Perfect Stovetop Popcorn
Learn how to make perfectly popped popcorn in under 10 minutes! You'll never go back to microwave popcorn after you make this recipe. It's healthy, too!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 8, 2024
Little-known fact: I am a stovetop popcorn connoisseur. I’ve been making popcorn on the stove since my parents taught me in elementary school. Stovetop popcorn is infinitely better than microwave popcorn or air-popped popcorn. If you haven’t made it yet, you’ve been missing out!
I’m on a mission to make sure everyone knows how to make popcorn from scratch. Today, I’m sharing all of my popcorn-making tips so you can make perfect stovetop popcorn at home, too. All you need are popcorn kernels, a good pot with a lid, oil and salt. You can do it!
Of all the salty, crunchy, savory snacks out there, stovetop popcorn is one of the tastiest and cheapest snacks. I love that I can make it in under 10 minutes if I’m craving a snack, and easily adjust the amounts to yield a single serving or popcorn for a party.
The 10-minute buffer period is actually great, since it means I can’t reach into the pantry and mindlessly snack on popcorn. That’s why I don’t keep tortilla chips on hand—I eat them too fast.
How to Make Stovetop Popcorn
- Use a good, heavy-bottomed pot. Cheap pots don’t distribute heat evenly, and you can end up with hot spots that burn the popcorn.
- Don’t crank the heat up too high. It’s too easy to burn oil at temperature higher than medium heat, and if you catch even a whiff of smoke coming from the pot, your popcorn is going to taste burnt.
- Start with two popcorn kernels to gauge the temperature. Once those pop, your oil is hot enough. Add the remaining kernels and remove the pot from the heat for 1 minute. This primes the popcorn to pop without burning the oil.
- Tip the lid ever-so-slightly while the popcorn is popping. That way, the popcorn doesn’t steam itself in the pot and lose crispness. (See photo above.)
- If the popcorn starts overflowing the pot: Simply remove the lid and tip the excess popcorn into a bowl. Return the lid and return the popcorn to the heat until popping slows.
- Season with salt carefully. You can always add more, but you can’t take away too much.
Scroll down for my recipe!
Watch How to Make Popcorn
Cooking Oil Options
- Extra-virgin olive oil: You can absolutely make popcorn with olive oil, as long as you cook it over medium heat. Olive oil is my favorite oil to use and it’s the healthiest option.
- Coconut oil: Movie theaters cook popcorn in coconut oil and it is delicious. Opt for unrefined (virgin) coconut oil, which is more redeeming than the highly refined version used at theaters.
- Canola oil and other vegetable oils: I avoid canola oil since it’s usually highly processed. Avocado oil, grapeseed oil and safflower oil are good neutral options.
Recommended Popcorn Seasonings
- Black pepper and good olive oil: This variation is so good that it made it into my cookbook.
- Cinnamon honey butter: This popcorn is a little sticky, but irresistible. Whisk 2 tablespoons melted butter with 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- Spice it up: Sprinkle with cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes or white pepper.
- Lemon popcorn: Finely grate some lemon zest (one small lemon’s worth or less) over your batch of popcorn. This goes well with finely grated black pepper and Parmesan, too!
- Nutritional yeast: This is a healthy vegan alternative that offers butter flavor. Here’s how my friend Ali makes “nooch” popcorn.
- Melted butter: It’s hard to beat melted butter. Even just one to two tablespoons offer a lot of flavor.
Is popcorn healthy?
In the crunchy, salty snacks category, popcorn is definitely one of the healthier options. That is, if you make popcorn on the stove with a reasonable amount of high-quality oil and don’t douse it in butter or caramel afterward.
I make popcorn with extra-virgin olive oil and organic popcorn kernels, so I’d say my popcorn is as healthy as popcorn gets. Popcorn is a whole grain, and it offers some redeeming fiber. You can enjoy a big serving (2.5 cups) of popcorn for the same amount of calories as a handful of tortilla chips.
Movie theater popcorn and flavored microwave popcorn are another story. They’re typically made with highly refined oils and coated in artificial “butter flavor” chemicals and preservatives.
Even if you’re buying unflavored microwave popcorn, the bags themselves pose health concerns. They’re typically coated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is the same toxic substance that coats Teflon pans. PFOA’s stick around in the human body for long periods of time, and the EPA states that PFOA’s at sufficient levels can cause a host of health problems, including cancer.
Why make stovetop popcorn?
It’s super delicious and chemical-free. Granted, you could also make air-popped popcorn and it would be free of all the bad stuff, too, but it’s flavorless and dull. Snacks should taste good! Stovetop popcorn tastes way better with as little as one tablespoon of oil for eight servings.
If you want to drizzle butter to your stovetop popcorn (so tasty), go right ahead. Even one tablespoon of butter on those eight servings of popcorn adds a lot of real butter flavor. Do you know how much saturated fat is in a medium movie theater popcorn? An entire stick of butter’s worth.
Best Stovetop Popcorn
Learn how to make perfectly popped popcorn in under 10 minutes! You’ll never go back to microwave popcorn after you make this recipe. Recipe yields about 10 cups (about 4 servings).
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil
- ½ cup popcorn kernels, divided
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the oil and 2 popcorn kernels. Cover the pot and wait for the kernels to pop, which might take a few minutes. In the meantime, place a large serving bowl near the stove so it’s ready when you need it.
- Once the kernels pop, turn off the burner, remove the pot from the heat and pour in the remaining popcorn kernels. Cover the pot again, and give the pot a little shimmy to distribute the kernels evenly. Let the pot rest for 60 seconds to make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot before the kernels are ready to pop.
- Turn the heat back up to medium, put the pot back onto the burner and continue cooking the popcorn, carefully shimmying the pot occasionally to cook the kernels evenly. Once the kernels start popping, tip the lid just a touch to allow steam to escape (see photo).
- Continue cooking until the popping sound slows to about one pop per every few seconds. (If the popcorn tries to overflow the pot, just tip the upper portion of popcorn into your bowl and return it to the heat.)
- Remove the lid and dump the popcorn into your serving bowl. Sprinkle the popcorn with a couple pinches of salt, to taste, and any other topping you would like. Toss the popcorn and serve immediately, for best flavor and texture. The popcorn will taste good for several hours, though.
Notes
Where to buy popcorn kernels: Look for them near the microwave popcorn. I like to buy organic, which I find at Trader Joe’s or health stores.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
A word on safety
I burned some carpet in my house while making stovetop popcorn at age 10, and learned a valuable lesson to never leave hot oil on the stove unattended.
The risk here is entirely minimal. Don’t leave the kitchen, and remove the pot from the heat if you see any whiffs of smoke (which is unlikely). If the oil starts smoking at all, you’ll want to let start over. Let the oil cool before adding water to the pot to clean it.
If smoke ever starts billowing out of an oiled pot, whatever you do, do NOT remove the lid or add water. Turn off the stove, don’t touch or move the pot, and if it’s a small amount of oil (like for making popcorn), let it burn out on its own.
Here’s more information about grease fires. Teach your kids!
Perfect instructions. Have not made stove top popcorn in decades. Stopped using microwave bags after really looking at the ingredients, and air popped popcorn always came out tasting stale, even after trying a variety of brands. This was great. And soooo easy. Used avocado oil, going to try different oils to compare the flavors. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lisa! I appreciate your review.
Just made some for the first time and worked perfectly… thank you!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lainey!
After two rounds of burnt popcorn, it worked like magic! Just took a bit of patience
Been making stove top popcorn for years but the tops here are ELITE. Thank you
Kate
Thanks for this recipe. I have been using an air popper without good results. I thought all popping was the same.. I just found out different with your recipe. This will be my go-to in the future.
This is the third recipe I’ve tried, but the first to work. Thank you!!!
You’re welocme, Claudia! Thank you for your review.
I often make stove popcorn but was looking for some inspiration with flavours. I’ve just adapted the honey and cinnamon (used coconut oil instead of butter) and it’s delicious!!
I had a good handle of making stovepop popcorn, but your recipe brought me to nigh popcorn perfection! I’ve made it butter and salt, caramel, and butter with garlic Parmesano, and it’s heavenly! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
You’re welcome, Roger! Thank you for your review.
What is the best brand heavy bottom pan for making stove pop popcorn
Silly question, but how often do you “shimmy”? I find myself standing there, shaking the pan every 10 seconds (which seems excessive) because there’s nothing I hate more than burnt popcorn lol
Hi Sarah! I only do it a few times. But, I say do what works for you!
Tonight was a mother-daughter night with my girl. We are watching a movie, and I interrupted, “Can’t forget the popcorn!” She said that stovetop was the best, so we found your recipe, and boy is my girl right! “This is the best!”I declare with a mouthful. We laugh hysterically when it hoped around in the olive oil. Isn’t our God great?
P.S. The dogs are starting to beg us for a bite.
Our God is indeed great! The abundant gift of popcorn. Sweet abundance.
I love this recipe, it has added a happy dimension to my life and brings back one of my favorite snacks – coconut oil popcorn, a healthier version of the kind I loved in the movies. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Nina!
Just made your lovely popcorn in my stovetop crank-handled popper. The result was a revelation in popcorn success and flavor! I’d never used olive oil in it before, and the pop-2-kernels-and-remove-from-heat-for-one-minute technique was fantastic! Easy, fast, foolproof. Oh, and super yummo! This recipe ticks all the boxes for me.
Fun fact: I used garlic pepper and a little salt, and I got it to stick by using avocado oil spray very conservatively. It was so flipping good!!
Excellent instructions, been years since I popped from scratch. Salt and pepper really rocks!
I’m glad you loved it, Curt! Thank you for your review.
okay this just changed the game I’ve been making stovetop popcorn for years – it’s my favorite method and I’m always trying to ~ feel it out ~ as I go. This technique of waiting 60 seconds off of heat once the kernels go in with these measurements.. I have NEVER gotten such a perfect pot of popcorn! Light and fluffy and popped over the pan.. a massive bowl with basically 0 leftover kernels. AMAZING! Thank you!
Hooray! I’m glad this one was helpful to you. I appreciate your review, Madison!
WOW what a difference! I had just made yet another pot of crappy popcorn – 1/2 cup only half-filled the large bowl, and I had to pull most of the popcorn out of my mouth as it was hard in the middle. I made another batch with your method and straight away I could hear the difference. This time the bowl is full and it’s soft all the way through. Thank you, popcorn goddess. :-) Now I can get rid of the air popper that doesn’t work well anymore (the reason I started doing it in a pot).
Wonderful, Anna! Thank you for your review.
Tried it and it was a BIG improvement over my air popper corn. Plus I can do a bigger batch. I just topped it with a few turns of grinder sea salt and it was perfect. I’m going to try it with my mushroom kernels which came out stale tasting in the air popper. Looking forward to some caramel corn during the holidays. I appreciate the time and effort you took to describe your method. My wife and Alfie (hell hound ShiChi) also thank you.
I cook them in Ghee, which is leagues better for you than any vegetable oils that oxidize easily in your body and wreak havoc. Saturated fats are the best for your health.
I’d never done that before. It was surprisingly easy. Fast too. Thanks.
You’re welcome, Walt! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Stovetop popcorn is the best! I use olive oil, popcorn salt, and dried oregano to season it. So good! Bob’s Red Mill, white, organic popcorn is our favorite. Can’t wait to use the tips you have to make ours even better. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Ginny.
First time ever without burnt and uncooked kernels!
Thanks for the easy to follow tips.
You’re welcome, Michelle!
Thank you for the recipe. For the first time,I did not burn the popcorn. Turned out awesome!
That’s great, Mary! Thank you for your review.
I hadn’t made pan popcorn forever, felt silly having to look up what to do! Your tips resulted in the best popcorn I’ve had in AGES! Microwave popcorn has been kicked to the curb, thanks to you. The unrefined coconut oil gave it such a nice subtle flavor. Yum! Perfect popcorn. Thank you!
Thanks for your writeup, my popcorn skills improved immediately :-)
Before, I kept burning the first batch – pretty embarising for an otherwise relatively accomplished home chef.
Just a note on oils: according to Sscientific American, popcorn pops at about 180°C. Most unrefined/extra virgin oils have smoke points which are lower than this temperature. So you will want to use at lease semi-processed oil. One can skimp a little and drizzle a better oil over the top at the end. But the oil in the pot increases the surface area for heat transfer to the kernels, so less oil means lots of shaking or burnt spots on the shell. Cooling is Science, I love it :-)
It’s our favorite, it works every time! Thank you!
Great to hear, Nancy! Thank you for your review.
“ ½ cup popcorn kernels, divided” – do you pop 1/4 cup at a time? I don’t want to overflow my pan; apparently a 1/2 cup of kernels will yield about 15 cups of popped corn …
Hi Nicola, you will need a few kernels to pre-pop before you add the rest. I hope that helps!
I love popcorn using the original method (stove top). I tried this recipe step for step and it came out perfect! Thank you.
I’m glad you loved it, Monica! Thank you for your review.
I was looking for an easy and quick way to make popcorn. This recipe is perfect!! Very easy, tasted great and came out perfect.
It turned out so good and perfect and was way easier than I expected! Yay that I don’t have to eat any more of the buttery microwave popcorn my husband always buys. Lol
English first timer …
Used a heavy enamel cast iron pot. Takes a while to heat up. I cooked it on an induction ring which has temperature control. I found (eventually) that 320F was ideal. I know it won’t burn and I don’t have to monitor it. Just give it a little shimmy. Don’t even need the test kernels now. Enjoyed it a lot.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Paul!
This recipe is a game changer! All my life I’ve tried to make perfectly popped popcorn and it always turns out chewy, a little burnt and with lots of the seeds not popped. Now I know it’s not necessarily the ingredients it’s the TECHNIQUE!
I’m glad you loved it, Ann! I appreciate your review.
Thank you for the short, sweet, and informational post! The past few times I’ve tried to make popcorn on the stove I always let the oil get too hot. Love the tips on removing the pot from the heat and tipping the lid to keep crispness. Can’t wait to try with coconut oil next time!
You’re welcome, Samantha! I’m glad you found it helpful. I appreciate your review.
My microwave stopped working earlier this month. I happened to discover this on an afternoon I wanted popcorn. Google led me to this recipe and I finally had the time and inclination to try it out, with trepidation.
Oh my gosh. Easy and amazing. Out of 1/4 cup kernels (I downsized the recipe) only three kernels did not pop. THREE! And none were were burned.
The very best popcorn ever thanks to this recipe. Finally tasted like my parents popcorn when I was a kid. Many thanks.
You’re welcome, Russ!
Darn it Kate, why did you have to make popcorn so easy and foolproof?! Now I’ll have to make popcorn ALL THE TIME. It’s cute that in your universe one serving = 2.5 cups. In my house, I would at least triple that!!
I’m glad you loved it, Lizzi! Thank you for sharing.
In the directions, nothing is mentioned about returning the popcorn overheat. I’m just saying.
Hi Christopher, please see step 3. I hope this helps!
Hi Kate, thank you for your fabulous article and recipe. I very much share your love of popcorn. I grew up in a popcorn family and my Grandfather bred and grew popcorn on his Iowa farm, always looking for that perfect kernel!
I wanted to add a couple of thoughts to the discussion. First, I really appreciate you sharing that you pop in extra virgin olive oil on medium heat to avoid burning the oil (given EVOO’s relatively low smoke point). Like pressed coconut oil, EVOO brings huge health and flavor value but most are missing out given most recommend against using it for fear of creating carcinogens from scorched oil. When I decided to move to olive oil, without the benefit of your article, I started by putting both the olive oil and popcorn in the pan at room temperature on the burner. It worked great that first time and I’ve never looked back. I knew precious little about cooking at the time – which hasn’t changed as much as I would like – but I did know that the ‘POP’ in popcorn was a function of a wrestling match between the hard shell on the outside of the kernel and steam created by small amounts of water locked inside when heated. The steam ultimately wins through rapid increase in pressure inside the shell until it PoPs. Given the smoke point of olive oil is lower than the boiling point of water, I suspected I could avoid ‘burning’ the oil so long as I raised the temperature relatively slowly – very similar to your excellent recommendation to use medium heat. Given steam will always be created at the same temperature, and popcorn kernel shells will always ‘PoP’ at the same level of internal pressure, I can’t see, and to this day haven’t been able to find, any solid logic for pre-heating popcorn oil despite it being a nearly ubiquitous recommendation. I’ve been popping my popcorn starting with room temperature popcorn and oil for 15+ years now with very satisfactory results (according to my family anyway). Given the popcorn is essentially guaranteed to pop before the oil has the chance to reach its smoke point when starting with both at room temperature, I think it is likely the safest way to pop when using the healthier low smoke point oils.
The second and much shorter point I wanted to note is that my Grandfather used to pop his home-grown popcorn in a very clever cone-shaped pan. I’ve just now located the original source of that pan – the Atom Popper – which it turns out hails from Bushton Kansas. I have no affiliation with them whatsoever apart from happy childhood memories and a recent internet search (also how I came across your website) and subsequent order. I started searching for it when thinking about the above temperature-related point again as the shape of the pan will allow for a more accurate oil temperature measurement at popping than a flat bottomed pan (nerdy but fun). Also, my Grandfather used to make fabulous popcorn in his 45 years ago which I’m hoping to re-create.
Thanks again for your excellent article!
I appreciate your detailed feedback and how you approached this recipe! Thanks of sharing, Shawn.
PERFECT stovetop popcorn! Thank you for sharing your process! I can’t believe I made it into my 50’s before I learned how to do this! Side note: my husband has his own method, but it doesn’t yield popcorn to my taste. He watched me, skeptically, making this for the first time. (only 2 kernels, and taking it off the heat, turning the burner off? What is this voodoo?).. he was equally blown away!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Amazing and delicious. Used both coconut oil and Trader Joe’s popcorn. Did not add butter. None was needed. And yes my name is really Cookie.
Followed recipe exactly and it turned out amazing. Much better than microwaved popcorn! Thanks for another great recipe!
You’re welcome, Rae!
Kate, hi. And thanks for every detail! I just received a yuletide gift (from myself) of Amish Country organic blue popcorn. Have you used your method with blue… yet? I read two reviews for it that mentioned blue can be OK for folks with allergies to white and yellow. Could be b/c it has 20% more protein & more antioxidents. I rated the stellar write-up and video. I’ll come back to rate the result. ;’]
Lit
Wow, this is the first time that
1) I wasn’t left with a single unpopped pocorn and
2) It didn’t burn at all.
This recipe is simple, clear, worked and made delicious popcorn.
I thank you so very much
I love to hear that! Thank you for your review, Joyce.
This was SO GOOD. And so so EASY!
Excellent, easy to follow recipe. Turned out great! I added garlic olive oil and a little salt before serving.
Wow!!!
Amazing. I rarely leave comment but this recipe was so amazing and the results to was outstanding. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Chizzy! I appreciate your review.
I like to add parmesan cheese and/or chili powder. Delicious!
I did this as a kind of experiment. The base of the pot I had was relatively thin, so I went in with managed expectations. Ended up with a few burnt kernels, but most of it still turned out great! Will try again.
Wonderful, Kevin! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Omg, it was perfect! Never understood why sometimes I made it well and other times not. Thanks!!!
I absolutely loved this! I have never had popcorn that wasn’t air popped or theater popcorn. And I’m 17. So thank you for making the instructions easy to understand. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again
You’re welcome, Samuel!