Fruity Candy Popcorn, AKA: Jell-O Popcorn is a fun twist on candied popcorn. Ironically, the first time I was introduced to candied popcorn made with Jell-O, was in Brazil. As you might guess, it’s not a traditional local food there! My friend Kim suggested we make this because we happened to have all of the ingredients in our very bare cupboard. I had never heard of such a thing, and I thought it was the strangest idea ever! We mixed up sugar and butter and Jell-O mix and in just a few minutes we had a rainbow of fruity smelling mixtures ready to be poured over fresh popped popcorn. It was delicious! We shared some with the locals and quickly the word spread that the American girls made crazy popcorn treats with Jell-O! That next week we were asked to make several hundred popcorn balls for a big church event and they were quite a hit.
It seems like I post some sort of popcorn concoction on every theme week we do so I thought this was appropriate! I love things like this because they’re so quick and easy and when you’re done you have a lot to share. You can experiment with different colors and flavors and see what you like. I have to say that strawberry is my family’s favorite, and it’s one of the most vibrant so it’s always a safe one to go with. Sometimes the lighter colors get little dark specks in them, but they still taste great! You could make an entire rainbow and layer it in a glass bowl for great party food, or this packs up perfectly for giveaway treats. This is definitely a kid-tested (and approved!) recipe.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Popped popcorn – Plain, air popped popcorn is all you need here, but if buttered is all you have, it will work in a pinch.
- Butter – Always use real butter if you can!
- Light corn syrup
- Granulated sugar
- Jell-O mix – You’ll need the small box of Jell-O (3-3.5 ounces). Do not use sugar-free, as the sugar is what creates that crunchy candy coating.
How to Make Fruity Candy Popcorn
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil or parchment. If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside. Place the popcorn in an extra large mixing bowl.
- Place butter and syrup in a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir until butter is melted. Add sugar and Jello and stir to combine.
- Increase heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat so it just simmers. Continue simmering for 5 minutes. You’ll start off with a mixture that’s sometimes thick (depending on the flavor, see note at end) and as it cooks the sugar will dissolve and it will become a little more liquidy.
- After the sugar mixture simmers for 5 minutes, immediately pour over popcorn in bowl. Be careful, it’s super hot!! Mix right away and keep stirring so everything gets well coated. Spread mixture onto prepared pan and spread out evenly.
- Pop in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. I’ve noticed that some flavors of Jell-O have more mix than others. For example, the strawberry is usually much thicker than the lime. If you notice this, you might want to bake the mixture for a few minutes longer to make sure it gets cooked all the way.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let cool to room temp. Then break into pieces and enjoy! You can certainly eat this un-baked as well and it’s just soft and gooey, but definitely bake it if you’re going to pack it up for giving, or serve it as party food so it will be light and crunchy.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished Fruity Candy Popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 3-5 days for best results.
- My favorite containers for goodies like this come from the dollar section at Target. Craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby usually have a great selection as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This is a great treat to make a day or two ahead of when you need it, as long as you store it in an airtight container or package.
Yes, however I recommend doing it in batches simply because there’s so much popcorn to stir and coat.
Fruity Candy Popcorn {AKA Jell-O Popcorn}
Ingredients
- 8 cups popped popcorn
- ¼ cup butter that’s half a stick
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup honey is a good substitute
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 small box Jell-O (3-3.5 ounces), any flavor not sugar-free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil or parchment. If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside. Place popcorn in an extra large mixing bowl.
- Place butter and syrup in a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir until butter is melted. Add sugar and Jell-O and stir to combine.
- Increase heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat so it just simmers. Continue simmering for 5 minutes.
- After the sugar mixture simmers for 5 minutes, immediately pour over popcorn in bowl. Be careful, it’s super hot! Mix right away and keep stirring so everything gets well coated. Spread mixture onto prepared pan and spread out evenly.
- Pop in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let cool to room temp. Then break into pieces and enjoy! You can certainly eat this un-baked as well and it’s just soft and gooey, but definitely bake it if you’re going to pack it up for giving, or serve it as party food so it will be light and crunchy.
Notes
- Store finished Fruity Candy Popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 3-5 days for best results.
- My favorite containers for goodies like this come from the dollar section at Target. Craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby usually have a great selection as well.
Questions & Reviews
Such a beautiful presentation photo, too! Thanks for the great idea!
i tried making this years back…but the way you make kettle korn…and it tasted kinda funky….i never attempted it again but it was prolly coz i forgot that i was heating gelatin as oppose to sugar & oil with the kernals….im sure making it like caramel corn prolly is better….good job
I do things a bit differently, but use the same recipe {mine came from our local electrical co-op magazine!} — I melt the butter and corn syrup in the microwave in a lidded 8-cup glass measuring cup on HIGH for 1 m 30 sec – 2 m. Then I add the sugar and jello, stir with a whisk, leave the lid off, and microwave for 2 m 30 or until the whole mixture bubbles up really well and the sugar is dissolved. Then I spray the inside of a grocer’s sack (the BIG one) with non-stick spray, add my popcorn, drizzle the syrup in on top, stir gently wih tongs, and roll the paper sack opening closed 2-3 times. Back in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir. 30 seconds. Stir. And a final 30 seconds. Then I pour the whole thing out on parchment/wax paper and it cools in 3-4 minutes. It’s super fast! And yes, the blue does turn a sickly shade of green — I’ve used neon food coloring and gotten it back around to an edible color of teal, but berry blue is off my list now! {grin} A thought for Steph #50’s question about banana — you could try adding extracts to the caramel corn + white sugar that OBB pointed out. As for multiple flavors, we call our popcorn “Fruit Salad” — it’s delicious and addicting!
This is one of my favorite treats. There is a local store that makes this and mixes several flavors togther (after they harden) and call it corn-fetti. But they have a banana flavor in the mix. Any idea how to do the banana? It is my favorite in the bunch!
Lydja- Baking just makes it crunchy, it doesn't really change the flavor much. As for the butter, don't you know that everything is better with butter?? haha. Butter definitely makes it taste yummy, but I would think the texture would be much better with butter too.
I found a similar recipe that doesn't have butter in it. Do you know what the butter does for it? And does baking it simply make it crunchy or does it do something for the flavor?
I tried this once with red hots….do not attempt…hahah! It was a dissaster so I love this idea and we are a great big huge popcorn bowl family. This will be fun for us 🙂 How about yellow, orange and red jello for harvest time!
Just another thank you. After making this today and sharing with my two-year-old he said, "oh, sweet momma". Doesn't get better than that. Thanks for making that happen! 🙂
Naomi, I don't think it would be the same because the gelatin part isn't the most important ingredient here, it's mostly just the flavored sugar in the jello mix 🙂
im wondering if i could use unflavored jello and then mix in some cinnammon extract. I really love the hard candy poured on popcorn but i really want to try this recipe.