Air Fryer Hush Puppies
These Air Fryer Hush Puppies are battered with cornmeal and buttermilk and then fried without all of the fat. Serve these fried fish and coleslaw.
Servings 10 hush puppies
Calories 110kcal
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons sweetener Optional. See notes.
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
Breading
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg Beaten
Optional Add Ins
- 1/3 cup shredded cheese I like to add this to half of the batch to switch it up.
- 1 fresh jalapeno Chopped; if you like spicy
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir.
- Add in the egg and buttermilk. Stir to combine the ingredients. Do not overmix.
- Refrigerate the mix for at least 30 minutes. An hour is optimal. If you handle the mix without chilling it will be extremely sticky.
- Line the air fryer basket with air fryer parchment paper. This works a lot better than using just the basket and helps prevent sticking.
- Once chilled, use wet hands and form balls about a heaping tablespoon each in size. A heaping tablespoon means you don't level off the tablespoon. You pile enough of the dough into the tablespoon that it can hold. The dough will be sticky. I find the best way to work with it is to drop the dough onto the parchment paper directly from the spoon. Use your wet hands to shape it up into a circle.
- Air fry for 4 minutes on 400 degrees.
- Add your beaten egg and breadcrumbs for the breading to separate bowls large enough to dip the hush puppies.
- Remove the hushpuppies from the air fryer and dip each into the egg first and then the breadcrumbs.
- Place the hush puppies back in the air fryer basket. Air fry for 2 minutes on 400 degrees.
- Open the air fryer and spritz the hush puppies with cooking oil spray.
- Air fry for an additional 2-4 minutes until crisp.
Video
Notes
- You can use both self-rising cornmeal and self-rising flour and eliminate the baking powder if you wish.
- This serving does not result in sweet hush puppies. If you are looking for sweet use 1/4 cup of sweetener or more.
- All air fryers cook at varying speeds. Watch yours closely and adjust the cook time as necessary.
- You can substitute buttermilk for any milk you wish, but it will impact the texture of both the batter and hushpuppies. It will result in a thinner batter that is a little harder to work with.
- You can make your own buttermilk using 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon. Read more about How to Make Buttermilk here.
- In order to get these crunchy in the air fryer you will need to use a beaten egg and breadcrumbs. You can use any breadcrumbs you like. I use regular, you can also use seasoned breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs. You can also omit this step completely. The hush puppies will still taste great. If you omit the breadcrumbs, I find they just taste like cornbread, without the crunch.
- You will need to chill the mix to keep them from falling apart. That will thicken it up and make it much easier to handle. Once you combine the ingredients, the dough will form and become really sticky. Chilling that will help.
- Do not overmix your batter. If you've ever made homemade cornbread you have heard that before. If you overmix the batter it will cause cracks in the outer crust, on the hush puppies as they cook. You should do a good mix of the dry ingredients first. When you add in the buttermilk and egg, mix the batter just enough to combine the ingredients.
- Air fryer parchment paper works great for wet battered food in the air fryer. If you don't use the parchment paper, you will have to use a little more force when removing the hush puppies from the basket (even with a well-oiled basket). You risk them falling apart in the process. It's possible this won't happen to you, but it did happen to me. You can also use foil, but I find parchment paper works best.
Nutrition
Serving: 1hush puppy | Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g