Salt and Vinegar Popcorn

This 3 ingredient Salt and Vinegar Popcorn shares the same salty, tangy flavors as your favorite salt and vinegar chips but is much quicker and healthier to make, thanks to one secret ingredient.

Hi I’m Carla, and I’m a snackaholic.

Doesn’t matter if it’s BBQ chips, Halloween popcorn, pretzel bark, or Italian nachos – I love snacks.

If I had to pick my favorite snack flavor in the world, it’d have to be salt and vinegar.

It even helped cure my sea sickness when I took the ferry to see the Statue Of Liberty with my dad years ago.

The swaying of the boat while we were still docked really got to me and for whatever reason, I ate a bag of salt and vinegar chips. Made sense at the time.

As much as I love my salt and vinegar chips and salt and vinegar wings, it’s not a snack you can make in minutes.

That got me thinking – what CAN I make in minutes and satisfy my salt and vinegar craving?

The answer: Salt and Vinegar Popcorn made with only three ingredients – freshly popped popcorn, salt, and vinegar powder.

The salty and tangy flavors really do balance each other out as you go back for more. Plus using vinegar powder instead of liquid vinegar means your popcorn won’t get soggy!

I can be on the couch watching Top Chef when I get the urge to snack. In about 5 minutes, I can have a big bowl of salt and vinegar popcorn ready to go (sadly, it also disappears in 5 minutes too).

Ingredients For Salt and Vinegar Popcorn

To make your recipe for salt and vinegar popcorn, you only need 3 ingredients:

• Air-popped popcorn: It’s best if you make stovetop popcorn from kernels so you can have full control over the seasoning. However, in a pinch you can use microwave popcorn (just be careful of any that are pre-flavored).
• Vinegar powder: Gives the popcorn that lip-smacking flavor that liquid vinegar does not. More on it below.
• Salt: I prefer kosher as the larger crystals are easier to taste. You can use table salt but you’ll need to adjust to your taste.

What is vinegar powder?

Vinegar powder is dehydrated vinegar which adds tanginess without adding any additional liquid to the recipe.

With popcorn, there’s no way you can soak it in vinegar. Sure, you can add a splash of vinegar but then your popcorn gets soggy.

However, you can make a salt and vinegar popcorn seasoning using the vinegar powder.

The best place to buy your vinegar powder is online.

Can you leave out the vinegar powder?

I get it – vinegar powder is pricey for something you won’t use often. And there aren’t many guides to making it homemade, unfortunately.

However, it truly is the only way to get that iconic salt and vinegar flavor.

If you still insist on not buying it, you can add about 1 tablespoon vinegar to your popcorn then eat it quickly before it gets soggy.

How To Make Salt and Vinegar Popcorn

Want to know how quick it is to make salt and vinegar popcorn?

1. Pop kernels.
2. Add salt and vinegar powder.
3. Shake until coated.
4. Eat!

Can’t get any easier than that!

How To Make Stovetop Popcorn

If you’re making popcorn from kernels rather than a microwave bag, it’s really easy to make on the stove! Here’s how to pop popcorn:

1. Add oil and kernels to a large wide pot then shake the pan until coated.
2. Turn on the heat, shaking the pan every so often so the kernels move around a bit. Once you hear popping, add a lid.
3. Turn the heat down to low while the kernels finish popping. Once the sound stops, turn off the heat and let it sit 1 minute for any late poppers.
4. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl, removing any unpopped or hard to eat pieces. Add a generous amount of salt and toss to coat.

More Popcorn Recipes

Enjoyed this popcorn recipe? Check out these other recipes:

• Chili Cheese Popcorn
• Chocolate Covered Popcorn
• Peanut Butter Popcorn
• S’mores Popcorn
• Christmas Popcorn

First published February 19, 2015