Ad-free. Influence-free. Powered by consumers.
Skip to Main ContentThe payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us.
Re-activate
Plenty of Americans reach for popcorn when it's time to watch the Oscars, the Crawleys, or the latest zombie attack. When we asked readers their favorite snack during special shows, popcorn led the list. (To our readers' credit, "Nothing; I don't snack" came in second.)
Our experts conducted blind taste tests of 13 bagged, ready-to-eat popcorns: seven in white-cheddar flavor and six in kettle (sweet and salty) flavor. They also tasted three butter-flavored popcorns: two microwaved and one already popped but in a heatable bag.
Three products were excellent: Trader Joe's white-cheddar popcorn, with tender kernels, a bit of sweetness, and a nice balance of real cheddar and toasty corn flavors; and Smartfood and Walgreens Nice kettle popcorns. Both of those were tender inside and crisp outside with balanced sweetness and saltiness and a delicious caramelized flavor. The lowest-rated cheese and kettle popcorns tended to have off-tastes, a stale texture, or other drawbacks.
The microwaved butter-flavored popcorns, Orville Redenbaher Movie Theater Butter Pop Up Bowl and Pop Secret Homestyle, were actually a notch below the best bagged products. (Movie theater popcorn often has a strong artificial-butter flavoring; homestyle usually has real-butter flavor.) The prepopped microwaveable product, Popcorn, Indiana Movie Theater, was tough, with off-tastes, a burnt note, and lots of hulls. But it was priciest of the butter-flavored popcorns, at 50 cents per serving.
Most of the products in the chart scored just fair for nutrition, based on calories, fat, sodium, and other nutrients. All have 2 or 3 grams of fiber per serving. Although a serving weighs 1 ounce, serving sizes differ with density, ranging from 1 to 2.5 cups in the bagged products. Check the nutrition numbers that matter to you, because they can differ a lot from one product to another. Fat, for example, ranges from 1.5 to 11 grams per serving among the rated products; sugars, from 1 to 16 grams. Air-popped corn, with no flavoring or oil, is a better snack choice.
See the Ratings for the best choices in two flavors. Nice kettle popcorn is a CR Best Buy at just 19 cents per 1-cup serving. Don't assume that all products within a brand are of similar quality. Scores for Nice; Orville Redenbacher; Popcorn, Indiana, and Wise popcorns differed depending on their flavor.
This article also appeared in the March 2014 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
Build & Buy Car Buying Service
Save thousands off MSRP with upfront dealer pricing information and a transparent car buying experience.
Get Ratings on the go and compare
while you shop
