DIY Microwave Popcorn: Vegan Popcorn Recipe (2024)

Make this simple, affordable, and delicious vegan popcorn recipe that’s perfect for movie night. It is easy to make and creates a delicious cheesy popcorn snack any night of the week. Sprinkle some vegan parmesan cheese over the top for even more delicious flavor.

Who knew that adding nutritional yeast to popcorn transforms it into a fun, cheesy snack? But it absolutely works!

If you want a cheesy popcorn for your next movie night, follow my tips to make popcorn nutritional yeast infused and it will be a hit.

This Vegan Popcorn is free of dairy and all those chemicals on microwave popcorn you can’t pronounce. This cheese popcorn recipe uses nutritional yeast flakes for a savory snack the whole family will love—and it only takes a few minutes to make.

Key Ingredients

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:

• Popcorn kernels
• Vegetable Spray
• Nutritional Yeast Flakes — Using nutritional yeast flakes (paid link) creates a cheesy flavor
• Spices — You’ll need both paprika and turmeric
• Sea salt— You’ll add salt to taste.

How to Make Vegan Popcorn

This recipe uses only a few ingredients and a few steps to make the best homemade vegan popcorn ever!

1. Make your homemade popcorn — see below for two ways to make it.
2. Mix the seasonings.
3. Coat popcorn with seasonings.
4. Enjoy!

How to Make Popcorn at Home

We’re going to discuss two ways to make homemade popcorn: Stovetop Popcorn and Microwave Popcorn.

Stovetop Popcorn

To make stovetop popcorn, follow these instructions:

1. Place the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot (one with a lid). Tilt the pan back and forth so the oil covers the bottom of the pan.
2. Place the pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 to 3 kernels of popcorn and cover. Once these kernels have popped, the oil is hot enough. Remove the popped kernels with a slotted spoon.
3. Add the rest of the popcorn kernels, shaking the pan to distribute them evenly across the bottom of the pan.
4. The popcorn will begin popping. Shake the pan from time-to-time to ensure even popping.
5. Leave the lid open slightly to allow steam to escape.
6. Once the popping slows down, remove it from heat (no one likes burnt popcorn).
7. Immediately pour the popped popcorn onto the pan to add toppings.

Vegan Microwave Popcorn

Making this popcorn in the microwave is my favorite, because it’s just so easy.

1. Place the popcorn kernels in the popcorn popper.
2. Put 1/3 cup of popcorn in the popper bowl, put the lid on, and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. (Microwaves vary so be sure to test this and watch it closely).
3. The popcorn will begin popping vigorously. Once it slows down several seconds between pops, stop the microwave and use oven mitts to remove the popcorn popper.
4. Transfer popped popcorn to the pan to add toppings.

Yes, microwave popcorn requires a special gadget. However, it’s cheap and once you have it, you can make your own microwave popcorn any time you want it.

Vegan Popcorn Seasoning

Once the popcorn is popped, it’s time to transform it into a vegan Cheesy Popcorn recipe.

The cool thing is, you can make the final version of thisDIY Microwave popcorn to taste like whatever you want. Here are some more vegan popcorn seasoning ideas:

• Buttery DIY Microwave Popcorn — To make vegan butter popcorn, melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and pour it over the popcorn and then sprinkle with sea salt.
• Vegan Parmesan Popcorn – Sprinkle with Vegan Parmesanand some salt.
• Black Pepper Popcorn – Top popcorn with freshly ground black pepper and some salt.
• BBQ Popcorn – Sprinkle with bbq seasonings (I use McCormick’s GrillMates Brown Sugar Bourbon or any kind of BBQ seasoning).

How to Get Nutritional Yeast to Stick to Popcorn

Once your popcorn is popped, you’ll want to season it. And, of course, the next question is, how do you get that seasoning to stick to the popcorn?

If you’ve used the stove-top method, there is some oil in the popping process. That oil will help the popcorn toppings stick to the popcorn.

However, microwave popcorn will need some help. Simply adding nutritional yeast flakes over microwaved popcorn won’t work. That’s why I recommend giving it a spray of vegetable cooking spray.

If you don’t like vegetable cooking spray and want to increase the buttery flavor, melt some vegan butter and drizzle it over the popped popcorn. Be sure to toss the popcorn to make sure it’s all evenly coated.

Spreading the popcorn across a pan helps to make sure the kernels are evenly coated.

Some people refer to nutritional yeast flakes as Nooch. I like it. Short and sweet. So, if you wanted you could call this Nooch Popcorn. I won’t tell anyone.

Vegan Popcorn Brands

If you’re not into making your own vegan popcorn, there are some favorite vegan popcorn brands you can buy in the store. I’m not sure if these are intentionally or accidentally vegan popcorn, but we get to enjoy it either way:

• SkinnyPop makes several varieties of vegan popcorn — such as the Original, Sea Salt & Pepper, Vegan White Cheddar Popcorn (it’s dairy-free), Sweet & Salty Kettle.
• Angie’s Boom Chicka-Pop Salted Caramel actually has “vegan” on the bag!
• 365 Everyday Value Original Flavored Popcorn.

More Vegan Snacks

Here are some more vegan snack recipes you will love:

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This post was originally published in 2016 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.