Buffalo Popcorn, sweet with a little heat, this buffalo popcorn will be your next favorite treat. Perfectly crunchy and extra delicious, this snack will be great for your next BBQ or tailgate party!
I originally came up with this recipe when I wanted to have a unique football game watching treat. We all love eating buffalo wings during a game so I thought I’d combine that delicious flavor with my favorite snack and make Buffalo Wing Popcorn!
YUM! This homemade buffalo wing popcorn is the perfect balance between sweet and spicy!
For more popcorn recipe don’t miss:
Popcorn has been one of my favorite treats since I was a kid. I love it anyway you make it- sweet or savory.
We even had caramel corn at my wedding.
So, I knew making a spicy caramel corn would be an instant favorite- and it was!
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What ingredients do you need?
- Popcorn- I just use microwaved butter popcorn, but you can pop your own with kernels!
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Corny Syrup- I prefer light corn syrup for this recipe
- Buffalo Wing Sauce- I love Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce
- Salt
- Cayenne Pepper
- Baking Soda
How to make Buffalo Popcorn:
- Pop your popcorn and remove the unpopped kernels. Then divide popcorn between two large rimmed and parchment lined baking sheets.
- Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a sauce pan and melt. Stirring to combine.
- Once combined, stop stirring and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then add the hot sauce and boil another 2 minutes.
- Then remove from heat and stir in the cayenne pepper and baking soda.
- Pour over the popcorn, stir to coat, then bake 1 hour. Stir the popcorn every 15 minutes (so 4 times).
- Then remove from oven, allow to cool, and enjoy!
High Altitude Adjustments
If you’ve made my regular caramel corn recipe, you know I recommend adjusting the original recipe for high altitude.
However, with the addition of extra liquid via the hot sauce you don’t need to make any adjustments for this recipe.
Frequently Asked Caramel Corn Questions:
Why do you bake caramel corn?
You bake caramel corn so that the popcorn will last longer. I think it has to do with breaking down the structure of the sugar crystals and how they reharden afterwards but I am not 100% sure about it.
What does baking soda do for caramel corn?
Baking soda is a base and reacts with the acid in the brown sugar and corn syrup to form carbon dioxide. The chemical reaction forms air bubbles that when the caramel cools will create a softer texture instead a hard candy texture.
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Video
Buffalo Popcorn
Ingredients
- 3 bags of popped popcorn
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup corn syrup
- ½ cup buffalo wing sauce I recommend Franks Buffalo Sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with foil and preheat oven to 250°F.
- Pop bags of popcorn in the microwave. (3 bags of buttered popcorn)
- Remove unpopped kernels by placing a cooling rack over a baking sheet and pouring the popcorn onto it. The kernels will fall through but not the popped popcorn. Divide popcorn between prepared baking sheets.
- Melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in sauce pan, bring to a boil stirring constantly. (1 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup corn syrup, ½ teaspoon salt)
- Once at a boil let boil 5 minutes* without stirring*.
- Stir in hot sauce and return to a boil. Boil for 2 more minutes. ( ½ cup buffalo sauce)
- Remove from heat and stir in cayenne pepper and baking soda. The caramel will foam up a bit- this is normal. (1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
- Pour over popcorn (half goes on each tray) and stir to coat the popcorn.
- Bake for an hour stirring every 15 minutes.
- Once done baking, allow to cool and then enjoy! *
Notes
- *Stop stirring once the mixture starts to boil. This prevents the sugar from crystalizing and the caramel from becoming grainy.
- * Store any leftover buffalo wing caramel corn in an air tight zip lock baggie.
Alison says
The recipe says it will make 45 cups and that is just not possible with a single batch. I only got 13 cups
Lisa says
Oh good catch! That was definitely a typo on my end! Thank you for letting me know, I fixed it, and hope you enjoyed it!