Easy Popcorn

I found a recipe on a blog recently (here) that just blew my mind. It said you can cook popcorn in a paper bag in the microwave, with nothing but kernels in the bag- and it would turn into popcorn. I found that hard to believe. If it was true, why were there so many kinds of popcorn in little plastic-wrapped packages? I've also seen microwaveable popcorn makers, and had been thinking of buying one of them. Surely you need some kind of special equipment...

So, with much disbelief, I tried it last week- and it WORKED! Seriously, no one ever told me making popcorn could be that easy! I bought a pack of brown lunch bags from the dollar store, and plain popcorn kernels from the bulk section at WinCo. Look how easy this is!

These are all the ingredients


Put kernels in a bag and fold top over 3 times


2-3 minutes later, this is what you have!


Put in a bowl, drizzle with butter, sprinkle with salt.


Easy Popcorn
Printable version here

1/4 to 1/3 cup popcorn kernels
1 brown paper lunch bag
Melted butter (about 1 tbsp.), salt, and/or any other toppings

1. Pour the kernels into the brown paper bag. Tightly fold over the top three or four times. No tape or staples are necessary.

2. Put it in the microwave and start it on high for 3 minutes. Listen for the popping to slow down to 3 or 4 seconds apart at which point you will take it out of the microwave.

3. Pour popcorn into a bowl and drizzle with melted butter or spritz with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt. (If you don’t use oil or butter the salt won’t stick.)

Yield: Approximately 3 – 4 servings

Why I love it? It's a quick snack that costs only pennies to make, it makes hardly any dirty dishes, and it's good for you- so much more so than the packaged popcorn!