Homemade Popcorn Is So Much Better with This Simple Ingredient & You Can Thank Alamo Drafthouse

I hate to be the ones to say it, but homemade popcorn often kinda sucks. Okay, maybe I just need to work on my technique, but it can often just feel like a chore instead of a pleasure. The seasoning never sticks to it properly, it doesn’t have that buttery, smooth taste that I crave, and the kernels always seem to burn way too quickly. I can’t be the only one… Can I?

Thankfully, though, the days of substandard stovetop popcorn are soon to be over, thanks to one key ingredient that movie theaters like Alamo Drafthouse (as well as others) use. That ingredient in question? It’s that tub of coconut oil that’s been sitting at the back of your cupboard, begging to be used. 

Coconut Oil Will Give Your Popcorn a Smooth, Slightly Sweet Flavor

Anyone who’s used coconut oil in cooking can attest to its ability to imbue food with creaminess, thanks to its high saturated fat levels, with gentle hints of nuttiness and sweetness that don’t get in the way of savory flavors. This flavor profile works incredibly well with popcorn, and its own slight nuttiness, which is lifted by the oil without it becoming distracting. This lack of intrusiveness also means that coconut oil popcorn can be seasoned in pretty much any way you want. It’s basically like canola oil, but with way more character, and it will give your popcorn that classic movie theater flavor. 

Another bonus to using coconut oil (and another similarity to canola) is its smoke point. Like other refined vegetable oils, refined coconut oil can withstand temperatures of up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that it won’t burn and infiltrate your popcorn with a charred flavor. Given that popcorn needs to get to around that temperature to start popping properly, you need a fat that can take it, and coconut oil delivers. 

Alamo Drafthouse Isn’t the Only Movie Theater That Uses Coconut Oil 

Alamo Drafthouse famously opts to use coconut oil in its popcorn, due to its superior flavor profile—but it’s far from the only theater to do so. Others like AMC, Marcus, and Regal theaters also use coconut oil for their popcorn. Cinemark, meanwhile, prefers to use canola oil. To conjure up that buttery flavor, movie theaters tend not to use real butter, but instead opt for Flavacol, a popcorn seasoning blend that simultaneously adds saltiness and a creamy note (and the iconic yellow color that all good buckets of popcorn exude). 

So, there you are, folks: all of the secrets to the best homemade popcorn. Excuse us while we go and get a tub of coconut oil and sneak our own popcorn into the screening along with the rest of our favorite movie theater snacks. Hey, we’re not condoning it, but they’re pretty expensive these days, right?