As the lead character in “Beasts of the Southern Wild” is named Hushpuppy, it felt natural to make hush puppies to pair with the movie.

My vegan, gluten-free recipe makes about 12-18 hush puppies or 4-6 “servings.”

Ingredients
0.5 cups vegan milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 serving egg replacer
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup 1-to-1 gluten-free flour
0.5 teaspoons baking powder
0.5 teaspoons baking soda
0.25 teaspoons cajun seasoning
0.25 teaspoons black pepper
pinch of salt
large bottle of canola oil for frying

Instructions
Mix the milk and vinegar together in a medium bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. Congrats, you made some vegan buttermilk!

If you’re using a powdered egg replacer like we did, go ahead and prepare that in a small bowl so it has time to thicken.

Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, pepper, cajun seasoning and salt together in a large bowl.

Stir your vegan egg into the milk and vinegar mixture.

Once that is evenly mixed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine them until a dough is formed.

While you divide your dough into 12-18 balls, heat your oil over medium high heat. The oil should fill at least 1.5 inches of your frying pan or pot so the balls are covered.

Carefully submerge the balls in the hot oil using a slotted spoon or tongs.

Let the balls fry for at least 5 minutes, until they are a nice shade of brown.

Place the balls on paper towels to blot out any excess grease.

Serve and enjoy them on their own as a snack with the dipping sauce of your choice, or feature them as a side with some vegan “seafood.”

We ate ours with premade green goddess dip and as an accompaniment to baked tofu.

Either way, they pair well with “Beasts of the Southern Wild!”

The Easy Route
If you are able to find vegan, gluten-free hush puppies at a store or dining establishment, please share those details in the comments.

Otherwise, I think this recipe is about as easy as you can get for homemade vegan, gluten-free hush puppies unless you can find some kind of mix for them.

The Pairing
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” tells the story of the residents of The Bathtub, a very rural area in the swamplands of the South.

We get to witness both the magical and tragic childhood of Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis).

While there are some very realistic aspects to this movie, it also employs some magical realism as The Bathtub falls victim to climate change and disappears underwater.

Parts of this film, especially in the first third, are pretty devastating. But it does what it needs to do in setting up Hushpuppy’s world.

I can still remember being blown away by “Beasts of the Southern Wild” after I saw it for the first time. Wallis is just as mesmerizing now as I remember her being when I watched this over a decade ago.

If you decide to make hush puppies and/or watch “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes