Southern Hush Puppies

Southern Hush Puppies are deceptively delicious bites of slightly sweetened cornmeal batter flavored with a little onion and fried until golden and crisp on the outside and fluffy and light on the inside. They are a must for your fish fry and make a fantastic appetizer or side dish for almost any meal!

If you love Southern food, be sure to try our Collard Greens, Biscuits and Gravy, Southern Fried Chicken, and Southern Tomato Pie!

These tasty little morsels are popular throughout the South so I'm including them here as part of my American Eats series for both Arkansas and Mississippi because they are definitely an iconic food enjoyed in both states as well as others. You'll find them at BBQ joints and fish fries listed along with coleslaw, baked beans, mac & cheese, and all the other delicious sides!

What are hush puppies?

Hush puppy recipes vary from place to place, but all use the same basic cornmeal batter with a few tweaks here and there like the addition of sugar for a slight sweetness (definitely my favorite approach) and a little cayenne pepper for flavor, but not really heat. Some even add cheese or finely diced jalapeno pepper to the batter, which is another fun variation.

You'll often see them at restaurants served as an appetizer or side dish, and hush puppies and fried catfish or shrimp are so iconic that they are like meat & potatoes or PB&J. Their association with fish fries happened naturally since it made sense to use cornmeal already being used to dust the fish and make it into a batter to fry in the same oil as the fish.

Hush Puppies History

I love the lore surrounding hush puppies. Southerners are known for being storytellers and for such a whimsically named food, it's fun to know the creative legends behind it, even if they might be total fiction! Almost all of the stories have the same theme though: fried balls of thick cornmeal dough were used to quiet barking dogs.

The most colorful story dates back to the Civil War, where it is said that Confederate soldiers would toss fried cornmeal cakes to yapping dogs to keep them quiet if Yankee soldiers were approaching.

Another explanation is that a cook was frying up a batch of catfish and croquettes while being pestered by some kids and dogs who were in the kitchen. So to keep them quiet, she gave them the croquettes and told them to "hush, puppies!" and the name stuck.

An even older version is that hush puppies were invented in the early 1700's by nuns from France who came to Louisiana and started making French croquettes with cornmeal, which they called "croquettes de maise". This origin story doesn't account for the fanciful name, but it seems like a likely beginning to the food itself.

Regardless of the genesis of hush puppies, they are part of a long legacy of Southern corn dishes like cornbread, corn pone, griddle cakes, and corn dodgers. If you are interested in a more scholarly approach to the history of the hush puppies, check out this post by Serious Eats, which mentions a couple other stories.

Ingredient Notes

This is a quick overview of some of the important ingredients you'll need for this hush puppy recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.

• Cornmeal: We like to use yellow cornmeal, but white cornmeal can also be used.
• Buttermilk: The rich tang of buttermilk lends flavor and moisture to the batter but if you don't have any on hand you can get away with regular milk. Or make your own buttermilk by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to your measuring cup and fill it the rest of the way with milk. Wait five minutes, then use this as an excellent buttermilk substitute.
• Grated onion: You could leave this ingredient out without affecting the batter at all, but I love the unique savory element it adds to what would otherwise be pretty standard cornmeal dough. Grating the onion actually releases onion juices that help flavor the batter more than just chopping or mincing does. It's what really makes these the best hush puppies out of any I have tried.
• Spice: I love the addition of a little cayenne pepper for dimension without heat, but paprika or Cajun or Creole seasoning could also be used instead.

How to Make Hush Puppies

The batter for this Southern hush puppies recipe is simple to throw together. But frying can be intimidating for many, so I'm sharing my best tips for getting delicious hush puppies your very first time.

To start, combine all of the dry ingredients - cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cayenne pepper - in a large bowl. Whisk or stir well to evenly disperse everything so you don't end up with lumps of baking powder or pockets of cayenne pepper in your hush puppies.

In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg, then add that along with the grated onion and its juices to the dry ingredients and stir just until everything is evenly combined.

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Heat enough oil to fill a large cast iron skillet or Dutch by about 2 inches. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 365°F on a digital thermometer.

Drop 1-2 tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil, being careful to avoid splatter. I find that it works best to use two spoons for this. Use the first spoon to scoop and the second spoon to scrape the batter off rather than just plopping the batter into the oil. They tend to break apart less and have a better shape this way.

Fry for 2-3 minutes total, turning the hush puppies partway through with a slotted metal spatula so they brown evenly on both sides. When they are done, transfer to a wire rack set over paper towels to drain. This helps them stay more crisp on the outside rather than steaming on the pan.

Repeat with the remaining batter until it has all been used and you have roughly 18-22 hush puppies.

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Recipe FAQ's

Storage Instructions & Reheating

Hush puppies are best eaten warm soon after they are made, but you can keep cooked hush puppies warm in a 200°F oven on a wire rack set over a baking sheet for 30 minutes or so if you make them before dinner is quite ready.

• How to store: Leftover hush puppies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
• How to freeze: Arrange cooked hush puppies in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours, then transfer to a resealable airtight container for longer term storage up to 3 months.
• Reheating: First, thaw if frozen. Then reheat in the air fryer or oven for best results. You can also use the microwave to reheat a few at a time. If you have an air fryer, hush puppies reheat really well by popping them in for 3-4 minutes to crisp up the outsides and taste almost as good as when they are fresh.

Recipe Tips

• Don't overmix the batter. The process of making hush puppy batter is the same as pancakes or cornbread. You whisk together dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then stir the wet into the dry by hand just until combined. Overmixing can lead to tough, dense results, instead of the tender-chewy light balls that we are aiming for.
• Work in batches so you don't crowd the pan. Use a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven to easily fry your hush puppies in batches rather than cooking them all at once.
• Use two spoons to push the batter into the hot oil to cook. Just dropping the batter in with one spoon tends to make the batter to break up when it hits the oil. Using one spoon to scrape the batter off in one ball works better.
• Control the oil temperature. Use a good digital thermometer to maintain the oil temp right around 365 degrees F, although anywhere between 350°F and 375°F will work. At lower temperatures, fried food absorbs more oil and takes longer to cook, while higher temperatures result in the outside burning before the inside is done.

More Great Breads To Serve With Dinner

• Perfect Cornbread
• Cheesy Garlic Mozzarella Swirl Rolls
• Farmhouse Baking Powder Biscuits
• Homemade Soft Pretzels with Mustard Cheese Dip

This post was originally published in September, 2018. The photos and content were updated in March, 2022.

More States I Have Visited in my American Eats Series

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