Dorito Popcorn – Gluten free & Vegan
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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 :)?
Love this recipe! My husband is asking for a sour cream and onion variety. Any suggestions on how I might get that flavor with the nutritional yeast?
Thanks!!! I just poked around a bit and think I’ll try to figure it out. Maybe a combo of this and DF powder and onion?
Really good as a gluten free dairy free dry rub on chicken wings!
Great idea!!
I have made this for the last 3 nights and I plan to make it again tonight, LOL! thank you so much!
Wonderful! Was just talking about this w/ a friend!
This is soooooo good! I love the spice mix but the best part is that it reminds me of the cheese popcorn that I enjoyed as a 10 yr old 🙂 back in the 60’s.
They still make it but it doesn’t taste like I remember. This does taste like what I remember and I thank you 🙂
Wonderful – thanks for sharing!
Never.
Looking for a seasoning using nutritional yeast and lemon pepper though
I tweaked this recipe to flavor roasted chickpeas!
Nice! I love toasted chickpeas!
Thank you!!! I love your Dorito seasoning on popcorn but was wondering if you’ve ever tried putting the flavorings in the oil, like you do with the sugar in kettle corn, to get a better dispersion. My favorite way to eat the Dorito flavoring is to sprinkle it over my plain Greek yogurt and mix in a little shredded cheese and almond slivers for a protein packed savory snack. It’s also stinkin’ delicious mixed with cream cheese and cottage cheese! This is now a permanent seasoning blend that I always have mixed up and on hand. Love it! And thanks to being introduced to nutritional yeast through this recipe, I’ve added it to my morning scrambled egg seasoning blend for a super yummy recipe even my kiddo who doesn’t love eggs asks for more. =)
Yea – and I LOVE the egg idea. I can’t eat eggs right now but I’m drooling over the thought :). I’ll do it for my youngest.
Those ideas sound great! Can’t wait to try!
Close but not the same, I prefer to add a couple of additional ingredients to make a dry “Salsa” to mine then add real cheese. I use Spray dehydrated Tomato Powder at least 2 TBL spoons to the above recipe, along with Chipolata Pepper for its hot smoky flavor, and Spray dehydrated Real Cheddar Cheese. At least 4Tbl spoons to the above mix. Also Red and Green Bell Pepper Spray Dehydrated or powered product. You can keep or omit the yeast as it adds a cheese flavor and some additional nutritional benefits. To get the mix to stick to air popcorn I have used butter substitutes like “I can’t believe its not butter spray” or a pray bottle with a small about of pure virgin olive oil, or some unflavored oil. I don’t care for Pam or cooking spray and keep a spray bottle around with a mix of oils to use instead of Silicone based cooking sprays. Even pure water with a small amount of Corn syrup and very very lightly spritz the popcorn before putting in a paper bag. Then adding the Powder Salsa mix on top, fold over to of bag, shake for 3-5 minutes. Turning upside down, side to side, all around to get good coverage. You should not have what sounds like sand hitting the bottom of the paper bag when turned over if you do open and spritz again shake again until everything if covered. Be sure not to over spritz the inside of the bag or everything will stick to the paper and not the corn. LOL. You get a closer Nacho Cheese flavor and all the spray dehydrated powders are available online at very cheap prices for large quantities. I also make my own Hidden Vally Ranch Fiesta Dip and it also calls for Tomato powder, pepper powder, going to make some this weekend while watching movies. R
I was just talking about our tomato powder – nice idea! There is a really nice coconut oil spray out from Carrington. Would be much healthier than most of the sprays you find out there :). Your dip sounds great.
That tasted nothing like doritos, my mouth is on fire, worst recipe I have ever tried, omg you should never suggest recipes to people it is an act of terrorism
I think you must have made an error? I have had people tell me that it tastes more like taco, but it isn’t that spicy. Sorry about that….
Don’t feed the Troll 😉
Keep it up. Here you only get sweet Popcorn, maybe I will start a Revolution xD
Greetings from Germany
Greetings right back at you – thanks for the encouragement. Only sweet? Really? You have a lovely country, by the way.
I tried this with air-popped, but sprayed it with olive oil Pam before adding the spices. Not sure how good that is for me, but it does work. Also, I took this same mixture and sprinkled it over almond pulp as I was drying it in the oven. Made great crackers! Thanks for the info
Sounds great!!! Thanks for sharing!