There is so much to love about the Indiana State Fair. Maybe you head to the Fairgrounds for Midway rides or a free concert. Perhaps your kids are excited to meet the Indiana State Fair animals or play farmer-for-a-day at Little Hands on the Farm.
Whatever brings you to the Fair, can we all agree that the FOOD is one of the best parts?
For 2026, nearly 50 brand-new foods and drinks are competing in Taste of the Fair presented by Pepsi, and this year’s entries range from pickle-packed grilled cheese and deep-fried chocolate to giant fries, creative lemonades, vegan sliders, and even corn dog beer.
The 2026 Indiana State Fair runs August 7-23 and is closed Mondays.
Taste of the Fair Official Indiana State Fair Food Contest
Now that we’ve united around our common love of eating delicious things, it’s time to pick sides. Taste of the Fair is the official Indiana State Fair food contest, and Fairgoers get to help choose the winners.
Grab a Taste of the Fair map at a Prairie Farms Information Booth or find the food locations online, then eat your way around the Fairgrounds. Participating concession stands will display QR codes you can scan to vote for your favorite. The top three Taste of the Fair foods will be announced during the final week of the Fair.
Choosing a favorite may not be easy. The concessionaires have created some seriously imaginative new Indiana State Fair foods for 2026.
2026 Taste of the Fair Entries
Bacon Jalapeño HoneyBun Burger
McWaters Concessions
This is the State Fair, so of course your burger can come on Honey Buns. An Angus burger is topped with pepper jack cheese, bacon, lettuce, red onion, and candied jalapeños between two toasted Honey Buns.
Bananas Foster Cold Brew Float
Hook’s Drugstore Museum
Coffee and ice cream are already a pretty great combination. This float starts with vanilla cold brew and vanilla ice cream, then adds banana cold foam, cinnamon, and caramel drizzle.
Blue Raspberry Milkshake
American Dairy Association Indiana
The Dairy Bar’s annual featured milkshake is back in a very bright new flavor. The Blue Raspberry Milkshake is sweet, tangy, creamy, and just the thing for a hot August Fair day.
Brownie Delight
GC Foods
Sometimes simple is exactly what you want. A freshly baked brownie is topped with rich ice cream, homemade whipped cream, and hot fudge.
Buffalo Chicken Dip Pizza
DG Concessions
Buffalo chicken dip meets pizza. A made-from-scratch crust is topped with homemade Buffalo chicken dip, green onions, Buffalo sauce, and crunchy tortilla chips.
Butter Dipped Ice Cream
Urick Concessions
Just when you thought Fair food couldn’t get more indulgent, someone dipped ice cream in butter. Vanilla soft serve is coated in real melted butter that hardens into a golden shell and finished with flaky sea salt.
Charlie’s Mexican Street Corn Pizza
Charlie’s Fair Foods
Street corn and pizza are together again. This version features roasted peppers, creamy sauce, Tajín, Parmesan, and fresh lime on a buttery pizza crust.
Chili Lime Smoked Chicken Leg
Smokehouse Saloon
A classic giant State Fair chicken leg gets a flavor upgrade with apple cider vinegar, lime juice, chili and adobo seasoning, smoke, and avocado ranch.
Cookie Butter Biscoff Funnel Cake
R&W Concessions
Funnel cake fans, this one is speaking your language. A freshly made funnel cake is covered with powdered sugar, cookie butter, vanilla icing, and crumbled Biscoff cookies.
Corn Dog Beer
Sun King Brewery
This may be the most Indiana State Fair beverage on the list. Sun King brews this beer with corn and smoked malt to create flavors inspired by a classic Fair corn dog.
Cornbread and ‘Que
Indiana Pork Producers
Warm cornbread is piled with pulled pork and finished with hot honey. Sweet, smoky, and savory sounds like a pretty excellent Fair combination.
Cornival Fiesta Bowl
Fairlivin Concessions
Looking for something fresh in between all those fried foods? This colorful bowl combines lettuce, broccoli, red and savoy cabbage, carrots, green onions, corn, Parmesan, tortilla strips, and a creamy elote-style dressing.
Cosmic Mango Coconut Dirty Soda
R&W Concessions
Starry lemon-lime soda gets a tropical makeover with mango puree and coconut cream.
Cowboy Fries
R&W Concessions
Fresh fries are loaded with cheddar cheese and bacon, then drizzled with barbecue sauce. Nothing subtle about this one.
Craft Beer Soft Serve
Urick Concessions
Indiana craft beer meets ice cream. Black Dog Brewing Company’s Rainbow Road Fruited Sour Beer is transformed into a creamy soft serve with fruity flavor and a tart finish.
Deep Fried Lindor Dubai Chocolate Truffle
Ormes Deep Fried Treats
Three Dubai-style Lindor chocolate truffles filled with pistachio cream are skewered, dipped in funnel cake batter, and fried. Add pistachio cream or Ghirardelli sauce on top because apparently we are fully committed now.
Dew Drop Banana Dirty Soda
R&W Concessions
Mountain Dew gets mixed with banana puree and sweet cream for a citrusy, creamy dirty soda.
Dirty Popcorn
Urick Concessions
This isn’t your basic movie-night popcorn. Expect combinations of drizzles, candies, cookies, crunchy toppings, and other extras piled onto freshly popped corn.
Dirty Slime Licker
Georgia’s Kitchen
Choose between Blue Hawaiian or Strawberries & Cream. If the name doesn’t convince your kids to try this one, nothing will.
Double Play
Georgia’s Kitchen
An Italian sausage is topped with shredded sirloin, cheese, peppers, and onions. Definitely not your average sausage sandwich.
Grand Slam Mary
Urick Concessions
This baseball-themed Bloody Mary goes all in on the 2026 Always a Hit! Fair theme. The drink comes loaded with a burger slider, hot dog slider, waffle fries, pretzel stick, Cracker Jacks, celery, lemon, and more.
Hot Cheeto Fried Oreo
The Cookie Jar
A Golden Oreo is dipped in Hot Cheeto batter, fried, rolled in Hot Cheeto dust, and finished with nacho cheese and Cheeto crumbles.Some people will read that sentence and immediately know this is their winner.
Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls
The Cavity Factory
A giant, soft cinnamon roll sits in caramelized sugar and is covered in cream cheese glaze. This is the kind of breakfast that counts as dessert too.
Key Lime in Paradise
McGrotha Foods
Cool, tangy key lime meets creamy vanilla and graham cracker crumbles. A refreshing choice when the Fairgrounds heat starts winning.
Lemon Shake-Up Float
Lauren Conway Concessions
Two Fair classics become one. Fresh-squeezed lemonade is topped with vanilla ice cream for a sweet and tart float.
Loaded Bourbon Chicken Fries
Urick Concessions
Crispy fries are topped with Hatch queso, popcorn chicken tossed in bourbon barbecue sauce, bacon, and parsley.
Mango Loco
Cantina Louie
Fresh mango slices are served with mango and citrus juices, Tajín, chamoy, and chili spice. It’s sweet, spicy, salty, and tangy all at once.
Nashville Hot Fried Pickles
Dr. Vegetable Inc.
Fried pickle spears get tossed with Nashville hot seasoning and served with ranch. Pickle people, add this to your list.
Orangey Wild
Stubborn Methods
Orange cream soda and wild cherry limeade combine for a colorful drink with cherry flavor and a citrusy finish.
Pickle Pesto Pizza
Swains Concessions
Swains has become known for creative pickle pizzas, and they’re back with another one. Homemade dough is topped with pesto, mozzarella, pickles, and dill seasoning, with an optional pesto drizzle and award-winning pickle ranch.
Pickle Shake Up
Shake Up Cocktails
Pickle lemonade exists, and the Indiana State Fair is absolutely the place to try it.
Pork Rind Nachos
Smokehouse Saloon
Instead of tortilla chips, these nachos use smoked pork rinds and pile on pulled pork or smoked chicken, queso, coleslaw, barbecue sauce, green onions, and sour cream.
Raspberry Sweet Tea Slushie
Colp’s Concessions
Sweet tea and raspberry are blended into an icy slushie perfect for walking around the Fairgrounds on a hot afternoon.
Sky Ride Sunset Shake Up
McWaters Concessions
A classic lemon shake-up gets a fruity infusion of strawberry and peach. The colors are inspired by a Fair sunset from the Skyride.
Soul Train Egg Rolls
J&J A Taste of Home Catering
Crispy egg rolls are stuffed with jerk chicken, Caribbean-spiced cabbage, rice, and cheese. A vegan version swaps the chicken for jerk jackfruit.
Strawberry Cream Lemonade Shakeup
Dr. Vegetable Inc.
Fresh lemonade gets a creamy tropical twist with strawberry and coconut milk.
Strawberry Pineapple Twister
Twisted Drinks and Food
Fresh strawberries and pineapple are blended with sugar, ice, and water for an easy-drinking summer fruit drink.
Strawberry Shortcake
Gobble Gobble Food Truck
Gobble Gobble celebrates 25 years at the Indiana State Fair with layers of golden cake, strawberries, whipped cream, and strawberry crumble.
Strawberry Shortcake
GC Foods
A more traditional version starts with a shortcake biscuit and adds ice cream, strawberries, and homemade whipped cream.
Tatanka “The General Tso Fries”
Red Frazier Bison
French fries are topped with ground bison, pickled carrot and slaw mix, General Tso’s sauce, Sriracha mayo, green onions, and sesame seeds. A vegetarian version swaps the bison for fried Brussels sprouts.
The Big Dill
American Dairy Association Indiana
Pickle lovers have another major contender. Havarti and cheddar cheeses are grilled with dill pickles on sourdough for the Dairy Bar’s 2026 signature grilled cheese.
The Great American Shake
RES Food and Drink
Vanilla milkshake meets red, white, and blue everything. The shake comes lined with colored syrup and topped with whipped cream, patriotic sprinkles, and a cherry.
The Junkyard SPAM Dog
Urick Concessions
A new SPAM Dog is piled high with macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, potato chips, barbecue sauce, and sliced jalapeños.
The S’MORK
Nitro Hog BBQ
Pulled pork meets s’mores. Slow-smoked pork is paired with sweet s’more flavors and served on a fried sugar biscuit.
The Sweet and Salty Spiral
Colp’s Concessions
Crispy spiral-cut potatoes are loaded with bacon and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Don’t judge until you’ve tried it.
Tropical Breeze Boba Lemonade
Indiana Ribeye
A classic hand-shaken lemonade gets tropical flavor and colorful boba.
Vegan HomeRun Sliders
Black Leaf Vegan
Plant-based patties are topped with vegan cheddar, red onions, pickles, slaw, smoky bacon-style crunch, and signature mayo on soft brioche-style buns.
World’s Tallest Fry
Freund Family Foods
It’s exactly what it sounds like. A giant spiral-cut potato creates an extra-tall fry made for sharing, although Freund Family Foods understandably asks: Why would you?
Vote for Your Favorite Taste of the Fair Food
Once you’ve found your favorite, don’t forget to vote. Look for the QR code displayed at participating concession stands, scan it with your phone, and cast your vote for the 2026 Taste of the Fair People’s Choice Award. The top three foods will be announced during the final week of the Indiana State Fair. Maps showing the locations of participating vendors are available at Prairie Farms Information Booths and through the Indiana State Fair website.
Don’t try to eat all of these yourself: bring friends, order different things, share bites and take notes if you’re serious about choosing a winner. With nearly 50 new foods competing this year, you’re going to need a strategy.
Sample your way around the fairgrounds on your Indiana State Fair date night!
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