Air Fryer Popcorn

Are you wondering if you could make air fryer popcorn? If you’re trying to make your popcorn with less oil/butter or no oil/butter then an air fryer popcorn machine is the best.

No wonder everyone loves popcorn because it’s healthy and easy to make whether you go for a movie or you snack at home. Popcorn is healthy and nutritional it’s a whole-grain food and high in fiber.

How to make popcorn in the air fryer?

The cook's essential air fryer popcorn is very easy to assemble. Most of them are already in your kitchen.

Equipment

• Air Fryer

Ingredients:

• Popcorn kernels
• Butter/Oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Place a piece of foil on your air fryer basket and preheat your air fryer at 400F for 3-5 minutes.
2. Pour air fryer popcorn kernels in a single layer and cook the popcorn at 400F until the popcorn stops popping. It normally takes 8-10 minutes.
3. Let sit your popcorn in the air fryer basket for a minute or two. (sometimes popcorn might pop and hit your face and you don’t want that to happen)
4. Transfer the popped air fryer popcorn into a large bowl and spill the melted butter over the popcorn and add salt. Cove the bowl with a lid and toss them to coat with butter and salt evenly.
5. Serve your hot air fryer popcorn and enjoy.

You can find the air fryer popcorn recipe in the printable card below.

Note: Melt the butter in the microwave while your popcorn is cooking in the air fryer.
If you want to give a little tweak to your air fryer popcorn then you can make some caramel popcorn.

Air fryer Caramel Popcorn

You can try making caramel popcorn for your movie night or for weekends. I’m sure if you have kids at home, they’ll love air fryer caramel popcorn. I’ll give you the directions for making popped caramel popcorn.

Ingredients:

• Popped popcorn
• Brown sugar
• Butter (as required)
• 1 ½ Vanilla Extract
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions for making air fryer caramel popcorn:

1. Melt the butter in a skillet/pan over medium heat. Put the brown sugar once the butter starts melting and add salt until smooth.
2. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat and keep stirring. Boil the mixture for a minute or two.
3. Remove the mixture and add vanilla extract and combine well.
4. Pour the mixture over the popcorn. Toss them until they are evenly coated and enjoy.

Note: The process might seem time-consuming but believe me it’s worth trying it. Let me know in the comment below how it turned out. I would love to hear from you.

Air Fryer Popcorn on the Cob

If you love fresh corn and don’t want to grill, air fryer popcorn on the cob is the best alternative. Seriously, it tastes good and the flavor is so close to the grilled ones. You can get the desired crisp on air fryer popcorn on the cob.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 ears of fresh corn
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Melted butter or oil

Instructions:

1. Cut the corn in half and coat with melted butter/oil from all the sides and sprinkle salt and pepper to season your corn.
2. Place the seasoned corn in the air fryer basket and cook at 380F for 10-12 minutes or until popcorn kernels are delicate and light brown in color.
3. Flip the corn halfway through the cooking process to cook them evenly from both sides.
4. Remove the air fryer popcorn on the cob and serve with some grated parmesan cheese if you like.

Tips to make your air fryer popcorn perfect.

• Place the foil flat on the air fryer basket and don't make a bowl out of it because it might block the airflow which can take a longer time to pop the popcorn.
• Don’t overcrowd your air fryer with the popcorn kernels. Pour the air fryer popcorn kernels according to your basket size. This will help to pop most of the popcorn.
• All the popcorn kernels might not pop at the same time. To solve this problem, you can remove the popped popcorn put the unpopped kernels back, and cook them.
• If you try to pop all the air fryer popcorn at the same time you might end up burning the popped popcorn.
• If you follow these steps, you’ll have the best air fryer for popcorn.

Note: If you’re in doubt if you can use aluminum foil in an air fryer you can check it out here.

Seasoning ideas for air fryer popcorn.

• You can season your popcorn according to your preference. But classic butter seasoning is still the favorite for most of us.
• Also, the caramelized popcorn is quite popular. I’ve also given the recipe for the air fryer caramelized popcorn if you would like to give it a try.
• Some of you might be a cheese lover like me. You can grate some parmesan cheese while the popcorn is cooking sprinkle the cheese over the hot popcorn and enjoy.
• If you only like some salt on your popcorn you can add salt to the oil combine them together and put the popcorn kernels over and cook.

Having said that, here are some of the frequently asked questions or let’s say some doubts while making an air fryer popcorn recipe.

Can you make popcorn in an air fryer?

Yes, you can make popcorn in an air fryer. Making popcorn in the air fryer is easy and your kitchen is not messy at all.

In an air fryer, you can make your popcorn in less oil/butter or no oil at all. Hence, the air-fried popcorn is less greasy and the air fryer doesn’t retain the taste of popcorn.

Can you put microwave popcorn in an air fryer?

You can put microwave popcorn in an air fryer but it might not give you a similar or good result as a microwave. It’s better to use normal or usual popcorn kernels for the best result.

What is the best air fryer popcorn temperature?

The best air fryer popcorn temperature is 400F. Your air fryer popcorn will pop in lower temperature as well but it might take a longer time. If you’ll let your popcorn cook for way too long you might end up burning the popcorn.

To obtain the best air fryer popcorn result please follow the directions discussed above.

Why is my popcorn not crunchy?

If the popcorn absorbs moisture, it starts to lose its crispness and become chewy. This might take place if you leave your popcorn too long inside the air fryer basket.

As popcorn kernels contain some amount of moisture and as you cook them in high temperature it turns into steam. If you leave the popcorn for a long time in the air fryer basket the popped popcorn will absorb the moisture and it can become soggy.

If you like air fryer popcorn, look what else you can air fry:

• Air fryer Tilapia

If you’ve tried this Air Fryer Popcorn, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below.

You can also follow me on Facebook, and Pinterest for more easy and tasty air fryer recipes.

📖 Recipe