Easy Homemade Kettle Corn Made With Coconut Oil

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Looking for an easy and healthy snack? This homemade kettle corn recipe is the perfect balance of salty and sweet, a treat everyone in your family will love!

Easy Homemade Kettle Corn recipe that everyone will love.

Homemade Kettle Corn

Snack Attack!!! Yes, around this time of year, when we change the clocks, and it gets darker earlier than ever, we usually need a snack to get through the long evening. Or when the snow is falling to the ground, and we are stuck inside, it also becomes an afternoon of needing a snack.

So….we end up eating a lot of popcorn, especially our new favorite, kettle corn, for something different. This seems to be a cost-effective, light, crunchy, savory, sweet snack that isn’t so bad for us and just helps tide us over until mealtime or bedtime.

Tip: Love popcorn? Here’s a fun gift that you can make for someone this holiday season! Caramel Popcorn in a Jar.

Over time, I think I have tried using every kind of way to make popcorn, depending on the season of my life. Using a stainless steel stovetop popcorn popper (like this Whirley Pop one on Amazon) has become our new favorite method of making popcorn, and we think it has the best flavor.

This recipe will yield enough for about 4 servings, depending on how much popcorn your family eats! Trust me, it’s way better than microwave popcorn, and it’s perfect for your next movie night!

How to Make Kettle Corn on the Stove

Cooking Kettle Corn on the Stove

Get out your popcorn popper and place it on the stove at low temperature.

Add in your ingredients:

  • 3 Tablespoons of your favorite Coconut Oil (Where to Buy)
  • 1 Tablespoon of Organic Cane Sugar (you can add in up to 3 T. per batch if you like it very sweet)
  • 1/2 cup Popcorn Kernels (Where to Buy)
  • Salt. Optional. To give it a little of the sweet and salty flavor.

Use a low temperature just to get everything melted.

Once you see your oil melted with the sugar dissolved into it (make sure you are turning your handle), you are ready to close the lid and turn up the heat.

Turn to a medium heat and use that handle to continue to “stir” everything up as the popcorn pops. We do this throughout the whole popping time to ensure that none of the popcorn sticks or gets browned or burned.

Finished Kettle Corn

Once you don’t hear any further popping, that’s it. It is done!!

Be careful emptying it into the bowl. There is steam escaping, so make sure that one side of your popper is shut securely, or you will have popcorn all over the floor (I know!!).

That’s it!! It is so nice and tender with a slight sugary crisp to it.

Tip: Now that you’ve got a nice snack, why not pop up a plain batch of popcorn to make some Old Fashioned Christmas Decorations and Vintage Christmas Decor

If you don’t have a popcorn popper, you can use a Dutch oven or a large stockpot or large pot with a lid on your stovetop. Just make sure that you shake the kernels often so they don’t burn to the bottom. Unpopped kernels should get tossed after popping.

Recipe for Kettle Corn

You can eat it as is or if you choose, you can melt some butter and add that to it, also. You can’t beat this sweet and savory treat…. any time of the day! Store any leftovers in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap or an airtight container on the counter until you are ready to enjoy again.

Variations to the Easy Kettle Corn Recipe

  • Use brown sugar instead of white sugar for more of a caramel kettle corn taste.
  • Add a sprinkle of sea salt to give it extra sweet and salty flavor.
  • Use another vegetable oil or butter if you don’t want to use coconut oil in the recipe.
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Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe

How to make your own kettle corn with healthy oils.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Homemade Kettle Corn
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 176 kcal
Creator Julie

Ingredients

  • 3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Organic Cane Sugar you can add in up to 3 T. per batch if you like it very sweet
  • 1/2 cup Popcorn Kernels

Instructions

  1. Get out your popcorn popper and place it on the stove at low temperature, just to get everything melted.
  2. Once you see your oil melted with the sugar dissolved into it (make sure you are turning your handle), you are ready to close the lid and turn up the heat.
  3. Turn your heat to medium and use that handle to continue to “stir” everything up. We do this throughout the whole popping time to ensure that none of the popcorn sticks or gets browned or burned.
  4. Once you don’t hear any further popping, that’s it. It is done!!
  5. Be careful emptying it into the bowl. There is steam escaping and make sure that one side of your popper is shut securely, or you will have popcorn all over the floor
  6. That’s it!! It is so nice and tender with a slight sugary crisp to it. You can eat it as is or if you choose, you can melt some butter and add that to it
Nutrition Facts
Homemade Kettle Corn Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 176 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Saturated Fat 9g56%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 1mg0%
Potassium 56mg2%
Carbohydrates 18g6%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 2g4%
Calcium 1mg0%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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More Snack Recipes

Check out all of the Appetizer and Snack recipes on Little House Living.

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This recipe for Homemade Kettle Corn was originally published on Little House Living in November 2014. It has been updated as of November 2023.

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18 Comments

  1. Ooh..thanks for this one!!! We eat alot of popcorn and I LOVE kettlecorn!! I bet I’ll make some tonight……

  2. My Dad use to make kettle corn for us and I just love the stuff. thanks for sharing the recipe.

  3. I love kettle corn. Thank you so much for sharing at the Twirl & Take a Bow Party! I’m pinning for later.
    Happy Thanksgiving,
    Leslie

  4. I really want to start popping my own popcorn. My daughter loves kettle corn and she’d love to do this. Thanks for sharing this at Twirl & Take A Bow. I’m going to go look for a popcorn popper.

  5. Kettle corn is one of my favorite snacks to munch on this time of year! Or any time, really! Pinning for when I get a popcorn maker!

  6. We love popcorn here too. Great recipe! Thanks too for the advice on what you popped your corn in. I’m getting one just like you mentioned. I really enjoy your bits of advice with the e-mails.

  7. This looks yummy! I love kettle corn, I’ll be featuring this tomorrow at Garden Up green on Tuesdays with a twist. Hope you stop by to say hello and link up. -Carole

  8. Merissa this looks delicious! My family would just love it! Thanks so much for sharing this at the Project Parade! I hope to see you there again this week:)

  9. Here’s what I can tell you about THIS recipe and most of the others online.

    This is exactly how we do our KK at festivals / concerts / etc in our concession stand. The real secret to authentic KK is allowing the sugar to first crystalize and then slump (melt) into a syrup before adding the popcorn.

    We always gauge having the right mix, by watching the KK in the dump pot. Real KK will do what we call ‘crawl’. It will mound up while the sugar is still hot, but it will slooooowwwwly settle into the bowl, almost like lava rolling slowly downhill.

    The only difference I see is in your measured amounts and ours, but the proportions are right. We generally make a batch 6 to 8 times that large, in an open cast iron kettle, stirred with a kitchen paddle.

  10. This would not be frugal for our family if we have to purchase this popper, actually.
    How about a recipe for those of us whose children pop theirs in the microwave ?

    1. You can make it with any large saucepan and a lid on the stove. Just keep “shaking” the pan (with the lid on) to keep things moving around.

  11. I see you use coconut oil in recipes like granola kettle corn and others. What would you use as a substitute? I am highly allergic to coconut in any form. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA