How Many New Foods Will You Find at the 2025 Iowa State Fair?
Which will land in the top eleven? And which of those will then become part of the top three, vying for that coveted Best New Food at the Fair Award? Read on to find out….
The answer is…. drum roll please… 67! Yes, there will be 67 new foods offered as culinary delights at the 2025 Iowa State Fair. But before we get to those foods, and the competition for that Best New Food Award, let’s take a look at the Fair’s annual kickoff… Corndog Kickoff that is… held in July getting us fired up and our mouths watering for all that Fair food.
Anyone who knows me knows that these are the days I wait for. When one Fair ends, the countdown to the next Fair begins. This year the Iowa State Fair will be held from Thursday, August 7, through Sunday, August 17, and as of this writing that is a mere 22 days away. Hand me a pen so I can cross off those calendar days!
Not being able to wait until the Fair actually starts, my daughter Steph and I attended the Corndog Kickoff that was recently held in the Varied Industries Building (a/k/a The Hot Tub Building) at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. This gala is thrown by the Blue Ribbon Foundation, the organization that provides for the maintenance of the original buildings, all needed repairs, and new infrastructure projects on the Fairgrounds. To raise money for this worthy cause there are both a silent auction and a live auction conducted during the Kickoff. We participated in the silent auction, bidding on items via our phones until the very last moment of the sale. Sometimes (like this time) we are outbid on a much-desired item by someone swooping in at the very last second with a higher bid, leaving us item-less and a little sad. But win or lose, we always have fun. Afterwards, the live auction is worth sticking around for even though we don’t bid, because we see things like a pie going for $3,000, or a Caribbean get-away netting $65,000, or maybe a used sky glider seat for the bargain price of $9,500. You can probably see why we don’t participate in that auction, but we are very grateful to the people who do.
The other amazing part of the Corndog Kickoff is the food. Yes – there’s Fair Food! And we all know there’s no food like Fair Food. The walls inside the VI building are lined with State Fair food vendors. Some offer sample sizes of their goodies, while others treat us to full-sized portions, such as corndogs or an entire pork chop on-a-stick. We are in Fair Food Heaven. Some of the delights we sampled this year were Bacon Pickle Mac & Cheese from JR’s Southpork Ranch, Corndogs from Campbell’s, Deep-Fried PB &J from Bird’s Nest, Flamin’ Hot Pickle Pizza from Leimon’s Pizzeria, among many others.
After attending the Corndog Kickoff, you can be sure that we are ready to hit the ground running aimed straight for all that State Fair Food. Besides finally being able to once again dive into our old favorites, we are excited to try some of the new creations offered this year. Of those 67 foods, some we are most eager to try are:
· The Bacon Chicken Ranch Eggroll from Winn & Sara’s Kitchen (the vendor who won last year’s Best New Food Award).
· Brisket Tenderloin from The Rib Shack (Steph, not being a fan of pork – I know - is really excited about this one).
· Chicken & Waffle Breakfast Sandwich presented by JR’s SouthPork Ranch.
· Chicken Spiedini On-a-Stick at the Bud Tent. This will make Des Moines diners think about that famous dish served at an old Italian restaurant on the East Side.
· High Roller Roll: A Lobster Roll topped with crème fraiche, caviar, and edible gold leaf to be found at JR’s SouthPork Ranch. This sounds beyond decadent, and I hear it is priced at $100. We may have to take out a loan and give it a try. OR you can get two of the rolls served with Dom Perignon champagne for the bargain price of $600.
· Lemon Cheesecake Ice Cream from Over the Top – enough said there.
· S'mores Ice Cream Sandwich from Dough Crazy, because…S’mores.
~ One note: There are a LOT of new (and established) foods featuring Hot Cheetos. Now, I’m a Cheetos fan – they are always in my pantry – but I’m a purist, leaving the Hot Cheetos on the grocery store shelves. However, it appears that there are a lot of Hot Cheetos lovers out there and they all want it coating their State Fair Food.
Now, as promised, onto that new State Fair Food competition. Today’s contest was the 12th annual competition for the top three new foods. It’s held in the Elwell Family Food Center, home of the food-judging contests (and yes, I am honored to be a judge there.) It’s hosted by Iowa Nice Guy a/k/a Scott Siepker along with Jeremy Parsons, Fair Secretary/Manager/CEO, who announced the winners. Streamed live on Facebook, there were over 90 judges, with one of them stating that this year’s competition had the most delicious and creative foods yet. With the criteria of flavor, value, presentation, and creativity, voting was completed by each judge submitting a blue (first place), red (second place), or white (third place) chip – just like the placing ribbons at the Fair – into a box for their choice to win.
I did ask about the prices of these items during the live stream and was given this answer, “We'll post the prices along with all of the food items on our website here in the next few days!”
And now….presenting the eleven (because they couldn’t limit themselves to just ten) new foods the State Fair Board has deemed to be their favorites (descriptions of food taken from ISF website):
· Bacon Chicken Ranch Eggroll (from Winn & Sarah’s Kitchen): A crispy, golden eggroll packed with tender chicken, bacon, white cheddar, and drizzled with their famous ranch. These folks (the defending champions of last year’s award) own restaurants in Norwalk and Indianola and are famous for their homemade Ranch and chicken. They wanted to bring the food to the people – so lucky us!
· Nashville Hot Chicken Mac N' Cheese Pizza Slice (from Wiseguys Woodfired Pizza): Smoky, shredded chicken with a sweet and spicy rub, melted mozzarella, and a crispy thin crust, with a secret hot sauce and local hot honey drizzle. Now, I am a Spice Weenie, but one judge, along with the owner of the stand, said this is less spicy than you think – don’t be afraid to try it. I think I will let the Spice Expert, Steph, get this and let myself only try a bite of it to see if my mouth catches fire.
· Three Little Pigs (presented by Whatcha Smokin? BBQ): This is a trio of oak-smoked ham balls - honey mustard with cornbread crumbles, cherry soda with Maraschino cherries, and a vanilla glaze dusted with powdered sugar. The theme of this year’s Fair is Fair Sweet Fair, and the owners of this stand wanted to convey a nostalgic theme through their food, using ham balls and flavors Iowans love.
· Maple Bacon Bourbon Grilled Cheese (found at the What’s Your Cheez? Stand): Maple bread (made by a local bakery) layered with maple bourbon cream cheese, gourmet maple bourbon cheddar (made in Kalona, IA), and bourbon maple candied bacon, then grilled. Served with a maple bourbon raspberry dipping sauce. The owner of this creation thought about her favorite flavors and combined them into this one sandwich.
· Chicken Pickle Ranch Rocket On-A-Stick (presented by JR’s Southpork Ranch): Thick-cut sweet, dill, and garlic pickles stacked with smoky grilled chicken, drizzled in a zesty ranch butter glaze and skewered. Always a place to find exciting new taste sensations, the chefs at JRs like to bring us new flavors and dishes not normally found at the Fair. (See note above about the Lobster Roll.)
· Potato Half & Half Korean Corn Dog (from GoldenKDog): Crispy crinkle fries fried into golden batter, wrapped around half mozzarella and half all-beef hot dog with four dipping sauces (including sweet chili and spicy mayo). One of the owners of this stand grew up eating this in Korea and wanted to bring it to the Iowa State Fair. It was described by tasters as “hefty” and “a cheese stick combined with a hot dog.”
· Hawaiian Hog (Iowa Pork Producers/Iowa Pork Tent): Layers of shaved pork loin, creamy coleslaw, and a brown sugar pineapple ring on a bun, served with sweet chili sauce. The developers of this dish are going for simplicity with pork loin. They send this message to all of us, “Cook your pork loin to only 145°! It will be slightly pink, juicy, and will change your life!”
· HoQ Wrap (Chicken, Lamb, Or Tofu) (found at the HoQ Stand): The HoQ Lamb Wrap features tender Iowa lamb, chicken, or tofu in a tomato cream sauce with Basmati rice, turmeric crème fraiche, and local kale, all wrapped in HoQ’s homemade naan. HoQ is a stylish farm-to-fork restaurant that can be found in Des Moines’ East Village. All ingredients are locally sourced.
· Sweet Granny's Apple Delight Sundae (from Applishus): Granny Smith-flavored ice cream in a waffle cone bowl topped with apple filling, caramel, and whipped cream. Apple cookie included. The owner’s grandchildren wanted to have an ice cream option at their stand, so this is their offering. They worked with Anderson Erickson Dairy here in Des Moines to create the apple-flavored ice cream and have topped their dish with a homemade apple cookie. This stand has been treating Iowa State Fairgoers for 38 years.
· Butter Cow Tornado (found at the Dairy Zone): A swirling twist of gooey butter cake drenched in butterscotch then crowned with an actual mini version of the butter cow sculpted in white chocolate. I would get this just for the cuteness of that little butter cow!
· Scotcheroo Ice Cream Shake (to be enjoyed at the Over the Top stand): A rich, creamy shake made with handmade peanut butter–butterscotch scotcheroo ice cream, swirled with fudge, packed with chewy chunks, and topped with whipped cream, caramel, chocolate, and a full slice of scotcheroo. This creation is salty, sweet, and ice cold. It was developed because what is more Iowa-y than a scotcheroo? They are served at every potluck in the state. (There was a new award created this year for the Sweetest Fair Food, and this was the winner.)
And out of these, after the local celebrity panels of taste-testers and voters made their voices heard, here are the Top Three New Fair Foods (in no particular order) that State Fair attendees will vote on to decide the winner of that coveted title:
Three Little Pigs (Whatcha Smokin? BBQ)
Bacon Chicken Ranch Eggroll (Winn & Sara’s Kitchen – defending champs!)
Scotcheroo Ice Cream Shake (Over the Top)
One piece of advice I will leave you with: When at the Fair, SHARE FOOD! Fair Food is Big Food and you will get twice as much for half the price. This, of course, does not apply to ice cream cones, eggs on-a-stick, or when your Fair buddy wants something super spicy and you just can’t do it (speaking from experience here).
I also write a Substack column entitled Grandma’s Recipe Box, a place where we can all share treasured family recipes and the stories behind them. I believe these recipes help make us who we are and bring back memories like nothing else can. I publish my family recipes but also invite readers to join in and share theirs. Who knows? Your recipe gem may become a treasure for another family, or you may find one that becomes your own family heirloom. To join in and submit a recipe, just email me at: ourgrandmasrecipebox@gmail.com
I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who subscribe to my columns. It means the world to me that we can share this space together. If you become a paid subscriber, you will be invited to attend the monthly Office Lounge Zoom calls held at noon on the last Friday of the month which is hosted by members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. It’s where writers and readers get to know each other better. (Here is the Zoom link for this month’s Office Lounge for paid subscribers.) You will also be invited to attend real-time gatherings hosted by IWC writers for our readers. These are held at various locations around the state. Here is the link to an RSVP form for paid subscribers who would like to attend our Madison County event on July 26th. I hope to see you there. This time we’ll be in Winterset, but you never know where we might turn up!
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Thanks for the rundown, Connie. Although I didn't eat my way through all of them---Hello! I was working!---everything I sampled was terrific. Although I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I did that afternoon!
While this year's Iowa State Fair slogan is "Fair Sweet Fair," I've decided mine will be Sweet Fair Sweets (All of 'em!). I can hear my glucose monitor already...."BEEEEEEP! Enough already!!!"
Have a great fair, Connie. Let the weight gain begin!
I can almost taste these foods from your descriptions.