Hush Puppies are a popular Southern side dish that consists of a simple cornbread batter that is scooped into little balls and then deep fried to perfection. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
With a name like hush puppies there is likely to be a good story behind it right?! I have heard rumors that during the Civil War soldiers would fry up some cornmeal and throw it to the dogs to quiet them down to prevent them from barking and giving away their position. Hence the name-hush puppies. Don’t quote me on that but I think that theory could be fairly likely.
Hush Puppies
These fried balls of goodness are quick to mix up and are a really great side dish. Hush puppies would be yummy served along side any seafood dish or barbecue meal. They can also be an appetizer with a dipping sauce such as tartar sauce or ranch dressing.
Hush puppies are about the size of golf balls. They are small but pack a punch. The inside is a tender batter made with a mixture of cornbread and onions while the outside is golden brown with a great crunch. Seriously so good!
Pro tip for making the cornmeal batter mixture: don’t over mix the batter. Mix until the ingredients are just combined. It is okay if there are some lumps. I like to let the batter sit for about 3-5 minutes while waiting for the oil to heat up.
Ingredients:
- Yellow cornmeal: this is the base of the recipe, it gives it great color, flavor, and texture
- All purpose flour: this adds some gluten to the flour mix and helps with texture
- Seasonings: sugar, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and pepper are used to give the hush puppies a savory flavor
- Egg: this helps to bind all of the ingredients together
- Milk: this is the liquid for the recipe to make the cornbread come together
- Melted butter or light oil: add just a little to the batter for flavor and texture
- Onion or finely chopped green onion: onion is where a lot of the flavor comes from for this recipe. You can also grate the onion to get it nice and small
- Oil for frying: you can use any light oil such as canola, vegetable oil, or corn oil.
How to make Hush Puppies:
- Mix up your batter by adding all of the dry ingredients to a bowl.
- Make a little well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all of the wet ingredients, stir to combine well and until there are no dry spots left.
- Heat up your oil.
- Use 2 spoons or a cookie scoop to put small amount of the cornmeal batter into the hot oil.
- Remove from the oil and enjoy warm. So easy! Serve with your favorite fried fish and coleslaw for a wonderful meal.
Frequently Asked Questions:
You want to fry these little puppies in an oil with a high smoke point. Some good options would be vegetable oil, peanut oil, corn oil, or canola oil.
Hush puppies are typically served with seafood dishes. They would be really great as a barbecue side dish as well. I serve them with fried fish and coleslaw most often.
Either cornmeal works when you are frying up hush puppies. If you use white cornmeal they will end up a little bit sweeter and I don't think they fry up as well. The yellow cornmeal tends to have a better coloring when fried. I like to use fine to medium grind cornmeal to get the best texture possible.
Turn on your oven and heat it to 200 degrees F. When each batch of hush puppies is finished, put them on a cooking sheet in the oven to stay warm. I use this trick a lot and it works well with hush puppies too.
More great fried food recipes:
If you’ve tried this hush puppy recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories.
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Hush Puppies Recipe
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: Makes 15 hushpuppies 1x
Description
This hush puppies recipe makes golden balls of lightly seasoned cornbread that are a perfect side for fried fish or any other meal. Easier to make than you'd think!
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tablespoons melted butter or light oil
- 3 tablespoons grated onion or finely chopped green onion (white and green parts)
- 2 quarts oil for frying (such as canola, vegetable, or peanut oil)
Instructions
- In a medium to large Dutch oven, cast iron fryer, or heavy bottom pan add the oil and start preheating it over medium to medium high heat.
- In a medium mixing bowl add the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper.
- Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg, milk, butter or oil, and the onion.
- Stir to combine and until no dry bits remain.
- When the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (I like to use a paddle thermometer to monitor my oil temperatures when frying), add the cornmeal mixture one rounded tablespoon at a time (a cookie scoop works really well for scooping up the batter and getting it into the hot oil).
- Place a few hush puppies in the oil to fry and allow them to cook for 3-5 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
- Remove with a slotted spoon or a spider strain and place the cooked hush puppies on a plate or rimmed baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb the extra grease.
- Repeat until you've used all the batter.
- Serve right away and enjoy hot.
Notes
- You can keep your first batches of hush puppies warm in a 200 degree F oven while you are cooking the others.
- I use green onions because I like the color but using grated onion has a more pronounced onion flavor, so if you like that yummy onion flavor, choose the grated white or yellow onion.
- This recipe if really easy to scale up if you are making it for a crowd.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 5 min
- Category: side
- Method: fry
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: hush puppies, hushpuppies, how to make hush puppies, hush puppies recipe, easy hush puppies, hush puppies with onions
Don’t wait until your next trip South to devour these deep fried hush puppies. You will be surprised at how easy they are to fry up at home.
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