Make delicious popcorn with a depth of flavour, minus the dairy! Popcorn with ghee is nutty and delicious and the perfect snack or lunch.
We absolutely love popcorn here! It's the perfect snack because kids can plug in the air popper themselves, and it's a whole grain without feeling healthy. It's also anything but boring when you add fun toppings.
We love to serve with regular butter and salt, but I've been experimenting with new ways to serve it to those with various allergies or preferences. Ghee is a great topping for butter because it adds a warm nuttiness, and is also lactose-free.
Honestly, this is more than a snack, too. It's a perfect "ah! I don't know what to make for lunch!" type of meal. I pair it with a smoothie, which I can make from some Homemade Kefir or even Homemade Yogurt. Even slice up some cheese and yes, I'm known to open up a box of store crackers. Snacky lunches are everyone's favourite.
Key Ingredients
Popcorn - Use any colour kernels or a mix.
Butter - Both salted and unsalted work just great for making ghee.
Toppings - Try out nutritional yeast, dried seaweed, mushroom seasoning salt...
How to Make Ghee for Popcorn
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Add butter a medium saucepan.
Step 2: Begin to melt over low heat until foaming.
Step 3: Spoon off milk solids as they float up top.
Step 4: Strain out any remaining milk solids.
Step 5: Your ghee is done! Store on the counter or leave some over super low heat while you pop corn.
Step 6: Add popcorn to your desired popping vessel.
Step 7: Pop!
Step 8: Add ghee and toppings half at a time and toss to combine.
Tips and Tricks
- Older kids can make ghee. It's a great exercise in patience.
- Littles can watch the air popper and catch the corn in a bowl.
- Pack up in brown bags for an on the go treat!
- Feed the milk solids to the pigs or chickens for a treat.
FAQs
1 cup of kernels makes 10 or more cups of popcorn, depending on method and type of corn. Technically a serving can be up to 5 cups of popcorn, but you do you. It is a nice filling snack since it's a whole grain, so I just keep popping as the kids will even munch leftovers later on.
Ghee is a clarified butter where you have strained out the milk solids, meaning it can technically be considered dairy/lactose free. It is very similar to browned butter, which I love to use in Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. However, you don't strain browned butter so it is still "butter." You will spoon out and/or strain the solids from the clarified butter to have your ghee. This also makes it somewhat shelf stable.
You can use a layered approach of two fine mesh strainers. I love this as they don't line up perfectly so you should catch most everything. You can also line your strainer with cheesecloth. This does make it a bit slower to strain, and of course you then have to wash the oily cloth.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Snack Recipes
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Popcorn with Ghee
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup popcorn
- Sea salt to taste
Optional Seasonings:
- Nutritional yeast
- Garlic powder
- Seaweed flakes
Instructions
- On low heat, melt butter until milk solids begin to bubble and brown. Be careful not to burn butter!
- As milk solids begin to float on top, spoon them out into a small bowl.
- When butter is clarified, take off burner and filter through a fine strainer or two to catch any last milk solids bits.
- Place it back on the burner in the pot if you intend to use right away and keep on low.
- Get out your favourite popper or pot and if necessary heat with a teaspoon of the ghee.
- Pop the batch and transfer half into a large bowl.
- Pour over half your heated ghee onto the freshly popped corn, and add half the desired seasonings and mix in well
- Do the same with your remaining ghee and salt/seasoning.
Notes
- Ghee technically does not have to be refrigerated as you have removed all of the dairy.
- Ghee is also lactose-free, but I'd still let allergy or vegetarian guests make their own decisions.
- 1 cup kernels makes 10+ cups of popcorn.
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