Popped amaranth is a quick and healthy snack. The tiny seeds are inexpensive and packed with protein and calcium, and prepping takes less than 5 minutes. Popping amaranth is messy, so if you’ve got kids, get them involved with making this wholesome treat and don’t worry if some amaranth leaps out of the pan as it’s popping—the spontaneous confetti is part of the fun.
I credit my middle-schooler, Otis, for introducing amaranth to our kitchen. He is a lucky kid attending King Middle School—the home of Alice Waters’s original Edible Schoolyard—and he comes home gushing about new recipes for us to try. At the Edible Schoolyard, not only do the kids cook amaranth, but they grow and harvest it as well. Otis loves the ESY recipe for faux “Rice Crispy” treats made with popped amaranth and brown rice syrup.
I wanted to take my popped amaranth in a savory direction and was deeply influenced by the flavors found in dukkah, a wonderful Middle Eastern spice blend. You can nibble on this spiced popped amaranth as a great snack on its own, or feel free to scatter some onto a bowl of soup, or a platter of sautéed greens, or over the top of a salad.
You can also treat naked popped amaranth as a light breakfast cereal.
Tip: Be a little patient with yourself if you are new to popping amaranth. Mastering this simple technique can take a few attempts, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be popping up a storm.
makes 3 to 4 cups
½ cup raw amaranth
¼ cup raw sesame seeds
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
Sea salt
In a small bowl, stir together the amaranth and sesame seeds. Place the bowl, along with a tablespoon-size measuring spoon, next to the stove. Also place a baking sheet next to the stove to hold the seeds once they’ve popped.
Heat a deep, heavy-bottom saucepan over high heat. When the pan is nice and hot but not smoking, add a sprinkle of water. If the water beads and scampers across the surface, you are ready to pop your seeds. Wipe out the water and pour 2 tablespoons of the amaranth-sesame mix into the hot dry pot. Stir immediately and continuously with a spoon and watch the golden amaranth quickly pop into tiny white kernels (don’t worry about the sesame seeds . . . they don’t need to pop like the amaranth to taste good). Amaranth burns easily, so keep stirring vigorously and remove the pan from the heat as soon as the majority of amaranth has popped. The whole process will take less than 30 seconds!
Pour the popped seeds onto the waiting baking sheet. Repeat the process of popping the seeds in small batches and transferring them to the baking sheet until you’re all done.
Drizzle the olive oil over your popped amaranth and sesame. Sprinkle with the cumin, coriander, and sea salt to your liking. Toss with your hands.
Store popped amaranth at room temperature in a lidded container and enjoy within a week.