A process for preparing a compressed popcorn (15) food product is provided. Process steps include: cooking (1), cooling (2), fractioning (3), heating (4), compressing (5) and ejection and packing (6). Popcorn (15) is made from maize grains (13) which are then compressed (5) to obtain compressed food product portions. The invention also relates to a manufactured food product (53) comprising compressed popcorn (15) resulting from the maize grains (13) and a sweetener (14) cooked without the addition of fat substances. The resulting food product (53) may also include additional food ingredients. The different shapes of the compression containers (50) make it possible to obtain different types of candies, food bars or blocks, etc.