2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana State Fair announces new foods for 2025 Taste of the Fair
In just 31 days, the 2025 Indiana State Fair will return with its thrilling rides, staggeringly large pigs and, perhaps most importantly, a lot of very tasty, deeply strange foods — many of them made from relatives of the prodigious swine.
This year's participants in the annual Taste of the Fair contest, which the State Fair announced July 1, will feature 40 inventive foods that fairgoers will be able to purchase Aug. 1-17. Attendees will also be able to vote on their favorite of the dishes, with the top 3 vote-getters coronated on the Fair's final day.
The 2025 Taste of the Fair lineup spans from the relatively straightforward (by State Fair standards) to concoctions that truly stretch the boundaries of what we consider food.
Fairgoers simply looking for a good bite without too much risk can check out the street corn steak tacos from Carmel-based Urick concessions, a small step back toward the norm after the vendor's peanut butter and jelly-tossed chicken wings last year. The Indiana Pork Producers will also deliver a tried-and-true option in the Hog & Slaw, pulled pork topped with creamy coleslaw.
There will also be plenty of safe bets in the drinks department, including Muncie-based Twisted Drinks and Food's peach boba iced tea, R&W Concessions' mango and strawberry Tropical Thunder shake-ups and the State Fair Hook's Historical Drugstore Museum's vanilla cold brew coffee with vanilla ice cream and cookie crumbles.
Elsewhere on the fairgrounds, guests will find a deep-fried diversity of meat, potatoes and, in a long-running trend, pickles.
Smoked meat appears on this year's entry from last year's Taste of the Fair winner Nitro Hog BBQ. Their "Machos" feature tortilla chips topped with macaroni and cheese, pulled pork, cheese sauce and barbecue sauce. Lebanon-based concessions institution R.E. Smith will serve a bacon-wrapped, deep-fried and barbecue sauce-doused chicken tender topped with a cherry tomato. And for a more traditional experience, Twisted Food and Drinks will sell a deep-fried boneless pork chop sandwich with barbecue sauce.
You can find burgers at stands throughout the fairgrounds, but Lebanon-based McWaters Concessions will serve its patties between grilled Little Debbie Honey Buns with bacon and cheese. And though the sting of defeat is still fresh, Pacers fans can declare their undying loyalty by downing Spencer-based Red Frazier Bison's "Yes 'Cers" Burger, a bison patty with pimento cheese, fried potato sticks and horseradish pickles between slices of Texas toast.
Speaking of burgers, French fries appear beneath fried chicken bites, bacon, hatch chili queso and Mike's hot honey at Urick locations and alongside melted cheese and mild or spicy jerk sauce at Jamaican Breeze.
And, of course, there are the pickles. Though not quite as well-represented at this year's event compared to recent fairs, the beloved fermented cucumber will still get its spotlight at Florida-based concessions titan Swains in the form of pickle ranch sauce on Swains' bacon mozzarella pizza, as well as inside the deep-fried Golden Oreos of North Liberty-based Pickle Barrel.
Guests will be able to wash any of these delicacies down with Sun King's cotton candy-flavored ale (4% ABV), Urick's cotton candy margarita or Urick's Brunch Mary or Brunch Mimosa, both of which feature skewers stacked with miniature sausage sandwiches, fruit, donut holes and a waffle stick.
That's merely a taste of the Taste — you can see the full lineup on the State Fair website.
Fairgoers who sample food from designated Taste of the Fair concessions stands will be able to vote for their favorite dish by simply scanning a QR code posted on the vendor's station. Last year's winner was the fried sugar biscuit and pulled pork sandwich with apple butter barbecue sauce from Nitro Hog BBQ, which is based in Indy.
This year's highest vote-getter will receive $2,500; second and third place will receive $1,000 and $500, respectively.
