It’s that time of year again! The Florida State Fair! Where calories don’t count and mad food scientists look for more ways to serve food that’s deep fried, covered in chocolate, or served on a stick! We visited the Florida State Fair looking for some of the best and craziest stuff we could find.
Also, be sure to listen to our podcast episode for more about this years trip to the fair!
Fried food & fun at the Florida State Fair
Corn Dogs
Let’s just get this one out of the way first. The corn dog is a state fair classic, and to a lot of people (us included) no trip to the fair is complete without one. There’s something about a state fair corndog that is just special. Maybe it’s that extra sweetness in the batter, or maybe it’s the fact that at the fair they get to go directly from the deep fryer to being handed to you on a stick, never being frozen like the ones at the grocery store.
Rainbow Grilled Cheese
How to make grilled cheese more interesting and exciting? Throw a bunch of food dye in there!
It still tastes great, but now you get this really cool and colorful melted cheese rainbow to show all your friends on Instagram.
Alligator (in every way possible)
This is about as “Florida” as you can get. Gator Sausage, Gator Burger, Gator Gumbo! If you’ve ever been curious to try eating Florida’s favorite reptile, the Florida State fair offers plenty of opportunity. We even saw Gator Mac & Cheese on one of the menus.
Elephant Ears
The Elephant Ear is the underrated, under loved cousin to to Funnel Cake. But we actually like these better. There’s just a little more here to sink your teeth into. What’s not to love about a big slab of sweet dough, that’s fried and covered in sweet toppings?
Turkey Legs
There is definitely no shortage of barbecued and smoked meat to be found here at the fair. The classic Turkey Leg is a staple at both Walt Disney World, and the state fair. The smokey aroma brings people in from all around, and you get to feel like a caveman while eating what’s basically a big club of smoked poultry.
Deep Fried Oreos
The Florida State Fair is certainly not shy about offering deep fried whatever. You can find deep fried candy bars, Twinkies, cookie dough, and one of our favorites, the Deep Fried Oreo. The normally crispy Oreo cookie undergoes some sort of magical transformation in the fryer, where it turns into this soft and delicious center to the fried exterior.
Deep Fried Cheesecake
Ok, we couldn’t list just one deep fried dessert here. Ermagerd! This thing was delicious. If there’s any one item here that’s worth setting aside your New Years resolution diet for, it’s this thing. It’s a frozen slice of cheesecake, covered in batter, then deep fried on a stick. The inside is cold, melty, and amazingly yummy.
Arepas
No, those aren’t pancakes you see over there on the grill, those are arepas, a Florida classic! Arepas are amazing, and we always need to get one when we see them. An Arepa is sort of like a grilled cheese sandwich, made with corn flour cakes. If you’ve never had one, be sure to try it!
Bacon Covered Cinnamon Buns
A giant, ooey, gooey cinnamon bun covered in candied bacon…and you’re already on your way to go get one aren’t you? Don’t need to say much more about this one!
Doughnut Burger
We saved the most controversial item on the list for last. The infamous Doughnut Burger! It’s a bacon cheeseburger served between two Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts. Yeah. When we saw this, we had to try it, just to say we did and ordered this with all the toppings; lettuce, onion, tomato, and pickles. Let me just say this for the record; red onions and pickles just don’t work when combined with doughnuts. We had to remove all the extra toppings, and then the next bite actually worked! The sweet doughnut and the savory bacon topped burger was surprisingly good. Just make sure to load up on napkins. This thing was messy and really sticky to eat with your hands.
