Elote Hush Puppies
I loaded these hush puppies with corn, cotija, cilantro, and chili powder, then smothered them in a mayo based sauce, to match the flavors of elote. Taking a bite of this tender on the inside, crispy on the outside, corn fritter, fresh from the fryer, is pure magic. They pack so much flavor!
The inspiration for this recipe
I was asked to be on a talk show a while back, and they suggested that it was national fritter day, so maybe I should do something around that. The idea of elote fritters came to me, and they were a big hit! I realized recently I never posted the recipe here, so I decided to make them again, but as elote hush puppies instead of fritters. There isn’t much difference, but the small tweaks made them come out even better!
Make the elote hush puppy batter
cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, and egg. These are the ingredients that are typically in hush puppies. Oh – and some grated onion! For my elote style hush puppies, I added scallions, jalapenos, cotija cheese, cilantro, and of course, corn! I used the hush puppy recipe from The Kitchn as my jumping off point for adapting my version.
Fry the elote hush puppies
Get your oil going, then drop in golf ball sized clumps of batter. Fry until golden!
So tasty! Crispy on the edges, and tender in the middle. All the baking powder and soda gives these a nice airy texture too.
Serve the elote hush puppies
I like to pile the elote hush puppies onto a plate and top with the sauce, cotija, cilantro, and chili powder. If you would rather, you can put out the toppings and let people add them on their own. The sauce was mayo, sour cream, lime, salt, and chili powder.
I was pretty obsessed with these, they had so much flavor! I hadn’t made hush puppies in a while and forgot how good they taste when they are super fresh like that. Of course, living in Atlanta, I have eaten my fair share of hush puppies around town, so maybe that is why i haven’t had the need to make them.
Twists and tips
I mentioned I used the Kitchn version for the base of this recipe. You can start with your fave and just add in the extra ingredients if you prefer!
For more elote flavors, check out my street corn deviled eggs, corn dogs, or this tasty pancake!
Elote Hush Puppies
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican chili powder plus more for garnish
- juice from one lime
- pinch of salt
Hush Puppies
- oil for frying
- 1.5 cups medium grind cornmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1.5 cups frozen corn measure while frozen, then thaw in the microwave
- 2 tablespoons minced or grated onion
- 2 tablespoons minced or grated jalapeno
- 1 tablespoon minced scallions
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
- 1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese plus more for garnish
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and set aside until ready to use.
- Preheat oil to 375 as you mix together the hush puppies
- Mix together all the hush puppy ingredients, in order as they are listed on the ingredient list. Start with the cornmeal through the sugar and mix. Then add the corn through the cheese and mix. Then finally add in the milk and egg and mix more. Allow it to sit together about 10 minutes while the oil finishes heating up.
- Use an ice cream scoop or two large metal spoons to form golf ball sized hush puppies and drop them into the hot oil. Do in batches of 5 or so, depending on how big your fryer is.
- Cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a cooling rack and immediately season with a pinch of salt.
- Stack them up on a serving platter and top with the sauce, cilantro, cheese, and chili powder. Serve with more sauce on the side.