In our Taste Test series, BA editors conduct blind comparisons to discover the best supermarket staples (like vanilla ice cream or frozen pizza). Today, which microwave popcorn is worth its salt?
People are opinionated about microwave popcorn brands, and in this instance, I am people. Throwing a trifolded bag in the microwave for a few minutes brings back childhood memories of sleepovers, Blockbuster rentals, and jamming out on my Walkman. I want steaming popcorn that is equal parts buttery, salty, and crunchy—if it doesn’t leave my fingertips slicked with grease, I’m not interested. Nowadays, popcorn is still a top-tier snack in my eyes, though I’ve started dressing it up a bit more for variety. Otherwise, my criteria for a great bag of microwave popcorn has largely stayed the same.
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And so I brought these strong, smart, and correct opinions to our latest staff taste test. We tried seven popular brands of microwave popcorn to find the one that best balanced saltiness and butter flavor, while maintaining a yellow-but-not-too-yellow color and an airy, snappy crunch. I admit, I came to this taste test with my biases—both Pop Secret and Act II are brands I grew up with. But the panel of tasters and I went in blind, guaranteeing some upsets, heartbreaks, and disappointments. (Orville Redenbacher, I have a bone to pick.) Thankfully, there was one clear winner that we unanimously agreed on—we just had to get through the flops first.
Firmly in its Flop Era: Skinny Pop
The ingredients: popcorn, sunflower oil, palm oil, sea salt, natural nondairy butter flavor, and lactic acid
The verdict: The bowl of Skinny Pop sat sadly in its bowl on the far end of the tasting counter, pale white and timid looking—it lacked even a trace of butter flavoring, despite the yellow “butter” label on the front of its box. One bite confirmed that in taste and texture Skinny Pop was what food professionals would call “not good.” It only took a chew or two for tasters to make up their minds. “I hate it,” senior cooking editor Emma Laperruque said, throwing her hands up hopelessly. Skinny Pop had a strange flavor almost akin to vanilla yogurt—unique, to be sure, but ultimately not something we enjoyed tasting on popcorn.
The Hard No: Act II
The ingredients: popping corn, palm oil, less than 2% of: salt, color added (annatto), natural flavor (including milk), TBHQ, and citric acid (for freshness)
The verdict: Act II had a great crunch, which our tasters enjoyed, but that was the only nice thing we could say. Associate cooking and SEO editor Zoe Denenberg’s first comment sums it up perfectly: “Ooh! This is the worst!” The kernels were unseasoned and had neither the rich buttery taste nor the zing of salt we were looking for. Food editor Shilpa Uskokovic described it as “dry and bland,” and sadly, we all agreed.
The Salt Lovers’ Dream: Pop Secret
The ingredients: whole grain popcorn, palm oil, salt, natural and artificial flavor (milk), rosemary extract (to preserve freshness), ascorbic acid (to preserve freshness), annatto extract (color), paprika extract (color)
The verdict: The popped kernels varied greatly in color from dandelion yellow to unseasoned off-white, but each bite was an overwhelming wave of salt. We love a lot of flavor, but Pop Secret left us desperate for a glass of water. Uskokovic went so far as to deem it “fairly good,” based on its punch of saltiness, but other tasters felt differently. “Just…no,” Laperruque said, holding a hand to her mouth and looking forlorn a few chews into her first bite.
Strangely Sweet: Orville Redenbacher’s
The ingredients: whole grain popping corn, palm oil, salt, butter, color added (annatto, turmeric, paprika), natural flavors, mixed tocopherols (vitamin E for freshness)
The verdict: Our tasters were taken aback by the somewhat sweet flavor in each bite of Orville Redenbacher’s. Uskokovic pinned the sweetness to its “fake butter taste,” while associate cooking editor Antara Sinha noticed its texture was “soggy, like packing peanuts.” We noted that chomps of Orville Redenbacher’s had some of the familiar “movie theater popcorn” notes, which we occasionally crave. Still, we took off points because its yellow color was somewhat unevenly distributed, which left some kernels unfortunately bland.
Desperately Dry: 365 Organic
The ingredients: organic popcorn, organic expeller pressed palm oil, salt, organic butter flavor
The verdict: The overwhelming feedback on the 365 popcorn was that it was dry. We’re looking for buttery, finger-licking, napkin-necessary handfuls, but alas…. There wasn’t much buttery flavor, but a distinct corny note did shine through. Senior cooking editor and resolute optimist Kelsey Youngman noted the crisp texture and said that because the popcorn was less salty and buttery, she could enjoy the better part of an entire bowl without feeling full, and that it would make great canvas for toppings, like this furikake butter.
Good: Newman’s Own
The ingredients: whole grain popcorn, palm oil, sea salt, natural butter flavor, annatto extract (for color), vitamin E (for freshness)
The verdict: Newman’s Own proved to be a sleeper hit. At first we didn’t appreciate its subtle balance of butter and salt, but we grew to love it more and more with each bite. Digital production assistant Li Goldstein liked that the butteriness didn’t “coat your mouth,” in an overwhelming way, and Uskokovic described the popcorn as “really nice and salty.” We’re calling Newman’s Own a respectable runner-up because we found ourselves scooping up handful after handful even after the taste test ended, even if we felt it could have performed better on texture, which leaned into cardboard territory.
Perfectly Balanced: Jolly Time
The ingredients: 100% whole grain non-GMO popcorn, palm oil, salt, natural flavors, butter (cream, salt), dry buttermilk, rosemary extract to preserve freshness, annatto for color
The verdict: Jolly Time had a strong aesthetic appeal that made it hard to resist sneaking nibble after nibble. Every kernel in the bowl was a sunshiny yellow, and each bite was equal parts salty and buttery. “Whoa!” Sinha exclaimed, raising her eyebrows after her first slick, salty bite. We couldn’t get enough of the snappy crunch and were thrilled that very few kernels remained unpopped. Jolly Time checked all our boxes for taste, texture, and color—an undisputed winner.
About that furikake butter…
