Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole cooking introduced one of its main staples into Southern cuisine: corn, either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy, in a Native American technology known as nixtamalization.

A southern hushpuppy championship is held annually in Lufkin, Texas,[4] and they are also available throughout the United States at restaurants serving deep-fried seafood.

Although there are many possible origins for the dish, it is found to be akin to "red-horse bread", named after the red horse fish of the South Carolina rivers.

In Jamaica, such fried bread dumplings are known as "festivals", and are made from a flour and cornmeal dough, with added salt and sugar, which is then formed into hot dog bun shapes and deep-fried.

[9] In Puerto Rico, hushpuppies are made in the shape of a short sausage and are called "sorullos" or the diminutive "sorullitos", for smaller sizes.