This sweet and salty Grinch Popcorn is a family favorite for holiday movie nights and Christmas parties. Fresh popcorn is covered in a green and buttery white chocolate and marshmallow mixture filled with bright red candies.
Looking for more popcorn recipes? You may also love this Coconut Caramel Popcorn, Peanut Butter Popcorn, Andes Mint Popcorn, or this classic Homemade Caramel Popcorn.
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Grinch Popcorn
For anyone else who has an annual How the Grinch Stole Christmas Movie Night, this Grinch popcorn recipe is the absolute perfect snack. It’s super simple to make—boil sugar and butter for about 1 minute, then mix in mini marshmallows and white chocolate chips. Add a few drops of green food coloring, mix, and voila—Grinch food!
Add little red candy hearts or even red M&Ms and serve as popcorn balls or in little individual cups or bags. If you want to keep the theme going, we also have these adorable Grinch Cookies that you might love.
Key Ingredients
- Popcorn - I prefer using freshly popped popcorn. You can use microwave popcorn or popcorn from the bag, however just make sure it’s only lightly salted and doesn’t have extra butter or flavors added to it.
- Marshmallows - mini marshmallows will melt the quickest so that’s what I prefer to use.
- Butter - this adds flavor and keeps the white chocolate and marshmallow mixture soft but easy to eat—not too sticky or too crisp.
- Karo Syrup - this is added to the sugar mixture as it boils to help prevent it from crystallizing, which causes the sugar to become grainy.
- White Chocolate - for the best flavor, use high quality white chocolate chips. Guittard works great. You can also use green candy melts if you prefer, in which case you could skip the green food coloring.
- Green Food Coloring - I recommend using gel food coloring just because it has less liquid added to it.
- Red Candies - red M&Ms, candy hearts, or heart sprinkles would all work great. Basically anything that reminds you of the Grinch’s little red heart.
How to Make Grinch Popcorn
- Pop the popcorn. Pop enough popcorn to make about 8-10 cups, removing the unpopped popcorn kernels. Set 1-2 cups aside.
- Cook the butter and sugar mixture. In a large saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a rapid boil over medium heat while stirring, then boil for 1 full minute.
- Add the marshmallows and chocolate. Reduce the heat and add the marshmallows, white chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and green food coloring. Stir and continue to heat until the marshmallows are almost melted.
- Stir into the popcorn. Pour half of the marshmallow mixture into one of the popcorn bowls and half into the other. Use a large mixing spoon to cover the popcorn in marshmallow mixture, adding more popcorn if needed. You want the popcorn to be covered in the marshmallow mixture but not dry. Add ½ cup of the red candies to each large bowl and stir again.
- Cool and serve. Spread the popcorn mixture on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Let the popcorn cool and then shape into popcorn balls or put into small clear cups to make it easy to eat. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
My favorite is air popped popcorn. Not only is it the most fresh, but you can also control what you add to it. Microwave popcorn will work, but it always has extra flavoring. If you do use microwave popcorn, just be sure to find the kind that doesn’t have extra butter added.
I recommend storing in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot at room temperature. It should stay fresh for up to 3 days this way.
This recipe calls for adding a few drops of green food coloring which will color the marshmallow and white chocolate mixture fairly easily. You could also substitute green candy melts for the white chocolate so that you don’t need to add any food coloring.
Storing Instructions
- Room Temperature: store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Grinch Popcorn Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 cups Popped Popcorn about 2 large bowls popped (about 1 cup kernals if air-popping)
- 14 oz Marshmallows
- 1 cup Butter
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Karo Syrup
- 1 ½ cups White Chocolate chips
- 6 drops Green Food Coloring
- 1 cup Red Candy red M&Ms, heart sprinkles, or cinnamon hearts,
Instructions
- Pop the popcorn and add to 2 large bowls, reserving about 1-2 cups on the side to mix in if you need them.
- In a large saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a rapid boil over medium heat while stirring, then boil for 1 full minute.
- After 1 minute, reduce the heat to low and add the marshmallows, white chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and green food coloring. Stir and continue to heat until the marshmallows are almost melted. Remove from the heat and stir until completely melted.
- Pour half of the marshmallow mixture into one of the popcorn bowls and half into the other. Use a large mixing spoon to cover the popcorn in marshmallow mixture, adding more popcorn if needed. You want the popcorn to be covered in the marshmallow mixture but not dry. Add ½ cup of the red candies to each large bowl and stir again.
- Spread the popcorn mixture on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Let the popcorn cool and then shape into popcorn balls or put into small clear cups to make it easy to eat. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Holiday Popcorn Recipes
- Peanut Butter Popcorn
- Andes Mint Popcorn
- Candy Cane Popcorn
- Homemade Caramel Popcorn
- Coconut Caramel Popcorn
- Fall Party Mix
- Firecracker Popcorn
- Cinnamon Bear Marshmallow Popcorn
- More Dessert Recipes
- More Holiday Recipes
This Grinch Popcorn is a super fun and delicious way to enjoy holiday movie night. Turn into Christmas popcorn balls or serve in small cups or bags for a sweet and salty treat that everyone will love.
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