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Best Hot Wing Popcorn Recipe

Completely elevate your snack game with an irresistable recipe for the Best Hot Wing Popcorn Recipe Ever! It’s a perfect fusion of tangy buffalo sauce, savory butter and crunchy popcorn kernels coming toegether in one addictive treat.

Best Hot Wing Popcorn Recipe on black background.

Best Buffalo Wing Popcorn Recipe

This recipe takes your favorite spicy wing flavor and transforms it into a craveworthy snack that’s perfect for game nights, movie marathons and all occasions where you want to impress you and your friends taste buds!

With minimal effort, ingredients and prep time, you can whip up a batch of this crowd pleasing snack and wow your guests!

Get ready to experience this flavor explosion with every crunchy bite. You’ll soon be obsessing over your new favorite snack recipe obsession!

You might have tried one of our other popcorn recipes like Homemade Popcorn or enjoyed a terrific Buffalo flavored snack like Buffalo Chicken Dip or Buffalo Chicken Tater Tot Casserole.

Bowl of best hot wing popcorn recipe.

Here’s What You’ll Need

  • Freshly popped popcorn
  • Sugar
  • Hot Sauce
  • Butter
  • Spices

Here’s How You Do It

  1. Create the popcorn coating by heating sugar and spices.
  2. Pour that over the popcorn and toss.
  3. Bake in the oven.
  4. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

  • As soon as you are finished making and pouring the sauce over the popcorn, place the saucepan under running warm water in the sink.
  • Remove the popcorn from the oven exactly on time, even if it still looks somewhat wet.
  • As soon as the popcorn is out of the oven, run the pan under warm running water and wash the pan.
  • This sauce makes a sticky hard candy like surface once it is dry and you do not want that on your dishes.
  • Coat the pans well with non stick spray.

PRO TIP: This recipe works because of the sweet and salty nature of the sauce as well as the heat. The heat isn’t a lot, so do not worry about it being too much. Do not skimp on the sugar and salt.

Best Hot Wing Popcorn recipe on towel.

Storage, Freezing and Reheating

Store uneaten popcorn in an airtight container and keep sealed well. A zip lock bag works well.

This recipe does not freeze well.

You can reheat by placing in the microwave for 10 second intervals.

Watch Me Make This

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popcorn on black background.

Best Hot Wing Popcorn Recipe

This recipe for Best Hot Wing Popcorn Recipe will have you wondering why you didn’t try salty, sweet, spicy popcorn before!
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: hot wing popcorn
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 153kcal

Ingredients

  • Nonstick vegetable spray – vegan use vegan spray
  • 8 cups 8 cups of plain popped popcorn
  • ¾ Cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup Franks Red Hot Original Sauce
  • 3 Tbs unsalted butter cut into small pieces
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 300. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper – allow enough that you can fold the sides and ends up. Coat the parchment paper and a large kitchen bowl with cooking spray. Bowl should be large enough to hold all of the popcorn – this is where you will coat the popcorn. Set the bowl and the baking sheet aside. Have the popcorn in a separate bowl for now.
  • Bring sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture is boiling – lift the pan and give it a swirl every 30 secs or so. Do not mix with a spoon and do not try to scrape what forms on the sides of the pan into the mix. Just swirl. In 10-12 minutes the mixture will turn a deep amber caramel color. Remove the pan from the heat now.
  • Stir in the butter and hot sauce. This will cause a lot of sizzling noise and the mix will bubble furiously. Return to the stove top and return to a boil for another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and working quickly add the salt, baking soda and cayenne and stir those in. When you add the baking soda a strange reaction will happen and the mix will change to an orange color – don’t worry – it is supposed to do that – just keep working.
  • Into the prepared bowl, add some popcorn and a little sauce, then more popcorn and more sauce. Make about 4 layers. Then with a spatula or wooden spoon gently mix the popcorn so that it all become coated with the sauce. Pour the popcorn into your prepared baking dish and continues to stir to coat the popcorn. (Immediately put your sauce pan and your bowl in the sink and run warm water into them).
  • Spread the popcorn out onto the baking sheet and place into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the tray and mix the popcorn. Place back in the oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Notes

  • As soon as you are finished making and pouring the sauce over the popcorn, place the saucepan under running warm water in the sink.
  • Remove the popcorn from the oven exactly on time, even if it still looks somewhat wet.
  • As soon as the popcorn is out of the oven, run the pan under warm running water and wash the pan.
  • This sauce makes a sticky hard candy like surface once it is dry and you do not want that on your dishes.
  • Coat the pans well with non stick spray.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Best Hot Wing Popcorn Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 153 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Saturated Fat 3g15%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 11mg4%
Sodium 559mg23%
Potassium 50mg1%
Carbohydrates 27g9%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 19g21%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 191IU4%
Vitamin C 6mg7%
Calcium 3mg0%
Iron 0.4mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @loavesanddishes or tag #loavesanddishes!

This post originally appeared on the pages of Loaves and Dishes on February 24, 2015 and has been completely updated to be the most helpful article available on this subject! That includes the recipe card and the instructions.

A Verse to Share

I am certain of what I don’t see. Absolutely certain.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Wendi is the writer, CEO and dishwasher at Loaves and Dishes! When not in the kitchen or behind the computer, you can find Wendi serving on International Food Conference Boards, Speaking at various conferences, Leading and Cooking for the local Arts Council's "Taste of Stokes" events or donating home cooked goodies to various local non profits such as the Danbury Songwriters and Stokes Partnership for Children. Wendi is also a Registered Nurse with a Master's Degree and serves on her town's board of councilmen.

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