I don't know about your house, but in my house, popcorn is a staple snack food. Unfortunately, because of the way our culture chooses to prepare it, with loads of salt, butter, or oil, popcorn often gets a bad reputation.
But popcorn can be a very delicious and healthy snack, hold the oil. Below are several tips for how to make popcorn without oil, plus 6 dairy-free, vegan popcorn seasoning recipes!
How to Make Popcorn Without Oil
If you're trying to cut back on using oils in your food (or eliminate them altogether), it's important to learn how to cook without. The good news is that oil-free cooking is easier than you might think.
In the case of popcorn, there are a few different ways to make popcorn without oil.
Air Popper – Your first option is to purchase an air popper. You can buy one at a department store or online for about $20 to $40. The downside to an air popper is the amount of storage and/or counter space it uses.
Oil-Free Stovetop Popcorn – Some people have also had luck making “air-popped” popcorn right on the stove. See this post about healthy oil-free popcorn by Eating Vibrantly.
Silicone Microwave Popcorn Popper – This is my preferred method of making fast and easy oil-free popcorn. This silicone microwave popcorn popper folds flat for storage, is easy to clean and makes delicious, fresh popcorn without oil.
How to Make Seasoning Stick to Popcorn Without Oil
There's one problem with making popcorn without oil: it doesn't have much flavor. Before you go munching on bland and boring popcorn, there's one super easy trick to making the seasoning stick to popcorn without oil.
You will need a small spray bottle (like this travel size spray bottle) and clean water. That's it!
I know what you're thinking: won't my popcorn get soggy if I spray water on it? No! Not if you use it sparingly. Just a little bit will make your popcorn seasoning stick like a charm.
Here's what to do: Give the popped popcorn a light mist of water, sprinkle on some seasoning, toss the popcorn in the bowl, and repeat until seasoned to your liking.
Tried and don't like it? You can always use a little coconut oil. But, I challenge you to give the water method a try.
Vegan Popcorn Seasoning Recipes
These are 6 of my favorite dairy-free, vegan popcorn seasoning recipes.
I've had several people ask me if I have tried all of them (yes, I have!), and which is my favorite. Of the savory ones, the nacho popcorn seasoning is my most-used favorite. And of the sweet ones, the salted caramel popcorn seasoning is pretty much to die for. They're all pretty great, though.
You can make these seasonings last-minute, or make up a batch of your favorite and store it in a container. The container should fairly airtight to prevent the seasoning mix from caking.
(Scroll to the bottom for a printable version)
Cool Ranch Popcorn Seasoning: 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp dried parsley, 3 tsp dried chives, 1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn Seasoning: 4 Tbsp light brown sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon
Nacho Popcorn Seasoning: 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 3 tsp paprika, 2 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt
Italian Popcorn Seasoning: 3 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salted Caramel Popcorn Seasoning: 2 Tbsp powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
Ranch Popcorn Seasoning: 2 tsp dried dill, 2 tsp dried chives, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
Vegan Popcorn Seasoning
Ingredients
Cool Ranch Popcorn Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 3 tsp dried chives
Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn Seasoning
- 4 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Nacho Popcorn Seasoning
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
Italian Popcorn Seasoning 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 3 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salted Caramel Popcorn Seasoning
- 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
Ranch Popcorn Seasoning
- 2 tsp dried dill
- 2 tsp dried chives
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Add the seasonings of your choice in a small bowl. Mix until well combined.
- Give the popped popcorn a light mist of water, sprinkle on some seasoning, toss the popcorn in the bowl, and repeat until seasoned to your liking.
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Ooo so fun! I’m making this the ranch one this weekend! Thanks!
Love these seasonings, and I wouldn’t have thought of them, thank you!
Love the seasonings! What a great idea!
These all sound SO good!! I’m a savoury gal.. .and yes that Nacho combo is calling my name!!