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

Early Tuesday morning, fair officials released the following items as new food for fairgoers to try out:

• 3 Piggy Pals On-A-Stick – Smoked sausage slices wrapped in bacon, filled with a cream cheese mix and drizzled with barbecue sauce. These will be at Sausage Sister & Me in the Food Building.
• Afro Poppers – Deep-fried pastries infused with vanilla, cardamom, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Can be topped with a drizzle of mango chutney, caramel or chocolate and also coated with a choice of coconut flakes or sugar. These will be at Sausage Sister & Me in the Food Building.
• Ba’bacon Sour Cream & Onion – Sour cream and onion hummus topped with beef bacon, sumac tater tots, caramelized onions, scallions, black cumin seeds and chive oil with pita puffs that are coated with sour cream and onion powder. These will be at Baba’s on the east side of Underwood Street, just south of Little Farm Hands.
• Blazing Greek Bites – Chickpeas, tomato, roasted red pepper, scallions and cayenne pepper that are ground into deep-fried bites and served with roasted red pepper hummus. These will be at Dino’s Gyros between Nelson and Underwood streets.
• Buffalo Cheese Curd & Chicken Tacos – Fried buffalo-flavored cheese curds and chicken topped with blue cheese slaw, in a fried flour shell. These will be at Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos outside the Sheep and Poultry Barn.
• Chile Mango Whip – Mango Dole Soft Serve rimmed and topped with chamoy and Tajin with a tamarind candy straw. Found at Tasti Whip on the northwest corner of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street.
• Cookie Butter Crunch Mini Donuts – Vanilla-flavored mini donuts will be coated with vanilla sugar and cookie butter drizzle and cookie crumbles in a bucket that is rimmed with cookie butter and cookie crumbles. These will be at Mini Donuts and Cheese Curds between Murphy and Lee avenues.
• Cotton Candy Iced Team – Butterfly pea flower tea with edible glitter and a rock candy swizzle stick. This will be at Loon Lake Iced Tea, which can be found on the west side of Underwood Street between Wright and Dan Patch avenues.
• Crab Boil Wings – Chicken wings marinated in hot sauce before being grilled and fried with corn, chicken apple sausage and potatoes. They will be tossed in a “crab boil” butter and include a lemon wedge and parsley. These will be at Soul Bowl in the Food Building.
• Deep-Fried Halloumi Cheese – Halloumi cheese (a blend of sheep and goat milk) wrapped in a pastry dough and then fried before served with sweet chili sauce. This can be found at Holy Land Deli in the International Bazaar.
• Deep-Fried Ranch Dressing – Found at LuLu’s Public House at the south end of Schilling Amphitheater, this will be ranch dressing filling 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 side of hot honey sauce.
• Dill Pickle Tots – Think a tot version of a dill pickle potato chip. These will be at Tot Boss.
• Fried Bee-Nana Pie – Handmade pie crust filled with honey, banana and cookie butter that is then deep fried. You can find this at Sabino’s Pizza Pies.
• Grilled Purple Sticky Rice – Grilled sticky rice topped with either shredded Hmong beef jerky or pickled mushrooms. The garnish is fresh herbs and chili aioli. These will be at Union Hmong Kitchen.
• Ham and Pickle Roll Up on a Potato Skin – Potato skins filled with sour cream, cream cheese, chopped pickles and ham that are topped with crumbs of chips. These will be at Route 666 Roadhouse Chicken in the Food Building.
• Lady’s Slipper Marble Sundae – Found at Bridgeman’s Ice Cream, there will be strawberry flavored ice cream, lemon marshmallow cream and ladyfinger cookies layered in a cup and then topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
• Marco’s Garden – Located at Jammy Sammies at the North End, these will be rhubarb jam, thyme-marinated tomatoes, cheese, peppers and honey served with grilled, gluten-free flatbread. A vegan option will use thyme tofu dip and maple syrup instead of cheese and honey.
• Mocha Madness Shave Ice – Think shave ice with caffeine-free coffee flavor and caramel macchiato cold foam, drizzled with chocolate syrup and garnished with dark chocolate espresso beans. This will be at Minnesnowii shave ice.
• Nixtamal and Wild Rice Bowl – This will only be available from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2 at the Midtown Global Market boot at the International Bazaar. The bowl will include a choice of bison meatballs or sweet potato dumplings, served on a bed of nixtamal (white, yellow and blue corn) mixed with wild rice and seasoned with maple and spices, topped with mixed berry wozapi sauce. A topping of seed and cricket mix will be optional.
• Patata Frita Focacciawich – A kettle-chip-flavored ice cream sandwiched between focaccia bread from Wrecktangle Pizza, topped with honey butter, kettle chips and herbs. You can find this 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 at The Blue Barn.
• Raging Ball – Sesame mochi dough ball with a vegan cheeseburger filling that will also be deep fried. This will be topped with bacon-flavored powdered sugar and can be found in the Food Building at the herbivorous Butcher.
• Savory Eclairs – Choux pastry eclair shell with a choice of two fillings: Banh Mi or Lobster. The lobster version is filled with lobster meat, celery, mayo, hot sauce, lime, chives and salt and pepper that is topped with dried corn and micro cilantro. Meanwhile, the Banh Mi version is filled with pork confit, chicken liver pate, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber and siracha mayo. You can find these at Scenic 61 by New Scenic Cafe.
• Shroomy Calamari – Oyster mushrooms that are then breaded and fried before being served with chipotle sauce. You can find these at French Meadow Bakery and Cafe.
• Strawberries and Cream Waffle Stick – A Belgian waffle filled with strawberry shortcake cookie dough and topped with whipped cream and strawberry sauce. You can find this at Waffle Chix.
• Strawberry Lemonade Donut – Found at Fluffy’s Hand Cut Donuts, these will be donuts frosted with lemon buttercream and rolled in a strawberry lemonade crunch that is garnished with lemon gummy candy and freeze-dried strawberry slices. A strawberry lemonade-filled pipette will be served with the donut.
• Swedish Ice Cream Sundae – Vanilla ice cream covered in lingonberry jam, sprinkled with Swedish ginger cookie crumble and garnished with a ginger cookie heart. You can find this at Salem Lutheran Church Dining Hall.
• Swedish ‘Sota Sliders – Cranberry-wild rice meatballs formed into patties and paired with dill Havarti cheese and a red relish including beets, red onions, red peppers, lingonberries and cranberries on brioche buns. These will be at 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 house-made frozen caramel. You can find this at Blue Moon Dine-In Theater.
• Sweet Heat Bacon Crunch – Double-smoked bacon seasoned with red barbecue sauce and topped with a crunch made of hot honey and chilis and served over white rice and green onions. This will be found at RC’s BBQ.
• Turkey Kristo – Texas toast with turkey, white cheddar cheese, apple butter and spicy brown mustard mayo and dusted with powdered sugar. This sandwich will be located at the Minnesota Farmers Union Coffee Shop.
• Walking Shepherd’s Pie – Hot pastries filled with braised ground beef, mashed potatoes, onions, carrots and peas in an herb gravy. This will be at O’Gara’s at the Fair.
• Wrangler Waffle Burger – Found at Nordic Waffles, this will be an all-beef patty with Whataburger patty melt sauce with American cheese and a waffle infused with caramelized onions.

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

Meanwhile, fair officials announced the following new vendors attending the 2024 event:

• Chan’s Eatery
• El Burrito Mercado
• Kosharina
• Loon Lake Iced Tea
• The Indigenous Food Lab from Midtown Global Market
• Paella Depot

“It’s huge. So it’s exciting. We’ve been applying for over 10 years,” Milissa Silva, El Burrito Mercado representative, said. “We’re extremely grateful. Some of us shed a few tears when we found out the news.”

The market sold merchandise at the state fair for over a decade, but this is the first year they can sell food alongside hundreds of vendors. The restaurant will serve Quesabirria taquitos, equites and Agua de Sandia Loca, which is a watermelon drink with Mexican flavor.

“We pride ourselves for sharing La Experiencia Mexicana here at Burrito Mercado that’s been our family’s passion and drive since we started 45 years ago in 1979,” Silva said.

Some of the new vendor choices are marking a historic first at the state fair.

“This is the first time that an Indigenous vendor will be selling Indigenous food on Indigenous land,” Ismael Popoca, Indigenous Food Lab representative, said.

Midtown Global Market’s Indigenous Food Lab is hoping their bison meatballs and sweet potato dumplings capture the attention of appetites at the fair.

“It’s a big accomplishment to be selling indigenous food. All the food we’re going to be making is pre-colonial,” Popoca said.

For most business owners, being a part of the state fair is a major milestone.

For El Burrito Mercado, it’s right on time as they celebrate 45 years of success in St. Paul.

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

The 2024 Minnesota State Fair runs from Aug. 22 – Sept. 2. CLICK HERE for KSTP’s full fair coverage.

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