Rainbow Popcorn

 Brightly colored rainbow popcorn is a magically sweet treat. Colorful and delicious, each bite of crispy rainbow popcorn has a different fruity flavor.

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Colorful and delicious, rainbow popcorn is a fun and fruity treat. Simple to make, brightly colored popcorn is perfect for celebrating any event.

MORE RECIPES: Layered Pumpkin Spice Jello Pie (No Bake) | Ambrosia Salad | Orange Fluff

Each bite of crispy rainbow popcorn has a different flavor thanks to the secret ingredient used to make it, Jello-O. This colorful popcorn is a magical snack for a unicorn party, St Patrick’s Day, or a movie night at home.

Made with your favorite Jell-O flavors, rainbow popcorn has a craveable crunch that’s similar to caramel corn, just with sweet fruity flavors. Simply change the flavored gelatin flavor to create a rainbow of different colors and flavors.

You can even arrange your popcorn to look like a rainbow when you serve it. Simply layout your rainbow colors on a large cutting board or serving platter. Add plain popcorns to the end of the rainbow to look like clouds.

Rainbow Popcorn Ingredients

• Popcorn - popped popcorn
• Salted butter 
• Sugar - granulated sugar
• Corn syrup - light corn syrup
• Salt - sea salt
• Jell-O - or flavored gelatin
• Baking soda 

Plain, air-popped popcorn is the best for this sweet popcorn recipe, but you can use microwave popcorn if you don’t have an air-popper. If you use microwave popcorn, look for plain popcorn and you’ll need to pop two standard-size bags of popcorn per batch.

This recipe uses corn syrup, sugar, salted butter, and Jello powder to create the colored popcorn. Each recipe makes one batch of colored popcorn so you’ll need to repeat the steps of the recipe for each different color you want in your rainbow.

If you want to brighten the popcorn colors you can add gel or liquid food coloring to the candy coating mixture when you add the baking soda. Serve up individual bowls of rainbow popcorn and even add in your favorite candy for an extra treat.

How to Make Rainbow Popcorn

FIRST STEP: Preheat oven to 250°F.  Spread popcorn in a 3-4 quart glass or metal baking dish 9 (at least 9x13, but larger will make it even easier to stir the popcorn.

SECOND STEP: In a medium saucepan, heat butter, sugar, corn syrup, and sea salt over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring frequently.

THIRD STEP: Add contents of the jello packet to the saucepan and stir until fully combined.

FOURTH STEP: Bring the mixture back up to a low boil and leave to simmer undisturbed for a full 5 minutes.

FIFTH STEP: Remove from heat and stir in baking soda - mixture will foam up a bit.

SIXTH STEP: Pour jello mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat as evenly as possible.

SEVENTH STEP: Bake for 55-60 minutes, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes. After the popcorn has cooked for 45 minutes, remove a piece from the oven and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes. Taste to determine if the coating is crisp and dry or if it is sticky. Continue cooking the popcorn 5-10 minutes longer until it is no longer sticky when cooled.

EIGHTH STEP: Remove popcorn from the oven and immediately scoop it out onto parchment paper. Allow popcorn to cool and break into pieces. 

NINTH STEP: Repeat for additional colors and flavors. 

What kind of popcorn should I use? 

Plain air-popped popcorn or two standard-size bags of microwave popcorn. If you are popping popcorn kernels, ⅓ cup of kernels yields approximately 10 cups of popped popcorn. 

Can I make rainbow popcorn in advance? 

Yes, popcorn can be made in advance. Rainbow popcorn will last stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week. 

How do I make more than one color? 

The ingredients listed in the recipe are for one color of popcorn. If you want to create multiple colors you need separate ingredients for each color you intend to make.

How to Store Rainbow Popcorn 

ON THE COUNTER:  Store cooled rainbow popcorn in an airtight container. Popcorn will stay fresh for 5 to 7 days as long as it’s kept in an airtight container.

Rainbow Popcorn

5 from 6 votes

Author: Shauna

 Brightly colored rainbow popcorn is a magically sweet treat. Colorful and delicious, each bite of crispy rainbow popcorn has a different fruity flavor.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 9 cup popcorn popped
• ½ cup salted butter for each color of popcorn you want to make
• ½ cup granulated sugar for each color of popcorn you want to make
• ½ cup light corn syrup for each color of popcorn you want to make
• ½ teaspoon sea salt for each color of popcorn you want to make
• 3 ounce Jell-O or flavored gelatin for each color of popcorn you want to make
• ½ teaspoon baking soda for each color of popcorn you want to make

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 250°F.
• Spread popcorn in a 3 to 4 quart glass or metal baking dish, at least 9x13 but larger will make it even easier to stir the popcorn.
• In a medium saucepan heat butter, sugar, corn syrup, and sea salt over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring frequently.
• Add contents of the jello packet to the saucepan and stir until fully combined.
• Bring the mixture back up to a low boil and leave to simmer undisturbed for a full 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in baking soda, the mixture will foam up a bit.
• Pour jello mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat as evenly as possible.
• Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes. After popcorn has cooked for 45 minutes, remove a piece from the oven and allow it to cool for a couple minutes. Taste to determine if the coating is crisp and dry or if it is sticky. Continue cooking the popcorn 5 to 10 minutes longer until it is no longer sticky when cooled.
• Remove popcorn from the oven and immediately scoop out onto parchment paper. Allow popcorn to cool and break into pieces.
• Repeat for additional colors and flavors.

Notes

NOTE: The ingredients listed above are for 1 color of popcorn. If you want to create rainbow popcorn as we did, you need separate ingredients for each color you intend to make.

TIP: ⅓ cup of popcorn kernels yields approximately 10 cups of popped corn.

TIP: Once it starts to cool, the candy coating sets fast. Stir it quickly and evenly into the popcorn to completely coat it before the mixture starts to cool.

TIP: If you don't bake your popcorn long enough, it will be chewy. You can pop it back into the oven for a few more minutes if this happens.

Nutrition

Calories: 943kcal | Carbohydrates: 175g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 391mg | Potassium: 510mg | Fiber: 23g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 6mg

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