3 Herbal Popcorn Seasoning Blends That Friends and Family Will Love

Busy families need healthy snacks and all the better if they offer an easy way to incorporate herbs into your daily diet. Popcorn is low in calories, high in fiber, and with a little healthy oil and seasoning, it’s delicious! It appeals to kids and adults alike, is easy to make, and is much more affordable than packaged snacks from the crunchy-salty snack aisle at the grocery store. It can become a bit same old-same old on its own, but with the three herbal popcorn seasoning blend recipes below, you’ll be able to amp up the flavor and appeal to make great herbal popcorn!

In our house, popcorn is the king of snacks and one of the first foods the kids learned to make. We buy high quality, organic popcorn in bulk and store it in a large glass jar right next to the air popcorn popper, which gets a daily workout. We use melted coconut oil or olive oil (in a handy sprayer) to give it a toothsome flavor and also act as the sticking agent for a high quality sea salt and the herbal popcorn seasoning blend of choice.

For years, we had a cupboard full of the ingredients to make the Magic Herb Popcorn Seasoning and just added a dash of each ingredient to taste for each batch of popcorn. That can begin to feel like a chore, so we made up several herb blends to have on hand when the need for a crunchy, salty snack arises. The three herb blends below draw inspiration from some of our favorite savory (and sour) condiments—nutritional yeast, ranch dressing, and dill pickles—and after much trial and error, we’ve settled on the recipes that appeal to our taste buds.

Each of the recipes below makes enough for 1-2 batches of popcorn (½ cup of unpopped popcorn with salt and oil to taste), depending on your taste preference. You can also double, quadruple, octuple (you get the idea!) these herbal popcorn seasoning recipes to make larger batches of seasonings to have on hand so that making a bowl of herbal popcorn is quick.

For maximum flavor, use high quality dried herbs at the peak of freshness, as evidenced by vibrant colors and rich aromatic scents. While you can source these herbs from the grocery store, buying them in bulk is more cost-effective. The bulk food aisle at your local food co-op or natural food store will likely carry bulk herbs. Mountain Rose Herbs and Bulk Herb Store are both good online sources for high quality bulk herbs.

Like all herbs, you will want to store the herbal blends in a well sealed container in a cool, dark place to maintain maximum freshness. A shaker top bottle is a nice option for easy dispensing (we just re-purpose the shaker top jar the nutritional yeast comes in).

3 Herbal Popcorn Seasoning Blends

1. Magic Herb Popcorn Seasoning

This blend combines nutritional yeast for an addictive umami flavor brightened up and balanced with herbs and onion powder.

2. Sour Pickle Popcorn Seasoning

The herbs and spices in this blend recall the taste of dill pickle spice, while the citric acid treats your tongue to a sour finish.

3. Rowdy Ranch Popcorn Seasoning

Each of the herbs in this blend is essential to creating the ranch dressing taste, and result in a savory and delightful ranch flavor. Extra bonus—it’s non-dairy!

Once you’ve tried these blends, feel free to take artistic license with them and tweak them to suit your own taste. And by all means, do share with friends and family! These herbal popcorn blends make great gifts on their own or packaged up with some organic or heirloom varieties of popcorn. Next time you need a snack to share at a party or gathering, pop up a big batch of herbal popcorn!

Do you have your own favorite herbal popcorn recipe? Share it with us on Instagram with the tag #myherbalstudies!