Sweet & Savory BBQ Popcorn Snack Mix
About This Sweet & Savory BBQ Popcorn Snack Mix
What It Is: A crunchy snack mix of popcorn, roasted peanuts and cashews, crispy dried anchovies and shallots coated with a buttery, sweet and smoky BBQ seasoning.
Servings: 4
Flavour & Texture: Sweet, salty, smoky, savoury and crunchy, with plenty of umami from the dried anchovies.
Cooking Methods: Oven-roasting, shallow-frying, stovetop popcorn and a short final bake.
Oven Temperatures: 160°C / 320°F for roasting the nuts, followed by 140°C / 284°F to dry and crisp the finished snack mix.
Do I Need a Wok? No. A large skillet or pot works too. I use a wok because its high sides give me more room to toss everything without making a mess.
Can I Change the Ingredients? Absolutely. Think of this recipe as a basic method rather than a strict formula. Change the nuts, seasonings and savoury additions to suit what you have.
This started with a jar of Dad's BBQ Spice Mix that my dear friend @VinceHomeMade sent me all the way from Australia, and I wanted to do something with it other than the obvious meat and BBQ recipes.
So... snacks. I roasted some peanuts and cashews, fried some dried anchovies aka ikan bilis, popped some popcorn, and tossed everything together with butter, BBQ spice, smoked paprika, and honey. Crispy shallots go in at the end because, honestly, crispy shallots make almost anything better.
You end up with something sweet, salty, smoky, savoury and ridiculously crunchy, with a little bit of everything in every handful.
Snack mixes don't really belong to one single culinary tradition. Mixing nuts, grains and other crunchy bits with seasonings exists in countless forms around the world, from American party mixes to Indian namkeen and Southeast Asian nut and ikan bilis snacks.
This isn't meant to reproduce any one of them. It's really just me taking the idea of a seasoned snack mix and throwing in ingredients I already love. I chose a wok because I don't own a giant skillet, but it actually works brilliantly here. The high sides give me plenty of room to toss everything without launching half of my popcorn across the kitchen, which is always a bonus.
More importantly, treat this recipe as a guideline rather than something you need to follow gram for gram. Don't like cashews? Use another nut. Try dried shrimp instead of dried anchovies. Swap the smoked paprika for chilli powder, chilli flakes or Mexican chilli flakes if you want some heat.
Adjust the honey depending on how sweet you want it, or change the BBQ rub entirely. That's really the point of this one. Use the basic method, raid your pantry and make your own version. Then eat it warm in front of whatever series you're currently bingeing and try not to finish the entire tray.
Ingredients:
(Serve 4)
Raw Peanuts, 50g
Cashews, 50g
Sea Salt, Pinch
Rapeseed / Sunflower / Canola / Peanut Oil, 1/4 Cup
Dried Anchovies, 25g
Pop Corn Kernels, 40g
Unsalted Butter, 35g
@VinceHomeMade Dad's BBQ Spice Mix, 2 TBSP Or Your Favorite BBQ Rub
Smoked Paprika, 1/2 TBSP
Pure Honey, 2 TBSP Adjust To Preference
Crispy Shallots, A Handful
Equipment:
Oven
Large Skillet / Wok / Pot
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F.
Spread the raw peanuts in a baking dish or tray and roast for about 20 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through so they roast more evenly.
After 20 minutes, add the cashews and toss everything together. Continue roasting for about another 10 minutes, or until the peanuts and cashews are evenly roasted and fragrant. Keep an eye on the cashews because they can brown relatively quickly.
Remove the nuts from the oven and immediately season them with a pinch of salt while they're still hot. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl and set aside. If you're using already-roasted nuts, you can skip this entire roasting stage.
Lower the oven temperature to 140°C / 284°F for the final bake later.
Heat the cooking oil in a large wok, skillet or pot over medium heat.
Add the dried anchovies and sauté until crisp and golden. Remove them with a slotted spoon, allowing the excess oil to drain back into the pan, then add the anchovies to the roasted nuts.
Add a single popcorn kernel to the oil. When it pops, remove it. This tells you that the oil is hot enough for the remaining popcorn.
Add the remaining popcorn kernels and immediately cover with a lid. Carefully shake the pan occasionally as the kernels begin popping so they heat more evenly.
The popping will become rapid before gradually slowing down. Once there are roughly a couple of seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat. Keep it covered briefly until the popping stops completely. Give it a shake.
Carefully remove the lid, keeping your face away from the escaping steam and any enthusiastic last-minute popcorn kernels. Transfer the popcorn to the bowl with the roasted nuts and crispy anchovies.
Return the same wok, skillet or pot to low heat and add the butter.
Once the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat. Add the BBQ spice mix, smoked paprika and honey, then stir until everything is thoroughly combined.
Add the popcorn, nuts and anchovies back into the pan. Toss thoroughly until the butter and seasoning mixture lightly coats everything. This is one reason I like using a wok, the high sides make tossing a big batch much easier.
Spread the mixture evenly across a baking tray. Avoid piling everything into a thick layer, as you want moisture to escape during the final bake.
Scatter the crispy shallots throughout the mixture.
Bake at 140°C / 284°F for 8 to 10 minutes, giving everything a gentle toss if necessary, until the coating has dried slightly and the snack mix feels crisp rather than wet or sticky.
Remove from the oven and allow it to cool briefly. It will crisp up further as it cools.
Serve while still slightly warm and preferably with a good movie or whatever series you're currently trying to finish.
Tips
Use whatever nuts you like.
Peanuts and cashews are what I used, but almonds, pecans or other nuts can work. Just remember that different nuts roast at different rates.
Already have roasted nuts? Use them.
There is absolutely no prize for roasting everything from scratch. Skip that stage and move on.
Dried anchovies aren't compulsory.
Try dried shrimp or another crispy savoury ingredient instead. If you're using dried shrimp, adjust the cooking time according to their size.
Make it spicy.
Replace the smoked paprika with chilli powder, chilli flakes or your favourite Mexican chilli flakes. Or keep the smoked paprika and add chilli as well.
Adjust the honey.
Use more or less depending on how sweet you want your snack mix. This isn't baking; the exact sweetness is entirely up to you.
A wok makes life easier.
You don't need one, but the high sides give you much more room to toss popcorn, nuts and seasonings together without throwing everything onto the stove.
Don't drown the popcorn in seasoning.
You want enough butter and honey mixture to carry the spices and lightly coat everything. Too much moisture will make the popcorn soggy.
Let it cool a little.
The mixture continues to crisp as the hot honey-butter coating cools.
FAQ
What is BBQ popcorn snack mix?
This version combines freshly popped popcorn with roasted peanuts and cashews, crispy dried anchovies and shallots, then coats everything in butter, BBQ seasoning, smoked paprika and honey before a short final bake.
Why add dried anchovies to popcorn?
Dried anchovies, commonly known as ikan bilis in Singapore and Malaysia, add saltiness, crunch and plenty of savoury umami. They work particularly well against the sweetness of honey and the smoky BBQ seasoning.
Can I make this without dried anchovies?
Absolutely. Leave them out or replace them with another savoury ingredient. Dried shrimp would be an interesting alternative.
Can I use different nuts?
Yes. The peanuts and cashews are simply what I chose for this batch. You can experiment with other nuts, but keep in mind that different nuts may need different roasting times.
Can I make this BBQ popcorn spicy?
Yes. Replace the smoked paprika with chilli powder or chilli flakes, or use both smoked paprika and chilli if you want smokiness and heat.
Why bake the snack mix again after coating it?
The short final bake helps remove some of the moisture introduced by the butter and honey, allowing the coating to set around the popcorn, nuts and anchovies. The mixture will continue to crisp as it cools.
Do I need a wok?
No. A large skillet or pot works perfectly well. I use a wok because I don't have a particularly large skillet, and its high sides make tossing a large amount of popcorn considerably easier.
Can I change the BBQ seasoning?
Of course. I'm using @@VinceHomeMade Dad's BBQ Spice Mix because this recipe was developed around it, but your favourite BBQ rub will work. More importantly, use the recipe as a starting point and adjust it to whatever you actually enjoy eating.
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