (see in post for photo and description).

Recipe by Nagi | RecipeTin Eats on September 13, 2019

Prep time: PT10M

Cook time: PT55M

Total time: PT65M

Rating

4.98 stars (96 reviews)

Keywords

caramel corn, Caramel popcorn, food gift ideas

Ingredients

1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil ((not required if air popping with a popcorn maker))
1/3 cup popping corn ((10 cups popcorn, Note 1 for lighter caramel coverage))
100g / 7 tbsp butter (, unsalted)
1 cup (220g) brown sugar (, packed)
1/2 cup (170g) corn syrup (, light (sub glucose, Note 2 more subs))
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cuisine

Western

Steps

Popcorn
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add a few pieces of popcorn and wait until it pops, then quickly remove.
- Add remaining popcorn, elevate off stove to shake and spread corn out evenly. Cover with a lid. Once the popcorn starts popping in earnest, shake the pot gently once.
- Remove from heat when the popping stops (when you can count to 3 between pops) and transfer to a (very!) large bowl. You need 10 cups of popcorn.
Caramel:
- Preheat oven to 110°C/230°F.
- Melt butter in a saucepaan over medium heat.
- Add sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir until just combined.
- When it starts to bubble, simmer for 4 minutes - DO NOT STIR!
- Remove from heat then quickly whisk in vanilla and baking soda. When you stop whisking, the caramel will foam and increase in volume.
- Quickly pour straight over popcorn, toss until caramel cools and starts to harden.
Baking to crisp:
- Spread popcorn on 2 baking trays.
- Bake for 45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes or so. Caramel will remelt for the first 2-3 tosses - tossing coats popcorn more evenly with caramel. (If using glucose or honey, bake further 15 minutes).
- Remove from oven, leave to cool. Gently break into pieces and serve. Stays crisp 2 - 3 weeks!

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 46 g
Calories: 210 kcal
Carbohydrates: 27.6 g
Protein: 0.8 g
Fat: 11.7 g
Saturated Fat: 7.3 g
Cholesterol: 30 mg
Sodium: 663 mg
Sugar: 23.1 g

Reviews

Chaylee Kaleski on 2026-08-15 (5 stars):
Made this a few times and it is ridiculously delicious. Will try adding nuts one of these days. I used popcorn from the kids electric popcorn maker this time and it was a bit harder to spread the caramel around it - but the end result was super light and crispy.
Toni Noordermeer on 2026-05-06 (5 stars):
Hi, I made this wonderful caramel popcorn and it was delicious. I didn’t have corn syrup but I substituted rice syrup and it worked perfectly. Thank you for a great recipe, Nagi.
Juliet on 2026-01-03 (5 stars):
This popcorn recipe is outstanding. Made it with pure honey from my own bees instead of glucose and it does have quite a strong honey aftertaste. It’s crispy and delicious. I’m glad I made the lighter version. It’s perfectly sweet enough and there’s more of it. What’s not to like!
Rachael Thompson on 2025-12-13 (5 stars):
I have been making this for years - I put it in hampers for my relatives at Christmas and take it in to work for my colleagues during the year. It is incredible!! Thank you for coming up with such a fool-proof recipe!!
Merise Williams on 2025-09-24 (5 stars):
Really great recipe! Tasted like store bought caramel popcorn. My oven isn’t working so I put mine in the air fryer on 120• and it came out perfect.
Keziah on 2025-07-25 (5 stars):
This carmel corn went quick in my house! I love that you put the measurements for the kernels un-popped. I actually was unable to find this recipe when I wanted to make more and I made too much corn for the carmel because another recipe put the popped measurement and I couldn’t get it right. Thank you for this great recipe ❤️
Donna on 2025-07-11 (5 stars):
First time making these, and what a treat. So easy...I did make one substitution though. I had rice malt syrup on hand and not any of the other suggestions. Worked out perfectly.
Vicky Poole on 2025-02-19 (5 stars):
How do you know it keeps crispy for 2-3 weeks? It barely cools down before its demolished in my house :-)
Sarah Tennant on 2025-01-26 (5 stars):
This was delicious, and as you say, by no means under-sweetened with the larger amount of popcorn. I've served it as-is and mixed with salted peanuts and chunks of chocolate. A handy gluten-free snack to feed a crowd.
FerdinandM on 2024-12-31 (5 stars):
I'm sorry but you're wrong. You say that it can last 2 weeks or 3 but this popcorn is sooooo good that it only lasted a day. Thanks for your good work ! Cheers from France
sha on 2024-12-30 (4 stars):
This turned out great!! I used 1/2 cup of kernels and I think the coating is perfect. I was super stressed about how uneven the initial coating was in the bowl and how it started to clump and harden immediately…. after the first 10 mins in the oven it was perfectly pliable and got to give it a reallly good mix and coated everything beautifully!! definitely keeping this in the back pocket for gifting next season
Priya on 2024-12-24 (5 stars):
I made this for a Christmas party. Turned out really well. In fact I couldn't stop tasting it!!
Jennie on 2024-11-19 (5 stars):
My 94 year old mum loves this and the carers at her facility line up for it. 😍