Easy Homemade Caramel Corn recipe comes together in less than 10 minutes in the microwave. No bake caramel corn makes an addictive buttery, sweet, salty, and crispy snack!
Best microwave Caramel Corn Recipe
Caramel corn made in the microwave is ridiculously simple to prepare and the best caramel corn recipe ever! My family has been making this easy recipe for over 40 years and it never disappoints.
I’ve passed on the tradition with my own kids. Placing a paper bag filled with crunchy popcorn and buttery sweet syrup has that certain wow factor kids take notice of.
I remember watching my mom vigorously shaking the bag, with buttery imprints soaking through, taunting us for what waited inside. She laid it out on a baking sheet and, as soon it was cool enough to touch, we all scooped up handfuls.
Not only does microwave caramel corn recipe make the perfect indulgent snack, but a great homemade gift or vacation snack. All the ingredients are very affordable, the caramel popcorn keeps for a long time, and who can possibly resist it?!
Is Caramel Corn Gluten Free?
Caramel Corn has a simple list of ingredients – popcorn, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, salt, and baking soda. All of these items are naturally gluten free, so eat up!
How to Store Caramel Corn
Caramel corn generally stays good a lot longer than last. (It’s just too hard to resist!)
If you have super human restraint caramel corn will last up to 3 months stored in airtight container. Generally we keep our caramel corn in a tin because it never lasts more than a day or two.
Large lidded glass jars or storage containers also work great for storing caramel corn or chocolate covered popcorn.
Ziplock bags with all the air squeeze out also works, although opening and closing continually will shorten the freshness.
Why is my Caramel Corn sticky or chewy?
If your caramel corn turns out chewy and sticky the caramel syrup most likely wasn’t cooked long enough. Different microwaves have different wattages, so perhaps it needed a longer cooking time.
Sticky caramel corn may be saved, though! Spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 250ºF and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through. After the popcorn cools, it will become crispy.
Type of corn syrup to use
Mom’s old fashioned caramel corn recipe uses Karo Dark Corn Syrup. She prefers dark corn syrup for the deeper color it gives the caramel sauce. Light corn syrup may be substituted as well, but will give a slightly lighter flavor and hue.
According to Karo, dark corn syrup is made with a type of molasses so it gives a more robust flavor with the added color. Light corn syrup is a lighter flavor with a slightly vanilla flavor.
Since light corn syrup is more readily available, I use this paired with dark brown sugar for color and taste.
Why Add Baking Soda to Caramel Corn?
Baking soda is added to caramel to aerate the texture. When the baking soda reacts with the caramel ingredients foaming and bubbling occur. This forms tiny carbon dioxide air bubbles.
The air bubbles create caramel corn’s essential crunchy texture. It also saves it from being a hard, sticky mess once the popcorn has cooled.
Adding Peanuts to Microwave Caramel Corn
Want to make microwave caramel corn with nuts? It’s easy! Simply add 1-2 cups of nuts, such as peanuts, cashews, or almonds to the popped popcorn in the paper bag. Proceed with the recipe as written.
Best Kind of Popcorn to Use
For our family’s easy caramel corn recipe we always used air popped popcorn. The popcorn is free of butter or salt, so the recipe starts with popcorn in its natural state.
Hot air poppers are affordable to buy. Plus, popcorn kernels are ridiculously cheap and stay good for years.
If you don’t own an air popper, though, you can still make homemade caramel corn! The recipe calls for 1/2 cup unpopped kernels, which yields about 13-15 cups.
- Bagged popcorn – Use store bought popped corn as close to its natural state as you can get. SmartFood Lightly Salted is a great option. Reduce amount of salt to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted popcorn.
- Microwave popcorn bags – Again use the plainest popcorn you can find. Orville Redenbacher makes a Naturals Simply Salted version I’ve used before. You will need 2-3 bags to yield at least 13 cups of popcorn. Reduce amount of salt to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted popcorn.
- Air Popped popcorn – My favorite option because it’s affordable and no adjustments are needed to the recipe.
NOTE: Using buttered, oiled, or salted popcorn may change the texture or flavor of the recipe.
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step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
How to Make microwave Caramel Corn
- Pop popcorn in air popper or microwave bags, removing any unpopped kernels. Place popcorn in a large, paper grocery bag. Set aside.
- In a large microwavable safe measuring cup or bowl, place butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt (do not add baking soda yet). Microwave for 1 minute on high. Remove to stir.
- Microwave and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from microwave and stir in baking soda. Immediately pour caramel sauce over popcorn in paper bag. Roll down the top of the bag and shake well.
- Place closed bag in microwave and cook for 90 more seconds. Remove and shake well, using oven mitts to protect hands. Flip bag over and cook again for 90 seconds. Remove and shake well. Finally, flip bag over and cook for 45 seconds.
- Shake one last time and pour on ungreased cookie sheet to cool. Store in airtight container.
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Easy Microwave Caramel Corn Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, air popped plain OR 13 cups plain microwave popcorn (2-3 bags)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Pop popcorn in air popper or microwave bags, removing any unpopped kernels. Place popcorn in a large, paper grocery bag. Set aside.
- In a large microwavable safe measuring cup or bowl, place butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt (do not add baking soda yet). Microwave for 1 minute on high. Remove and stir.
- Microwave and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from microwave and stir in baking soda. Immediately pour caramel sauce over popcorn in paper bag. Roll down the top of the bag and shake well.
- Place closed bag in microwave and cook for 90 seconds. Remove and shake well, using oven mitts to protect hands. Flip bag over and cook again for 90 seconds. Remove and shake well. Finally, flip bag over and cook for 45 seconds.
- Shake one last time and pour on ungreased cookie sheet to cool. Store in an airtight container.
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Recipe Notes
What Kind of Popcorn to Use Caramel Corn Recipe
For our family’s easy caramel corn recipe we always used air popped popcorn. The popcorn is free of butter or salt, so the recipe starts with popcorn in its natural state. If you don’t own an air popper, though, you can still make homemade caramel corn! The recipe calls for 1/2 cup unpopped kernels, which yields about 13-15 cups.- Bagged popcorn – Use store bought popped corn as close to its natural state as you can get. SmartFood Lightly Salted is a great option. Reduce amount of salt to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted popcorn.
- Microwave popcorn bags – Again use the plainest popcorn you can find. Orville Redenbacher makes a Naturals Simply Salted version I’ve used before. You will need 2-3 bags to yield at least 13 cups of popcorn. Reduce amount of salt to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted popcorn.
- Air Popped popcorn – My favorite option because it’s affordable and no adjustments are needed to the recipe.
Adding Peanuts to Microwave Caramel Corn
Simply add 1-2 cups of nuts, such as peanuts, cashews, or almonds to the popped popcorn in the paper bag. Proceed with the recipe as written.Nutrition
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Diane Larsen says
Micro wave Carmel corn recipe made tonight and it is outstanding. I found it a week ago and was going to surprise my husband on our anniversary but discovered I didn’t have enough butter so bad to delay. I kept thinking it can’t be this easy so kept delaying. Wow so simple and great . My sister makes this slightly different recipe but she adds peanut butter chunky about half of a cup love the slight
Peanut flavor it adds. Thank again will make Again for sure and Great for gift treat.
Melissa says
Hi Diane,
I’m so glad you wrote because I’ve never considered add chunky peanut butter. I’m going to try it! I’m so glad you found the recipe easy and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for taking the time to write!
Best,
Melissa
Alice says
Just made your Carmel popcorn recipe. Loved it. I used to make it constantly til the scale and I disagreed about how much I enjoyed it. Back in the day I had it memorized. Didn’t think I could ever forget it but had and have been looking for it now maybe 10 years. So very excited to find it again.
My microwave may be a little hotter as I could not heat the last 45 seconds.
Perfect. Was difficult waiting for it to cool. Thanks so very much. Have a terrific day. From your new friend Alice
T
Melissa says
Hello new friend, Alice! This is definitely an old school recipe because my mom made it for us growing up. Now my kids absolutely love it. I know what you mean about it being hard to have around. It goes too quick, and that’s probably not a good thing. It makes me beyond happy you found a long lost recipe.
Best,
Melissa
Wie says
Hi there,
I stumble across your blog looking for a banana filling, but the more I read, the more I liked your blog.
I really loved your stories, like when you won the chili contest, and I would gladly stay reading a lot more …but I am at work and I am so hungry and those pictures look delicious…
I leave you a comment because I loved you right away, the way you tell the stories… I smiled a good amount of the time while reading them and I love that I had to look out for words I didn´t know like shrapnel!. Also, I want to say that I admire your dedication and all the sharing you do here, being the mom of for little ones.
All the best wishes for you for this new year, I will keep visiting and try some of the recipies 🙂
A big hug from Chile!!
Melissa says
Thank you very much for taking the time to let me know. You truly made my day with your lovely message. I’m glad I can make you smile and I am always happy to share my passion for cooking with others. Best wishes!
-Melissa
Morgan says
This looks so easy and perfect hostess gift for the holidays. How long can I store it??
Melissa says
We usually stored it in a tin, but you can use any sort of airtight container. It will stay for a couple weeks, so great one to make ahead of time!