The Herb Upgrade Your Movie Night Popcorn Has Been Begging For

Is it even movie night if popcorn isn't involved? Just the aroma of freshly popped corn drizzled with butter invokes thoughts of the movie theater, or at least cozying up under a blanket to stream the latest blockbuster. If you host a lot of movie nights, maybe you're looking to shake things up in the snack department. While classic, butter-topped popcorn is good, there is so much room to make this otherwise cliché snack great. Sure, there are powdered popcorn flavors in shaker bottles to douse your popped corn, but think in terms of herbs for something truly unique and delicious. Rosemary is where you should start — yes, the same herb that chefs use to flavor lamb.

Rosemary is woody, earthy, and a little bitter, with an almost piney quality to it. It's sophisticated, so to speak, and lends deep umami notes to anything it touches. When you combine it with butter or olive oil and pour the mixture over warm popcorn (white or yellow corn is equally fine, and yes, there's a difference) with a sprinkle of salt, you'll have a snack that might even outshine any film you select for movie night.

Adding rosemary to your batch of popcorn could be as easy as plucking the leaves from the stem and pouring them on top. Be aware, though that as you eat the crunchy snack, much of the rosemary is going to slide right off the corn and end up at the bottom of your popcorn bucket or bowl. To make the seasoning stick, drizzle warmed butter or olive oil on your popcorn, and follow it with finely chopped rosemary while the popcorn is still warm; stir quickly so that every kernel gets some of the mix. You could also place everything in a large paper bag and give it a vigorous shake.

For more rosemary flavor, steep a sprig of the herb in your butter or oil as it's warming to infuse it itself with herbaceous flavor. Or, you can go a step further and add a couple of garlic cloves, so you are left with a delicious garlic-rosemary oil. You can even use pre-infused oils; rosemary is a popular flavor, but lemon oil would also be wonderful in this method. You can add also freshly ground pepper and very finely grated Parmesan cheese, but don't be surprised if you eat this particular batch of popcorn as dinner.

Another idea is to fry the rosemary in oil for a few minutes. It gets very crispy, giving a fun extra texture to the crunchy popcorn. If all you have is dried rosemary, consider pulverizing it into a powder in a spice grinder, which will result in superior popcorn coverage.