The Only Way to Make Buttered Popcorn in a Bowl

It's easy to grab a box of pre-prepared microwave popcorn at the grocery store. Yet with so much salt, butter, and other unpronounceable ingredients, microwave popcorn can go from a healthy snack to a complicated one.

Even if you resolve to pop your own popcorn with the mindset of being healthier or more budget-conscious, individual kernels are a pain to cook: they usually require a special air popping machine or a more traditional stovetop method.

However, Cassandra Lewis of Little Things has an ingenious solution for those who have neither the gadgets nor the time: by using a bowl and a plate, she cooks her popcorn and melts the butter to pour on top at the same time.

Not pictured: the amazing, melted butter on top of the plate.

Directions

1. Grab a microwave-safe bowl and pour in as many kernels as you'd like. (2½ Tbsp. of kernels creates 1 quart: a nice individual amount.)
2. Cut the amount of butter you'd like to use.
3. Place the butter on a microwave-safe plate, then set the plate on top of your kernel-filled bowl.
4. Place your bowl and plate in the microwave and set it for 2-3 minutes. The air in the bowl will heat up, flowing around the kernels and cooking them until they pop. Simultaneously, the butter resting on the plate above will heat and melt into a liquid.
5. Once the kernels are perfectly popped and your butter melted, remove the plate then the bowl from the microwave. Be advised: both will be very hot, so you may want to use oven mitts.
6. Tilt the plate over the bowl, then pour the butter over the popcorn for flavoring.

That's it—a quick pop in the microwave with plain kernels and a few tablespoons of butter, and you have the fluffy popcorn you've been craving. With this easy method, you'll never need to buy individual popcorn bags again!

Other Poppin' Popcorn Hacks:

• Make Homemade Popcorn Taste Exactly Like Movie Theater Popcorn
• The Secret to Fluffy Microwave Popcorn Isn't the "Popcorn" Button
• How to Make a Caramel Popcorn Bowl You Can Eat
• Turn an Empty Beer Can into an Easy DIY Popcorn Popper
• How to Make Fresh Caramel Popcorn in Under 5 Minutes

Cover image via Neilnorman Laroya Photography