Homemade Kettle Corn in the Microwave

We have a friend who makes kettle corn at craft shows, festivals, and community gatherings.  We LOVE when he shares a few extra leftover bags of this delicious stuff with us!   Who can get enough of that sweet and salty snack?  Its addictive, for sure!  I was rummaging around in my recipes the other day and found a recipe for making small amounts of kettle corn in your microwave using a lunch sack.  It sounded TOO easy and I had to give it a try!  It works great and I will definitely be making it a lot! 

Whether or not you are adding the sugar for kettle corn as I did here - or just popping as regular popcorn in a paper bag in your microwave, NOT USING commercial microwave popcorn HAS to be a good thing!  Seems like I read somewhere something in the bags of commercial microwave popcorn is terrible for you!  But,whether or not that is true, I think making microwave popcorn using recycled lunch sacks (I used recycled fast food paper bags) AT HOME MY WAY is a much more frugal choice.  Saving money and eating something that is better for you equals a "win - win" in my book!

This is how I make microwave kettle corn AT HOME MY WAY:

Single Size Microwave Kettle Corn

1 small/medium paper sack (I used a recycled Panera bag)
1/4 cup (heaping a little bit) of regular yellow popcorn
1/8 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon oil
Sprinkles of salt


In a small bowl (like a salad / cereal bowl), dump in 1/4 heaping scoop yellow popcorn.  Pour the oil on top.  Stir well to coat the popcorn in oil.  Add the sugar and salt.  Stir well.  Dump tis into a small/medium paper bag.  Roll the top of the bag down.  Place the bag on a microwave safe plate and place all in the microwave.  The plate keeps the bag sturdy as the oil seeps into the bag and can weaken in when you lift it out. 

Microwave on high for app. 4 minutes (or however long a bag of popcorn takes in your microwave).  Once you hear a second or so after a pop, its probably ready.

With potholder (my plate was HOT), remove the plate and bag from the microwave.  Carefully unroll the bag (steam!) and pour into a bowl.  Sometimes I add a little extra salt, but its ready.

REMEMBER:  If you store your leftover popcorn in a glass jar, it will last at least two weeks and not get stale.  I use old pickle jars that have been washed and stored with newspaper inside and the lid off.  That seems to rid the jar of the dill smell.

NOTE:  If you wanted to pop regular popcorn, just omit the sugar from this recipe.

ANOTHER NOTE:  I took this as a carry-in for a dinner.  It was a great snack to munch on while we were talking before the meal was served.

Reminder:  The clean recycled paper bags I used would only have had wrapped, sealed, packaged food inside.  Never re-use a bag that has had any meat or animal products stored inside.