Popcorn is a versatile snack - you can make it as naughty or as healthy as you want! Slather it in melted butter or caramel, or pop it dry with just a hint of salt - it can go either way! Kernel Season's has an awesome line of all natural gluten free popcorn seasonings. They are only 2-5 calories per ¼ tsp serving and are fat free, making them a better choice than drenching your popcorn in melted butter.
Though if you want to go that route, there's no judgment from us. Nope. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
We tried five savory flavored popcorn toppings - Nacho Cheddar, Bacon Cheddar, Garlic Parmesan, Ranch, and White Cheddar.
And then we tried three sweet varieties of popcorn flavors - Milk Chocolate Caramel, Kettle Corn, and Caramel! If none of these tickle your fancy, there are even MORE fun flavors available for purchase from Kernel Season's website!
On the lids and on the labels of each seasoning, there are ideas for other ways to use them.
Kernel Season's also makes their own popping corn and oil blend for making popcorn on the stove, as well as a zero fat, zero calorie butter spritz to help the seasoning stick. If you recall, I also used this spray on a homemade pizza crust a couple of weeks ago.
We popped a big bowl of popcorn and tried each of the flavorings. Here's what we thought:
Nacho Cheddar - This one was pretty awesome and is a great classic flavor. It had the right amount of saltiness and there was nothing odd or "off" about the cheese flavor. 5 out of 5
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White Cheddar - One of our very favorites! Matt and I are both fans of white cheddar popcorn, so we were prepared to judge this one pretty harshly, but we LOVED it. The cheese flavor was surprisingly fresh for a powdered seasoning, and there was no hint of an aftertaste. We would totally buy this one again. 5 out of 5
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Bacon Cheddar - Sadly, we weren't too thrilled with this one. It does have a smoky cheddar flavor that you'd expect, but there was just something about the bacon that didn't quite gel. I think the smoky cheese flavor by itself would have been a better choice. 2.5 out of 5
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Garlic Parmesan - We really enjoyed this one for a couple of reasons. There's a nice balance between the garlic and Parmesan (the cheese flavor was maybe a teensy bit stronger) and the saltiness was, again, on par. What I loved about this one is I can immediately think of other ways to use it other than on popcorn. Wouldn't this be great on some hot buttered rolls, bread sticks, or the edges of a pizza crust? The only reason I'm giving this one a 4.5 is because there are other flavors I choose to purchase before this one, but it's still a keeper. 4.5 out of 5
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Ranch - We were surprised at how strong the ranch flavor was in this one, and I enjoyed that there were little visible parsley flakes. I'm sucker for visuals. 🙂 This is another one where I can see using it on other things besides just popcorn, maybe to season some homemade tortilla chips? 5 out of 5
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Kettle Corn - All right, so we were prepared to not like this one, since you just don't mess with traditionally-prepared kettle corn. It's my all-time favorite popcorn variety. While you won't get the telltale light sugar crust from using this seasoning, it is a convincing substitute! The flavor is spot on for kettle corn and we both agreed that this was our favorite out of all of the seasonings. 5 out of 5
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Milk Chocolate Caramel - We weren't a fan of this one as a popcorn seasoning - it was just missing that bold chocolate hit and it was a little powdery on the tongue. The caramel flavor is there, and I thought it was even a little more prominent than the chocolate. This one may be better suited as a topping on hot cereals like Cream of Wheat or oatmeal, or sprinkled on the foam of a cappuccino. I think using this blended into a liquid of some form would help with the powdery-ness (like my new word?) of it. 3 out of 5
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Caramel - This is another one that had a lot to live up to, because caramel corn is also something that you just don't wanna mess with. While this one would be okay if you're in a pinch and don't have the time or energy to make real caramel, I wouldn't use it regularly. The flavor just isn't quiiiiite there. Again, I think this one would be better suited for other uses, such as sprinkled onto sweet breakfast pastries or toast, or again, in hot cereals or coffee! 3 out of 5
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Overall Impressions: As a whole, we thought this was a nifty and diverse line up of seasonings, and I really liked the suggestions for using them on other things besides just popcorn. Our favorite flavors were Kettle Corn, White Cheddar, and Ranch, and our least favorite flavor was Bacon Cheddar. I will certainly keep these in mind as I prepare other dishes, so you may see these pop up in future blog posts if I find some new uses for them!
Disclosure: We’re dedicated to honest, unbiased reviews. View our product review information right here!
Find out More: Get additional information on these products by visiting the Kernel Season's website, or you can follow them on Facebook!
Kernel Season's Popcorn Giveaway!
For all of you popcorn lovers out there, Kernel Season's was kind enough to provide an additional popcorn kit to one of our lucky readers! Get the info below and use the nifty little widget to enter! Contest ends next Monday (September 24th) at midnight!
And quite nutritionally healthful. Good ingredients that I don't feel bad having my children use. They're crazy about the Bacon Cheddar.
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I would love to try the Garlic Parmesan, my favorite is cheese popcorn
White cheddar is my favorite.
My favorite is the Ranch
Milk Chocolate Caramel sound very good.
I like Ranch flavor
white cheddar
I love Kettle Corn!
My favorite is cheddar
Kettle Corn is my favorite.
My favorite popcorn is white cheddar!
My favorite flavor of popcorn is white cheddar.
I love Caramel flavored popcorn.
I love white cheddar popcorn the best, but that ranch flavor sounds great!
We love kettle corn.
I love Jalapeno flavored popcorn.
I love caramel popcorn the best.
White Cheddar is my favorite
i love buffalo chicken popcorn
My favorite flavor popcorn is White Cheddar.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
Love love love Kettle Corn!
White cheddar is my fave
I love white cheddar
My favorite flavor is white cheddar.
Nacho cheese would be my favorite
I love cookies and cream popcorn
I usually just like butter, but the garlic parmasen sure sound good
karenb834atyahoo.com
white cheddar
Nacho Cheddar sounds delicious!
caramel is my favorite
White cheddar is amazing ! We actually use it lol.
My favorite would be the white cheddar flavor
I've tried the ranch and it's meh.
I LOVE anything White Cheddar so I'm excited to try it!
would love kettle corn (just coming off the fair kettle corn might be hard to beat, but I'll trust ya if it was your fave). Or the ranch!!!
These sound amazing!!!
Kettle Corn is my favorite flavor.
Looks good!
butter butter butter
My favorite flavor is butter...lots of it
butter, butter and MORE butter is MY fave!!!
I love kettle corn! I wonder how the garlic parmasean would work on chicken?
OMG
Mmmm, we love kettle corn too, but all of these flavors sound great. I like popcorn as an occasional snack since it's fairly low in calories and no fat, so I'm glad these are all extremely low in calories too!
My favorite popcorn flavor is butter, extra butter! But since i am trying to be healthy i eat air popped popcorn with seasoning on it so i would love to win this!