Can You Make Popcorn in the Air Fryer?

Yes, you can make popcorn in the air fryer! Air fryers are all the rage these days. They are a great way to cook food without having to use the microwave or oven. You can make all sorts of things in an air fryer, including popcorn.

It’s especially convenient for when you want to only make a small amount of popcorn for a snack or you don’t have a microwave or oven available to make it with.

However, that being said, there are a few specific considerations you need to make for popping popcorn in an air fryer. We’ll go over the issues you might face and break down the steps for you in this article.

Why Make Popcorn in the Air Fryer?

I have people ask me this or a similar question all the time about various things you might cook in an air fryer. Why use the air fryer to make popcorn when you can easily make it in the microwave or on the stove?

That’s a good question, to which I will answer as I always do, “Why not!”

The air fryer has this special way of cooking food fast and with less oil than would be necessary on the stove. It circulates air that helps pop the corn from all angles at once, so the popcorn comes out airy and fluffy, without the use of a lot of oil.

» Check out these 25 Air Fryer Tips and Tricks.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Tin foil – If you have a basket with large holes, you’ll need to put down a piece of tin foil in the basket so the kernels don’t fall through the holes.
• Popcorn kernels – You want to get a bag of white or yellow popcorn kernels. You cannot use microwave popcorn or pre-flavored popcorn kernels.
• Oil – Use an oil with a high smoke point, like avocado oil or sunflower oil, so it doesn’t produce smoke while you’re cooking. I use spray cooking oil, but if you don’t have any, you can coat the kernels in regular cooking oil.

Helpful Tips

• If you don’t have cooking oil spray, mix the popcorn kernels and oil in a bowl. Stir to coat the kernels with oil, then put them in the air fryer basket.
• It’s best not to exceed 1/4 cup of kernels. If your air fryer is smaller than 5-quarts, you might want to stick with just 2-3 tablespoons. If they overfill the basket, they can burn in the heating element.
• The biggest concern that I’ve run into while making popcorn in the air fryer is that fluffy popped corn is not heavy enough to stay out of the heating element. Generally, they just bounce around and a few might get caught. If they do, they can smoke a lot or even start a fire.
• For this reason, you should never leave the air fryer unattended while making popcorn. If you smell burning, immediately pull out the basket. Now, if there are kernels caught in the element, it’s impossible to get them out until the machine has cooled enough to do so. NEVER stick your hand or any other object up inside the heating element while it’s hot.
• If you find that you can’t successfully pop corn without the heating element issue, you can make a tin foil orb to put the kernels in, so they can’t fly out.

How to Make Popcorn in an Air Fryer

Making popcorn in an air fryer can be a bit of a trial at first, but once you get the hang of it you’ll find that it’s a quick, easy, and healthy snack!

Step 1: Prep the basket

Place a piece of tin foil in the bottom of your basket (if the holes are large enough for the kernels to slip through.

Step 2: Add the popcorn kernels

Add 1/4 cup of kernels to the basket. Spray the kernels with oil. If you don’t have oil spray, you can coat the kernels in oil before adding them to the basket.

Step 3: Air fry

Cook at 400°F(205°C) for approximately 8 minutes, or until you can’t hear any more corn popping.

Open the basket and transfer the popcorn into a bowl. Season to taste.

Pros & Cons of Using the Air Fryer

I would suggest that using the air fryer to make popcorn is not the easiest, fastest, or safest method. If you have the option of sticking with microwave popcorn or making it on the stove, I would choose those methods first. However, if you don’t have another option, you can definitely make this work.

Pros:

• It uses way less oil – you just need a nice spray of oil, not the 3 tablespoons required on the stovetop or popcorn maker
• Freshly popped corn tastes better than microwave popcorn. It’s also not coated with oil, butter, or any other high-calorie toppings, so it’s very low in calories and carbs.

Cons:

• It takes longer to make in the air fryer
• Kernels can fly up into the heating element and cause smoking or fires
• You can’t make a large batch

Questions About the Recipe

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