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Simple Joyful Food

small ideas that add joy to life

appetizers + snacks

Flavorful Spicy Nacho Popcorn

October 10, 2024 Leave a Comment
El Yucateco spicy popcorn in bags with football
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Score a touchdown of flavor at your next football tailgating party with this flavorful spicy nacho popcorn. Extra points if you pack them in cute bags!

#Ad. This post is happily sponsored by El Yucateco, the #1 HABANERO hot sauce in the US. #ElYucateco, #KingofFlavor, #FlavorBlitz24

I love fall; it seriously is my favorite time of year. Is it yours? I love crisp, cool mornings, steaming hot coffee out on the deck, and the feeling that everyone is in a perfect mood—oh, and football game get-togethers and tailgating with friends and family. In honor of all things fall and football, I am sharing my deliciously flavorful spicy nacho popcorn recipe with a secret flavor bomb, El Yucateco Chile Habanero Hot Sauce. 

El Yucateco bottle sitting in popcorn

Bring on the flavor!

It’s no secret that popcorn is a universally favorite snack. Therefore, I thought it would be super fun to mix everyone’s favorite snack with everyone’s favorite habanero hot sauce, El Yucateco, founded in Yucatan, Mexico, in 1968 by Mr. Priamo J. Gamboa O.

The El Yucateco Chile Habanero Hot Sauce is the US’s #1 habanero hot sauce. Did you know that? You’ve probably seen several of their 13 hot sauce flavors on the shelves at Walmart or your local grocery store. I often see them at restaurants, including Prelude Breakfast Bar in Fayetteville (which must have all 13 available, including six new sauces introduced last year).

El Yucateco bottle in a bowl of popcorn

You may wonder why I mentioned flavor and hot sauce in the same sentence. Isn’t “hot” sauce, well… hot? The short answer is: it depends. 

While El Yucateco does indeed have a super-hot Ghost Habanero Hot Sauce, I enjoy the flavor of one of their mildest sauces, their Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce. The Green Habanero Hot Sauce is made with “the freshest green habanero peppers, garlic, and fine spices blended into a fresh, flavorful sauce.”   

Fresh.

Garlic.

Fine spices.

Not heat. 

FLAVOR!

Put me in, Coach!

Bring on the tailgate party!

I don’t know about you, but I prefer fan food to football because tailgating food is the BEST! You’re surrounded by friends and family, meeting new people, cozy blankets, silly team outfits, and gloriously delicious foods!

Grilled dawgs.

Burgers.

Smoked meats.

Wings.

And you KNOW that someone will make that adorable cheese spread shaped like a football! If that’s you, wear that badge proudly.

The good news is that you can be that person who brings a flavorful spicy nacho popcorn snack in adorably cute football-themed bags. 

My recipe is super easy. SCORE!

Here’s the game-play: Go to the store the night before the game and buy a bag of plain popcorn. Grab some nacho seasonings, a lime, Ghee, and a bottle of El Yucateco Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce. (And have your cute little bags ready! A quick search online will get you dozens to choose from.)

Ready?

It’s GO TIME!

The focus is on LAYERING the FLAVOR. 

pouring El Yucateco hot sauce in bowl of butter

You’ll microwave the Ghee and add the flavor of the Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce with lime juice. Mix these three ingredients to incorporate before dousing the popcorn. I recommend Ghee instead of butter since the milkfat is removed (milkfat makes soggy popcorn).

Liquids make the dry nacho seasoning stick to the popcorn, so once you’ve mixed the liquid ingredients, pour it over the popcorn and stir. Lastly, add your nacho seasoning. That’s it. 

Let the games begin!

One-and-a-half cups perfectly fill the little football-themed bags. Oh, one last thing: I recommend briefly letting the popcorn dry before putting it in the bags. You know, to keep the popcorn crisp!

bags of popcorn in a bowl with a football

Please scroll down to find my recipe and watch my recipe video. That may make it a little bit easier for you to make this flavorful spicy nacho popcorn the first time. 

Enjoy the GAME! I bet you’ll be the MVP at the Tailgate Party.

Eat well, my friends.

Lyndi

El Yucateco spicy popcorn in bags with football
Print

Flavorful Spicy Nacho Popcorn

Score a touchdown of flavor at your next football tailgating party with this flavorful spicy nacho popcorn.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Tailgating
Keyword flavorful spicy nacho popcorn
Servings 6 football-themed bags

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp Ghee
  • 1 1/2 tsp El Yucateco Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
  • 1/2 Lime
  • 8 cups Plain popped popcorn
  • 1 tsp Nacho cheddar cheese popcorn seasoning
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

  • Melt Ghee in the microwave for 20 seconds in a small bowl. Add El Yucateco Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce and lime juice. Stir.
  • Place popcorn in a large bowl and pour liquid over it. Mix evenly.
  • Add nacho cheddar seasoning to popcorn and mix evenly.
  • Let popcorn rest so that any liquids have a chance to dry.
  • Serve as is. Or, in popcorn-themed bags, add 1 ½ cups to each bag and bring to the game!

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My name is Lyndi Fultz, and I live in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, which span Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri.

I like to share small ideas for living simply and eating happily.

You will find that I talk a lot about food because we all need to eat. Why not add little bits of food joy where possible?

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“Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. Then you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.” – Julia Child

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