These Are 10 Of The Most Mouthwatering Foods At This Year’s Minnesota State Fair

While we’re devouring vegan tacos at the start of this year’s LA County Fair, there was another major exhibition coming to an end on the other side of the country. Our friends, the Food Dolls, spent a day at the Minnesota State Fair to highlight the most appetite crushing items they had to offer.

Known as the second largest state fair in the US, behind Texas, we were stoked to see what kind of foods the Dolls got to try.

Here are some of the hottest food items they hit us back with on their recent trip.

Maple Bacon Tipsy Pie (Tipsy Pies)

What we have here is a hand-made pie made with locally sourced whiskey and wine topped with bacon served in a miniature pie tin.

Deep fried pickles (The Perfect Pickle)

Peaking out of a deep-fried crust is a fresh pickle just waiting to be dunked in a pool of ranch.

Tater Dog (Texas Steak Out)

Potato lovers can wield their very own spiral cut potato wrapped around a Hebrew National dog and covered in parmesan cheese.

Deep Fried Nachos Supreme (Texas Steak Out)

This melty masterpiece is made from jack cheese cubes coated in a mixture of crushed seasoned tortilla chips and nacho cheese. The cubes are then deep-fried, covered with taco meat, guacamole, more nacho cheese, and sour cream.

Sheep Dog (The Lamb Shoppe)

Check out this lamb dog served in a bun with garlic sautéed kale, raw fermented sauerkraut, quinoa, and a honey mustard drizzle. Probably one of the healthiest things on this list.

Macaroni & Cheese Curds (Oodles of Noodles)

Cheese lovers will get hyped after trying this macaroni and cheese blended with fresh cheese curds.

Candied Bacon Donut Sliders (Minnesota Wine Country)

You can’t have a fair without some kind of donut dish. These glazed donut holes with thick candied bacon and a chocolate red wine ganache are this year’s answer to that annual craving.

The Gizmo (Carl’s Gizmo Sandwich)

The Gizmo is an Italian-style sandwich, made with ground beef and Italian sausage covered in red sauce. Sure you can’t see much under this blob of melted mozzarella, but just let your imagination take the wheel from there.

Curd Bucket (Mouth Trap Cheese Curds)

Who wouldn’t want to carry around a bucket of deep-fried cheese curds all day? You can find this bad boy at Mouth Trap Cheese Curds.

Cookie Pail (Sweet Martha’s Cookies)

One of the hottest stops at the Minnesota Fair, Sweet Martha’s Cookies serves about a million cookies a day. Their cookie pail is $16 and comes overflowing with the baked dessert.

Photos by Food Dolls

The Good Old Minnesota State Fair

This year was the first time I have been to the Minnesota State Fair in years. The fair has never been a huge deal for me like it is for others, but this year–I fell in love. The amount of money one can spend in only a few hours at the fair is incredible, yet worth every penny.

My first stop: Fried cheese on a stick (I think that’s what they call it), Um…. YUM!

Next we went over to the DNR fish pond to check out all the different fish that call Minnesota home (loved this).

From there, we headed into the Miracle of Birth Center. This building is a must at the fair. It is unique, inspiring, yet you have to be able to handle the reality of birthing. It’s a great educational area and you get to see lots of babies.

After the birthing center, we grabbed some Mike’s Hard Lemonade and went on a mission to find more food. We tried fried pickles, custard, a macaroni and cheese cupcake and of course my favorite–Sweet Martha’s Cookies–before getting on the ride to go across the fair.

My sister and her fiance enjoying the macaroni and cheese cupcake.

Now these are some Sweet Martha’s Cookies.

On the ride across the fair, we scoped out everything else that we wanted to go to. It was a nice break with walking, and had a great view. I rode along with my twin sister Lisa.

When we finally got to the other side of the fair, we watched some dog shows (where my sister and her fiance fell-in-love with getting a puppy), visited with some show dogs and made our way back again to the sky ride.

After the ride, our friend Mandi showed us a brick that was engraved with her name in it along a walking path. Mandi has gone to the fair every day it has been open since she was a little girl, she even takes the entire week of work off–just to attend the fair, (trust me, she is the best tour guide you could find). 

After an afternoon of walking and delicious food, we decided it was time for what we love most, some beer. We had to try what everyone has been talking about, the Lift Bridge Mini Doughnut Brew. A delicious beer that really did taste like mini doughnuts, and it even had cinnamon sugar along the rim. One of our friends bought mini doughnuts while I was drinking this so of course I had to dunk it in–it was delicious.

My sister, whom very much enjoys wine, found the wine bar. She got a sangria, which I highly recommend.

 After the wine, we debated going on “Ye Old Mill.” It looked like a ton of fun, but since I was the fifth wheel–I wasn’t very fond of the fact that I would be in a boat when it was dark for a “love ride” all alone.

Before we left the fair, we went over to the Bizarre area to check out all of the fantastic cultural food and shopping. My sister got a delicious stir fry, and I couldn’t help myself from wanting to buy a ton of beautiful clothing.

All in all, the fair was a total success and we ate WAY more than I thought I could ever consume. BUT, I fell in love with the experience and food so much, that I have decided to go back tomorrow. A workout can wait until after the fair, right?

And that’s a wrap on the Minnesota State Fair…until tomorrow that is!