The Easiest Homemade Caramel Corn
If you can melt butter and stir a pot, you can make caramel corn at home! ♡
Trust me — it’s surprisingly easy and fun. All you need are a few pantry staples and a little patience to bake a big batch that’s perfectly salty-sweet, crisp, and ready to enjoy. No candy thermometer required!
It’s perfect for piling into a big bowl for movie night, packaging up in cute bags or tins for easy homemade gifts, or keeping on hand for whenever a salty-sweet snack craving strikes. Just get ready because you’re definitely going to want to make a second batch again soon.
Caramel Corn Tips
Here are a few important tips to keep in mind when making homemade caramel corn:
- Use plain, unsalted popcorn. I highly recommend popping your own kernels! This gives you full control over the sweetness and saltiness and keeps the caramel flavor front and center.
- Remove unpopped kernels. Small step, but it worth the time to save teeth from biting into them.
- Don’t stir the caramel while it simmers. Once it starts bubbling, let it cook completely undisturbed so it stays smooth and doesn’t crystallize.
- Work quickly once the baking soda goes in. The caramel will foam up and thicken fast — pour and toss right away for even coating.
- Let it cool completely. The caramel corn crisps up as it cools, so resist the urge to snack too early (or at least save some for later).
- Use parchment paper. It prevents sticking and makes cleanup SO much easier.
Caramel Corn Variations
Here are a few fun twists on this caramel corn recipe that you’re welcome to try:
- Chocolate drizzle: Drizzle the cooled caramel corn with melted dark or milk chocolate.
- Add nuts: Add roasted peanuts, pecans, or cashews before baking.
- Add spice: Stir a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice into the caramel.
- Add peanut butter: Add 2–3 tablespoons peanut butter to the caramel after removing it from heat.
FAQ
Baking soda reacts with the caramel to create air bubbles, which makes the coating lighter, crispier, and easier to bite into.
Corn syrup helps prevent crystallization and keeps the caramel smooth, but you can substitute honey or golden syrup if you prefer (the flavor and texture will change slightly).
Baking it low and slow and letting it cool completely are key — that’s what gives it that crisp finish!
Caramel Corn
Ingredients
- 10 cups popped popcorn (about ½ cup unpopped kernels), plain and unsalted
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- optional: flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Prep the popcorn. Heat oven to 250°F. Line a large baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper. Spread the popped popcorn out in an even layer and remove any unpopped kernels.
- Make the caramel. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir until combined, then bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Once bubbling, cook without stirring for 4–5 minutes until the caramel is smooth and slightly thickened.
- Finish the caramel. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vanilla and baking soda. (The mixture will foam up — this is normal and helps create crisp caramel corn!)
- Coat the popcorn. Quickly pour the caramel evenly over the popcorn. Use a silicone spatula to gently toss until as evenly coated as possible.
- Bake low and slow. Transfer the popcorn to the oven and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to help it crisp and coat evenly.
- Cool and break apart. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if you’d like. Let the caramel corn cool completely, then break into pieces.
- Serve or store. Enjoy right away or store in an airtight container for up to 1–2 weeks.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Perfect! Over the holidays I think we made at least 8 batches of this!
This is the BEST caramel corn ever.
I’ve tried so many and it just wasn’t coming out right. This recipe is WONDERFUL! Thank you!
I’ve tried so many and it just weren’t coming out right. This recipe is WONDERFUL! Thank you!
I love how the recipe says to add 12 popped cups of popcorn, but in the intro it says this recipe only yields 8 cups of finished product. I think I may know where the other 4 missing cups went. That happens when I make caramel corn too. :)
THE POPPED POPCORN KERNNELS, SEEMS TO COMPRESS OR
SHRINK WHEN THE WARM CARNEL IS PORED ON IT❗️
The instructions for this recipe appears to be a repeat of the ingredient list. I’m not sure when that changed, I had this recipe pinned and have made it before.
Oops, sorry about that. We are converting our recipes over to a new format and had a little glitch with that one. The instructions should be fixed now! :)
This turned out perfect! Delicious and crispy! I had tried a recipe that had water in it and it was awful. This is wonderful and easy!!!
Fun and EASY to make and taste AMAZING!
I just learned how to make stovetop popcorn last week so of course I had to try caramel popcorn! 1/2 cup of uncooked kernels ended up being about right. As some mentioned, I found this to be way too salty. I will probably try again soon though and just use less salt. BUT the most memorable part of my experience was…as per the recipe I was using to cook the popcorn, I had 2 kernels of popcorn in oil, heating on high in a covered pan on the stove (once the two kernels pop you take them out and add the rest of the kernels). Meanwhile, I was busy getting out all the ingredients for the caramel sauce (and hoping not to wake up the littles from their nap). I had accidentally put too much oil in the pan (1/4 cup instead of 1/8 cup) and I guess I was also so busy that I didn’t hear the two kernels pop, and it started smoking. Not entirely sure what was going on, I opened the lid, smoke poured out, and the hot oil burst into flames!!! My first thought was to take it off the heat, so I did that, but it was hot and it was FLAMING…I got scared and dropped it. Then I was freaking out because I had a flaming frying pan on my wood (laminate) kitchen floor, and in a panic I kicked it! Haha panicking can make me a bit irrational I guess. I eventually got it into the sink and it stopped burning (melted 2 plastic bowls that were in the sink though) and I then went to check on my previously sleeping children and opened the windows in their rooms, and then went to work on trying to shut off the smoke detectors (I got one turned off and the others eventually stopped on their own, which was good because I couldn’t reach them). Somehow in all this mess I ended up with a small burn on my arm, a burn on the top of my foot (probably from kicking the flaming frying pan), and a super gnarly burn on my leg that looks like the top layer of skin just melted. I also melted part of the rug in front of the kitchen sink so now it feels all crusty. It was seriously one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. But it’s ok…now I have a cool story to tell and I managed to succeed when I tried again later that night (tonight). I also have a wonderful hubby who actually managed to get the pan clean after this fiasco. Anyway…story time is over, but I will definitely try again with less salt! I love caramel popcorn! thanks for the recipe!
Katie, you can pop the popcorn kernels right in the microwave oven without any oil. Just put 2-4 TBSP of popcorn kernels in a large microwave-safe bowl, cover it with a lid and turn the microwave on high. When popping slows down and there is a one second delay between pops, STOP the microwave.
VERY tasty! a bit labor intensive, but well worth it!!! YUM!!!!
My husband (who is popcorn obsessed) said this is the best caramel corn he’s ever had! He said I must never wanted him to be svelte again. :D This popcorn was a huge hit with everyone! Will definitely be making again and again and again!