This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
If you’ve ever wondered How to Make Maple Kettle Corn we’re giving away all the details on how to make it at home, in under 10 minutes using just three ingredients! It’s so much better than anything you’ve ever purchased and will be your new favorite go-to treat. It’s whole grain and made without any refined sugars.
How to Make Maple Kettle Corn
How good is that caramel-y kettle corn you buy at fairs, or in a bag at the grocery store? It’s crunchy, sweet and full-on addicting. Well this homemade kettle corn is SO MUCH BETTER, we promise! And it’s super easy to make! Using only three ingredients, 1 pan and 10 minutes of your time, you’re going to want to whip up this maple kettle corn recipe anytime you need a quick treat! If you’re looking for savory or plain popcorn, check out this post!
A word on what popcorn to buy
We don’t always recommend buying organic everything, but corn crops in this country are often sprayed with harmful chemicals. We recommend buying an organic brand (and non-GMO) of popcorn, and there are many, and if possible choosing an heirloom variety. These are available in a lot of stores, and also on Amazon. We like the brand Tiny but Mighty and Arrowhead Mills.
How to make homemade kettle corn
There are a few key factors to making sure you are successful at making homemade popcorn:
- Use a heavy bottom pan. A heavy pan conducts heat evenly and will ensure all the kernels will pop and that you won’t burn any popcorn.
- Don’t skimp on the oil! This recipe calls for 3 tablespoons coconut oil. It make seem like a lot but it is needed in order to create enough steam and heat in the pot to pop all the popcorn.
- Give the pan a good shake once the kernels have started rapidly popping. This ensures all the kernel pops and the maple syrup doesn’t burn. When you are shaking the pan be careful of any hot caramel escaping from the pan, it could burn you.
- If at any point you see smoke–not steam, immediately turn down the heat. While this never happened during testing for us, if you accidentally cook it too high and the oil burns you’ll want to start over. This will flavor the the whole batch of popcorn like burnt.
- Keep the pan covered until the popping starts to slow down. Then you want to leave a small space to let the steam escape so you don’t get soggy popcorn.
- Pour the kettle corn on a parchment lined sheet pan to cool. Once it’s cool it will be nice and crunchy.
- Store in an air tight container for 2-3 days (it likely won’t last that long!)
If you like this How to recipe, check out these others:
- How to Make Stovetop Popcorn
- How to Make Cashew Cream
- How to Make the Best Rice (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
- How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract
How to Make Maple Kettle Corn
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 cup popcorn
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the oil and two popcorn kernels and cover the pot.
- Once the popcorn has popped the oil is ready. Add the remaining popcorn kernels and return the cover. Remove the pot from the heat for 30 seconds. This ensures the oil doesn't overheat.
- Return the pan to heat. Give the pan a shake every few seconds as you wait for the popcorn to start popping. Once it starts popping, quickly add the maple syrup and salt and stir rapidly. Cover and give it a good shake every few seconds.
- Once the popping has slowed down, and let the steam vent by moving the cover on the pan slightly.
- Once all the popping has stopped, pour onto a large bowl parchment lined sheet pan and let cool.
- Serve once cool or store in an airtight container.
The instruction about when to pour in the maple syrup was too vague and I ended up doing it too early which ruined it 🙁 turned out ok. Just burnt.
I make stove top popcorn all the time and I’m very curious how you add maple syrup while it’s popping? Do you have an instructional video? I’m thinking if I remove the lid while it’s popping, the popcorn will pop all over the place. Can you elaborate? Thank you! The photos look so tasty!
Hi Rachel! “Quickly” is the key! You have to move fast. I’ll put it on our list to try to make a video!