Many people have commented that we should write a cook book containing nothing but popcorn recipes. Heaven knows we could fill it! We’ve got Kettle Corn, Caramel Corn, Fruit Flavored Candy Popcorn, Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn, Cinnamon Cookie Crunch Popcorn, Peppermint Bark Popcorn, Cinnamon Bun Popcorn, and more. But one thing we haven’t posted? Savory popcorn. Which is actually quite surprising since I make savory popcorn mixes as often as sweet. Okay, not really as often. Sort of often. Only when I’m out of sugar. But still. Parmesan popcorn in particular, reminds me of my Dad. I grew up in a movie family; we loved watching movies, my Dad in particular, and no home movie night was complete without a giant bowl of air-popped popcorn drizzled with melted butter, and often sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. I used to rummage through the big bowl and try to pick out all of the butter-soaked pieces, the way my kids rummage through the Lucky Charms for the marshmallows. My husband and I love movies too, and lucky for me, I have a mother-in-law who buys almost every new release the day it comes out and is kind enough to share them with us. So pretty much every night is movie night around here. And movies are so much more fun with popcorn. It’s true. If you’re craving something crunchy and savory, this is a fun snack that just takes a few minutes to whip up.
Just put a few pats of butter and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan with fresh garlic. I let it sizzle for a few minutes so the garlic softens and infuses the butter, which will in turn coat the popcorn. Then sprinkle in a few herbs.
Make sure you stir it right before you pour, and then gently drizzle it over the popcorn (while stirring if you can manage) so you don’t end up with all the butter and/or herbs in one spot.
After it’s tossed together, sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese. You can finely grate it (I use a microplane) or used crumbled (store-bought or crumbled in a food processor.) Just avoid big thick shreds, or the pre-shredded Parmesan in bags. It’s best to use a crumbled or freshly grated. If your popcorn is still a little warm, the tiny cheese shreds will melt onto it and stick.
Herbed Garlic-Parmesan Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic pressed through garlic press
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- 8-10 cups popped popcorn or 1 bag natural, unsalted microwaved popcorn
- ¾ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese more if desired
Instructions
- Place butter, olive oil, and garlic in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat. Heat until butter melts and starts to lightly simmer. Cook while stirring with rubber spatula for 1-2 minutes, until garlic is softened and fragrant. Add thyme and basil and stir to combine. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
- Prepare popcorn if you haven't already. Place popcorn in large mixing bowl. Drizzle butter mixture over popcorn while stirring with large spoon or spatula. Quickly toss to coat. Add Parmesan cheese and toss until well distributed. Top with additional Parmesan if desired and serve immediately.
Questions & Reviews
We love trying new popcorn recipes and coming up with new ideas of our own. Have you ever tried melting the butter with a few splashes of liquid smoke. i like this just with some salt but is also good with smoked paprika, cumin and or chilli powder. 🙂
I am in charge of a Popcorn Bar at my sons school. I am gathering a variety of sweet and savory popcorns and this one is exactly the type I’m looking for, however, what I’m curious about is if needs to be eaten immediately. The way this popcorn bar will work, it will be in the teachers lounge for them to munch on during their breaks. Will this popcorn be good sitting out for a couple hours?
Thank you for this recipe! I took this popcorn to a small get together with friends and it was a hit! Very simple to prepare, inexpensive, and great for party munching.
Hey
I made this popcorn and absolutely loved it, I’m a huge fan of savoury popcorn and this is now on my regular easy meal list!
http://lalangostaymi.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/herby-garlicy-parmesan-popcorn.html
Thanks x
Have to share my happy accident. In a container mix 3 dip packages; one ranch, one Italian and one brown gravy… After melting butter over popcorn shake this over it. This mix rubbed on a beef roast in the crock-pot and cover with water for 8 hours on low make an awesome French bee dip!
I see at the end that it says to serve immediately. Does this have any kind of shelf life? I’d really like to include it in our Christmas baskets this year but I’d need it to last a little bit between the time I make it, the time it’s gifted, and the time it gets eaten…
We add butter and taco seasoning to our popcorn…so nummy 🙂
This sounds so good. I’ll probably be the only one eating this flavor, but @ Kelsea the taco flavor is a must try because my family loves tacos and I’m sure they will like this one.
I made this popcorn with asiago and posted about it on my blog (here’s the link to the post: http://cheesewithnoodles.blogspot.com/2012/03/asiago-garlic-herb-popcorn.html ) It was so good!! Yum yum. Can’t wait to have it again.