Salted Caramel Popcorn

caramel popcorn

Caramel popcorn is sweet, crunchy, salty, and delicious. What’s not to love? This is the perfect snack to highlight those traditional flavors and help you kick off the Holiday Season. Just know, this quick and easy recipe makes a really large batch. So don’t be shy! You can whip it up on the spot for movie night or pass some around to your neighbors as a great last-minute gift idea. And honestly, it just tastes so much better when it is made from scratch. You don’t have to take our word for it!

There are two key ingredients to this long-loved family favorite. First, the mushroom popcorn. It pops up so beautifully fluffy and round. We use it for popcorn balls, caramel popcorn, kettle corn, and as a vehicle for plain old butter and salt. If you haven’t tried it before you definitely need to put it at the top of your must-try list. The second ingredient is Peter’s Caramel. We love it! You love it! This caramel is so nice to have on hand and no matter what we put it on, it always turns out amazing. These two ingredients are the perfect combination for all that is salted caramel popcorn.

Salted Caramel Popcorn

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Serves: 15
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 20 cups popped mushroom popcorn
  • 3 cups of Peter’s Caramel
  • 8-10 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 2-3 Tbsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (don't use table salt)

Instructions

1

For the popcorn, pop enough so you have about 20 cups. We suggest the mushroom popcorn because it puffs up so round and beautiful, the perfect vessel for all the caramel and salt. Put the popped popcorn in a large bowl and set aside.

2

Use a plastic or silicone microwave-safe bowl to melt the caramel in small increments. We suggest going in 30-second bursts and stirring between each one for smooth and consistent heating.

3

Once the caramel is at a good consistency, add the heavy cream and stir until it is incorporated. Add 1 Tbsp of the salt to the caramel mixture and stir it in.

4

Next, drizzle the caramel over the popped popcorn. Here you can use a spoon to stir it all together or you can get another large bowl to use as a lid and shake the popcorn up until it is covered.

5

Sprinkle the last bit of salt over the top of the popcorn to taste and shake or stir to distribute. This is where you can decide just how salty you want your popcorn to be.

Notes

This recipe is for a very generous batch of popcorn, because we are usually feeding a crowd. But you could easily cut it in half for a smaller batch and adjust the amounts to the kind of sweetness and saltiness and caramellyness you prefer. You do need to use a coarse salt for this recipe. If all you have is table salt, you will want to adjust the amounts down to teaspoons. When it comes to this popcorn, there is no right or wrong way to make it!

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  • Angela Musick
    December 9, 2022 at 7:41 pm

    I made this tonight and it was very yummy, but it was very gooey. There was no crunch. Did I do something wrong? Is this supposed to be gooey or crunchy?

    • london
      December 13, 2022 at 2:18 pm

      So this recipe is supposed to be softer and stay gooey. For a crunchy finish you can leave out the cream. You can try adding baking soda to the caramel. And then, once you coat the popcorn, you can spread it on a cookie sheet and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees to desired crunchiness.

  • Aaron White
    November 4, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    We made this and it’s way, way too salty. Did you mean teaspoons? Wasted 3 cups of priceless caramel! So sad

    • Whitney
      November 15, 2022 at 2:45 pm

      Oh no! Sorry to hear this. Which type of salt did you use? We only ever make this using Diamond Crystal Kosher salt which is a more mild salt, especially compared to a regular table salt.

  • Sara
    October 18, 2022 at 7:15 am

    This looks amazing!! What is the best way to store the popcorn and how long will it keep?

    Sara

    • Whitney
      October 18, 2022 at 3:39 pm

      It really is the best! And honestly, it doesn’t ever last long enough for us to know how to store it haha. I am guessing the popcorn will go soggy after a couple of days.