This Homemade Ranch Popcorn is a solid contributor to my newfound enthusiasm for homemade popcorn!
Microwave popcorn is convenient and has lots of options around fat content and butter-i-ness but I haven't really seen any prefab packets in various flavours.
Homemade popcorn is so easy I am not sure why I fell out of the habit of making it.
Well I am making up for lost time with this Ranch flavour which my whole family agrees is a definite winner. I also like this Buttery Sweet and Salty Popcorn.
If you make your popcorn with ghee instead of regular butter you have less risk of burning it since ghee has a higher smoke point than regular butter. It also has a deeper butter flavour and will stay crisp for several days.
Having said that if you only have regular butter, not to worry -just make enough for one sitting and watch it carefully so the butter doesn't brown during the popping.
I also recommend that you grind the sea salt to a fine powder so it sticks to the popped corn more evenly. It is worth the extra step!
And what makes this super easy is - you use Original Hidden Valley Dry Ranch Dressing powder and just add salt. It is delicious!
If you want to check out how to make ghee -it is really easy. It keeps well so you can make up a big batch and store it for months in the fridge.
I also investigated different types of popping corn because I had a batch that had so many hull pieces it was very unpleasant to eat. Check out the different types of popping corn and also where you can order some specialty kernels on line if you are interested.
Note that ⅓ cup of large popping (Mushroom) corn kernels made about 6 cups popped. ⅓ cup of the smaller, tender (Butterfly) popping corn made a generous 9 cups popped.
Homemade Ranch Popcorn
If you tried this, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know it went in the 📝 comments below!
Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
- ⅓ cup popping corn
- 3 ½ Tbsps ghee divided 1 + 2 ⅕
- ½ tsp regular sea salt (you will grind to a powder to measure out ½ teaspoon)
- 4 tsps Dry Ranch Dressing packet I used Club House. Hidden Valley works too.
Instructions
- Using a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, grind the sea salt to a fine powder. Then measure out ½ teaspoons of the powdery salt.
- Melt ghee in the microwave.
- Stir salt and ranch powder together to mix evenly.
- Heat 1 Tbsps ghee in a large saucepan (with a lid for later) over medium high heat. Put 3 popcorn kernels in the pan. When the ghee is hot enough for them to pop take them out and pour in all the kernels.
- Cover the pan with the lid and gently shake the pan over the hot burner until there is about 3 seconds between kernels popping.
- Remove from heat and pour popped corn into a large bowl.
- Pour the remaining melted ghee over popped corn and toss to coat. Sieve half the flavour mixture over the popcorn and then toss. Sieve remaining flavour mixture over and stir again till evenly mixed.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container. It will couple a few days without getting soggy.
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