Honey-Mustard Popcorn

Freshly popped popcorn dusted in a flavorful DIY honey-mustard seasoning mix. Movie night is on!

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Editorial Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated April 13, 2025
Overhead view of Honey Mustard Popcorn

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Why It Works

  • Popping the popcorn in a generous amount of oil produces the very best results.
  • Seasoning the kernels lightly before popping ensures the salt is evenly distributed on the popped corn.

I suppose one could, if they so desired, make honey-mustard popcorn by squirting liquid honey and French's mustard all over it. It would without a doubt be honey-mustard popcorn. It'd also be soggy and wet and disgusting. Better is to do what snack-food companies do and sprinkle the popcorn in a honey-mustard dry mixture.

Here's the good news: I've already worked out how to make the honey-mustard dry mix (it includes powdered honey, dry mustard, buttermilk powder, citric acid, and a couple other things, and it tastes a lot like the seasoning on Snyder's honey mustard pretzels). So all you have to do is pop some corn, toss it with this DIY honey-mustard seasoning mix, and you're good for a more flavorful movie night, or snack bag, or whatever you're making popcorn for.

A hand lifting a piece of honey mustard popcorn

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Just a couple notes on this very, very simple recipe:

  • Don't sleep on the popping method here. The kernels are popped in a generous amount of oil, which leads to what we think is some of the objectively best popcorn on the planet, fluffy and crisp all at once. But not only is the popcorn so superior when popped this way, it's also evenly and lightly coated in a sheen of fat that helps the dry seasoning stick to it. You will have a much harder time getting the mix to stick onto air-popped popcorn.
  • While we think putting actual honey and wet mustard on popcorn is a bad idea, we will admit that the powdered honey required to make the dry mix isn't as flavorful as real liquid honey, and when applied to the popcorn, the flavor isn't quite as prominent as one might hope. We won't blame you if you lightly drizzle some liquid honey on top after you've seasoned the popcorn. It'll be stickier, but also tastier.

Recipe Details

Honey-Mustard Popcorn Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 5 mins
Total 10 mins
Serves 4 to 8 servings
Makes 2 quarts
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine oil, popcorn kernels, and a pinch of salt. Cover pot and set over medium-high heat. Cook, shaking pot often, until popcorn begins to pop. As soon as popping has slowed to once every few seconds, remove from heat. Let stand until all popping has stopped, then open pot and transfer popcorn to a large serving bowl.

    Two image collage of popping popcorn

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  2. Immediately sprinkle honey-mustard seasoning mixture all over hot popcorn, tossing to evenly coat. Season with additional salt and drizzle with some liquid honey, if desired, then serve.

    Sprinkling with honey mustard dust

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Make-Ahead and Storage

The popped and seasoned popcorn can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 day. Do not pop the popcorn in advance and attempt to season it later, as the seasoning sticks best when the popcorn is fresh and hot.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
68Calories
5gFat
4gCarbs
1gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories68
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g7%
Saturated Fat 0g2%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 592mg26%
Total Carbohydrate 4g1%
Dietary Fiber 0g1%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg1%
Calcium 30mg2%
Iron 0mg1%
Potassium 80mg2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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