Sriracha Caramel Corn.
For real.
And it’s everything that you want it to be. It’s so good, in fact, that I made it twice in one day. The second batch was under the guise of recipe testing and getting the heat level right, but really it was because this recipe was designated for the Leftovers Club and the first batch yielded no leftovers. Making it a very disappointing submission, thus another batch was in order. I couldn’t exactly ship Chung-Ah an empty box, so I made a second batch. And ate half of that, too.
It’s that good.
The first batch I used 2 teaspoons Sriracha, and while the heat level was deliciously high, so was that fermented garlic flavor we have all come to know and love in the savory dishes that use the Cock Sauce. On the second batch I lowered the amount to 1/2 teaspoon and added a pinch of cayenne for a kick of heat without the garlicly aftertaste that we don’t really need on our desert plates. This was perfect, the heat was there on the back-end but not overpowering, and the garlic was so subtle, it was hardly noticeable. If you want to Sriracha the hell out of it, be my guest, but I wouldn’t add more than 1 teaspoon.
If you want leftovers, or plan on sharing, make a double batch. Or maybe a triple.
If you love Sriracha as much as I do, immediately go buy The Sriracha Cookbook and The Veggie Lovers Sriracha Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup corn kernels (7 cups popped)
- 1 brown paper lunch bag
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 tbs unsalted butter
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ to 1 tsp sriracha
- pinch cayenne
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250.
- Place the corn kernels in a brown paper bag. Fold the top over. Place in the microwave (long side down), microwave on high for 4 minutes. When the popping starts to slow to about one pop per one second, remove from microwave. Measure out 7 cups of popcorn (if there is less than 7 cups, pop additional kernels in the same manner, if there are more than 7 cups, reserve the remaining popped corn for another use)
- Spray a large baking pan with butter flavored cooking spray.
- Add the corn kernels to the baking sheet in an even layer, place in the oven until the caramel sauce is ready.
- Add the brown sugar, butter, light corn syrup and salt to a saucepan over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, stop stirring. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, without stirring, or until a dark amber color is reached. Remove from heat, immediately stir in the sriracha and cayenne (use ½ tsp sriracha for a lower heat level and 1 tsp for a higher heat level).
- Spray a silicon spatula with cooking spray (except the handle).
- Gently pour the caramel sauce over the corn, stirring to coat.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 250, stir, and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and spread evenly onto a sheet of wax paper. Allow to cool, break apart, store in an air-tight container.
Adapted from Karo Syrup Classic Caramel Corn
Fun use of sriracha! I loveeee caramel corn and popcorn in any form, really. I eat it practically every day! I love your commentary about the heat level.
Sriracha and popcorn in one bite?! I love it!!
I totally thought of you!
Oooooh. I have a feeling that my hubs & I could become obsessed with this!! We love heat in our food! (I also sent a spicy treat this month for TLC). I can’t wait to tr this!!
After the cooking with beer book you should write one about using sriracha in recipes like this, Jackie!! Woah! My jaw dropped when I saw the title! And you know I already love your beer sriracha bbq sauce! Pinning!!
There is already a great Sriracha Cookbook, and the Author, Randy just put out a Veggie Lovers Sriracha cookbook that looks awesome. I could never compete with that!
I am hot sauce freak! I love this and need some for movie night which may be tonight as my wife disappears out of town 🙂
Yup, i’m coming over.
You are one creative girl–love this!
Great idea!! I’m totally making a batch of this for my husband. Our anniversary is a few weeks, no presents, so a big bag of this might bring a smile to his face!
Great gift! I might make it in a spice themed gift bags for Christmas, it was so addicting!
I am SUCH a sucker for caramel corn and adding sriracha?!? genius. I am totally making this soon!!
This is the best thing I’ve seen all day. Holy crap.
My husband will love this! He is a fan of all things sriracha!
Lucky Chung-Ah! This looks so good and I am such a sucker for sriracha!
Best caramel corn ever! I was munching on these last night and watching Greys – it was seriously the best way to spend a Thursday night.
Chung-Ah was so lucky to get this amazing popcorn from you! I am in love with the idea of combining the sriracha and caramel together!
LOVE the idea of this! Pinning immediately!
Holy YUM! I made a version of this last year and it didn’t last a day in our house. Gotta make another batch ASAP.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! This was so good that we ate it all and then immediately made a second batch. It wasn’t even hard at all.
I have to try this! I usually drench pho with lots of sriracha, so I know that I will really enjoy this!
So… let’s make a deal and NOT show this to Son, because I bet he’ll make me make it for him and then eat the entire batch all by himself. It sounds crazy good! 😀
I am unsure of the safety of cooking in those bags (glues, dyes, paper content), so I will just make my popcorn on the stovetop as I normally so before proceeding with this recipe, which sounds great! Thanks.
Absolutely! pop it how ever you like. I tend to burn the crap out my pans when I make it on the stove top, and I like to air pop it in brown paper bags because it doesn’t need oil. But however you want to pop it is fine!
Awesome awesome awesome!!!! Just make some tonight and we cannot get enough of that sweetness followed by the heat, love it!!!!! Thanks so much for this recipe, I actually don’t even want to share it – its that good.