
Serving size: "The number one thing I suggest someone looks out for is the serving size," says Keri Gans, MS, RDN, CDN, author of The Small Change Diet." Some popcorn brands contain over 25 percent of your daily value of saturated fat in a small serving. "Unfortunately, microwave popcorn is often a big culprit. You should limit your saturated intake to between five and 10 percent of your total calories. This is also known as 'bad' fat and can have negative effects on the body," says Fox.

Saturated fat: "I would check out the saturated fat content.There are some nutritional standards you should pay attention to that factor into whether a bag of popcorn is healthy: "As simple as popcorn can be, many brands often load their products with additives, artificial ingredients, extremely processed oils, a lot of salt, and more." "When it comes to microwave popcorn, my recommendation is to find one with minimal ingredients," says Erika Fox, RDN, registered dietitian nutritionist at 310 Nutrition. It’s the ideal stand-in for anyone missing the movie-theater popcorn experience.How to choose a healthy microwave popcorn (In terms of how coated with butter your fingers will get, this is like the Cheetos of microwave popcorn.) Better yet, its texture is beyond crisp and there were minimal leftover kernels. The popcorn is super yellow for the most part with a few white pieces throughout. It’s super buttery (we’re talking little drips oozing out the top of the bag) without being overwhelming or wet. The instructions read to start the clock with two and half minutes, but the popping slowed after about two for us. While popcorn is naturally whole-grain and gluten-free, this one’s also made with non-GMO kernels.
Microwave popcorn free#
It’s free of artificial preservatives, flavors and dyes to boot. The label reads popping corn, palm oil, salt, butter and natural flavor and colors. This is it, folks: The all-around best popcorn on our list-especially if you’re all about the butter. Fair warning: Your fingers will turn orange. It’s cheesy, savory, crisp and so well-seasoned. With one bite, we felt like a kid chowing down on cheese balls at a slumber party. There were a handful of kernels left behind, but we truly didn’t even care once we smelled it. We stopped it a little after the two-minute mark. The packaging said it could take up to 3 minutes to pop and to stop when the pops were one to three seconds apart. (But hey, that’s never stopped us from inhaling other neon orange treats that came our way in the past.) You’ll notice the deep red-orange hue showing through the bag, which may be alarming to some but had us beyond psyched before we even put it in the microwave. Its ingredients include non-GMO popcorn, palm oil, salt, spices and both natural and artificial flavors. But nothing beats the convenience of microwave popcorn that already contains a fun, surprising flavor. We’ll throw anything on popcorn, from Parmesan to black pepper to maple sugar. But overall, this is a solid option (and bargain) for sweet popcorn lovers. Some pieces were kind of tough to chew and flattened in our teeth instead of breaking up, so it’s not as crisp as we’d like.

The flavoring is pretty consistent throughout, as all the popcorn is yellow. To taste, its sweet notes shine brighter than the buttery, salty notes.

You can smell its sweetness in the air as it pops, and its aroma gets even more delicious once you open the bag. We had about 50 seconds left on our 950-watt microwave once it slowed, but we might let it pop a little longer the second time around because of the leftover kernels and no signs of scorching. The packaging says it could take up to two and a half minutes to pop. Its ingredient list includes popping corn, palm oil, salt and sucralose (since kettle corn is salty and sweet). This pick is naturally and artificially flavored. You may think of popcorn as a salty, savory snack, but let’s not overlook the glorious treat that is kettle corn.
