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    Home » Recipes » 4th of July

    Red, White, and Blue Popcorn Balls

    Modified: Jun 12, '22 · Published: Jun 28, '18 · By: Beth Klosterboer · Commission earned on paid or sponsored links.

    Jump to Recipe

    These red, white, and blue popcorn balls are super easy to make using the microwave. They will make festive and fun desserts for your 4th of July party.

    4th of July Party Food including recipes for Red, White, and Blue Popcorn Balls and Patriotic Chicken Dip

    Do you host family and friends for the 4th of July party every year? It's a fun holiday to celebrate because there are no major expectations like there are for some of the bigger holidays

    All you need is some good food like these Red, White, and Blue Popcorn Balls and Patriotic Dip, a few festive decorations, and a fun group of party guests.

    These multi-colored popcorn balls are perfect for this holiday. These crunchy and chewy treats are so easy to make that you can have 8 made in under 20 minutes and they can be served at an outdoor 4th of July picnic.

    Red, white, and blue popcorn balls make fun desserts for a 4th of July party.

    So. let's get into the kitchen and make some delicious 4th of July treats.

    How to make Red, White, and Blue Popcorn Balls

    • Start with some crunchy kettle corn.
      • You don't have to go to a festival or 4th of July parade to buy kettle corn these days. They now sell bags of it in the grocery store.
      • I like using Kettle Corn for these popcorn balls because the pieces have a light candy coating on the outside that will help to keep the popcorn crunchy once coated with marshmallows.
    • Melt marshmallows, butter, and some colored (red, white, or blue) candy melts together.
      • Adding the candy melts not only adds some color, but also adds flavor, and structure to the popcorn balls.
    • If you want your popcorn balls to be really vibrantly colored, add some food coloring.
      • It's not absolutely necessary, but I wanted a true red and blue so I stirred in a drop of coloring to the melted marshmallows before adding my popcorn to the bowl.
    • Microwave all three of the bowls of marshmallows before adding the popcorn.
      • As soon as you stir in the popcorn you can begin forming your popcorn balls.
      • Don't let the bowls of popcorn sit for too long before making the popcorn balls because the marshmallow mixture will begin to firm up.
    5 from 1 vote
    Red, white, and blue popcorn balls make fun desserts for a 4th of July party.
    Print
    Red, White, and Blue Popcorn Balls
    Prep Time
    15 mins
    Cook Time
    3 mins
    Total Time
    18 mins
     

    Chewy marshmallow coated red, white, and blue popcorn balls are easy to make and fun to serve at a 4th of July party. 

    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: popcorn balls, red, white, and blue popcorn balls
    Servings: 8 popcorn balls
    Author: Beth Klosterboer
    Ingredients
    • 9 ounces marshmallows, divided
    • 3 tablespoons butter, divided
    • ¼ cup red candy melts
    • ¼ cup white candy melts
    • ¼ cup blue candy melts
    • red and blue food coloring, optional
    • 12 cups kettle corn
    Instructions
    1. Divide the marshmallows among three large mixing bowls (3 ounces in each).

    2. Place 1 tablespoon of butter into each bowl.

    3. Add red candy melts to one bowl, white to another, and blue to the other. 

    4. Heat one bowl at a time in the microwave for 45-60 seconds until the marshmallows puff up and begin to melt. 

    5. Remove and stir until melted and smooth. 

    6. Repeat for the two remaining bowls of marshmallows. 

    7. Stir in red or blue food coloring, if desired, to make the red marshmallows and the blue marshmallows more vibrantly colored. 

    8. Stir 4 cups of popcorn into each of the bowls until the popcorn is evenly coated. 

    9. Immediately pinch off a piece of each color and form 8 multi-colored red, white, and blue popcorn balls. 

    10. Store in an airtight container, preferably a metal popcorn tin.

    Recipe Notes

    These popcorn balls are best eaten the day they are made but can be stored overnight in an airtight container. Storing them in a metal popcorn tin will keep them the freshest. 

    Kettle corn works the best because it's already coated in a thin layer of caramel which will help to keep these popcorn balls crunchy. 

    Don't forget to check out this festive 4th of July dip recipe too...

    4th of July Party Food

    My party guests always arrive at our house hungry so I try to serve at least a few really festive appetizers and desserts along with the traditional burgers and hot dogs.

    My family cannot have a function without some form of chicken dip. For the 4th of July, I like to dress it up by adding cracker crumb stars using crackers that I color with a bit of red and blue food coloring.

    You can see how to make and decorate the Patriotic Dip, here.

    You don't need to do a lot to make your food table really festive. Simply decorate a white table by adding the colorful red, white and blue food, and add some 4th of July plates, cups, and napkins. A few simple decorations will finish the look nicely.

    Make fun 4th of July recipes for your party or picnic. These red, white and blue desserts and appetizers will make your guests "ooh and aah."

    Over the years I have made so many festive 4th of July foods.
    You can see links to all my recipes on my 4th of July Recipes page.

    I hope you have a fabulous 4th of July. Let me know in the comments below how you prep for your party.
    Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.

    4th of July party food including red, white, and blue popcorn balls, patriotic chicken dip, and sprinkle-topped cupcakes and rice krispie treats.

    • Author
    • Recent Posts
    Beth Klosterboer
    Beth Klosterboer
    Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com
    Beth Klosterboer
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    1. The Partiologist says

      June 29, 2018 at 8:31 am

      As you know popcorn is one of my favorite snacks, making these popcorn balls red, white and blue is a party!

      Reply
      • Beth says

        June 29, 2018 at 8:38 am

        Popcorn is my go to snack almost every evening too! I love it. I'm glad you like these patriotic popcorn balls. 🙂

        Reply
    Beth Jackson Klosterboer

    Welcome to Hungry Happenings!

    I'm Beth. I've been a professional chocolatier & baker for over 30 years, have written 5 cookbooks, and love creating fun food for holidays and special occasions.

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