Kroger Original Butter Microwave Popcorn Review

There’s nothing like a big buttery bowl of Kroger microwave popcorn to compliment an exciting movie or TV show. Or, these days, the morning news. The perfect snack, popcorn is both tasty and actually reasonably healthy. There are even low calorie popcorn options if you search hard enough. And while I acknowledge that the best popcorn is made from scratch over an open fire, I prefer the kind that you can just pop in the microwave for that near-instant gratification.

Is Kroger Original Butter Microwave Popcorn Good?

You might be surprised at the amount of science that goes in to an inexpensive bag of microwave popcorn. While traditional popcorn is made with just corn kernels, salt, and butter, this recipe doesn’t really work in bagged form: Butter is not shelf-stable.

Instead, microwave popcorn manufacturers are forced to simulate butter using other ingredients. For this popcorn, the first four ingredients are popcorn, palm oil, salt, and “natural and artificial butter flavor”. I’m not quite sure how they did it, but Kroger’s flavoring mix is spot on with this one. It tastes the way that popcorn should without any of that “movie theater popcorn” nonsense.

Large Bags of Quality Popcorn

When it comes to microwave popcorn, there are some other variables worth talking about as well. With 3 ounces of popcorn per bag, Kroger popcorn is actually a very large bag of popcorn! It just barely fits inside my tiny microwave, and I do have to add a little bit of time to ensure that the entire bag is popped. Kroger microwave popcorn is ideal for families with a normal-to-large size, powerful microwave.

Additionally, the quality of the bag itself is top-notch. With some other popcorn brands, overheating and scorching of the bag can impact the flavor of the final product. I’ve never had this happen with Kroger popcorn. It comes out perfect every time.

Kroger Microwave Popcorn Nutrition

Kroger Microwave Popcorn boasts 140 Calories per serving. That’s 420 Calories for those of you who eat an entire bag to yourself… Outside of the caloric content, it contains a modest amount of dietary fiber, a hint of protein, and zero sugar.

The ingredients are popcorn, palm oil, salt, natural and artificial butter flavor, soy lecithin, and beta carotene.

Kroger Popcorn Pricing

This is subject to change, but at the time this article was written, Kroger Original Butter Popcorn was listed at Kroger.com for only $1.25 for a box of 3! That’s about as inexpensive as it gets. In general, this stuff goes on sale all the time. Look for coupons or discounts and stock up when the price is right.

Off Brand Guy’s Popcorn Secret

This is the dark secret that Big Popcorn doesn’t want you to know about. Did you know it isn’t really necessary to comparison shop for the perfect popcorn flavor? Just buy the cheapest popcorn that pops well (Such as Kroger). Then, head over to the spice aisle: You can buy top-quality popcorn seasoning and add as much as you want.

How To Improve Taste of Kroger Microwave Popcorn

Or, try these ideas for “souping up” a bowl of microwave popcorn!

• Add a dash of fresh ground black pepper (seriously, it’s better than it sounds!)
• Melt a tablespoon or two of butter. Dump it on top of the popcorn.
• Mist it with a bit of olive oil from one of those nonstick spray cans. Make sure to check the ingredients first 🙂
• Add a smattering of Kroger Garlic Powder and Cayenne Pepper.
• Tabasco Sauce.

What’s your secret for perfect microwave popcorn? Leave a comment below or contact me any time — I need to hear from you!