When I decided to start making stovetop popcorn I had to create some fun seasonings too! Here are 4 easy vegan popcorn seasonings plus my tips and tricks for getting seasonings to stick & creating fun flavours!
Butter/oil-free options
So easy to make
Fun
Packed with flavour
And tips for avoiding soggy popcorn!
Four Easy Vegan Popcorn Seasonings
I've created two flavours that don't require any butter for the seasonings to stick, and two that do.
- Vegan White Cheddar
- Onion & Dill
- Smoky BBQ
- Cinnamon Sugar
My vegan white cheddar and onion & dill seasonings both require melted vegan butter. The trick to avoiding butter for the smoky BBQ and cinnamon sugar seasonings lies in the sweeter taste of these flavours.
I use maple syrup in place of butter to achieve the stickiness needed for the seasonings to adhere to the popcorn!
Get Popcorn Seasonings To Stick Without Butter
Through a bit of trial and error I have discovered that my favourite way to avoid using butter or oil to help popcorn seasonings adhere, is to use maple syrup instead!
Since we are located in Canada, maple syrup is very easy for us to find! If that is not the case for you, any other thick and sticky liquid sweetener should function in the same way.
I add a dash of liquid smoke to my Smoky BBQ flavour but I did wonder if the liquid smoke would be enough to get the other seasonings to stick... it was not!
Liquids with a high water content like:
- Lime/Lemon Juice
- Liquid Smoke
- Vinegars
- And even ketchup
Can make the popcorn soggy and although they will add some flavour... they are best used sparingly!
If you wanted to achieve a lime flavour, I might opt for lime zest over lime juice for this reason.
Potato chips with ketchup flavouring are popular in Canada so I attempted a hybrid of my Smoky BBQ flavour with ketchup. In order to get enough of the ketchup flavour to come through, I had to use a good amount of ketchup, and it simply made the popcorn a pretty soggy mess!
How To Make My 4 Seasonings
To make my vegan white cheddar seasoning:
- I melt vegan butter,
- Pour the butter over the popcorn and quickly stir to coat.
- Then I sprinkle the magic "cheesy" ingredient over the popcorn... nutritional yeast!
- Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to grind the nutritional yeast flakes into a finer powder helps them to adhere even better!
- Salt as desired and your vegan white cheddar popcorn is ready!
This onion & dill seasoning is probably my favourite! (Smoky BBQ gives it a run for its money though!)
- Cover the popcorn in melted butter,
- Sprinkle with onion powder and dried dill,
- As quickly as possible, stir the popcorn while the butter is still warm and the spices will perfectly coat all the pieces!
- Add more dill, salt, or onion powder as desired!
My favourite potato chip flavour is BBQ so I had to make a smoky BBQ seasoning!
- Drizzle maple syrup over the popcorn,
- Add a dash of liquid smoke and stir to mix.
- Quickly sprinkle the seasoning mixture of; smoked paprika, cane sugar, garlic powder, onion powder & salt.
- Mix it all around and admire that colour! I love the smoky and sweet flavour of this one!
Finally, for a sweet popcorn, try my cinnamon sugar flavour!
- Coat the popcorn in the maple syrup,
- And sprinkle on the ground cinnamon and cane sugar!
- You won't be able to stop eating this one!
Are They Thrifty
My favourite thing about these seasonings is that you can pull ingredients from your pantry and quickly combine them to create your favourite flavours!
You can even make a big batch of your favourite one, add it to a shaker, and keep it on hand! No need for a store-bought popcorn seasoning shaker!
Including the cost of the 10 cups of popcorn these seasonings cost us:
Cinnamon Sugar CAD: $0.76
Onion & Dill: $1.12
Smoky BBQ: $1.19
Vegan White "Cheddar": $1.66
Nutritional yeast is one of the pricier seasonings in our pantry so although the white cheddar flavour has the least amount of ingredients, it does have the highest cost. It's definitely worth it though!
I hope you enjoy these easy vegan popcorn seasonings. Let me know which one is your favourite and how you customize them!
Print
Easy Vegan Popcorn Seasoning 4 Ways
- Total Time: 3 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
4 easy vegan popcorn seasonings! Two need oil/butter to stick and two don't! Get all my tips for best ingredients/flavour combos!
Ingredients
- 10 cups popcorn (½ cup un-popped kernels, see notes for instructions)*
Vegan White "Cheddar"
- 3 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 1 ½ tablespoon nutritional yeast, finely ground for better adhesion
- Salt as desired
Onion & Dill
- 3 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 1 tsp onion powder*
- 1 - 1 ½ teaspoon dried dill*
- Salt as desired
Smoky BBQ
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp liquid smoke
- 3 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon cane sugar
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp onion powder*
- ¼ tsp salt
Cinnamon Sugar
- 3 tsp maple syrup
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cane sugar
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- For the vegan white “cheddar” and onion & dill seasonings, melt vegan butter in the microwave or on the stove-top. Pour the melted butter over the popcorn and mix quickly to coat. Add the additional seasonings as quickly as possible and mix to coat. *Feel free to use less butter, just know that less of the seasoning will stick to the popcorn.
- For the smoky BBQ and cinnamon sugar seasonings, pour the maple syrup over the popcorn. Stir quickly to coat the kernels in the syrup. Then, add the additional seasonings as quickly as possible and stir to coat.
- Store any leftover popcorn in an airtight container. It is certainly best consumed the same day as the popcorn is popped but will last in a sealed container for 2-3 days.
Notes
Approximate costs (including the cost of the popcorn): vegan white "cheddar" CAD $1.66, onion & dill $1.12, smoky BBQ $1.19, cinnamon sugar $0.76.
If you want to pop your own kernels, see my blog post on how to make Stovetop Popcorn for directions. Scroll to the notes for an oil-free microwave method.
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: American, Canadian
Maria
Smokey BBQ I love you! Can’t wait to try all the other flavours
Kathryn Alexandre
haha my favourite too! (It's actually maybe a tie with the onion & dill so if you think you might like that one, try it next!).
Bonnie
The Cinnamon Sugar one was delish!
Kathryn Alexandre
Isn't that one surprising? I really didn't think I would like a sweet one as much as I like that cinnamon sugar. I'm glad you liked it too! I love caramel corn but that's a little more intensive to make so I find this flavour to be a quicker sweet popcorn.
Wayne
We have used nutritional yeast forever to season popcorn and love it. We have become addicted to what we call “Goop.” Friends introduced us to it. One part dried basil to two parts nutritional yeast flakes. Blend in blender dry to powderize - my word. Its delish.
Kathryn Alexandre
Hahaha I'm sold! I'll have to try that 🤣 Maybe we'll make some popcorn this weekend and "goop" it 😜