Eating microwave popcorn in 2025? You can do better

Additionally, Zenker points out that microwave popcorn is often considered an ultra-processed, palatable food. “Ultra-processed foods tend to be high in calories, sugar and sodium, while low in protein, fibre, and essential vitamins and minerals,” she says. Because it’s so delicious, it’s easy to accidentally eat excess amounts.

“Ultra-processed foods are linked to many adverse health outcomes, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and even some types of cancer,” Zenker says. Again, if you still choose to use microwave popcorn, you should check those nutrition labels to make sure you don’t accidentally consume more of the ingredients than you would like.

Why is air popped popcorn good?

If microwave popcorn is full of potential unknowns that you can’t control or customize to your liking, air-popped popcorn is the opposite. The only ingredient is corn, until you decide to add something else.

Zenker says popcorn is a nutrient-rich source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. It’s also lower in calories than other crunchy snacks, like potato chips, while it’s higher in fiber and protein than many of the processed foods we typically eat, so popcorn keeps you full longer.

When you pop your popcorn with air, you can customize it exactly how you want it. Add salt, spices, spices, olive oil, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, sugar, fresh herbs like dill, or even pickle juice – as Zenker suggested and I’ll add soon. I prefer to top my popcorn with melted butter and a pinch of seasoning salt, but the beauty of air-popped popcorn means my family members can make theirs taste completely different using the same fresh batch of poppers.

You can still make it taste like the stuff at the movies if you’re OK with using generous amounts of butter and salt. Air crackers expand kernels using only hot air and time. It’s very simple and quick to use – pop your kernels, turn on the machine and add butter to the upper reservoir if you want the hot air to melt that too. Place a bowl to collect the popped corn and you’ll have a movie-watching snack ready in no time. Best of all, it won’t contain anything you don’t want. And if you consume microwave popcorn on a regular basis, the air popper will eventually pay for itself. Regular popcorn kernels are cheap, and they go a long way.

The air poppers we tested and liked

Courtesy of the lovely Drew Barrymore

Beautiful by Drew Barrymore

Hot air popcorn popper

The Beautiful by Drew Barrymore Hot Air Popper puts a modern twist on the movie Old air poppers are in the past With its matte finish and gold accents, it comes in several different colors, such as black, light blue, and dark green (although fancier colors are moving in and out of stock). It can make up to 16 cups of popcorn at a time, and the measuring cup on top can also be used as a place to melt butter. I also love that there is a place to wrap the wire, and that the chute directs the popped corn directly into your waiting bowl.

Photo: Brenda Stolyar

This little popcorn maker comes from Dash, Maker of many of the small countertop appliances we recommend. It’s similar to other makers on the market in that you can melt the butter in the measuring cup on top, and there’s a chute that will help guide the popped kernels into a bowl. This device comes in different colors like red and lavender, and limited edition designs like Disney or Peanuts, and it won’t take up much space on your counters or in your cabinets. Like the option above, it also has a 16-cup capacity.

Meet the expert

Enjoy unlimited access to Wired. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe today.