THE INDIANA STATE FAIR is officially open for the season. Hopefully you have a fresh page in your food diary to fill with all of the summer treats that are new to the 2022 menu. With options that range from deep-fried brownies to a State Fair Mary garnished with fried cheese, your Indiana State Fair diet begins now.
Dense and fudge-y deep-fried brownies have joined the battered-dipped food group, a warm, sugar-on-sugar morsel that you eat like a small apple (don’t bother with the fork). It pairs well with a peach shake-up, a frothy cocktail of sugar water and nectar prepared with the traditional lemon shake-up manual labor.
To hit all of the basic dessert categories, pick up a State Fair Charcuterie Box filled with cotton candy, popcorn, caramel corn, and funnel cake. And for something a little less by-the-book, the Boba Fun Cup has a vanilla ice cream base that gets layered, halo-halo style, with gummy bears, boba, and sliced strawberries.
More grown-up quaffs come in the form of a State Fair Mary garnished with olives and fried cheese, Sun King’s Caramel Corn Beer by the can, and Hi & Mighty’s Lemon ShakeUp canned cocktail.
As for savory dishes, the Pit-Tatoes top roasted baby potatoes with tender pulled pork, and there’s a Flamin’ Hot Cheetos walking taco that will likely sell like wildfire. Don’t leave without sampling a slice of pickle pizza or a bison meat lettuce wrap. For the drive home, grab the Dairy Bar’s newest milkshake flavor, Mint Cookie, which does the Girl Scouts proud.