10 Unexpectedly Delicious Popcorn Recipes You’ll Want to Eat by the Handful

When you've got options like miso soup, Thai curry, and brown-butter maple pecan, it's easy to count popcorn as a meal!

By
Yasmine Maggio
Yasmine Maggio
Yasmine Maggio
Associate Editor
Yasmine is an Associate Editor at Serious Eats. Her work has been featured in Women’s Health and on L’Officiel USA, and she recently graduated from New York University with a master's in journalism. You can find her at Bleecker Street Pizza on any given weekend.
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and
The Serious Eats Team
The Serious Eats Team
At Serious Eats, we’re a team of self-proclaimed food nerds who are ever-curious about the “why” behind cooking. The staff has worked in restaurants, test kitchens, bakeries, and other notable publications, bringing extensive culinary and editorial expertise to the table.
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Published October 26, 2025
Red bowl full of Kettle corn on a red and green striped surface

Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

When it comes to snacks, popcorn is the perfect blank canvas, unlimited in its potential for experimenting with flavors salty, sweet, spicy, umami, and more. Popped kernels are wondrous little things, possessing fluff that's eager to soak up fat of any kind, while plenty of nooks and crannies greedily welcome salt and other seasonings; really, popcorn is just nature's way of efficiently delivering the most flavor to our mouths in rapid succession, and for that service, it should be honored.

As a tribute to this great food, we've put together 10 popcorn recipes you'll definitely want for your next holiday movie night, get-together, or any time you need some creative (and crunchy!) comfort.

September 2023

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