Is there anything better than sitting down in front of your favorite show or movie with a bowl of popcorn? We don’t think so.
The problem is that a lot of microwave popcorn is not vegan because it tends to contain dairy products, including milk and butter.
To make it easier for you to find plant-based popcorn brands, we’ve created this ultimate guide to vegan microwave popcorn. This will help you find dairy-free brands that are both delicious and vegan-friendly!
Why Most Microwave Popcorn Isn’t Vegan
In case you’re wondering why popcorn wouldn’t be vegan (it’s made out of corn kernels,
after all), most microwave popcorn brands add dairy-based ingredients to enhance the texture and flavor.
Butter is the most common ingredient that makes microwave popcorn not vegan. You might see this written as ‘clarified butter,’ ‘dried butter,’ or ‘dry buttermilk’ on the ingredients list.
Butter oil is also commonly found in microwave popcorn. If you see ‘natural butter flavor’ or ‘natural flavor (includes milk)’ on the packaging, this contains real butter and isn’t suitable for vegans.
Surprisingly, some microwave popcorn brands also use cheese products to make their popcorn. Dried Parmesan or cheddar features on a lot of ingredient lists, as do white cheddar powder and natural white cheddar flavor.
While the addition of cheese to microwave popcorn is not particularly common, it’s still worth being aware of. The main ingredients in microwave popcorn you should be concerned about as a vegan are the many variations of butter.
With that being said, there are also some ingredients used in microwave popcorn that could be considered a ‘gray area’ in terms of veganism. These include:
- Artificial coloring. You know that rich, yellow color we all associate with popcorn? Well, it’s not always natural. Many popcorn brands use food dyes like Yellow 6 or Yellow 5 to make their popcorn a buttery yellow color. While these dyes don’t actually contain animal-derived ingredients, they are tested on animals, which makes many vegans want to avoid them.
- Sucralose. Sucralose doesn’t contain any animal ingredients, and it’s not currently being tested on animals, but while it was being developed, it was animal tested to make sure it was safe for humans. Some vegans prefer not to consume anything that has ever been tested on animals, and for this reason, popcorn containing sucralose might not be vegan by everyone’s standards.
- Palm oil. Like many foods today, microwave popcorn often contains palm oil. Many vegans choose to avoid palm oil because it’s not sustainable. Even though some palm oil is marketed as responsibly sourced, most palm oil contributes to deforestation and habitat loss.
Microwave Popcorn Brands: Vegan or Not?
Pop Secret
Pop Secret produces many popcorn flavors, and while they are definitely not all vegan, 8 of the flavors by this brand are.
The ‘Kettle Corn,’ ‘Sea Salt,’ ‘94% Fat-Free Kettle’, ‘Sweet ‘n Crunchy Caramel,’ ‘Sweet ‘n Crunchy Kettle Corn,’ ‘Kidz First Order Kettle Corn,’ ‘Popfetti,’ and ‘Pumpkin Spice’ flavors are all vegan-friendly as they contain no ingredients that directly come from any animal.
However, the remaining flavors in the range are not vegan for the same reason. The ‘Butter,’ ‘Movie Theater Butter,’ ‘Extra Butter,’ ‘Double Butter,’ ‘Jumbo Pop! Movie Theater Butter, ‘Homestyle,’ ‘Jumbo Pop! Butter’, ‘94% Fat-Free Butter’, ‘Light Butter,’ and ‘Kidz Galactic Butter’ flavors are all non-vegan as they are all made with natural flavoring that contains milk.
Act 2
Act 2 popcorn is a tricky brand to navigate if you’re vegan because while some of the flavors are vegan-friendly, others are not.
For example, the ‘Butter Lovers’ popcorn flavor (arguably, one of the flavors you’d least expect to be vegan’ is completely plant-based. The same is true of ‘Kettle Corn’ and ‘Llama Party Cotton Candy.’
However, all the other popcorn flavors by Act 2 are not suitable for vegans. ‘Homestyle,’ ‘Light Butter,’ ‘Butter,’ and ‘Movie Theater Butter’ all contain flavorings that include milk. ‘Buttery Kettle Corn’ also contains milk, while butter is a key ingredient in ‘94% Fat-Free Butter’.
Newman’s Own
Newman’s Own makes popcorn in many flavors, but only two of them are suitable for vegans. Neither the ‘Tender White’ nor the ‘Sea Salt’ flavors have any dairy products, so they can be considered vegan.
On the other hand, ‘Butter’. ‘Movie Theater Butter,’ ‘Touch of Butter,’ ‘Organic Butter,’ and ‘Organic Touch of Butter’ all contain natural flavorings that are made with milk. Because of this, they are not vegan-friendly.
Pop Weaver
Unfortunately for vegans, none of the popcorn flavors from Pop Weaver are suitable for vegans. This is because all four flavors (‘Extra Butter,’ ‘Butter,’ ‘Light Butter,’ and ‘Kettle Corn’) contain real butter, which is a dairy product and, therefore, not vegan.
365
365 Popcorn comes in 3 flavors: ‘Butter,’ ‘Light Butter,’ and ‘No Oil or Salt Added.’ Neither the ‘Butter’ nor the ‘Light Butter’ flavors are vegan because the butter flavoring is made with real butter.
The ‘No Oil or Salt Added’ flavor, however, is vegan as it doesn’t contain any animal-derived ingredients. So, vegans can only have this flavor of 365 popcorn.
Black Jewell
Black Jewell produces five popcorn flavors, and most of them are vegan. While ‘Touch of Butter’ and ‘Sweet and Salty’ both contain natural butter flavor, meaning they’re not suitable for vegans, there are no animal-derived ingredients in the ‘Natural,’ ‘Simply Sea Salt,’ or ‘No Salt/No Oil’ flavors.
So, when it comes to Black Jewell, it’s largely good news for vegans, as 3 out of 5 popcorn flavors are plant-based.
Jolly Time
Jolly Time has a long list of popcorn flavors, but only a few are vegan.
‘Blast O Butter,’ ‘Xtra Butter,’ and ‘Butter’ all contain both butter and dried buttermilk. Meanwhile, clarified butter is listed on the ingredients of ‘Simply Popped Butter’.
Most of the other flavors contain milk as part of the natural flavorings, including ‘Healthy Pop Crispy ‘n White,’ ‘Healthy Pop Butter,’ ‘The Big Cheez,’ ‘Mallow Magic,’ ‘Crispy ‘n White,’ and ‘Crispy ‘n White Light.’
The only vegan popcorn flavors from Jolly Time are ‘KettleMania’, ‘Simply Popped Sea Salt,’ and ‘Healthy Pop Kettle Corn.’ There are no ingredients that come from animals in these flavors.
Skinny Pop
Skinny Pop microwave popcorn comes in 2 flavors, and both are vegan! You can purchase this popcorn in either ‘Butter’ or ‘Sea Salt,’ and neither contains animal products.
While it’s common for salt-flavored popcorn to be vegan-friendly, it would be easy to assume that the ‘Butter’ flavor wouldn’t be. However, if you look at the ingredient list, you’ll see that instead of ‘natural butter flavor,’ it specifies ‘natural non-dairy butter flavor.’
Orville Redenbacher
Orville Redenbacher has an extensive range of popcorn flavors, and while most of them are not suitable for vegans, 6 of them are vegan-friendly.
Most flavors, including ‘Light Butter,’ ‘Butter,’ ‘Ultimate Butter,’ ‘Pour Over Movie Theater Butter,’ ‘Home Recipe,’ ‘Skinnygirl Butter & Sea Salt,’ ‘Naturals Light: Butter & Sea Salt,’ and ‘Tender White,’ all contain butter. The ‘Cheddar Cheese’ flavor includes both milk and butter oil, while ‘Movie Theater Butter’ contains milk.
With that being said, there are no ingredients derived from animals in the ‘Avocado Oil,’ ‘Naturals Light: Simply Salted,’ ‘Kettle Corn,’ ‘SmartPop! Kettle Corn’ and ‘Skinnygirl Lime & Salt’ flavors. So, all of these flavors are suitable for vegans.
Cousin Willie’s
Unfortunately, most popcorn flavors from Cousin Willie’s are not vegan. The only vegan flavor is ‘Just a Hint of Sea Salt,’ as this is the only one that doesn’t contain any animal-derived ingredients.
The ‘Butter,’ ‘Real Butter,’ ‘Cinnamon Toast,’ ‘Buttery Explosion,’ ‘Movie Theater Butter,’ and ‘Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn’ flavors all contain natural butter flavors, which are made with real butter.
Uncle Willie’s also has a couple of cheese flavors, including ‘White Cheddar’ and ‘Natural White Cheddar.’ These are not vegan because both contain either powdered cheese or natural white cheddar flavor, which is made using dairy products.
Quinn
Although most of Quinn’s popcorn flavors are not vegan, 2 of them are, so vegans still have a couple of options when buying Quinn popcorn.
As you might expect, the ‘Movie Theater Extra Butter,’ ‘White Cheddar & Sea Salt,’ ‘Real Butter & Sea Salt,’ and ‘Aged Parmesan & Rosemary’ flavors are not vegan. These all contain either butter or dried cheese.
However, the ‘Just Sea Salt’ and ‘Vermont Maple Kettle Corn’ flavors are both vegan, as they don’t contain any ingredients that have been sourced from animals.
O Organics
O Organics only has two popcorn flavors. Although one of them is vegan, the other is not, so make sure you know which flavor is vegan-friendly if you’re going to buy from this brand!
The ‘Butter’ flavor is, predictably, not vegan because the natural butter flavor in the ingredients is made with real butter. The ‘Simply Salted’ flavor, however, is vegan because it doesn’t contain any animal-derived products or byproducts.
Boom Chicka
Boom Chicka’s range of popcorn includes three flavors. These are ‘Sea Salt Microwave Popcorn,’ ‘Real Butter Popcorn,’ and ‘Lightly Sweet Kettle Corn.’ Of these flavors, two are vegan, and one is not.
As you might expect, the ‘Real Butter Popcorn’ flavor is not vegan because it contains real butter. The sea salt and sweet kettle corn flavors, however, are suitable for vegans.
How to Choose Vegan Microwave Popcorn
Luckily, it is normally easy to see whether microwave popcorn contains dairy products, including milk, butter, or cheese. This is because it will either be written as a clear warning (something along the lines of ‘this product contains milk’) or included in the ingredient list in bold for people with allergies.
Be aware that ‘may contain milk’ is not the same warning as ‘contains milk.’ The former is usually included on the packaging if food has been processed or packaged in a factory that handles dairy products.
Again, this is mainly a warning for allergy sufferers, as even the slightest cross-contamination can trigger some severe allergies.
It doesn’t mean that milk has actually been used in the making of the product, so most vegans are still prepared to purchase foods with this warning.
Sometimes, you might get lucky and come across a microwave popcorn product that is clearly labeled with the vegan logo or the words ‘vegan’ or ‘suitable for vegans’. In this case, you can be absolutely sure that the product is vegan-friendly.
You may also like: Are Doritos vegan-friendly?
Final Thoughts
There may not be many microwaveable popcorn brands that are exclusively vegan, but as you can see from the popular brands and flavors we’ve talked about today, most popcorn brands have at least one or two vegan flavors.
If you’re specifically looking for vegan microwaveable popcorn, make sure to look for dairy products in the ingredients, as these are the most common ingredients that make popcorn non-vegan. Things like butter, milk, or ‘natural milk flavoring’ are not found in vegan popcorn.
You may also want to look out for ingredients such as palm oil, food dyes, or sucralose if you are vegan for animal rights or environmental reasons, as these ingredients may have sustainability issues or links to animal testing.
If you’re unsure whether a popcorn brand or flavor is vegan based on the ingredients, reach out to the brand for an answer.
Up next: Our guide Funyuns – are they vegan?
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Any Vegan Microwavable Popcorn Not Contain Palm Oil?
As you can see from the lists of brands and flavors above, many popular popcorn flavors are actually vegan, based on the perspective that they don’t contain any animal products or byproducts. However, for some vegans, this alone is not enough to make a product compatible with their ethical standards.
Palm oil is an example of an ingredient that isn’t technically non-vegan but that many vegans still wish to avoid because it contributes to rainforest deforestation and loss of habitats for those animals that live there.
Luckily, Quinn makes vegan flavors ‘Vermont Maple Kettle Corn’ and ‘Just Sea Salt’, neither containing palm oils. Additionally, Black Jewell’s ‘No Oil or Salt’ flavor is palm oil-free.
How Can I Get Buttery Popcorn That is Vegan?
Unfortunately, most of the buttery popcorn flavors on the market are not suitable for vegans because they contain real butter. There are a couple of vegan options with a buttery taste here and there, but they can be difficult to find. Luckily, there’s an easy way around this: buy plain popcorn and melt vegan butter over the top!
To do this, simply melt your vegan butter of choice on the stove. Meanwhile, microwave your popcorn. When both the popcorn and butter are ready, combine them for a delicious and totally plant-based experience!
Is Vegan Popcorn Better For You?
If you haven’t committed to eating 100% plant-based, you may be wondering why you should choose vegan popcorn over regular popcorn. The main reason is that vegan popcorn doesn’t contain any dairy products. This means that not only does it tend to be lower in calories overall, but it’s less likely to produce digestive problems in people who are sensitive to lactose or dairy in general.
Can I Use Plain Popcorn Kernels to Make Microwave Popcorn?
If you can’t find a vegan microwave popcorn brand that you like, you can take matters into your own hands and make your own microwave popcorn from plain popcorn kernels. Plain kernels don’t contain any dairy products, so they’re vegan-friendly, and they’re easy to transform into popcorn as long as you use a microwave-safe container with a lid.
Make sure to look up how long your microwave will take to turn kernels into popcorn. Depending on the power of your microwave, the recommended timer settings will be different.
