Smoky Bacon Popcorn
Salty and smoky popcorn with pieces of crispy bacon mixed in makes the perfect snack. Bacon + Popcorn. What’s not to love?
Ingredients
- 3-4 Tablespoons bacon grease*
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 Tablespoons bacon bits
- or
- 3 slices fresh crumbled bacon
- Melted butter to taste
Instructions
- Add 3-4 Tablespoons bacon grease* to your Dutch oven along with 3-4 popcorn kernels. Cover with the lid and heat over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until you hear the kernels pop. *(See Note 1)
- When you hear the test kernels pop, you'll know the bacon grease is the right temperature for cooking the popcorn. Add the popcorn to the pan and cover with the lid.
- Cook over medium heat for approximately 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan about every 30-60 seconds to help keep the popcorn from burning. When the pops begin to slow, remove from the heat but leave the lid on for 15-20 seconds because there can be some late bloomers that can pop up and burn you if you're not careful.
- Move the popcorn to a large bowl using a large slotted spoon so you can easily sort out the unpopped kernels.
- Season with the salt, smoked paprika and black pepper, stirring to evenly distribute. Drizzle with butter if desired.
- Sprinkle with bacon bits or fresh crumbled bacon and enjoy! * (See Note 2
Notes
1. Different brands and varieties of bacon will render differing amounts of bacon grease, making it impossible to recommend cooking a certain amount of slices of bacon to render enough grease for this recipe. That said, 1/2 pound of bacon should be sufficient.
2. Because this is cooked in bacon grease and contains cooked bacon, this popcorn is best eaten the day that it is made. It will go stale faster than regular popcorn.