Candy Popcorn Mix: What Are the Best Candies to Mix With Popcorn?

Popcorn and candy are a classic combination. A blend of salty and sweet? Talk about one irresistible snack!

Candy popcorn mix is great for Halloween, movie night, date night, game night, kid's birthday parties — or just to have as a special dessert. A good, sweet snack mix made with popcorn is always a good idea. 

No matter what recipe you follow, candy popcorn mix is super easy to make. It takes almost no prep time and you can make the entire thing in under ten minutes. You can whip it up whenever you want, even in the middle of the night.

Here are the nine best candies and sweets to mix with your popcorn (and give you inspiration for your next kitchen experiment):

9 Best Candies & Sweets to Mix with Popcorn

Candy popcorn mix is a great snack because you can customize it according to what you're craving. You can choose your favorite candies and pair them with all kinds of popcorn.

We like to pick a salty popcorn base. Unsalted butter popcorn, sea salt popcorn, and kettle corn are all perfect choices as they'll make the snack mix have both sweet and salty flavors. You can also choose caramel corn to make a super sugary snack mix.

Whether you want a sweet and salty mix or a strictly sweet treat, these 9 awesome candies will work wonderfully in your recipe.

1. White Chocolate Chips

White chocolate chips are amazing with salty popcorn. The sweet white chocolate complements the saltiness of the popcorn perfectly. To make it, you can simply toss the white chocolate chips into your warm popcorn or melt them.

Here’s how to do the latter:

• Melt the chocolate chips for a few seconds in the microwave (or over medium heat on the stove).
• Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the popcorn and toss it together.
• Wait until the popcorn is room temperature and then serve.

2. Candy Corn

Candy corn popcorn makes an ideal snack around Halloween. While candy corn is essentially pure sugar, it adds a nice, easy sweetness to your popcorn.

You can combine it with caramel popcorn for an even more dessert-like snack. Just mix your base popcorn in a large bowl with some candy corn and, ta-da, it’s ready to eat.

3. Sprinkles

Another super easy sweet treat you can throw into popcorn? Sprinkles. They add just a hint of sweetness without the flavor being too overwhelming.

Use store-bought sprinkles or try making your own for a truly gourmet popcorn mix:

• Mix some sugar with a little food coloring.
• Spread the colored sugar on a cookie sheet.
• Bake the sugar at a low temperature for about 10 minutes to set the colors.
• Toss it with your favorite popcorn and serve.

4. Milk Chocolate Fudge

Milk chocolate fudge is a fun way to dress up your popcorn. Adding it gives the snack mix an interesting texture and decadent taste.

All you need to do is crumble fudge over a large bowl of warm popcorn. Then, toss the add-in into the popcorn and enjoy.

5. Oreos 

Everyone loves Oreos and everyone loves popcorn, so doesn't it make sense to combine the two? Oreos may not technically be a candy, but they go particularly well with popcorn. Just chop the cookies into bite-sized pieces and then add them to your popcorn. You can also use mini Oreos to make your life easier.

6. Peanut Butter Cups

Crunchy, chocolatey peanut butter popcorn goodness — mmm, we can taste it already!

To indulge in this snack mix, just chop whole peanut butter cups (or use mini versions) and add them to your freshly popped popcorn. Doing this while the popcorn is still warm will allow the heat to melt the cups a little bit, allowing the sweet and salty flavor to seep into every bite.

7. M&M's

M&M's are a classic candy that many people love to mix into popcorn. It’s one of our favorite options for popcorn snack mix.

Simply add your popcorn to a large bowl and then mix in your favorite M&M's. Peanut, cookie dough, or even mini M&M's are all great in their own way. As a bonus, they're colorful and make any occasion more festive.

8. Mini Marshmallows

Mini marshmallows are another candy you want to mix into your popcorn while the popcorn is warm. The marshmallows will melt a little bit and make every bite of popcorn sticky and sweet.

You can also try melting the marshmallows with some butter and then pouring it over the popcorn. This will create a rice krispie-like snack you’ll love to sink your teeth into.

9. Sour Patch Kids

Popcorn with Sour Patch Kids is quite the unique treat. The sweet and sour candy is surprisingly good with salty popcorn. You may be surprised by how tasty the fruity and sour snack mix is.

Just add your popcorn to a large bowl and pour a pack of Sour Patch Kids. Give it a good stir, then serve.

Different Ways to Make Popcorn at Home

The most important part of your popcorn candy mix is the base — your popcorn. It’s crucial to have perfectly popped popcorn; otherwise, you won’t get to enjoy the fusion of textures and flavors. 

Here are the three main ways you can make popcorn at home:

• Microwave popcorn: All you need to do is put a bag of microwave popcorn in your microwave and let it pop for a few minutes. Once you hear the popping slow down, the popcorn is done.

• Air-popped popcorn: An air popper can churn out fluffy popcorn without oil. It uses hot air pressure to make popcorn quickly and in a nutritious way.

• Stovetop popcorn: If you want superior-tasting popcorn, stovetop popcorn will change your life. You can use a large saucepan to make it, but the Popsmith Popper does the job best. Just heat your stove, add your kernels and oil, turn the crank till popping stops, and enjoy! Here’s a detailed guide on how to use our stovetop popcorn popper.  

The prep time for your snack mix will vary depending on how you make your popcorn. However, all these methods will still take less than ten minutes so you can get your snack mix ready in no time.

How Long Will a Popcorn Candy Mixture Stay Fresh?

Popcorn candy mix is best when it’s fresh. We recommend making small servings of snack mix at a time so it doesn’t go to waste. Use about ¼ cup of unpopped kernels per batch to give yourself about 4-5 cups of popped popcorn.

If you have any leftover snack mix, store it in an airtight container and it’ll last a few weeks. You should place a piece of parchment paper at the bottom to help it absorb moisture.

Endless Poppabilities with Popsmith

Popcorn tastes fantastic as is, but it’s also the perfect blank canvas to get your creative culinary juices flowing. Go try one or all of these candy popcorn mix ideas — or do your own experiments! Let your imagination run wild.

Don’t forget to check out our other posts for more snacking inspiration and remember to have fun making your popcorn.