Dorito Popcorn – Gluten free & Vegan
This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission. Learn more in our disclosure.
Do you like DORITOS but want a healthier option? Try this Dorito Popcorn Recipe to get the flavor of Doritos but without the chemical topping. Delicious and dairy-free too!
If you've been around my blog, or my family, for awhile, you know that we love popcorn – I've got a bunch of homemade popcorn recipes on my site from Healthy Peanut Butter Popcorn to one of our faves Surprisingly Good Seasoned Popcorn. And of course, there is Basic Healthy Stovetop Popcorn for the popcorn purist. But one thing you likely don't know is that I love Doritos.
But I don't eat them anymore.
In fact, no one in our home eats them.
We did have an unfortunate episode with a Ranch Dorito® long ago that led to a near anaphylactic reaction in my oldest, but that's not why we don't have them around.
Since I've become a natural-whole foodie, GMO corn and the chemical concoction on top of the crispy chips are not welcome in our home anymore.
The ingredients in Doritos are just nothing that I want in neither my nor my family's bodies.
When you think about it, would you really choose to have your chips topped with monosodium glutamate, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate?
Me neither.
I actually have a few funny things to tell you about Doritos first.
Why Our Oldest Didn't Know What Doritos Were
When I found some Dorito seasoning recipes on the internet and told my boys that I would be making Dorito Popcorn, my youngest asked what Doritos are.
I know that sounds pretty ridiculous to some folks, but since we've never had them in our house, and we don't watch much TV, my son didn't know what they are.
Hint: If you are trying to whole-foodify your family's diet, avoiding TV is a huge help. And avoid the center aisles of the grocery store too. That's where almost all of the processed stuff lurks. Just waiting to tempt you to spend too much and put chemicals and additives into your body.
The Only Dorito My Oldest Son Has Ever Had
When my son was about 5 months old, he was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies to 3 foods (later other foods were added to his “off limit” list). You can read Eczema and Food Allergies–from Despair to Healing to learn more about all we went through.
Dairy, egg whites, and peanuts have not been in his diet. Ever.
Well, mostly.
When he was about 1 1/2 years old, we were at a church party.
Suddenly, I noticed my son had hives all down one side of his face and was holding a half-eaten chip.
I grabbed the chip and quickly figured out what had happened.
My suspicions were verified when I found the offending chip's bag.
Ranch Doritos. They contain MILK powder.
Another small child had placed his unfinished plate of Doritos down little kid level and my son had gotten a bite.
We quickly gave him Benadryl and called his allergist who assured us he was in no danger as long as the symptoms didn't progress to vomiting or breathing. Which they didn't.
So:
- between the one son who didn't know what Doritos are
- the other who has only had a small bite ever cross his lips and
- Mom who just loves Doritos but can't stomach the ingredient list,
we were all super excited to work on making a seasoning that we could put on popcorn and have that delicious Dorito flavor without all the allergy problems and chemical and GMO ickiness.
And now you can enjoy it too.
Where to buy Quality Spices?
I personally LOVE Frontier spices for their freshness and quality. I buy almost all of my spices from them in bulk because we do so much cooking from scratch.
If you prefer small amounts, Simply Organic is Frontier's section of products in smaller quantities.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions for Dorito Popcorn
- Nutritional Yeast: Oh–and as a side note, nutritional yeast is a non-candida-feeding yeast that has a nutty-cheesy flavor. Vegans tend to use it a lot for a cheesy taste without dairy.
And if you're trying to avoid synthetic folic acid (almost all nutritional yeast has it), here is a brand to try. - THM: This recipe is a “crossover” if you are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, unless you use air-popped popcorn, which will make it an “E.”
Other Popcorn Recipes
If you love popcorn as much as we do, you'll love trying out these other recipes.
- Homemade Popcorn Seasoning – everyone asks for this recipe
- Herb Popcorn – a surprisingly delicious recipe
- Sugar-free Kettle Corn – amazingly good!
- Peanut Butter Popcorn – which can also be made into Almond Butter Popcorn as well.
The BEST Stovetop Popcorn Popper
We've had this popper for many years and we love it.
Most crank-style poppers are made of aluminum, but this one is made from stainless steel — much better for your non-toxic lifestyle.
“Dorito” Popcorn – dairy free, gluten free, vegan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (organic preferred)
- 2 – 3 tablespoons coconut oil (for popping)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules (if you would like to make your own garlic granules, see Easy Homemade Granulated Garlic)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder or granules
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (if you would prefer homemade chili powder, see The “Best” Basic Chili Powder)
- 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Prepare popcorn using oil with your preferred method. This Healthy Stovetop Popcorn post has more information about popping and about my favorite stovetop popcorn popper. Air popped popcorn won't work without additional oil since the seasoning needs moisture from the oil to adhere to the popcorn.
- Combine all spices, and salt in a small bowl.
- Blend seasonings in a spice or coffee grinder, or blend in blender to make a fine powder.
- Sprinkle seasoning over popcorn and toss to coat.
Notes
- Nutritional Yeast: Oh–and as a side note, nutritional yeast is a non-candida-feeding yeast that has a nutty-cheesy flavor. Vegans tend to use it a lot for a cheesy taste without dairy.
- And if you're trying to avoid synthetic folic acid (almost all nutritional yeast has it), here is a brand to try.
- THM: This recipe is a “crossover” if you are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, unless you use air-popped popcorn, which will make it an “E.”
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
I hope you love this Dorito Popcorn as much as we do!
What is your favorite way to eat popcorn?
Do you still eat Doritos :)?
For an oil free option, lightly spray with “braggs liquid aminos” as popcorn is flying out of the air popper – this will allow the spices to stick to the popcorn.
Oh interesting–does the Bragg’s taste good w/ these spices?
yes, it’s actually quite delicious!! The hard part was finding a spray bottle for it, it’s the key, you just want a light mist.
Some people might say oil taste much better (and some days it does)…but this is a great healthy alternative 🙂
That’s so great! Coconut aminos would be great too, then!
Thanks for the recipe, Adrienne! I also have been making it for years and I love it! Also really good on kale chips. 🙂
You are so welcome! So glad you like it! Hopefully more popcorn recipes coming soon!
I have been making this for my kids for years, and keep coming back to this page… I realized I never commented after all these years. This is a wonderful recipe that my oldest calls “spicy popcorn” Thank you, we love this!
Aww – how sweet! Thank you so much! I’ve had a rough year and a half (or more) and haven’t put too many recipes up but I’m about to get a new one up this week….hope to have more posts etc soon and would love to hear from you anytime :)!
A+ absolutely tastes like Doritos. Will make again.
Thanks! So glad you liked it!
I have come back and used this recipe over and over for the past several years and it just occurred to me that I have never commented on how wonderful it is. My kids refer to it as The Popcorn Salt (they are little so all seasonings are “salt” to them regardless of whether there is salt in it or not). The only modification I usually make is not using any cayenne and reducing the chili powder (my small kids don’t like spicy). I like it as written however. Wonderful recipe!
Aww thanks, Nikki! That means so much! I haven’t been blogging as much recently but I hope to have some more recipes up soon including more popcorn! Thank you!!! 🙂
Question: Could I add the seasoning in with the oil while the corn pops or will the seasoning burn? Its just so hard to get seasoning to stick to popcorn without adding more fat to it after its popped, especially nutritional yeast. Its just sinks to the bottom of the bowl :/
Hi Jen! Have you has this as a problem when adding seasonings to popcorn that is popped in oil? How much are you using? I would think adding more oil should help. I haven’t tried what you are suggesting but I have heard that you can do it. If you stir it frequently it might work out. Let me know how it goes!
Made this for my husband. I told him it was a nacho cheese flavor, I didn’t want to have to apologize later for it not measuring up to the Doritos name. He ate one handful and said “It taste like Doritos.” Thanks for sharing this recipe. It’s delicious.
Wow – that’s so great! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know :)!
MSG isn’t bad for you, if you’re allergic you can’t basically eat any fruits, potatoes, tomatoes. It’s natural, and it gets a bad name from a racist medical revisionism. Lol can you stop pushing this racism? Thanks!
Hi there. Actually MSG is synthetic and the components in tomatoes, etc. is natural glutamic acid. I’m aware that there is information out there stating that reactions are not frequent and that they aren’t severe, but there is some talk of the effects being cumulative which would be difficult to test in a formal testing situation. I would prefer to avoid synthetic additives to my food whenever necessary. It has nothing to do with racism :). And there are other ingredients in Doritos that I would prefer to avoid as well :). Thanks for reading and for commenting.
“LOL” what on Earth are you on about? There’s plenty of legitimate racism in the world that you should be focusing on rather than throwing that word at innocent people and using spurious claims. Pathetic.
Love this recipe!!! I “lost” it. So glad to have found it. Yum yum!
Oh great! Glad you found it and thanks for taking the time to share!
I love this recipe! I did find that using less cumin helped it taste more like Doritos and a little less like Mexican food otherwise it’s a really good recipe I’ve already shared it with two families with lots of food restrictions!
Thank you!!