Captain D’s Hush Puppies have been a long-requested recipe. Now you can recreate this Captain Ds menu item at home with this copycat recipe.
Captain D’s is one of my guilty pleasures. There is just something about fried fish that is so hard to resist. I love Captain Ds. It is one of my favorite fried fish places to frequent.
Captain D’s Fish is simply scrumptious, crunchy on the outside, and the fish is cooked perfectly on the inside. So we might as well continue to round out that lovely combo plate with the addition of their hush puppies.
Homemade hush puppies are very easy to make. If you are making batter-dipped fish, why not fry up a few hush puppies? They are simply fried bread made with cornmeal batter.
Hush puppy ingredients are super common, so you won’t have to run out to the grocery store to get what you need for this recipe. But just in case…
Table of Contents
Captain D’s Hush Puppy Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need to make hush puppies like Captain D’s:
- Self-rising white cornmeal mix
- Yellow cornmeal
- Buttermilk
- Sugar
- White onion
- Salt
- Vegetable oil for frying
Although you may need to get some self-rising cornmeal. I thought it gave the best results when making the hush puppies.
I sometimes prefer to buy self-rising cornmeal instead of making it from scratch. I find it rises more and that is what I want in this recipe.
No one likes hush puppies that are hard and could be used as a weapon against badly-behaved dinner guests.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Best Oil for Deep Frying
Sometimes people ask me what type of oil should they used when they fry. I honestly use plain vegetable oil. Often it is soybean oil.
The brand I usually buy is Kirkland from Costco. You could use peanut oil, or corn oil, it is up to you. But when I weigh out expense versus results, plain vegetable oil works for me when frying.
I will suggest that you cook at 350 degrees. You may want to use a deep fryer like my T-Fal Fryer because it works great. I love this fryer because I can filter the oil and use it again. It makes cleaning a snap too.
How to Make Hush Puppies
- Heat oil to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, stir together white cornmeal mix, yellow cornmeal, buttermilk, sugar, onion, and salt.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop the batter into the hot oil.
- Fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Fry only a few at a time for best results.
- Drain fried hush puppies on a wire rack.
What to Serve with Hush Puppies
You might wonder what you would serve your hush puppies with. You don’t have to serve them with anything. You can use some sweet chili sauce if you like.
Captain Ds has a wonderful sweet chili sauce that is much like the sweet chili sauce you will find in the Asian section of your grocery store.
I hope you give this recipe a try. If you love Captain D’s you might want to try Captain D’s Coleslaw and Captain D’s Batter Dipped Fish recipes too.
Popular Fast Food Recipes
- Auntie Annies Pretzels
- Chick Fil A Nuggets Recipe
- Chipotle Barbacoa Recipe
- Culver’s Butter Burger
- Dairy Queen Orange Julius
- McDonalds Big Mac
- McDonald’s McFlurry (Oreo)
- Panda Express Noodles
- Taco Bell Potato
- Wendys Breakfast Sandwich
Check out more of my easy bread recipes and the best copycat fast food recipes here on CopyKat!
Captain Ds Hush Puppies
Ingredients
- vegetable oil for frying
- 2 cups self-rising white cornmeal mix
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white onion chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pour enough oil into a deep fryer or heavy bottomed pot so the depth is 3 to 4 inches.
- Heat the oil to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the white cornmeal mix, yellow cornmeal, buttermilk, sugar, diced onion, and salt.
- Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to drop portions of the batter into the hot oil. Fry only a few at a time for best results. If you add too many at once, the oil temperature may drop, and they make not cook well.
- Fry the hush puppies for 1 to 2 minutes, until browned.
- Transfer the fried hush puppies to a wire rack to drain.
Amy
I used to work at Capt D’s. We did not use self rising white corn meal, we used white flour and baking powder, buttermilk, yellow cornmeal, a lot of white onions, salt,eggs and a very small amount of sugar. As for the tartar sauce we chopped up dill pickles, white onions, mayo and lemon juice that’s all there was to it.
Sandy
Ran out of corn muffin mix and tried your hushpuppy recipe. Really good. Thanks.
Stephanie
I am glad you enjoyed it.
craig
we always use the leftover batter from a fish fry and enough cornmeal to make the dough thick enough to work with
your recipe is darn close and quite tasty
as a kid sugar was never an ingredient
sweet and cornbread seems to wind folks up
like famous dave’s…we just use a cheap cake mix and add enough cornmeal to make bread or muffins
Josh
Just made these. Very dry. Nothing like the capt! I even had to add some more ingredients to give them some flavor and they were still really bad. I wouldn’t recommend making these. Just drive to see the capt!
Terry Merritt
For a better flavor add 1 large egg, 1 large scoop of mayonnaise, I recommend more onions than the recipe above mentioned. I recommend 1 cup of finely chopped onions to give it a flavor. I also recommend reversing the recommended cornmeal. Use 2 cups of yellow and 1 cup of white or just use 3 cups of yellow cornmeal only. For added flavor add 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder; onion powder and a dash of black pepper. YUMMY!
BonJon
My folks directed me there when I took over driving after Dad was 92. Captain D’s reminded them of old southern fish camps. Was hoping someone would respond after trying this recipe, but only one that did didn’t like it. Oh well. Good Hushpuppies depends more on the deep fry oil being the right temp, more than anything else. Guessing Captain D’s, which are sometimes mushy inside (undercooked) probably uses a denser (very!) batter and a cookie scoop to shape them. All Hushpuppies really are is fried cornbread batter! I’d never had a round or a sweet hushpuppy before. I really do love their southern green beans and their whitefish!
chuck ripplinger
Do you have any suggestions as to COOK TIME in an Air Fryer?
bill
I ate at a brand new Captain D’s a couple of weeks ago, actually on their second day after opening. The first thing I noticed about the hush puppies was that they were SOFT on the outside, not crunchy. And they were delicious. I assumed they had a special way of cooking them. Are they not the same in their other restaurants? Every recipe I see, copycat or otherwise, says hush puppies should be crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. And most copycat recipes I’ve seen are questionable at best and not the true recipe from inside the kitchen of the actual restaurant. They’re actually just a regular recipe with a restaurant’s name attached to it.
Stephanie
Interesting, I wonder if the location you visited does something different to theirs. My location fries them, they aren’t too hard on the outside, but I am not 100% of what you mean when you say soft. I hope you enjoyed these!
I. B. Brownlow
Haven’t tried your Capt D’s Hush puppies recipe but will uptempo on tomorrow!! Thx for your site, looks great!
Stephanie
Oh great, I hope you enjoy them.
Tammy
I used beer instead of buttermilk…very moist and delicious..the beer gives it some flavor..I used beer in the batter too
Olivia
I made this recipe exactly like the instructions said and these hushpuppies are horrible!! They don’t taste like normal hushpuppies and have a completely different texture. This recipe needs flour and less cornmeal.
Stephanie
I am really sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you.
Becky
Thank you, thank you. I have been looking for this recipe for so long! Can’t wait to try it. I’ve tried many recipes but they are all dry inside. Hoping this one is moist inside.
Robert H
Hello Stephanie,
I cant wait to try the Hush Puppies recipe. I have a special request, if you dont mind. One of my all time favorite appetizers was potato skins from a local restaurant which has since closed. Ive tried to recreate the recipe but Ive only managed to waste my time and alot of potatoes. Do you have a never fail recipe you could share, please.
Stephanie
Thank you for your note. Can you tell me what made these so special?
Bev
I love hush puppies & always make them when serving fish. My brother in law is from South Carolina and he first showed me how to make them southern goodies. I haves lived on the other side of the Mississippi so had not tried them before. Needless to say, I loved them and still do.
Dolly
Stephanie, I absolutely love your Web Site! All of your recipes are spot on! I will be making the hush puppies soon…along with the fried perch I caught last spting!!
I have a request. Do you have the method for making KFC chicken pot pie? I just love that pie…so homey and Comforting! I assume the crust is puff paste. Thank you for reading my note. Have a wonderful Memorial Day wknd. Stay Fab!, ????
Stephanie
Thank you for your note. I am sorry I haven’t tried this recipe before. I would need to try it before I know how to fix this one. I will keep it in mind!
Billie Tucker
Now if you could duplicate Captain D’s tartar sauce recipe.
May Miller
Tartar Sauce is so easy to make. Mayonnaise, Pickle relish (you can use dill or sweet), lemon juice (ReaLemon), a little salt and black pepper, garlic powder (and I have added some chopped garlic). I have put a little Emeril Essence in it.
I cannot tell you a specific amount because I am a eyeball and taste cook.LOL By the way this is my own concoction.
(I have put a little prepared mustard but not much).
I cannot say it is a copykat of Captain D’s but my family doesn’t want store bought anymore.
Stephanie
I have several tartar sauce recipes online, but I still haven’t managed to work out this one. I love this place.
Gail
I like mine. A really good mayo like Hellman’s or Duke’s. Lots of diced onions, lots of chopped dill pickles or dill relish and some pickle juice.
Lou
want to try the hush puppy recipe
MJ.
Love the site thanks for all the recipes????All super tastey.