This easy recipe for authentic, homemade Southern Hush Puppies makes it simple to serve piping hot baskets of hush puppies that are crisp on the outside, tender and fluffy on the inside and loaded with savory cornbread flavor.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups self rising cornmeal (yellow or white)
½ cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon all purpose Creole seasoning
½ cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 large jalapeno (de-seeded & de-veined), finely diced
canola oil for frying (about 4 cups)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200℉ for keeping hush puppies warm after frying. Ready a wire baking rack in a paper towel lined baking sheet.
In a large measuring cup or bowl, mix dry ingredients together (cornmeal, flour, sugar, Creole seasoning).
Add buttermilk, beaten egg, diced onion, jalapeno to the dry ingredients and mix just enough to incorporate all of the ingredients. Let batter rest while heating the oil for frying.
In a large dutch oven or large cast iron skillet, heat 3-4 cups of canola oil (enough to create 1- 1 ½ inches of depth) over high heat. When oil is hot enough, it will sizzle when a tiny pinch of cornmeal is dropped in. If using a frying thermometer, heat oil to 365℉.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop out hush puppy batter. Drop into hot oil (about 8-10 at a time) and let fry for 2-3 minutes, turning the hush puppies so they brown evenly on all sides. Adjust the heat while frying to maintain an even temperature. (I usually turn the heat to medium while frying the first batch.)
Transfer golden brown hush puppies from the oil to the prepared wire baking rack to drain any excess oil. Place wire rack and baking sheet in preheated oven to keep the hush puppies warm while frying the 2nd and 3rd batches.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
Don’t over mix the batter. The batter can be a little lumpy.
Don’t skip resting the batter for light and tender hush puppies.
Fry at the right temperature to avoid gummy or greasy hush puppies.
Overcrowding the skillet drops the temperature of the oil.
Use canola, avocado or peanut oil for this recipe.
Drain your hush puppies in a single layer on a baking rack to keep them up and out of excess oil after frying.
Store leftover hush puppies in an airtight container or zip top bag in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Cooked hush puppies can be frozen for 2-3 months.
