I just bought some powdered buttermilk that I’m looking forward to concocting into some kind of faux-ranch flavouring for popcorn.
For sweet, my go-to is salted caramel - equal parts butter and brown sugar, a big scoop of golden syrup, kosher salt, and let it come to hard crack stage. Not healthy, but hey, it’s whole grain!
Popcorn is a nutritious whole grain that is probably the healthiest snack food in existence short of raw veggies. Its health bonus diminishes, though, when loaded with too much junkfoody topping. The same is true of potatoes.
Not like this:
I’ll have to try the popcorn salt.
For me the greatest difference is the type of popcorn. I use a mix of Black Jewel and Crimson Jewel. The kernels pop smaller than what you get from the store brands but they are so much more tender and flavorful. I cook it in a a tablespoon of vegetable oil and add table salt afterwards.
That would be movie theater-style popcorn.
Many movie theaters shifted away from palm oil when there was some flak in the news about how unhealthy that stuff is. Palm oil is also what makes the best Ramen noodles so delicious (and unhealthy). They shifted to coconut oil back around the late 1980’s – but they may have shifted back since the media isn’t watching them any more. The seasoning they throw into the kettle is typically Flavocol: orange coloring, finely-ground salt, and a few other chemicals to preserve it for eons and/or make it all stick to the popped corn. A place like Smart & Final (or your local equivalent) that supplies restaurants and businesses will have it in stock. I still have part of a quart-sized container (smallest they had on sale) of the stuff that I bought in 1983 and it’s still tasty and well-preserved. A teaspoon of the stuff is good for about 10 gallons of popped corn. I also like to sprinkle the stuff on just-cooked french fries. 
For “herbed” popcorn, here’s another commercially-made popcorn secret:
[ol]
[li]*Fill a 10-gallon tin drum with 7 or 8 gallons of popped corn. [/li][li]Throw in a half-pint of herbed seasoning POWDER (taco, ranch, etc.)[/li][li]Cover the tin with its lid and strap or tape it down securely.[/li][li]#For 5 minutes, flip the tin end-over-end while spinning it at the same time.[/li][li]Set the tin upright for 2 minutes to let the dust settle.[/li][li]Open the lid CAREFULLY and dish out the seasoned corn.[/li][/ol]
The key, here, is that the flavored coatings must be in powder form. Taco, Ranch, and sour cream & onion seasonings can often be found in grocery stores in powder format already, but you can probably make your own from the spice aisle of your grocery store if you don’t find something in an envelope that suits your palate. Fresh basil (or parsley or sage – or rosemary or thyme for that matter) wouldn’t work because other powders would clump up around the wet leaves, but dried basil flakes or powder would do well and distribute nicely. I suspect it would be important for all of the herbs to be ground to the same consistency so they intermix properly for even distribution across the popcorn.
So, if you don’t happen to have a popcorn tin-flipping/spinning machine handy and/or you’re just not hungry enough to consume 8 gallons of popcorn and/or you just don’t want to be sick of that flavor by the end of the week, you will want to scale the equipment and recipe down somehow. I’d suggest something like a large stock pot, a paint-shaking machine%, bungee cords, and a lot less seasoning powder; I’ll leave it to better chefs and mathematicians to figure out the correct ratios as well as how to manually flip-and-spin the container at a consistent speed for 5 minutes. Once you’ve got those recalculations done, let us know here; I’ve got some Red Robin restaurant seasoning I thought I’d try on popcorn…
–G!
% I jest. The violence of such a machine would wreck your popcorn.
For microwave popcorn, I would melt some butter, pour onto popcorn, tossing the bowl, trying to get more surface area buttered, and then sprinkle some popcorn salt. Spritzing with an olive oil spray is a “healthier” alternative. Also, try using Old Bay seasoning on your popcorn.
Melt ghee in a cast iron frying pan. (12"? Whatever the standard full-sized frying pan is) When it is hot, add 1/3 cup of unpopped popcorn. Cover with a lid that will keep the corn in. My cast iron frying pan has “pouring” slots on each side that allow steam to escape – this is a feature, so the popcorn doesn’t get soggy.
When the corn has almost stopped popping, turn off the flame. (or remove from heat if you have an electric stove.)
Wait until it completely stops popping. Then pour into a bowl. Serve in smaller bowls, and let each person add salt to taste.
Ghee makes excellent popcorn. So does goose fat. I bet beef tallow or bacon fat would, too, but I’ve never tried them. Olive oil is tasty, but you need to be careful as it has a low smoke point. Peanut oil has a high smoke point, but isn’t especially delicious.
It’s all about the corn and the fat, the salt is just a garnish.
As above, hot air popper, melted butter, toss in bowl to distribute. Add a dash or two ofalder smoked sea salt. Prepare second bowl, you will likely have to.
I may try ghee, that interests me.
Ah yes, the good old whole grain, gluten free popcorn…
I make my own popcorn topping. Mix together in a shaker-top jar with biggish holes the following (eyeball it): equal parts lemon pepper and chili lime seasoning. Add in equal amounts (but less than the first two ingredients): garlic powder, onion powder, sugar. Equal amounts, but less than second group: jalapeno salt, “sour salt” (pure citric acid). Shake well to mix. Experiment.
This doesn’t necessarily stick all that well to the popcorn, but when the bowl is empty, I lick my finger and systematically mop up what has fallen in the bottom. Yum.
BTW, this custom spicy-sweet-sour-salty mix is outstanding sprinkled on peanut butter that is spread on crackers, toast, or apple slices.