You need to add our sweet and salty white chocolate popcorn to the line up for your next family movie night. If your family is like ours, popcorn (in any form) is always a must!
This no bake dessert is the perfect way to send off a busy week to relax with the family, enjoy the moments together and have a sweet and salty treat. My kids love it so much they have been requesting this white chocolate popcorn recipe in advance to make sure it is ready!
It also makes for a fun and easy snack idea to send in the kids lunches, or to pack in little gift bags and send to friends and family.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make this sweet and salty white chocolate popcorn, you will need the following ingredients:
- Plain popped popcorn
- White chocolate chips
- Shortening
- M&M’s
- Mini pretzels
- Salted peanuts
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Our Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Popcorn
- Pour popcorn into a large bowl.
- Mix in the M & M’s, pretzels, and peanuts. Spread out on a large jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet).
- Place white chocolate chips and shortening into a microwave-safe bowl.
- Cook for 45 seconds, remove from microwave, and stir. Continue cooking at 25 second intervals, stirring each time, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
- Drizzle chocolate over popcorn mixture and gently mix until most pieces are covered with chocolate.
White Chocolate Chip Substitute
With the holidays in full swing, supplies can be scarce, which means you might just have to improvise! But, don’t worry you should be able to find something that will work. So, in order to be as prepared as possible, make sure to look at the Spruce Eats’ list of white chocolate substitutes to use as a backup plan for when you’re in the grocery store.
Recipe Modifications
While sometimes its nice to keep it simple, feel free to try some of these tasty ideas, too! Some add-ins we like include the following: Oreo pieces, peanut butter M&Ms, Andes mint pieces, dried cranberries, cashews, Nestle’s Crunch Bar pieces, and Reese’s Pieces.
Enjoy More Delicious Popcorn Recipes
Homemade snacks are a lifesaver for us and our kids. Check out our comprehensive collection of delicious homemade snack recipes.
- 4th of July Patriotic Popcorn
- Homemade Caramel Popcorn
- Snickers Popcorn
- Valentine’s Day White Chocolate Popcorn
Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Popcorn Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 cup plain popcorn, popped
- 11 ounces white chocolate chips
- 1 Tablespoon shortening
- 1 cup M&Ms candies
- 1 cup mini pretzels
- ½ cup salted peanuts
Instructions
- Pour popcorn into a large bowl.
- Mix in the M & M's, pretzels, and peanuts. Spread out on a large jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet).
- Place white chocolate chips and shortening into a microwave-safe bowl.
- Cook for 45 seconds, remove from microwave, and stir. Continue cooking at 25 second intervals, stirring each time, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
- Drizzle chocolate over popcorn mixture and gently mix until most pieces are covered with chocolate.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
We love to add Fritos corn chips to ours so yummy! You should try it!
I’ve made this for years but never used shortening. Works great without anything but the chocolate…and less fat.
Like Denni, I don’t use the shortening. If you want extra flavor, butter is better, but does add the
fat. Just the white chocolate works great. Change the add-ons for the holiday. Cinnamon hearts for Valentine’s, green food coloring in the white chocolate for St. Pat’s etc . Limited only by your imagination.
This looks delicious! I love M&M’s..and the sweet and salty together is great!
Lorraine,
I have all ingredients but the shortening. How much butter did you add instead?
Lorraine, how much butter?
I’m glad all your recipes are on your blog ’cause I just bought your new 12 Days of Christmas book and I couldn’t find this recipe (Sweet & Salty White Chocolate Popcorn) in it even though there is a picture of it on the cover of the book. I’ll just print it out and glue it to the back page or something. Your new book is super cute! It’s getting me excited about December! 🙂
Great idea for parties! Can you use vanilla almond bark? I assume this is best to eat by next day.
Yes, vanilla almond bark will work too!!
…hmmm, not as easy as I thought…hard to mix melted chocolate w/ other ingredients … did I do something wrong???
How do you keep the popcorn from getting stale?
It will be fine in an airtight container for about 3 to 4 days.
I substituted the shortening for coconut oil and it was great. I put coconut oil into a lot of things… might as well add a little something healthy to this recipe! 🙂
Can this be frozen (similar to caramel popcorn)?
I don’t think this would freeze well. It may not be good after thawing.
how much un popped popcorn kernels
equal 5 cups of popped popcorn? I think
you pop your popcorn in a pan on the stove
just like I do. Right?
please let me know by sending me
and e-mail at the address below.
I am going to try using butter to help melt the white chocolate
in a bowl set on a pan with an inch of boiling water.
About 1/4 cup of unpopped popcorn. We pop our popcorn in a hot air popper. They are inexpensive and work great! The white chocolate melts easily in a microwave.
This is amazing. I’m completely addicted to it and I don’t even like white chocolate. I recommend this for the holidays!!!
I love this recipe so much. I make it every year for Christmas. And I don’t even like white chocolate but for some reason this works and tastes amazing!