Smoked Sea Salt Popcorn
This vegan Smoked Sea Salt Popcorn recipe was inspired by the bacon-flavored popcorn at one of my favorite Atlanta restaurants.
In the spirit of Halloween, this month’s recipe redux theme is spooky spices. You know – the herbs you bought and used once or those jars of obscure spices you somehow acquired but just can’t seem to part ways with? I’m sure you can relate.
When I saw the theme I checked to see which spices were lurking in the dark corners of my pantry. Because I recently cleaned and reorganized the pantry, there weren’t many extra spices hanging out in there. I did find a few that I purchased with good intentions yet never cracked the seal. One of which was this Smoked Sea Salt from Trader Joe’s.
I thought… what better time than now to crack that seal? I started thinking about all things smoky which naturally led me to bacon. And those thoughts of bacon led me to the popcorn at The Shed at Glenwood. Instead of the usual pre-meal bread and butter, the folks at The Shed serve up little bowls of smoky and slightly addictive bacon-flavored popcorn. And that’s what inspired this recipe.
Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. There are few things better than salt on hot popcorn… except maybe this smoked salt, olive oil and Italian herb mixture on hot popcorn. Check out the easy recipe below…
Smoked Sea Salt Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil + 2 T olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 1/2 t Italian herb seasoning
- 1/3 cup unpopped white popcorn
- 1/2 t smoked salt finely ground
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, crushed garlic cloves and Italian seasoning. Heat over medium heat just until the garlic is fragrant, not browned. Remove the garlic from the pot and briefly set aside.
- For the stovetop popcorn, follow the package instructions or do what I did:
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels to a large, heavy-bottom pot. Cover and turn the heat to medium-high. Listen. As the kernels pop, shake the pot to make sure all kernels are heated. Periodically open the lid to allow steam to escape (away from you). Once the popping slows down, remove the pot from the heat and remove the lid.
- Add the popcorn to a large bowl. Drizzle the hot popcorn with the warm olive oil and herb mixture. Sprinkle with the smoked salt, toss and serve immediately.
Notes
Final verdict on TJ’s Smoked Sea Salt? Ehhh… I liked it but I wanted a more pronounced smoky flavor. Next time, I will try one with a bolder flavor… maybe a hickory smoked salt.
Check out the recipes below to see what the other Recipe Reduxers brewed up with their “spooky” spices this month.
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Elizabeth @ Eating Local in the Lou
October 22, 2014 at 10:18 PM (4 years ago)Min
October 23, 2014 at 7:53 AM (4 years ago)Marisa
October 23, 2014 at 11:55 AM (4 years ago)Katie @ Mom's Kitchen Handbook
October 23, 2014 at 10:23 AM (4 years ago)Marisa
October 23, 2014 at 11:56 AM (4 years ago)genevieve @ gratitude & greens
October 23, 2014 at 10:33 AM (4 years ago)Marisa
October 23, 2014 at 11:57 AM (4 years ago)Deanna Segrave-Daly
November 17, 2014 at 5:01 PM (4 years ago)Marisa
November 18, 2014 at 11:17 AM (4 years ago)