The Only Microwave Butter Popcorn Brand That's Truly Movie Theater Worthy

There is a reason why so many brands of microwave popcorn claim to be "movie theater-style" in flavor: It's because the popcorn you get from the cinema snack bar is hands-down, the best. It's hot and crispy and covered with the type of buttery goodness that just can't be replicated anywhere else. Popcorn companies certainly try, but for The Takeout's ranking of microwave butter popcorn brands, we found only one that could hold a candle to the stuff at our favorite cineplex.

The microwave popcorn that came out on top is the niche brand Cousin Willie's Buttery Explosion, which beat out well-known industry titans like Pop Secret, Orville Redenbacher, and AMC Theatres. The Takeout's review called Cousin Willie's "Exactly what microwaved popcorn should be. The taste is intensely flavorful, with lots of potent butter and salt flavors. ... The texture is also perfect — the kernels are light and fluffy and tender to the bite."

The family-owned popcorn company has been perfecting the timeless snack since 1944. But, while the brand does make a Movie Theater Butter flavor, it was the Buttery Explosion that we fell hard for.

When I was young, I attempted to make popcorn at home that tasted as good as the stuff from our local movie theater. I started with a bag of microwave popcorn (One of those "natural" types), and I melted some butter on the stove. I poured the popcorn into a bowl and topped it with the butter, and the results were not good. First of all, many pieces were downright soggy, having absorbed way too much liquid butter. And once the popcorn started to cool down, so did the butter, leaving a thick coating of solidified fat on everything — including the bowl. From that point on, I knew it wasn't real butter that movie theaters were using. Looking back, that butter would have been better on a fancy platter of butter-dipped crudités.

Movie theaters make irresistible popcorn with a special ingredient called Flavacol, which is basically a butter-flavored seasoned salt. When it's added to the oil for popping, each kernel gets coated with the highly flavored, yellow ingredient, transforming it into the movie theater-style popcorn we love so much. You can buy Gold Medal brand Flavacol seasoning to use at home, but if you're planning on just sprinkling it over your microwave popcorn, you might be disappointed with the results since it's not sticky on its own. Instead, it's intended to be added to oil when you're popping the kernels in a pot or electric popcorn machine. With a little finesse, you'll be in the theater-style popcorn biz from the blockbuster-level comfort of your couch.