Fish-Fry Favorite Southern Hush Puppies
If you’re looking for homemade southern style hush puppies that cook up golden and tender every time, this scratch-made version is as easy as it gets. Using sweet creamed corn, sliced green onions, and seasoned cornmeal mix, you can have a fresh batch ready to eat with your fried catfish in just 20 minutes!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Hush Puppies, Southern-style
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: self-rising cornmeal mix, self-rising flour, onion powder, black pepper, cream-style corn, milk, 2-3 chopped green onions, vegetable oil
- Why You'll Love It: This Hush Puppies, Southern-style recipe features a crunchy cornmeal coating, fluffy & flavorful inside, plus corn kernels and chopped green onion.
How to Get That Authentic Fish-House Taste at Home
If you grew up eating hush puppies, you know the disappointment of biting into a golden ball only to find a dry, heavy lump of fried cornmeal inside. Traditional hush puppy batter relies heavily on plain cornmeal and milk, which can dry out quickly in hot oil if the proportions aren’t exact.
The simple fix I like to use is replacing plain corn with a full can of cream-style corn, liquid and all! That thick, silky corn starch binds to the self-rising cornmeal mix, creating a soft, almost custard-like center that stays incredibly moist without turning doughy. The whole corn kernels popping throughout each bite give you a sweet burst of texture that contrasts perfectly with the salty, crunchy crust.
To balance that sweetness, onion powder and fresh green onions work in tandem. Onion powder seasons every grain of the cornmeal batter from the inside out, while thinly sliced green onions add a fresh, mild bite that mellows out as it fries. The only thing that makes these better is a tall glass of homemade Arnold Palmer!
Ingredients For Southern Style Hush Puppies
- Self-rising cornmeal mix
- Self-rising flour
- Onion powder
- Black pepper
- Cream corn
- Milk
- Green onion
- Vegetable oil
Expert Tips from My Kitchen
- Don’t drain the canned corn. That thick, starchy liquid in the can of cream-style corn binds the coarse cornmeal without needing extra eggs, keeping the interior light and custard-soft instead of dry and crumbly.
- Let the batter rest for 5 minutes before frying. Cornmeal is a thirsty grain that needs a few minutes to soak up the milk and corn liquid. Letting the bowl sit on the counter for just 5 minutes while your oil heats allows the meal to hydrate, which prevents gritty bites and stops the hush puppies from crumbling apart the second they hit the hot oil.
- Keep a small bowl of cold water next to your stove. The secret to getting smooth, round balls that drop cleanly off your spoon without sticking is water. Dip your spoon or mini cookie scoop into the bowl of cold water before each scoop of batter. It’ll glide right into the oil without leaving stringy batter trails that burn in the pan.
- Control your pan temperature with batch sizing. If you crowd the saucepan with too many hush puppies at once, the oil temperature drops dramatically, causing the batter to absorb oil like a sponge instead of searing the crust. Just like you would with crispy mac and cheese balls, fry in small batches of 4 to 5 at a time so the oil stays hot enough to give you that deep golden, shatter-crisp exterior.
“Wonderful hush puppies!”
“…the hush puppies tasted wonderful and had a great texture!” – Missy
How to Make Southern Style Hush Puppies
1. Whisk the Dry Ingredients
Place the self-rising cornmeal mix, self-rising flour, onion powder, and black pepper in a medium bowl and stir until evenly combined.
2. Mix the Wet Batter
Add the entire can of cream-style corn (liquid and all), milk, and chopped green onions to the bowl.
Stir gently until well combined into a thick, scoopable batter.
3. Heat the Oil
In a medium saucepan, heat about two inches of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Drop a pinch of flour into the oil; when it sizzles immediately, the oil is hot and ready!
4. Fry Until Crisp and Golden
Carefully drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Allow them to cook, turning occasionally with a slotted spoon, for 2 to 4 minutes until deep golden brown on all sides.
5. Drain and Serve
Remove the cooked hush puppies from the oil and transfer to a rack or paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, serve hot, and enjoy!
Southern Style Hush Puppies FAQs
Dense hush puppies usually happen if the batter was overmixed or if the oil wasn’t hot enough. Make sure to fold the wet ingredients in gently, and always verify your oil is hot before dropping in the first scoop so the batter puffs up fast.
It’s best to fry the batter right after mixing. Because self-rising mixes rely on quick-acting leaveners, letting the batter sit on the counter for too long will cause it to lose its lift, resulting in flatter, denser hush puppies.
Skip the microwave; that only makes the crust soft and chewy. Instead, pop leftover hush puppies into a 375°F oven or air fryer for 3 to 5 minutes. This brings back the original crispy exterior while keeping the center tender.
Similar Recipes
If you love classic, comforting Southern sides, be sure to try a pan of Southern cathead biscuits or some good old Southern skillet spoonbread!
Give these quick hush puppies a try with your next fish fry, and let me know how they turned out in the comments below!
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix
- 2 tablespoons self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 can cream-style corn 15 ounces, liquid and all
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2-3 chopped green onions
- vegetable oil enough for about 2 inches in the pan
Instructions
- Place the cornmeal mix, flour, onion powder, and black pepper in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the entire can of corn, milk, and onions to the mixing bowl next. Stir until well combined.
- In a medium saucepan, heat two inches of oil over medium-high heat. When you drop a pinch of flour in the oil and it sizzles you'll know the oil is ready.
- Carefully drop spoonfuls of the hush puppy batter into the oil and allow to cook, turning as needed, until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat until all batter is used.
Notes
- Use the whole 15-ounce can of cream-style corn, liquid included. The thick starch binds the batter and creates a soft, tender center without extra eggs.
- Give the dry cornmeal mix a few minutes to absorb the liquids before frying. This prevents gritty bites and keeps the batter from breaking apart in hot oil.
- Keep a small bowl of cold water near the stove and dip your spoon or mini cookie scoop before scooping batter so it glides right into the oil without sticking.
- Avoid overcrowding the pan so the oil temperature doesn’t drop. Frying 4 to 5 hush puppies at a time ensures a deep golden, crispy crust without absorbing excess oil.
“And therein lies the lesson. Often, people don’t love us in the love language we speak – but in their own love language. The heart that loves in return learns to translate.”
If only more people understood this.
Beautifully said.
That was well said
I don’t have any green onions. Do you think some chopped vadalias would be ok?
Absolutely 🙂
Ah, thanks for the timely reminder and the hush puppy recipe! Grew up loving them in the south and can rarely find anyplace that makes them out west. God bless!
Hey Christy! The maternal side of my family came from Georgia. Sadly I never got my grandmother’s recipe for Hush Puppies that were to die for, but they didn’t look like yours and didn’t have corn or onions in them (though the onions sound good!). Do you have a recipe for simple Hush Puppies? I’ve been dying to fix them.
Thank you so much, Julie D.
Hey! I’m headed to a field trip but soon as I get back I’ll share how to modify this recipe for that 🙂
I’m interested in that too. My NC grandmother made the best hush puppies, but they didn’t have any corn in them. I do remember onion tho.
I would also like to have a recipe without the corn.
They are delicious with strawberry sauce for dipping.
Timely words!
Yum… will try this weekend. One question: should the corn be drained? Thanks Christy.
Hey Glen! Thanks for asking. Don’t drain the corn in this one. It replaces the traditional ingredients of milk and eggs 🙂
What a lovely story. Being privy to little vignettes like that make me so happy.
I really want to make and eat all of those delicious hush puppies but being gluten sensitive I’m wondering if I can get away with not adding the 2 tablespoons of flour. What do you think?
I think you’d be perfectly fine leaving it out. It adds a little something but not enough to detract from the hush puppy overall 🙂 Thank you for commenting, Kate. You made my heart smile. 🙂
I am 76 years old and have been making hush puppies all my life without flour, so you will be perfectly fine without the flour