GALLERY: State Fair releases list of new foods and vendors for this year’s event

Nearly three dozen new foods and six new vendors have been announced to debut at the 2024 Minnesota State Fair.

Early Tuesday morning, fair officials made the following new foods available for visitors to try:

• 3 Piggy Pals On-A-Stick – Slices of smoked sausage wrapped in bacon, stuffed with a cream cheese mixture and drizzled with barbecue sauce. You can find them at Sausage Sister & Me in the Food Building.
• Afro Poppers – Deep-fried pastries infused with vanilla, cardamom, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. They can be topped with a drizzle of mango chutney, caramel or chocolate and also coated in a choice of coconut flakes or sugar. They will be served at Sausage Sister & Me in the Food Building.
• Ba’bacon Sour Cream & Onion – Sour cream and onion hummus topped with beef bacon, sumac potatoes, caramelized onions, green onions, black cumin seeds and chive oil with puffed pita bread tossed with sour cream and onion powder. These dishes will be served at Baba’s on east Underwood Street, just south of Little Farm Hands.
• Flaming Greek Bites – Chickpeas, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, green onions and ground cayenne pepper are fried into bite-sized pieces and served with roasted red pepper hummus. These bites will be served at Dino’s Gyros between Nelson and Underwood Streets.
• Buffalo Cheese Curd and Chicken Tacos – Fried buffalo cheese curds and chicken topped with blue cheese slaw, in a fried flour shell. Find them at Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos outside the Sheep and Poultry Barn.
• Chili Mango Whip – Dole mango soft serve ice cream rimmed and topped with chamoy and Tajin with a tamarind candy straw. Available at Tasti Whip on the northwest corner of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street.
• Mini Donuts Cookie Butter Crunch – Vanilla-flavored mini donuts will be coated in vanilla sugar, drizzled with cookie butter and cookie crumbs in a bucket lined with cookie butter and cookie crumbs. They will be available at Mini Donuts and Cheese Curds between Murphy and Lee avenues.
• Cotton Candy Iced Team – Butterfly pea flower tea with edible glitter and rock candy stick. This will be at Loon Lake Iced Tea, which is located on the west side of Underwood Street between Wright and Dan Patch Avenues.
• Boiled Crab Wings – Chicken wings marinated in a spicy sauce before being grilled and fried with corn, apple chicken sausage and potatoes. They will be tossed in a “boiled crab” butter and will include a lemon wedge and parsley. They will be served at Soul Bowl in the Food Building.
• Fried Halloumi Cheese – Halloumi cheese (a blend of sheep and goat milk) wrapped in puff pastry and then fried before being served with a sweet chili sauce. You can find it at Holy Land Deli in the International Bazaar.
• Fried Ranch Dressing – Available at LuLu’s Public House on the south end of the Schilling Amphitheater, this is a ranch dressing topping with ranch seasoning, buttermilk and cream cheese in a panko shell that is fried and then dusted with ranch powder. It will be served with a tangy honey sauce.
• Dill Pickle Tots – Imagine a tot version of potato chips with dill pickles. You can find them at Tot Boss.
• Fried Bee-Nana Pie – Homemade pie crust filled with honey, banana, and cookie butter, then deep fried. You can find it at Sabino’s Pizza Pies.
• Grilled Purple Sticky Rice – Grilled sticky rice topped with shredded Hmong beef jerky or marinated mushrooms. Topping is fresh herbs and chili aioli. These dishes will be served at Union Hmong Kitchen.
• Ham and Pickle Roll on a Potato Skin – Potato skins stuffed with sour cream, cream cheese, chopped pickles, and ham, topped with potato chip crumbs. You can find these at Route 666 Roadhouse Chicken in the food hall.
• Lady’s Slipper Marble Sundae – At Bridgeman’s Ice Cream, you’ll find strawberry ice cream, lemon marshmallow cream and ladyfingers layered in a cup, then topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
• Marco’s Garden – Located at Jammy Sammies in the North End, this dish will feature rhubarb jam, thyme-marinated tomatoes, cheese, peppers and honey, served with toasted gluten-free flatbread. A vegan option will use a thyme tofu dip and maple syrup instead of the cheese and honey.
• Mocha Madness Shaved Ice – Imagine shaved ice with caffeine-free coffee flavor and cold caramel macchiato foam, drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with dark chocolate espresso beans. It’s Minnesnowii shave ice.
• Wild Rice and Nixtamal Bowl – This dish will be available exclusively from August 28 to September 2 at the Midtown Global Market booth at the International Bazaar. The bowl will feature a choice of bison meatballs or sweet potato balls, served on a bed of nixtamal (white, yellow and blue corn) mixed with wild rice and seasoned with maple and spices, topped with a mixed berry wozapi sauce. A garnish of seeds and crickets will be optional.
• Patata Frita Focacciawich – Corn chip flavored ice cream sandwiched between Wrecktangle Pizza focaccia bread, topped with honey butter, corn chips, and herbs. You can find it at West End Creamery.
• BP Bacon Cakes – Bacon dipped in pancake batter and topped with peanut butter whipped cream, grape jelly and banana chips. You can find this product at The Blue Barn.
• Raging Ball – A sesame mochi dough ball with a vegan cheeseburger filling that will also be deep fried. It will be topped with bacon flavored powdered sugar and can be found in the Herbivore Butcher’s Food Building.
• Savory Éclairs – Choux pastry éclairs with a choice of two fillings: Banh Mi or Lobster. The lobster version is filled with lobster meat, celery, mayonnaise, hot sauce, lime, chives, salt and pepper, topped with dried corn and micro cilantro. The Banh Mi version is filled with pork confit, chicken liver pâté, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber and siracha mayonnaise. You can find them at Scenic 61 at New Scenic Cafe.
• Oyster Mushroom Calamari – Oyster-shaped mushrooms that are breaded and fried before being served with chipotle sauce. You can find them at French Meadow Bakery and Cafe.
• Strawberry Cream Waffle – A Belgian waffle filled with strawberry shortcake cookie dough and topped with whipped cream and strawberry sauce. You can find it at Waffle Chix.
• Strawberry Lemonade Donut – Available at Fluffy’s Hand Cut Donuts, these donuts are glazed with lemon buttercream and rolled in a strawberry lemonade crunch topped with lemon gummies and freeze-dried strawberry slices. A pipette filled with strawberry lemonade will be served with the donut.
• Swedish Sundae – Vanilla ice cream topped with lingonberry jam, sprinkled with Swedish gingersnap crumble, and topped with a gingersnap heart. You can find this dessert at Salem Lutheran Church Dining Hall.
• Swedish “Sota Sliders” – wild rice and cranberry balls formed into patties and topped with dill Havarti cheese and a red relish including beets, red onions, red peppers, lingonberries and cranberries on brioche buns. These balls will be served at the Hamline Church Dining Hall.
• Sweet Corn Cola Float – Sweet corn cola and sweet corn ice cream in a cup, topped with whipped cream, popping candy and homemade caramel glaze. You can find it at the Blue Moon Dine-In Theater.
• Crispy Sweet & Spicy Bacon – Double-seasoned smoked bacon topped with red barbecue sauce and topped with a spicy honey and chili crunch, served over white rice and green onions. Find it at RC’s BBQ.
• Turkey Kristo – Texas toast with turkey, white cheddar, apple butter and spicy brown mustard mayonnaise, dusted with powdered sugar. This sandwich will be served at the Minnesota Farmers Union Coffee Shop.
• Walking Shepherd’s Pie – Warm pastries filled with braised ground beef, mashed potatoes, onions, carrots and peas in a herb sauce. This dish will be served at O’Gara’s at the Fair.
• Wrangler Waffle Burger – Found at Nordic Waffles, this will be an all-beef patty with a melty Whataburger patty sauce with American cheese and a waffle infused with caramelized onions.

A gallery of new articles can be found at the bottom of this article.

Meanwhile, fair officials have announced the following new vendors will be joining the 2024 event:

• Chan Restaurant
• The burrito market
• Kosharina
• Loon Lake Iced Tea
• Midtown Global Market’s Indigenous Food Lab
• Paella Depot

These items and vendors will be among the 1,600 items available for consumption at the nearly 300 concession stands located throughout the fairgrounds.

The 2024 Minnesota State Fair will run from August 22 to September 2. CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the KSTP show.