Patriotic Popcorn Recipes for 4th of July and Holidays

I’m not fancy with holiday treats, but this Patriotic Popcorn is simple, colorful, and fun to make. It’s essentially kettle corn with a touch of gel food coloring — easy enough for kids to watch and enjoy as it pops.

The gel color adheres to the popcorn as the kernels pop, which makes a neat splatter-and-pop effect if you use a clear lid. Kids especially love picking the red or blue pieces out of the bowl.

This snack is perfect for Memorial Day or the 4th of July but works for any celebration where you want a festive treat. I used Wilton gel colors I had on hand, so my blue turned out more sky blue than navy — if you have a darker blue, use that. You can also switch the colors to match any party theme.

This is a great snack to bring to gatherings. Make separate batches for each color or leave one batch plain for white popcorn. Have fun with the colors and enjoy a playful, crunchy treat.

Patriotic Popcorn

Created by Amber Brady

Print
Pin
Rate

16 1-cup servings (if 3 batches are made)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
3 to 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
Approximately ⅛ tsp gel food coloring, (Wilton or Americolor)
½ cup popcorn kernels
Salt, to taste

Instructions

In a 5-quart pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium-high until hot.
Add the sugar, gel food coloring, and popcorn kernels. Stir briefly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, then cover the pot. Once the kernels start to pop, use oven mitts and shake the pot back and forth until most kernels have popped. Remove from heat promptly to avoid burning the sugar.
Pour the popcorn into a large heatproof bowl and season with salt while it’s still warm, to taste.
Wash and dry the pot, then repeat the process for additional colors as desired.

Notes

*No food coloring is needed for plain white popcorn. Each colored batch yields roughly 5 cups of popped corn, depending on your kernels and popping method.

Recipe lightly adapted from an earlier kettle corn method.

Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated using a third-party tool and are provided as an estimation only.

Sharing this recipe with a link is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying/pasting and/or screenshots of full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Content and photographs are copyright protected.

Did you make this?

Don’t forget to leave a rating below and share photos of your popcorn creations.

Recipe added 9/10/15. Also seen on Oh Sweet Basil.