Air Fryer Popcorn

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Did you know that you can make Popcorn in the Air Fryer? I tried making it two different ways in my Air Fryer. The first way I made it I put foil on the bottom of the air fryer pan. Read below to see the steps I took and how it turned out.

METHOD ONE:

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Ingredients

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My Air Fryer is incorporated into my Ninja Foodi.

I lined the bottom with foil to keep the popcorn

kernels from falling through the holes in the pan.

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I added 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.

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I added 1/4 cup of popcorn and air fried it at

400 degrees for 8 minutes because that was what

seemed to work for other people. At 8 minutes,

it barely started to pop let alone be ready to eat.

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I decided to keep air frying it, however, after

25 minutes it was a total flop! There were very

few kernels that had popped and the rest were burnt.

METHOD TWO:

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Using the same ingredients I decided to try

again, after all I promised the grandkids popcorn.

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This time I decided not to use the foil.

I added 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to the pan.

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I poured 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels into the pan

and half of them fell through the holes, as I expected.

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I cooked them at 400 degrees for

8 minutes and they turned out great.

When I took the pan out of my unit, all of the kernels that had fallen through the holes were still laying there with the oil and were not popped. This resulted in only getting half the popcorn so the kids only had a small bowl each.

There didn’t appear to be any oil on the popped popcorn so this tells me I could have air fried the kernels without any oil.

My final conclusion of Air Fried Popcorn is this. If I did not have any other way to pop the kernels, I could use the Air Fryer.

We have used a hot air popcorn popper for years. It pops the kernels in a few minutes and makes a huge bowl of popcorn without using oil. It is definitely the easiest, healthiest and most cost effective way for us when it comes to popping popcorn. Our hot air popcorn popper will continue to be our preferred method for popping popcorn.

Do you use your Air Fryer to make popcorn? I would love to hear how you make yours and if you like the way it turns out.

http://www.InDianesKitchen.com

Categories: Air Fryer, Ninja Foodi, Popcorn

49 Comments »

  1. Oh wow I never even thought of this. I buy those microwave bag kind, but this would be worth trying especially if you wanted flavored popcorn.

    • I could make it on the sauté setting in my Ninja Foodi but I wanted to see how the air fryer would work. The popcorn that did pop turned out perfect, just not much of it. We will stick to our faithful air popper that we have used for years. I use to love the Jiffy pop with the foil that covered the aluminum pan and then expanded.

  2. Popcorn is one of my top 10 favorite foods! I start with this old beloved dented pot (bottom totally stained with burnt kernels), add a thin layer of olive oil to pot, fill with kernels, lid on, cook on high while corn pops I shake the pan. On the side I have several tablespoons of butter melted and salt. I usually let the popcorn burn just a little, it’s weird, I know, and I’m okay with that. When the popcorn is slightly burned, I reverently pour it into a bowl, drizzle with a liberal amount of butter, and salt! Yum! My mouth is watering! C

  3. Interesting experiments. It seems there are better ways to make popcorn. I have reverted to top of the stove for the best tasting (but not lowest calorie).

    • This was the first thing I have tried that hasn’t been amazing. The popcorn that didn’t fall through the holes in the pan popped perfectly but I still prefer our Popcorn air popper for popcorn.

  4. Here , we have to pay a lot of to make Jowar popcorns. In our child my mother is making about 4 to 5 Kg Jowar’s Popcorn in the ”Chula”that is Bhatti from the special person we call them ”Bhoi” who are perfect in baking.

    • If somebody has an air fryer basket with smaller holes on the bottom it would be perfect because the popcorn was very good. I just lost so many of the kernels through my basket holes that I didn’t get a lot of pop corn to pop.

      • I’ve only had my Foodi for a few weeks and doing some research (you tube is great) and successful experimenting. Just loving it so far., I’m glad you tried the popcorn so I didn’t have to. 🤭

      • Keep in mind that was the air fryer I used. I read comments it makes great popcorn in the pan with oil but I can’t remember what other setting it was. I just didn’t do that because I don’t like all the oil. If you figure it out let me know how you like it and what you did please. I just cooked brats on the air crisp (fry) setting and we love them that way.

  5. If you want more of a “movie theatre” style popcorn, you can make it on the stove in a big pot with butter. I’m not sure of the exact technique because my SO makes it, but it’s delicious (and sadly not at all low fat lol). We’ve also tried this way of doing it in the microwave and had good results: https://delishably.com/appetizers-snacks/How-to-Make-Microwave-Popcorn-without-a-bag (And yes, we also have an air popper!) 🙂

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