What’s the best microwave popcorn? Tasters ranked 11 top brands.

Movies and popcorn are as iconic a pairing as Harry and Sally or Barbie and Ken.

And many of us turn to microwave bags for convenience and ease. But when you’re facing an aisle of options, the choice can feel as overwhelming as scrolling through Netflix on a Friday night. To help you decide which bags to add to your queue — er, grocery list — for your next screening session, we set up a blind test of the most popular options on the supermarket shelf.

The lineup: We identified top-selling brands using market data from Chicago-based market research firm Circana, which gets its numbers from grocery, drug, mass-market, convenience, military, and select club and dollar retailers. For “private-label,” or store brands, we selected a handful from leading national chains, giving us 11 brands to test.

The process: We followed the instructions on the packaging for each. Suggested cook times were all over the place, from 90 seconds to 5 minutes, depending on the brand. We followed the recommendation to turn off the microwave as soon as the pace of popping slowed. In the end, most brands finished in about 2½ minutes.

The judging: We conducted a blind taste test in which 10 of our colleagues were given the 11 samples without knowing which brands they were tasting. Judges awarded each a score of 1 to 10, taking into account appearance, aroma, texture and flavor, giving each sample a possible high score of 100 and a low of 10.

So who was the hottest pop star? And which proved not so pop-ular? Here are the results of our kernel quest:

(Prices listed below are per bag, divided from the full cost of each brand’s package.)

11. Act II Butter

Score: 31

If this sample were a movie, it would earn a Razzie for worst picture. Tasters found it bland and flavorless, with one likening it to cardboard and another to “an unsalted wafer.” “I suspect the popcorn bag tasted better than the popcorn,” was another representative thumbs-down review.

(Price: $0.48/2.75-ounce bag at Meijer)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 25; Total Fat: 1 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 35 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

10. 365 (Whole Foods) Buttery Flavor

Score: 32

Another tasteless entrant, according to most of the panel. And what they could taste, they didn’t like. “Burned flavor,” was one indictment. One thought it was dry, reminding them of day-old popcorn. Still, it might have its uses, suggested one taster: “Should be used for packing fragile glassware.”

(Price: $1.26/3.5-ounce bag at Whole Foods)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 35; Total Fat: 1.5 g; Saturated Fat: 0.5 g; Carbohydrates: 5 g; Sodium: 35 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: less than 1 g; Dietary Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

9. Great Value (Walmart) Classic Butter

Score: 33

“Damp” is a bad thing when it comes to both basements and popcorn, as this soggy contestant proved. One panelist thought it approximated “wet Styrofoam” while another said it was unpleasantly “chewy.” “Like it got rinsed,” suggested another. The best anyone could muster up about it was that it was “mid.”

(Price: $0.41/2.4-ounce bag at Walmart)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 30; Total Fat: 1.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 40 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 0 g.

8. Skinny Pop Butter

Score: 44

This was way more salt-forward than you might expect from a brand that markets itself as a more healthful alternative. “This is a salt lick and I am not a deer,” one taster lamented. “Airy, but very, extremely salty,” said another. The sodium level wasn’t as high as some of the others that didn’t get the same complaints, and it might be that the lack of other flavoring only highlighted its salinity. “Where’s the butter?” asked another panelist.

(Price: $0.95/2.8-ounce bag at Target)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 30; Total Fat: 1.5 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Carbohydrates: 4 g; Sodium: 45 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

6. (tie) Clancy’s (Aldi) Movie Theater Butter

Score: 46

This store brand, as well as Costco’s (below) came only in a “movie theater” style, so that’s what we tasted. There’s no official definition for that moniker, but many people credit the brightly colored, butter-forward popcorn sold in cinemas to the product of a proprietary commercial flavoring called “Flavacol.” Neither box listed that as an ingredient, but their use of flavorings might be an attempt at approximating its effects.

In this sample, tasters were expecting more butteriness, based on the sunny hue of these puffed kernels, but they were disappointed. “I wanted more butter,” said one. Another clocked a “chemical” note in the bouquet. People liked the large pieces, but they were generally underwhelmed. “I’d eat, but it’s nothing to write home about,” said one.

(Price: $0.41/2.55-ounce bag at Aldi)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 25; Total Fat: 1.5 g; Saturated Fat: 0.5 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 55 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

6. (tie) Kirkland Signature (Costco) Movie Theater Butter

Score: 46

Several people thought the texture was nice and “melt in your mouth” fluffy. But the flavor was lacking. “Not much other than salt,” complained one taster. One suggested this forgettable snack would be good for mindless munching: “I ate half of it without forming an opinion, which feels like an indictment.”

(Price: $0.39/3.3-ounce bag at Costco)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 35; Total Fat: 2.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 65 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 0 g.

5. Market Pantry (Target) Butter

Score: 49

Finally, a butter bomb! But was that a good thing? “Among the most flavorful,” praised one taster, who thought the intense taste was a plus. “Too buttery?” asked one waverer. A couple thought the punch struck a synthetic, too-good-to-be-true note. (The ingredients include natural and artificial flavoring.) “Tastes like butter extract smells,” according to one. “Chemical,” another declared.

(Price: $0.66/2.9-ounce bag at Target)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 35; Total Fat: 2 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 4 g; Sodium: 70 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: less than 1 g; Dietary Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

4. AMC Theatres Classic Butter

Score: 55

Three tasters detected a sweet note in this brand, which got mixed reviews. “If you are craving a sweet/salt flavor, this could be for you,” one suggested. A couple thought the kernels were a little dense, but it also received a couple of raves. “Felt light but heavy on butter — a master at the top of his craft,” said one fan.

(Price: $0.83/2.75-ounce bag at Walmart)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 40; Total Fat: 2.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1.5 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 115 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 1 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

3. Pop Secret Butter

Score: 57

No one on the panel had a strong opinion on this middling bag, which seemed to earn its place near the top of the list simply by being universally inoffensive. It earned both an “eh” and a “meh.” There were a couple of compliments for its “nice salty sensibility.” But as one summed it up, “Unremarkable, which isn’t the worst thing to say about popcorn from a bag.”

(Price: $0.66/3.2-ounce bag at Jewel-Osco)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 30; Total Fat: 2 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 65 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

2. Orville Redenbacher’s Butter

Score: 59

America’s top-selling brand checked a lot of boxes with our group, both for its “fluffy” texture and convincing butter notes. Its ubiquity might have inspired a couple of people to dub this the most “classic” of the bunch. “Actually tastes like real butter,” said one. One taster even finished the entire sample — a rarity when you’re staring down a dozen options. Still, another noted that his kernels weren’t evenly seasoned. “Some were popping with flavor but others [were] bland.”

(Price: $1.16/3.29-ounce bag at Jewel-Osco)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 30; Total Fat: 2 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Sodium: 60 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 0 g.

1. Jolly Time Simply Popped Butter

Score: 60

The pale color of this sample at first didn’t inspire much confidence from tasters — but many were won over once they tasted it. “Deceptively flavorful,” as one described it. No artificial flavorings and the inclusion of actual butter (most of the samples we tried did not feature the recently redeemed food pyramid fat) gave it a much more natural vibe that our panel found refreshing. And the salt level hit the right notes, with one clocking the advertised sea salt as having a “pleasant, mild saltiness.”

Most of all, they liked the far-lighter-than-its peers texture, which helped Jolly Time narrowly take home the title in this taste test. One noted that the kernels didn’t seem to be weighed down by grease, and instead were pleasantly “bouncy.” “Nice airy, puffy crunch!”

(Price: $0.66/3-ounce bag at Walmart)

Per 1-cup serving, popped: Calories: 35; Total Fat: 2.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1.5 g; Carbohydrates: 4 g; Sodium: 50 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: less than 1 g; Dietary Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 0 g.

• Daily Herald staff edited for local prices and availability.