Our All-Time Favorite Cheddar Popcorn Is Probably Yours Too

While freshly-popped microwave popcorn is a nice treat, sometimes it's just easier (and more flavorful) to grab a bag of savory cheddar popcorn. Not all of us are fortunate enough to live near Chicago's iconic Garrett Popcorn shops (although thankfully I do, tee hee), so the next best thing is to grab a bag of cheddar popcorn straight from the grocery store shelf. We once reviewed six different brands of cheddar popcorn, and our favorite is one you definitely know and have seen frequently before: Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn.

Our taste tester notes that it's the best of the bunch because "it has the right balance of salt to tang to fluff," along with the fact that it falls in the middle of the pack health-wise and does the best job of boasting an authentic dairy flavor. Other cheddar popcorn brands suffered from a lack of cheesiness or seasoning altogether, which, frankly, defeats much of the purpose of buying it. Why buy cheddar popcorn without the cheddar, right? Plus, the fact that Smartfood is so easily accessible and available in smaller serving sizes puts it at a huge advantage over other brands if you're looking for a convenient snack.

While we wholeheartedly recommend Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn, committed fans have noticed the snack just doesn't taste the way it used to. Those with a keen eye have found that cheddar cheese, which was once the third-most prominent item in the ingredient list, is now the seventh-most, with ingredients like whey, natural flavors, and maltodextrin leading ahead of it. The result? A less cheesy popcorn. My guess is that using less cheddar cheese drives down the cost of production, which is usually the driver of these manufacturing changes, but the exact reasoning is still unclear.

That being said, we still think Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn is a trustworthy buy at the grocery store. It's definitely the easiest to grab and is perfect for any occasion, whether that's having a snack on the couch for movie night or stuff a bag of it into your (or your kid's) bagged lunch. If you really feel like dialing up the flavor, you're always welcome to try making some cheddar-flavored popcorn yourself (Alton Brown has a low-cost yet delicious cheesy popcorn recipe). But when you're out at the store, you know which brand we're going to grab. Even with less cheese, this snack is still tasty enough to top our list.