13 Kettle Corn Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

Movie theater butter is a classic popcorn flavor, whether you're buying a drum of it at the theaters or making a bag of it for a night in at home. But there's another type of popcorn that you may just be overlooking: kettle corn. The major difference between popcorn and kettle corn is that kettle corn is traditionally popped with mushroom-shaped kernels, whereas normal popcorn is made using butterfly-shaped ones. However, the definition has clearly morphed over time from kettle corn's origin, as some brands associate "kettle corn" with just being normal, butterfly-shaped popcorn that's sweet. Confusing, I know. 

In order to give you a roadmap of some of the numerous variations of kettle corn out there, and to give you ideas as to what brands and flavors of it are worth adding to your cart, I took to tasting some of the kettle corn products I found in my local grocery store. As I snacked, I considered the overall taste of the kernels and how well they represented what flavor they claimed to be. Popcorn is a snack that you eat handfuls upon handfuls of, so I ranked brands that had that addictive quality higher than those that were a one-and-done deal. 

This Act II popcorn is a prime example of how looks can be very, very deceiving. This box of microwave popcorn, which only comes with three bags, is marketed as "buttery kettle corn." It even has a kettle on the label that insinuates it's kettle-adjacent. But when I prepared it according to the package directions and took a bite, I was just met with lackluster, buttered popcorn with just a little tinge of sweetness to its flavor. It's about the farthest thing from kettle corn possible. 

The butteriness isn't even that decadent. I would have doubled the amount of butter on the kernels, but I think this would obscure the sweetness even more. The sugar coating doesn't actually coat the kernels either; it just presents in the aftertaste for a few seconds before it disappears entirely. If Act II wanted to be truthful in its marketing, it would have said that its product is a "slightly sweet, below-average microwave popcorn" — but I doubt it would end up selling any bags. It's definitely not the best popcorn brand, nor is it the best kettle corn one.  

I have had Orville Redenbacher's SmartPop! Kettle Corn before, and I was glad to see it square up against some of its bagged competitors (and Act II's sad attempt at making kettle corn). The box contains 12 100-calorie packs of kettle corn. In order to keep the calories and sugar content down, Orville Redenbacher's uses sucralose (Splenda) to sweeten it. Unfortunately, you don't have to read the ingredient list to know that this artificial sweetener is in play; you can tell by its taste. It has that diet soda-like flavor to it that replaces any note of sweetness with a slightly bitter and fake-tasting one. 

The kernels are squeaky, as kettle corn should be, but the artificial sweetener leaves a noticeable aftertaste that ruined the entire bite for me. The popcorn quality itself is good, which makes it think it would be a great choice to keep stocked in your dorm room for when the craving hits. However, if you're after a true kettle corn flavor (and detest the flavor of Splenda), you're better off buying one of the higher-ranked brands on this list.

Don't worry; I'm not going to trade my favorite white cheddar Smartfood popcorn for this sweet and salty kettle corn anytime soon. The Smartfood white cheddar popcorn is just so savory, umami, and satisfying. This sweet Smartfood flavor, however, fell woefully short of my high standards for popcorn. 

I will give Smartfood one thing: These kernels are quite sizeable and mushroom-like. However, the sugary coating on the outside of the kernels is like a caramel sauce that was allowed to crystalize. It's gritty and rubs on your molars as you snack your way through it. Like with the BOOMCHICKAPOP flavor, I was missing the saltiness,  but the sweetness was most certainly there. As its gritty coating suggests, I doubt that the brand got the proper caramelization that would have given it a brown sugar and toffee-like taste. It just tastes sweet without any flavor direction in mind. 

Does popcorn need chocolate? Not necessarily, but it's easy to see how the dark, dense fudgy flavor would elevate an otherwise ho-hum kernel. Popcorn Indiana coats its fudge popcorn in a dark and white chocolate drizzle, which adds a hefty dose of sweetness and helps elevate the overall flavor of the sweet kernels. 

The issue with drizzling anything onto popcorn is that you're going to get some kernels with a lot of it and others with none. Such is the case with this bag. When you get a fluffy, big kernel covered in dark chocolate — the white chocolate you can take or leave, as it doesn't do much for the popcorn other than making it obnoxiously sweet — it's divine. But then you get a couple of dry kernels, and you have to ask yourself, "Well, what's the point?" Moreover, the chocolate is not high quality, and I honestly think I could have made myself a better batch at home. It's not the worst on this list, but it's certainly not the best. 

There is a big difference between Angie's Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn and its lighter counterpart. These kernels are more mushroom-like, and each one is coated with a little bit of a crunchier and more syrupy layer. So, if we're going off appearances alone, this one is more kettle corn-like. However, its sweetness doesn't align with what I associate kettle corn with. It's not super sweet, as it only boasts about 70 calories per cup, nor does it have a dense or caramel-forward flavor like others on this list did. That being said, the kernels themselves are lighter and more dainty than other brands, so you get a good squeak as you bite into them.

However, I'm not really too sold on the "salty" component of the label. This kettle corn is sweet, but not too sweet, but the salt is all but gone. I even mixed up the bag to see if the salt had just gone to the kernels on the bottom of the bag, but I didn't see a difference. When I think of kettle corn, I think of something a little heavier and more indulgent than BOOMCHICKAPOP can offer. That being said, like the lighter version, there is a time and a place for this popcorn. It's just not in the winner's circle, apparently. 

I can appreciate that Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP covers all of its flavor bases. Not only does it carry a standard kettle corn, but it also carries this slightly lighter option, which contains only about 35 calories per cup. Like the classic Angie's kettle corn, it has a moderate sweetness, along with a little bit of a crunch factor. It's like a slightly sweeter version of normal popcorn, which makes me think that it would be more amendable to people who are watching their sugar intake or just prefer a popcorn variety that's less sweet. 

The only reason I ranked it above the other BOOMCHICKAPOP flavor was because it actually had some saltiness to it. Though, it walks a very, very thin line between being too salty and not sweet enough. Kettle corn is supposed to be sweet and indulgent, and this one just doesn't have enough sweetness going on — or enough crunch — to make me think that it is truly a "kettle corn." 

There's a reason why caramel candies are packed into small servings. Caramel is so dense, sweet, and heavy that eating a small piece at a time can be overwhelming. Popcorn is supposed to be a food you can eat a ton of and not feel awful about afterward, so when you mix it with super sweet, sugary, and heavy caramel, it's a recipe for disaster. 

I will say that the caramel coating on this G.H. Cretors popcorn is divine. It's sweet, well-developed, buttery, and hits all the flavor notes that I would want from a caramel sauce or a caramel candy. But, it was exhausting to eat more than two pieces of it at a time because it hurt my teeth and left a sugary coating in my mouth. While I think the fact that it's so indulgent would allow you to stretch a bag of the popcorn across several months, I don't think it's conducive to snacking on while you're watching a movie or doing something mindless. 

Let's get one thing straight: Takis will never be my go-to chip. I tend not to opt for spicy things, and Takis are just a little too much all at once. And as expected, I felt the same way about this popcorn. There is an equal balance between the artificial lime essence and bold, unrelenting heat that coats your tastebuds and sends you gasping for water. Though, it's a stale heat — not like the spiciness found in a fresh pepper or a spicy salsa. I didn't find it prickly; it was instead a mashup of savory and spicy that frankly made it tiresome to eat. 

Popcorn is a snack that you should be able to eat a whole bunch of in a single sitting. I ate one or two bites of this popcorn, and I was overwhelmed by how artificial it tasted. While I will give Popcornopolis some credit for hitting the Takis flavor it's supposed to be representing on the head, I don't think it translated well into popcorn. If it was in a chip, you would have had the crunchiness to distract from the flavor. But since the kernels are soft and squishy, the flavor just mushes into your mouth. This popcorn might taste better after a few drinks, so I'll let you do some testing of your own to see if it's worth buying. 

Hot honey popcorn is a great idea — in theory. The honey would offer the sweetness, while the spiciness of the chilis would add something novel and prevent it from becoming too cloying. While it's a great concept, I think that G.H. Cretors really missed the execution part of the equation.

When you first bite into these massive kernels, you get a slight floral flavor from the honey. From there, a little prickle forms on your tongue, like a little dancing raindrop of heat, before it dissipates. The bag notes that this product is supposed to be "mild," and I suppose I can understand where it's coming from and why it wouldn't want to make a product so obnoxiously spicy that you could only eat two kernels before putting the bag down and running for a glass of water. But, dare I say that I wanted more heat to really sell me on the "hot honey" label? I just don't think G.H. Cretors really pushed as hard as it could with this flavor. And in this close race, there's no room for half-hearted attempts. 

Chicago-style popcorn is unique, to say the least. While G.H. Cretors was not the first company to revolutionize the concept of pairing caramel and cheese popcorn together in a single bag, it did make a valiant attempt at making the duo work. 

There is an equal ratio of the caramel to cheese popcorn in this bag. It's the same caramel popcorn that I had ranked lower on this list due to its only-sweet-enough-for-two-bites-ness. But when you pair it with a slightly salty, cheese-coated kernel, it's a decent bite. However, I don't know if I'm the biggest fan of the lingering buttery and brown-sugar flavor of the caramel against the cheese. You need to eat a 2-to-1 ratio of cheese to caramel to quell the sugariness — which is, given the ratio of kernels in the bag, unsustainable. I think it would have been a more successful pairing if the caramel was less cloying. 

Moreover, the cheese flavor on the popcorn itself isn't really that good. I expected a cheap, nacho cheese Doritos-like dust, but I was met with a slight buttery coating that tasted a little like processed American cheese, but with an unenthusiastic attempt at the cheesy flavor. 

I think this unconventional mashup would appear to some eaters (read: folks from Chicago who know and love this duo), but I think most people would pass it over in the snack aisle. It's novel, sure, but I think it's too much of an incomplete thought to be successful. 

I chuckled a little bit when I saw that Popcornopolis had to put the "non-spicy" label on its bag of Takis Intense Nacho Popcorn. I suppose it probably should have just dropped the "Takis" moniker because these popcorn kernels don't taste anything like any Takis I've ever had. When I opened the bag, I was shocked but not really to see how florescent orange each of the kernels was. They're like a nightmare to anyone who avoids colored food dyes.  

But the fact that their color was flat-out scary did not push them down in my ranking. Rather, it was their dull and fake-tasting cheese flavor that did them in. I guess when you label something as "nacho," you are kind of opening up the floodgates to some artificial flavor. But this one was like the butter flavoring at the movie theaters was mixed with concentrated nacho cheese dust and was sprayed on the kernels with a fire hose. It was unrelenting and lacked any sort of resemblance to "real" cheese. However, I ranked it above the cheesy popcorn in G.H. Cretors bag solely based on the fact that Popcornopolis really committed to the cheese bit, whereas G.H. Cretors was too conservative in its flavors (on its cheese popcorn, at least). I wouldn't take these nacho cheese kernels over a bag of my favorite Doritos, but they're good enough to eat a couple of handfuls. 

I was waiting to stumble upon a kettle corn flavor that actually tasted like kettle corn. And it took me until the last possible bag I tried for this ranking to find it. Popcorn Indiana's Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn had a better flavor than the other brands, as it actually touched upon the salty and sweet component — and did them both justice. It reminded me of the classic kettle corn I would get from a booth at the state fair. I'm talking about the crispy kernels that almost crinkle when they touch and that have a dusty (but not gritty) coating of salt and sugar on the outside. The flavor was definitely sweet, though not cloying, and I think that the addition of salt had a lot to do with that.

These kernels are quite satisfying and, unlike some of my lower-ranked brands, I felt myself taking handful after handful of them and not questioning it. I don't think it had the novelty of my top-ranked brand, but if you're looking for state-fair-quality popcorn in the dead of winter, this is the bag I would recommend picking up. 

This kettle corn flavor gives off the vibes of the massive popcorn tins that my family gave to my neighbors as a kid — when we weren't close enough to get them something meaningful but still wanted to let them know we were thinking of them. It seems a little random to mix the salted caramel corn together with the buttery, puffy kernels — but I kinda think it works. 

I would recommend giving your bag a good shake before you dive in as you'll want to get a good mix of butter-flavored and caramel-coated kernels in every bite. The salted caramel kernels are super, super sweet, yet get a check from the salt that prevents their flavor from becoming overwhelming. I also got a subtle and balanced saltiness from these kernels, which is something that few of the other lower-ranked products achieved. However, I will say that the buttery kernels were not the star of this mix; they have a slightly plasticky undertone that's more apparent when you eat one solo than if you snacked on it with the salted caramel pieces. When you eat the two together, though, it works — which is what G.H. Cretors intended. This would be a great movie night snack when you don't know if you want something salty or sweet. 

I have been a kettle corn fan for years, so I was excited to take on the task of ranking some of the popular options available at my local grocery store. I was shocked to see the variation of what brands consider to be "kettle corn," though I kept some standards in mind to ensure that I was ranking them all fairly. First, I looked for the flavor balance of the product. Was it too sweet — or not sweet enough? The sweet and salty flavors should have elements of both sweet and salty intertwined, while the cheesy popcorns should have offered a bold, fresh, and umami flavor. 

I also considered the overall snackability of the food. While you might be able to eat a couple of potato chips and be done, popcorn is one of those foods best shoveled into your mouth. If the flavor or texture impacted this process, I ranked it lower on this list.