Grinch Popcorn
Sweet and salty and delicious – this Grinch Popcorn will be popular with kids and adults alike at your How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie night.
What goes with a movie night better than popcorn? It can’t be said enough … I love popcorn. It is so delicious. I am a popcorn purist. All I need is a little bit of butter and salt, and I am set. My family, however, likes sweet popcorn. For our Christmas Eve Eve celebration with a How the Grinch Stole Christmas theme, Laurie and I came up with this salty and sweet Grinch Popcorn. It’s the perfect snack for everyone in the family.
Preparing the Popcorn
Step 1: You will need 10 cups of popcorn. We pop our popcorn on the stove (you can find our directions on How to Make Perfect Popcorn here) but you can use air-popped or microwave.
Step 2: After the popcorn is popped, make sure to remove all of the un-popped kernels. You don’t want to bite down on one of those!
Step 3: Once you have made the popcorn, salt it liberally. It is so nice to taste the salty popcorn with the sweet marshmallow coating. Not quite like Kettle Corn but close.
Preparing the Marshmallow Popcorn
Step 4: To make the Marshmallow Mixture, add 3 tablespoons of butter to a medium saucepan. Melt the butter on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is completely melted.
Step 5: Add 3 cups of mini marshmallows to the saucepan.
Step 6: Stir until the marshmallows are covered in butter, and then continue to stir until the marshmallows are completely melted.
Step 7: Take the marshmallow mixture off the heat as soon as the last marshmallow has melted.
Making the Marshmallow Popcorn
Step 8: Add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring and mix until the marshmallow mixture is bright yellow. When you have a good yellow color, add in one very small drop of blue food coloring and stir. This combination of food coloring should get you the perfect “Grinch Green” marshmallow mixture.
Step 9: Slowly pour the marshmallow mixture over the popcorn. Using a spoon, gently fold the marshmallow mixture in with the popcorn until the popcorn is mostly covered. The amount of marshmallow mixture you want to add is really up to your own taste. The more you add, the stickier the popcorn will be so we suggest that you add it a bit at a time, stir the popcorn and give it a taste before you add more.
Step 10: Now pour the popcorn onto a cookie sheet covered with foil or a silpat liner.
Step 11: Here is the candy that we added to our Candy Corn Popcorn. We used 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows and red M&M’s to represent the Grinch’s tiny heart that grew three sizes that day! Don’t wait too long to add the candy. You want the marshmallow mixture to still be warm and sticky. Sprinkle the candy and mini marshmallows onto the popcorn, concentrating on the areas with the drizzled marshmallow mixture. Allow the popcorn to cool. Break apart into pieces and serve.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
We make our popcorn from scratch on the stove – nothing is better than that in our opinion. You can find all the tips and tricks you need to make the perfect popcorn right here. You can also use Microwave popcorn but you should use a type that has no butter flavoring added.
The contrast of sweet and salty in this popcorn recipe is super yummy. To get that combination you should lean towards over-salting the popcorn. We try to salt the popcorn as soon as it comes out of the pan so that salt sticks to the hot popcorn.
Our family loves this popcorn so it has never lasted longer than a day at our house. This popcorn definitely tastes the best right after it is made but will keep for a few days in an airtight container. The popcorn is a little chewier the next day because the popcorn absorbs some of the moisture from the marshmallow mixture but it still tastes good.
Other Grinch Dessert Recipes You Will Love
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Grinch Popcorn
Sweet and salty and delicious - this Grinch Popcorn will be popular with kids and adults alike at your How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie night.
Ingredients
- 10 cups Popped Popcorn
- Salt (to taste)
- 3 tablespoons Butter (Sweet Cream Salted)
- 3 cups Mini Marshmallows
- Wilton Color Right Food Coloring - Blue, Yellow
- 1/2 Cup Mini Marshmallows
- M&M Candies – Red
Instructions
- Make popcorn.
- Salt popcorn and set aside.
- Melt butter in medium saucepan on medium heat.
- Add mini marshmallows to pan and stir until melted.
- Turn off heat.
- Add yellow food coloring to the marshmallow mixture..
- Add a small amount of blue food coloring to the marshmallow mixture to get the perfect shade of Grinch Green.
- Coat popcorn with marshmallow mixture to taste.
- Pour coated popcorn into a prepared cookie sheet.
- Drizzle remaining marshmallow mixture over popcorn.
- Add mini marshmallows and Red M&M's while popcorn still warm.
- Allow to cool and serve.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
Have you ever tried using pre-popped popcorn that can be purchasedfrom a grocery store? We need to make quite a bit to sell as a Seussical concession item and wondered if pre-popped popcorn would save some time?
Hi Heather – you definitely could save time by using pre-popped popcorn. But I would try to find some that is salted but doesn’t not have butter flavoring. I don’t think the butter flavoring will blend too well with the marshmallow mixture.
What a fantastic recipe!! I tried a trial run of this before our party, and here’s what I learned. DO NOT try to make with gluten free marshmallows. I could not get them to melt correctly. I used Trader Joe’s GF vegan marshmallows and perhaps it’s the tapioca base, but they wouldn’t melt easily and when they did they became too sticky and formed a mass. Also I used liquid food color (not Wilton) in yellow (until really bright) and then blue… I had to add 5 drops of blue and then it turned, well, Oscar the Grouch green. Still tasty, but I will use Kraft marshmallows and Wilton colors for our party.
Yay! We are so glad you worked out the kinks in your test run! Hope your party guests like the popcorn!
Silly question. I wanted to put the popcorn in a jar. Is it too sticky to be put in a jar
?
Hi Mari – it shouldn’t be. Allow it to cool before you put it in the jar.
I would love to make a few batches of this and make pocorn balls on a stick. Any suggestions?
Hi Amie! We’ve done that before. It works great. I would suggest letting the popcorn cool a bit after you have put on the marshmallow mixture. It will be easier to form the popcorn balls that way.
Can I make this into popcorn balls or is it too sticky?
Hi! It should work. We have done that. You need to let the marshmallow mixture cool a bit before you start molding the popcorn balls.
what kind of microwave popcorn? Buttered or not?
Hi Kelly – I would use salted but not buttered.
Hi, how many servings does this recipe make?
Hi Jen – The recipe calls for 10 cups of popcorn.
Love reading your emails and newsletters! Thank you for all you do and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!!
Thank you so much. That is so nice to hear. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family as well!!
Thanks for the idea!! I love making sweet treats. Thanks!
Hi, I just wanted to let you know because there is some question about storage, that this other recipe for caramel nut corn suggested freezing the corn in an air tight container, and that worked pretty well, for up to two months believe it or not. You guys might try that…..
Thanks Terri – we are going to try this!
Hi I have a really quick question. In stead of using little marshmallows can I use medium ones, is it the same concept? If so how much of marshmallows do I use??
Yes – same idea. We think the mini marshmallows are a little easier to melt. That’s the only difference.
Can I use green food coloring?
Sure.
Hi I am going to make this to put into homemade Xmas baskets I am doing for the family. I also print label cards for everything I do. Do you by any chance have the photo file for this, when I copy and paste onto the tag I cannot enlarge it enough. Thank you cannot wait to make this.
Which image do you need?
Laurie,
Thank you much for your qui response. The first one showing the wording Please
I am not sure what I did wrong but I can’t mix the marshmallow mixture in the popcorn. I just can’t get it to spread around. My popcorn is still mostly white and is just sticking together. help please!
Hi Courtney – is the mixture pouring out the pan like ours did in the picture or is it too thick? Maybe add a little more melted butter and heat the mixture up again. If it is the right consistency, I would pour the mixture in a bit at a time and fold it into the popcorn. The popcorn will stick to together but if you keep moving the popcorn around and slowly adding more mixture, you can get it covered.
Does anyone know if you can buy pkgs of just red m&ms?
Now that I think about it, I think I can buy red and green…(easier to pick out the red ones)
Yes – this is what we did!
I just wanted to say ” Thank you for pinning & sharing this recipe.. I made it this past weekend.. and all I can say is.. OMGoodness… it was so good… and very easy to make….
Thanks Michelle! We are so glad you like it!
Question…I LOVE this idea in just curious about the mess. Our kids range from 2 to 9. I’m wondering if a finger licking 2 and 3 year old would turn green while eating this due to food coloring? Anyone experiment yet??
Hi Josilyn – the color doesn’t come off on your fingers but it will make your tongue a little green depending on how much food coloring you use. It is similar to what happens when you eat a cherry Popsicle – nothing a toothbrushing can’t get rid of 🙂 hope that helps.
I made a batch today. Love it! I used a hot air popper to make my popcorn and salted the batch after I coated it with the marshmallow mixture. Turned out perfect!
That’s great! We are so glad you liked it!!!
How many people does this original recipe serve?
Hi Heidi – the batch that you see in this picture was about 10 cups of popcorn.
How many bags of microwave popcorn do I need to equal 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels?
Hi Amber – the batch that you see in this picture was about 10 cups of popcorn.
A bag of microwave popcorn makes about 4.5 cups. So it would seem that about 2 bags would fit with her recipe above.
Do your fingers or mouth turn green from the food coloring?
Hi Sally – no on the fingers. And for your tongue it depends on how much food coloring you add. But it’s no worse than what happens when you eat a cupcake with colored frosting or a Popsicle.
Where did you get that ADORABLE Grinch doll? I love it!
Caution – DO NOT PUT THE LID ON THE PAN WHILE WAITING FOR THE 3 KERNELS TO POP. You will get a very nasty surprise when you lift the lid. Leave a gap so that you are not creating a vacuum that might exploded when you remove it. Know this from painful experience.
Wow – we’ve made an awful lot of popcorn and never had a problem but good to know that this is an issue. Thanks for the heads up!
Instead of food coloring, I use 3-4 tablespoons of Jello powder mixed in to the melted marshmallows. Either Lime or Melon Fusion.
Hi Dori – that’s interesting. How strong is the lime and/or melon taste?
You could probably use Koolaid too:)
What a super cute idea! I am a teacher & we are doing a school wide whoville celebration the last week of school before our Christmas break; I’m thinking this would be a fun treat while we watch the movie! Your post suggested you enjoy it quickly after making it, my question is this…do you think it will still be good if I make it the night before? I won’t have time to do it that day since we will be in school! Thanks!
Hi Stacey – what happens is that the popcorn loses its crunch as the popcorn continues to absorb the moisture from the marshmallow mixture. The texture becomes more like candy or a soft Rice Krispie Treat and less like popcorn. But having said that it would still be sweet and marshmallow-y with M&M’s so most kids would probably be fine with it 🙂 But ideally the Grinch Popcorn tastes best within a few hours of making it. Hope that helps.
Grinch popcorn….when you say it does not last long exactly what do you mean…having a grandchildren’s Christmas party and would like to send some home with them….will it last from Friday until Sunday?
Hi Sylvia – it really tastes best right after you make it. Overnight or even after a couple of hours the popcorn starts to lose its crunch.
You can actually tape a couple of the packets that come in some pill bottles that absorb moisture take those and tape inside of the plastic bags that your storing the popcorn in and those taped in there should help your popcorn retain its crunch. It’s not harmful to you having them taped inside the bags and they make chips, popcorn etc last so much longer.
Thanks, Sylvia, I have never heard that before.