Come Hungry: More than 100 New Foods at Iowa, Minnesota Fairs
You may say you're going for the rides, the exhibits, and the concerts, but let's get real for a second - the food is the real draw when you head to the fair each summer.
With that in mind, the Iowa State Fair and Minnesota State Fairs have announced what's new on their menus for 2024, and once again all of the rules about food have been broken.
The Iowa State Fair runs from August 8-18 in Des Moines and features a mind-boggling 84 new food items for 2024.
My early favorites are the three different Lobster Roll options AND a Lobster Corn Dog, a trio of deep-fried creations (Bubble Gum, Hot Cheetos Pretzel, and PB& J), the Funnel Cake Burger, Apple Fries, and the Garlic Ranch Pickle Pizza.
Here's the complete list of the new foods this year:
- Apple Fries
- Bacon Cheeseburger Egg Roll
- Barbie Era Funnel Cake
- Beer Belly Fries
- BLT on a Stick
- Breakfast Sandwich
- Brunchy Burger
- Pork’s Bloody Mary Buffet
- Butter Beer Ice Cream
- Calamari
- Candied Bacon Gnocchi
- Cheeseburger Corn Dog
- Chicken Flautas
- Dg Chicken Strips
- Chicken Mac Attack Bowl
- Chicken Nest
- Cinnamon Crunch Apple Taco
- Connecticut Style Lobster Roll
- Cookies And Cream Ice Cream Nachos
- Corn in a Cup
- Crème Brulée Stuffed French Toast
- Deep Fried Bubble Gum
- Deep Fried Hot Cheetos Pretzel
- Deep Fried PB& J
- Deep Fried Pepperoni Chips
- Disco Stick
- Dough-Chos
- Fabulous Fries
- Fiesta Egglote
- Fire Cracker Shrimp
- Flight Fry Bread
- Hot Cheeto Float
- Funnel Cake Burger
- Garlic Ranch Pickle Pizza
- Golden Fried Veggie Samosas
- Handheld Charcuterie
- Hot Chick Chicken
- Hot Mess Biscuit
- Ice Cream Nachos
- Iowa Street Corn Specialty Pizza
- Iowa Sm'oak'ed Roll
- Italian Meat Ball Sub
- AE Party Balls
- Lamb Snack Sticks
- Lemonade Donut Drops
- Lil' L'roy’s Bites
- Lobster Corn Dog
- Loose L'roy Sandwich
- Louisiana Mac Bowl
- Maple Bacon Bliss Sundae
- Nachorito
- Not Your Daddy's Burger
- PB&J Biscuit
- Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies
- Pickle Pizza
- Piggy in a Donut
- Pink Lemonade Whoopie Pies
- Pork Belly Corn Dog
- Pork Belly Corndog Bites
- Protein Bowl
- Pulled Pork Smoked Snacks
- Puppy Chow
- Ragin’ Raspberry Ravioli
- Raspberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt
- Shoot Tequila Funnel Cake
- Siracha Pickle
- Spicy Fever Beefburger
- Standby Biscuit
- Strawberries And Cream Waffle on a Stick
- Sunrise Sugar Pearl Waffle Sandwich
- The Big Daddy Burger
- The Illusion Ice Cream
- The Party Biscuit
- The Regular Biscuit
- Bacon Brisket Smash Burger
- Tipsy Peach
- Tornado
- Two-Foot Connecticut Style Lobster Roll
- Two-Foot Lobster Roll
- Up In Smoke Snacks
- Up on the Dill Fries
- Walking Frito Pie
- Walleye Fish Tacos
- What's Your Wonton
This year's menu is so big that the fair is hosting a 'New Food' event on their Facebook page, July 16 at 1:00 PM.
And while it might take you all eleven days of the Iowa State Fair to try all of the new offerings, the Minnesota State Fair has a much more manageable number of menu additions, with 33 new food items for 2024
What jumps out right away are the Chile Mango Whip, Cotton Candy Iced Tea,
Deep-Fried Ranch Dressing, Sweet Corn Cola Float, and the Walking Shepherd’s Pie.
Here's the complete list of the new foods this year:
- 3 Piggy Pals On-A-Stick
- Afro Poppers
- Ba’bacon Sour Cream & Onion
- Blazing Greek Bites
- Buffalo Cheese Curd & Chicken Tacos
- Chile Mango Whip
- Cookie Butter Crunch Mini Donuts between Murphy and Lee avenues.
- Cotton Candy Iced Tea
- Crab Boil Wings
- Deep-Fried Halloumi Cheese
- Deep-Fried Ranch Dressing
- Dill Pickle Tots
- Fried Bee-Nana Pie
- Grilled Purple Sticky Rice
- Ham and Pickle Roll-Up on a Potato Skin
- Lady’s Slipper Marble Sundae
- Marco’s Garden
- Mocha Madness Shave Ice
- Nixtamal and Wild Rice Bowl
- Patata Frita Focacciawich
- BP Bacon Cakes
- Raging Ball
- Savory Eclairs
- Shroomy Calamari
- Strawberries and Cream Waffle Stick
- Strawberry Lemonade Donut
- Swedish Ice Cream Sundae
- Swedish ‘Sota Sliders
- Sweet Corn Cola Float
- Sweet Heat Bacon Crunch
- Turkey Kristo
- Walking Shepherd’s Pie
- Wrangler Waffle Burger
The Minnesota State Fair runs August 22 - Labor Day (9/2) in St. Paul.
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