I Taste-Tested 11 Microwave Popcorns & The Best Was Buttery Perfection

With some solid microwave popcorn brands out there, you don't have to spend a small fortune at the movies anymore to have movie theater popcorn at home. If you're craving that butter-soaked treat for your next night in (or even a tasty, healthier, more natural version), just check out the selection at your local grocery store.

We tried 11 different brands of popcorn, some natural, some organic, some skinny, and some not so skinny, to find which brands have the best flavor based on what they're marketing for, and let's just say there were definitely some standouts in the crowd. Here they are ranked from our least favorite to our number one favorite.

Skinnygirl Popcorn Butter and Sea Salt

I'm a big fan of these mini bags, especially if I'm looking for a fun snack that's a bit healthier. I'm partial to the lime and salt flavor, that's usually my go to, but for the sake of consistency I went with butter and sea salt. Keep in mind that these are mini bags and when they say mini, they mean mini, but you can eat the entire bag as a serving.

The Look:

After popping the mini bag and dumping it out, there's not much color to the kernels, they're pretty pale. Let's not judge a book by it's cover though and give it a taste.

The Taste:

I'm not the biggest fan of this flavor, but I will say I'm a fan of the company. I prefer the lime and would highly recommend giving that one a try, but if you're looking for buttered popcorn, even a lighter version, I would go with a different brand. It wasn't very buttery or salty. Maybe that's your jam and you're looking for a very basic option that's just a low-calorie, filling snack in which case that's fine, but just be prepared that it lacks the flavor that I would be looking for in buttered popcorn.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $4.78
• Cost per serving: About $0.48

Full Circle Market Organic Microwave Butter Popcorn

This microwave popcorn is certified organic, and has 24g of whole grains per serving with no artificial flavors, preservatives, or synthetic colors. Full Circle Market created this option as a bit of a healthier snack than some of the other microwave popcorn brands out there.

The Look:

When you see the organic label, I automatically think it's healthy, but it came out with a nice butter coating, similar to some of the other options. Now let's give it a try!

The Taste:

Honestly, it didn't taste like much. Despite the buttery appearance, it lacked the pungent flavor of some of the other options out there. It was just mediocre at best to me and I wouldn't buy this brand again.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $2.99
• Cost per serving: About $0.33

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ACT II Extreme Butter

I was pretty excited to try this one because of how buttery the popcorn looks on the box. It advertises that it has zero trans fats per serving and uses 100% whole-grain popcorn.

The Look:

When I dumped the popped popcorn out of the bag, it had that yellow color that shows that it might not be the healthiest, but it's probably going to taste amazing! It was coated pretty evenly, and not too greasy, so I was excited to give it a try.

The Taste:

Honestly, I'm surprised to say I didn't love it. It tasted cheap, artificial, and there was an odd aftertaste to it that almost reminded me of rosemary. Whatever was creating that aftertaste, it was a flavor that didn't seem like it should be there. I'm disappointed because this one looked great, but I would not buy this again.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $14.45
• Cost per serving: About $0.96

Skinny Pop Popcorn Butter

Skinny Pop popcorn is non-GMO, gluten-free and has no artificial ingredients. The ingredients are simply popcorn, sunflower oil, palm oil, sea salt, a natural, nondairy butter flavor, and lactic acid for flavor.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The Look:

Although called butter flavor, it's not very obvious when looking at the popcorn. It's pretty white without any real color to it that would signify that the flavor is there, but there's only one way to find out.

The Taste:

The taste is ok, but a little inconsistent. Some bites were very salty, while others tasted plain and almost stale without any flavor. It definitely didn't taste very buttery to me, but it wasn't terrible.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $5.24
• Cost per serving: About $0.35

Jolly Time Blast O Butter Ultimate Theatre Style Butter Flavor

The Jolly Time Blast O Butter Ultimate Theatre Style popcorn advertises using a natural butter flavor with other natural flavors, and then advertises no artificial flavors. Not 100% sure what flavors they're using, but their popcorn looks deliciously buttery on the box, so I'm going to give it a try.

The Look:

They weren't kidding when they said a blast of butter! I took it out of the microwave and the butter literally leaked through the bag and was all over the place. I'm hoping that maybe there was just an issue with that bag, but it got all over the microwave. At least it's true to its name!

The Taste:

The taste was just alright, pretty good, but definitely had a little bit of an artificial flavor. Obviously, if it's that kind of buttery oil that the movie theaters use that looks like it has that neon yellow hue and isn't real butter, it's to be expected that it might have a slight artificial taste, but this one was a bit more intense and noticeable.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $2.49
• Cost per serving: About $0.30

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Jolly Time Simply Popped Butter

Jolly Time Simply Butter says that it includes sea salt, popcorn, and oil "with other ingredients" in small print underneath. This popcorn includes much simpler ingredients, and non-GMO kernels. My first experience with Jolly Time wasn't the best, so let's see how the Simply Popped option holds up.

The Look:

Although it is still butter flavored, its ingredients are much more simple with rosemary extract to preserve the freshness, palm, oil, clarified butter, sea salt, popcorn, and ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C. I had high hopes for this one, but as soon as I dumped it out of the bag, it was messy like the other Jolly Time bag. This clear liquid leaked out with some of the popcorn as I dumped it out. You can even kind of see in the picture that it was very oily and odd.

The Taste:

Although my impressions were kind of skewed by the oil that poured out, I think it was just some of the palm oil and actually, this popcorn has a pretty nice taste to it. Ever so slightly sweeter, and it didn't have that kind of bright yellow color to it, just white natural kernels and the taste was pretty good.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $3.69
• Cost per serving: About $0.49

Orville Redenbacher's Naturals Simply Salted

For a salted popcorn that doesn't have any artificial preservatives, flavors or dyes, Orville Redenbacher's Naturals Simply Salted is 100% whole grain, non-GMO popcorn that you can feel good about snacking on.

The Look:

If you prefer the soaked in butter, ultra salty popcorn, this probably won't be your match. The popped kernels are white in color, and the Orville Redenbacher's Naturals Simply Salted popcorn is meant to strip away the junk and embrace the natural flavors of the popcorn.

The Taste:

The kernels have a slight sweetness from the corn paired with a sprinkle of salt. I wasn't sure I would like this option because of how plain it looked, but it's actually incredible. Whether you choose to eat it plain or doctor it up with a drizzle of melted, high-quality butter, this is a wonderful natural option to snack on.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $6.92
• Cost per serving: About $0.46

Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter

The Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter popcorn is made using non-GMO corn, 100% whole grains and there are 0g of trans fat per serving. It looks pretty delicious and buttery on the box, so I wanted to include this one in the round up and see how the taste compares.

The Look:

For something called movie theater butter, it's coated in a little bit of butter, but doesn't have that intense buttery look to it that other brands do. There appears to be a little bit of butter, but maybe the taste will surprise me.

The Taste:

It's nice and salty with a subtle buttery flavor, a great option for at home, but not as good as Orville Redenbacher in my opinion. I would however say it's pretty close, and that this is a great option that I would buy again.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $12.97
• Cost per serving: About $0.31

Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Butter

Orville Redenbacher's movie theater butter popcorn advertises using only real ingredients, and has been one of my personal favorites for a long time. I was excited to see how it would compare to others, because we religiously grab this brand at the grocery store.

The Look:

Orville Redenbacher is one of my all-time favorite brands, so I had to include this one, in addition to the ultimate butter flavor. The movie theater butter has that glossy yellow hue of perfectly buttered popcorn without being messy.

The Taste:

It lacks that sometimes artificial taste that microwave popcorn can have. It has wonderful flavor, especially if you love buttery, salty popcorn (who doesn't?!), and is one of the best options out there in my opinion.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $6.36
• Cost per serving: About $0.21

Newman's Own Butter

Newman's Own gives 100% of the profits to help kids, with a slogan on the box that says, "let's give it all away." The microwave popcorn has no artificial flavor, no trans fats and is truly a snack that you can feel good about. The foundation continues the commitment of Paul Newman, giving all of the proceeds to support kids in the community.

The Look:

Philanthropic effort aside, which is something to consider for sure, let's get into what it looks like and how it tastes. It has a light color to it, much more natural looking than the bright yellow color box that it comes in.

The Taste:

After giving it a taste, I love this one. It has a really natural butter flavor without crossing the line into fake, and the perfect amount of salt. I had trouble backing away from testing this one, and found myself consistently reaching for more.

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $3.39
• Cost per serving: About $0.38

Orville Redenbacher's Ultimate Butter

Orville Redenbacher's ultimate butter had to be on the list! This is the other flavor we buy frequently and I was curious not only how it holds up to the movie theater butter popcorn that they make, but all of these other brands.

The Look:

For popcorn at home, we normally go with Orville Redenbacher, either the ultimate butter or the movie theater butter. The bag is ever so slightly glossed with butter coating when it comes out of the microwave, and the popcorn is evenly coated without being messy.

The Taste:

The popcorn isn't greasy, and holds the flavor in every kernel. It tastes as buttery as it looks and doesn't have the artificial taste that so many of these popcorn brands display. I had a feeling that this would remain one of my top favorite brands, and it held up to my expectations against so many other options!

Price Point:

• Cost per box: $6.36
• Cost per serving: About $0.42

When it comes to the world of microwave popcorn, the best tasting in my opinion is Orville Redenbacher's Ultimate Butter. If we didn't try your favorite, drop it in the comments!