How To Get Seasoning To Stick To Popcorn [Tested Methods]

This article was updated on 11th Sept 2023 for freshness and to incorporate new insights.

One weekend last year I was in charge of preparing the popcorn for a movie night with my friends. I tossed the popcorn with my spice mixes, but NOTHING stuck. It all just fell to the bottom of the bowl.

I tried to fix it by pouring some oil in, but that resulted in soggy popcorn. And now I’m here to help make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as me. Here’s how to get the seasonings to stick to your popcorn, whether you’re popping it in an air popper, on the stove, or in the microwave.

To get your popcorn seasoning to stick, first, make sure it’s in powder form. Popcorn salt is much finer than normal salt, so it will stick better. You also need to mist your popcorn with a liquid to make it sticky. Oil, water, soy sauce, and Tabasco are all good options.

Getting seasonings and salt to stick to popcorn

Here are the best, easiest, and most effective ways to get deliciouly coated popcorn.

Grind the seasoning into a fine powder

This is the most important information in the article: You need to get whatever seasonings you’re using to as close to a fine powder as possible. The smaller the grains are, the better chance they have of sticking.

If salt is your go-to seasoning, you’re in luck. You can buy ready-made popcorn salt, which is already in powder form. If you can’t find ‘popcorn salt’, look for brining salt. It’s the same thing.

If you want something other than salt, take a look at kernels popcorn seasoning. The fine powder comes in loads of different flavors, including caramel corn and cheesy jalapeno (yuuuuuuuum!).

Alternatively, you can grind the seasonings yourself using a spice grinder, a food processor, or a mortar and pestle. I like using taco seasoning or Mrs. Dash seasoning, and adding a pinch of cayenne pepper if I want more heat.

Add the seasoning when the popcorn is hot

Once you have your ground seasonings, always try to add them while the popcorn is still hot. That way, there’ll still be some residual moisture on the popcorn from the steam which will help the seasonings stick.

If you’re using oil, the heat will mean the oil spreads better, leading to a more even coating (and less soggy popcorn).

Misting the popcorn with oil

The most common way to make popcorn sticky is to coat it in oil or fat. Any kind of oil will do. I like to use olive oil or melted coconut oil. A cool trick you can use is to infuse your oil or to buy ready-flavored oli.

Melted butter is another popular option.

How do I stop the popcorn from becoming soggy?

Easy. Use a mister (amazon link).

These ingenious little devices pressurize the liquids, so the spray comes out as a mist rather than a stream. This means the popcorn gets evenly coated in a thin layer of your liquid. If you were to pour the liquid (as I did that fateful weekend), you’d get a few super saturated bits of popcorn and the rest would remain dry. 

It also means you use much less oil, so you impart fewer calories onto your popcorn. Once your popcorn is sufficiently misted, sprinkle on your seasoning and toss. You should end up with perfectly coated popcorn.

If you don’t, try adding a few more spritzes from your mister and retossing. 

Psst… you can also use a low calorie oil spray such as Pam. And this trick also works wonders for salting unsalted nuts.

The bowl trick

If you don’t have a mister to hand and need a quick solution, you can use what I’ve coined the bowl trick. Disclaimer: you’ll have to get your hands dirty. 

1. Get a bowl big enough to hold your popcorn and toss it around 
2. Coat the bowl with a mixture of oil and your seasoning. Use just enough oil to cover the bowl entirely without a puddle forming in the bottom of the bowl
3. As soon as you’ve coated the bowl, chuck your popcorn in and toss it around – the oil mixture will stick to the popcorn, seasoning it nicely

You’ll have to work quickly to coat the popcorn before gravity takes effect and all the oil slides to the bottom of the bowl. But if you’re nimble enough, this is a quick and effective method.

Coat the kernels in the seasoning

This trick works particularly well if you’re making popcorn on the stove, but it also works for microwaved popcorn.

The traditional way to make popcorn is to pop it in a bowl on the stove. It’s generally easier to get seasonings to stick when you’ve prepared the popcorn this way because the oil makes it stickier. But if you want a really good coating, I’ve got just the trick for you.

Coat the un-popped kernels with an oil of your choice and your seasonings.

As the popcorn pops the seasoned oil will coat your popcorn.

The recommended ratio is ½ a teaspoon of oil for every ¼ cup of popcorn kernels. With this ratio, the popcorn will get a nice thin coating of oil without becoming soggy. If you want to add more seasoning once the popcorn is popped, go ahead and just sprinkle it on. Be quick though, because as soon as the popcorn cools down it will no longer be sticky.

Getting popcorn seasoning to stick without using oil or butter

If you don’t want to use any fat or oil (popcorn is supposed to be healthy after all), don’t worry there are still some tips you can use.

Using other liquid seasonings

Want to avoid fats altogether, even if it’s just a few sprays? Swap the oil for one of the following:

• Water (or saltwater)
• Pickle juice
• Vinegar
• Soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos (delicious with nutritional yeast)
• Lime juice or even something like pineapple juice
• Tabasco 
• A mix of the above (you can use water to dilute any of the flavors for a more mild taste)

You can use these on their own to season the popcorn, or use them as the base to get the popcorn a little sticky before whacking on some extra seasoning.

My personal favorite is a spritz of vinegar and then a sprinkle of salt. It transports me back to my crisp eating childhood, but it’s MUCH healthier!

Steaming the popcorn

Another option you have is to lightly steam the popcorn. The moisture from the steam will coat the popcorn and make it sticky.

1. Fill a pan with boiling water
2. Put the popcorn in a colander and place it over the boiling water
3. Toss or stir the popcorn in the colander, so it gets evenly coated in steam
4. As you’re tossing the popcorn, sprinkle over your seasonings. The steam will help them stick
5. After 30 seconds, take the popcorn off the heat and continue to toss. This will prevent the popcorn from getting soggy

Be careful not to over-steam the popcorn, or it will lose its crunch.

How to fix soggy popcorn

Soggy popcorn occurs when you’ve gone overboard with the moisture. If only a small amount of your popcorn is affected, it’s easiest to forget those bits ever existed. Chuck them out and enjoy the rest of your crispy popcorn. 

But if the whole batch is looking a bit damp, you can revive it in the oven.

1. Spread the popcorn in a single layer on a baking tray. 
2. Pop it in the oven at 250 degrees for 5 minutes.

Popcorn is very delicate. 5 minutes will be plenty long enough to draw out all the moisture and crisp it up again. Any longer and you risk it burning.

And now you’ve read this far, here’s a quick video with some fun popcrn seasoning flavors.

Read Next: How To Reheat Popcorn

How To Get Seasoning To Stick To Popcorn

In this recipe, I discuss three ways to get your seasoning or salt of choice to stick to your popcorn. These include:

– When using an air popper

– When using a stovetop

– When using a microwave

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 6 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Total Time 6 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 1 person

Calories 106 kcal

Equipment

• Popcorn salt
• Spray mister
• Spice grinder
• Mortar and pestle

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup popcorn kernels
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 portion popcorn seasoning
• 1 portion popcorn salt

Instructions

 

How to get the seasoning to stick to popcorn from an air popper

• The problem with using an air popper is that the resulting popcorn is SUPER dry. This makes it difficult for any seasonings to adhere properly.
• To get round this, you need to moisten the popcorn. The most common way to do this is to use oil.
• Any kind of oil will do. I like to use olive oil or melted coconut oil. A cool trick you can use is to infuse your oil. This will enhance the flavor of popcorn even more.
• Use a mister to spray the oil of your choice over the cooked popcorn.
• Ensure you spray the oil on as soon as possible after cooking the popcorn as this increases the stickiness.
• As an alternative to using a mister, you can use the bowl trick.

  The bowl trick is useful if you don’t pop popcorn often enough to justify investing in a mister, or if you need a solution right now.
• Get a bowl big enough to hold your popcorn and toss it around.
• Coat the bowl with a mixture of oil and your seasoning. Use just enough oil to cover the bowl entirely without a puddle forming in the bottom of the bowl.
• As soon as you’ve coated the bowl, chuck your popcorn in and toss it around – the oil mixture will stick to the popcorn, seasoning it nicely.
• You’ll have to work quickly to coat the popcorn before gravity takes effect and all the oil slides to the bottom of the bowl. But if you’re nimble enough, this is quick and effective method.

Seasoning popcorn without fat or butter

• Swap the oil in the above steps for one of the following:

  Water (or saltwater), Vinegar, Soy sauce, Lime juice, Tabasco
•  You can also combine a mix of the above ingredients. (you can use water to dilute any of the flavors for a more mild taste).
• Another option you have is to lightly steam the popcorn. The moisture from the steam will coat the popcorn and make it sticky.
• Fill a pan with boiling water.
• Put the popcorn in a colander and place it over the boiling water.
• Toss or stir the popcorn in the colander, so it gets evenly coated in steam.
• As you’re tossing the popcorn, sprinkle over your seasonings. The steam will help them stick.
• After 30 seconds, take the popcorn off the heat and continue to toss. This will prevent the popcorn from getting soggy.

How to get the seasoning to stick to popcorn on a stovetop

• Before popping the popcorn, coat the un-popped kernels with an oil of your choice and your seasonings.
• As the popcorn pops the seasoned oil will coat your popcorn.
• You can also infuse your oil with seasoning to bring out even more flavor.
• The recommended ratio is ½ a teaspoon of oil for every ¼ cup of popcorn kernels. With this ratio, the popcorn will get a nice thin coating of oil without becoming soggy.
• If you want to add more seasoning once the popcorn is popped, go ahead and just sprinkle it on. Be quick though, because as soon as the popcorn cools down it will no longer be sticky.

How to get the seasoning to stick to popcorn from a microwave

• If you’re popping your corn in the microwave you can also use the trick of coating the kernels in oil and seasoning before you pop them.
• Or if the popcorn is already popped, then again, the best thing to do is look at the options I give for coating air-popped popcorn above.

Keyword popcorn, popcorn salt, popcorn seasonings