The 15 Wildest Deep-Fried State Fair Foods Across America

There are a lot of things associated with being distinctly American, like apple pie, baseball, and the seemingly irresistible urge to see what we can toss into the deep fryer. State fairs are displays of this foodie extravagance, as most classic fair foods are deep-fried deliciousness. These annual events are celebrations of state pride, agricultural prowess, and rides that can feel like poor choices — especially after eating said fried goodies.

Those of us who attended carnivals in the 20th century may recall that there was a time when indulging in fair food meant gobbling a giant turkey leg, or getting sick off of too much funnel cake. It really wasn't really that long ago when the deep-fried Oreo debuted, which in turn, set off a deep-fry frenzy. Fast-forward a couple of decades, and deep-fried Oreos look perfectly ordinary when put up against some of the mind-boggling treats on today's midway. Some seem to bend the laws of physics, many crack the laws of logic, and none disappoint — as far as shock value, at least.

So, we wondered what some of the wildest deep-fried foods at state fairs across the country were. And now that we've found them, Texas: we have some questions for you.

The idea of deep-fried butter has been around long enough that it's somewhat gone mainstream. The brainchild of Abel Gonzales Jr., who takes the art of deep-frying so seriously that he's earned the nickname Fried Jesus, the origin story of deep-fried butter harkens back to heartbreak.

Gonzales had been on a winning streak at the State Fair of Texas, earning several Big Tex Choice Awards, which has been shining the spotlight on the best fair foods in Texas since 2005. But when he was hit with a loss, Gonzales decided that the only solution was to double down. The result was deep-fried butter, which debuted in 2009. His extravagant invention was a slightly crispy, strangely bready bite, filled with all the gooey sweetness you might expect. Honey and powdered sugar was drizzled and sprinkled on top, and the indulgent flavor bomb became instant legend.

It didn't take long before other vendors decided to try their hand at the popular concession. Some even made things more extreme, by offering entire deep-fried sticks, rather than just bites, of butter.

If you've never looked at soup and thought, "I bet I can deep fry that," well, you're just not thinking big enough. Homemade pho broth is a complicated labor of love, and, it was a beloved family recipe of that was the inspiration for this state fair dish. In 2023, Michelle Le's deep-fried pho, which starts with inspiration from her father-in-law's soup recipe, took top honors at the Big Tex Choice Awards.

All the pho ingredients — including noodles, meats, spices, herbs, and vegetables — get deep-fried in a wrap, served with broth on the side. But, this was no pre-made, frozen meal, as are many deep-fried treats. As Le was putting together her already-complicated recipe, she promised herself that she was always going to make the dish from scratch, using all fresh, and never frozen, ingredients. We certainly dig her ambition, and the egg roll-style pho concession's numerous fans apparently do, too.

We here at Tasting Table have talked about all the fun and funky ingredients that you can add to Jell-O for a stellar upgrade, but, it's safe to say that fryer oil was most likely not on anyone's bingo card. That changed, thanks to brothers Juan and Brent Reaves, who entered their deep-fried Jell-O into the Big Tex Choice awards at the State Fair of Texas, and took home a win that we'd say was well-deserved, if not just for sheer inspiration.

Fun fact: when the Reaves brothers entered their fried Jell-O into the massively popular annual competition, they hadn't even figured out precisely how they were going to make it work. That's not just inspiration, that's some serious determination — and a heck of a lot of faith. What followed was a lot of know-how, a little bit of magic, and sheer brilliance, which all came together to allow them to make something akin to a jelly donut. It was a massive hit.

Deep-fried beer came into existence because of the State Fair of Texas, and honestly, that tracks. The seemingly impossible was made plausible in 2010, and according to creator Mark Zable, it was a culinary milestone. The end result was a process several years in the making — and there's a lot to be said for that kind of dedication.

When the invention debuted, it got widespread attention, and even NPR reached out to Zable to get the details — which he wasn't sharing. He did confirm that it was the same beer that you got out of a can, that the end product was basically a ravioli-like square of fried dough with a liquid beer center, and that it wasn't an easy process to crack. 

It took years of being stumped, but Zable admitted he finally found inspiration in something that his four-year-old did — after calling on a food scientist didn't help. And although the exact process still seems to be a secret, some recipes suggest making ravioli pockets, and filling them with a dollop of beer, then frying them very, very quickly. However, given that deep fryers, oil, and liquids are a dangerous combination, we don't necessarily recommend trying this one at home.

We're going to head up north, to Ohio, for this one. If you've visited the state, it's likely you may have taken the opportunity to pick up some buckeyes, which are essentially chocolate-dipped candies encasing a fudge-like, peanut butter center. Named after a poisonous nut from the tree of the same name, they're actually delightfully delicious. When we heard about the deep-fried version, the only thing we questioned was why the creation of this treat took so long.

Tens of thousands of the sweet-and-salty nuggets of goodness get sold every fair season. The idea was originally from longtime fair vendor and candy seller Brian Shenkman. Known as the Candy King, Shenkman, who owns the family-run Bulk Candy Store in West Palm Beach, Florida, came up with the idea on what he called Fry Day. These were special days when the Candy King and employees of the shop broke out the deep fryer and got down to some serious experimentation, hoping to come up with the next best deep-fried thing. Shenkman debuted the treat he came up with at the Ohio State Fair in 2010, and the rest is sweet, fried history.

If you're guessing that deep-fried chicken noodle soup on a stick has to be a fair food from the State Fair of Texas, you would be correct. In fact, we consider it to be one of the wildest Texas state fair foods of all time, and that's a statement as big as, well, the state itself. Debuting in 2017 and becoming a finalist of the Big Tex Choice Awards that same year, this fried version of chicken soup for the soul was created by concessionaires Sherry and Chris Howard, who own Scrumptious Fried Pies & Pastries.

The bite-sized balls of deep-fried soup came with a cup of broth and crackers on the side. A small hole was poked into each ball for a bit of extra broth to be poured into. This sounded so warm and comforting, but also a little frightening — how you were supposed to eat them without making a mess, or burning your tongue, we're not quite sure. Honestly, that wouldn't stop us from trying them, though.

If you're of the opinion that ranch is the very best dressing, you'd be in the percentage with a lot of Americans. And as we've learned, there's nothing more American than taking the most unlikely of foods, and figuring out how to deep fry them. Well, ranch dressing was not immune, and deep-fried ranch dressing debuted at the 2024 Minnesota State Fair. While the idea of piping hot ranch might sound a little nauseating, it's truthfully the opposite — and, it was lauded as being one of the best new foods on offer, particularly when dipped into the accompanying hot honey sauce.

Actually, the bites are not completely ranch dressing, per se; instead, the filling consists of a ranch-seasoned cream cheese and buttermilk mix that's deep-fried into something that's described as a cross between a jalapeño-free popper and a mozzarella stick. The idea of frying your sauce and dipping it too gained mad popularity, and has since spread to other state fairs. We can get on board with that.

When you get to deep-fried bubble gum, that's about the time you might consider reaching out to the State Fair of Texas and asking if there are any deep-seated childhood issues it needs help sorting out. We joke, but the idea is equal parts cringe-inducing and seems like would lead to stomach upset, but thankfully, deep-fried bubble gum isn't actually gum. Whew.

Instead, it's deep-fried bubble gum-flavored marshmallows that are coated with bubble gum-flavored dough, which is finished with toppings like powdered sugar, frosting, and sometimes, candies. The creator — Justin Martinez — reportedly did try to deep-fry bubble gum, but it worked out just as well as you might expect (it didn't). His ingenuity didn't go unrewarded, though, and his final dish earned a win for Most Creative at the fair's Big Tex Choice Awards in 2011. Deep-fried bubblegum has also spread to other fairs, but be warned, as the cloying sugariness in this indulgence might even make you second-guess your own sweet tooth. 

There are moments that are bound to make any American deep-fried food fan proud, and one of those was the debut of deep-fried Kool-Aid. It happened back in 2011, and this time, it wasn't brought to us by the State Fair of Texas, or Ohio — rather, the bite debuted at the San Diego County Fair, from the stand of Charlie Boghosian, the magic-wielding wizard who gave us deep-fried Oreos.

And no, this doesn't entail dumping a gallon of Kool-Aid into a deep fryer — and please, please, please, we cannot stress this enough, do not do that. Details of the official method are technically a secret, but we do know that the treat is basically fried dough flavored with Kool-Aid. It can be described as being similar to a delightful donut, which sounds pretty tasty. And when you consider the sheer variety of the best and worst when it comes to Kool-Aid flavors, the possibility of combinations of sugary, juice-flavored, deep-fried dough balls seems endless.

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places, and for Abel Gonzales Jr. — the aforementioned mastermind behind deep-fried butter — inspiration came in the form of Elvis' iconic favorite sandwich. Gonzales turned The King's pan-fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwiches into his own version of deep-fried PB&J, which was a major hit at the (surprise!) State Fair of Texas.

That was in 2005, and twenty years later, deep-fried PB&J is still one of his fair staples. Gonzales said that every season, he sells between 15,000 and 20,000 sandwiches. There's actually a really lovely story behind the sweet and crispy treat, as well.

Making the sandwiches was originally a family endeavor that involved Gonzales, his parents, his nieces, and his nephews, peanut-buttering bread and smashing all the bananas by hand. The operation outgrew its homegrown origins, and a commercial kitchen was recruited to do the heavy lifting. But even with sandwich production becoming easier, Gonzales told the Dallas Observer in 2025, "I miss my family all getting together and making PB&Js. Especially this year — since my dad passed away in January."

If you haven't noticed, Texas takes the entirety of its state fair very seriously. The annual event covers about 277 acres — we'll put that into context: a standard football field stretches about 1.57 acres. It's not too surprising, as the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas. And in 2008, yet another new deep-fried food hit those Texas-sized grounds, this time, in the form of deep-fried jelly beans.

Honestly, we kind of understand this one. A mix of funnel cake batter and jelly beans are turned into sugary-sweet, deep-fried delectableness — if you think that sounds absolutely delicious, you're certainly not alone. It was so popular that it quickly spread to other fairs. Tasty enough to win over the toughest and most skeptical of critics, fans say the deep-fried jelly beans are sweet, cakey, and give off jelly donut vibes, in the best possible way. And the fryer softens those jelly beans into a completely different texture that comes together in the most delightful bite. 

We're just as likely as the next person to stand in the kitchen at 3 a.m., while pondering the meaning of life and eating pickles right out of the jar, sometimes, while we eat something sweet as well. But we have the draw the line of pickle-paired foods somewhere, and we're pretty sure we found it at the Indiana State Fair, in the form of deep-fried Oreos made with a slice of pickle. Yes, the O.G. of deep-fried foods got a pickle makeover. Doesn't sound appetizing? Golden Oreos were used, if that helps.

In 2025, concession stand The Cookie Jar actually introduced several new interpretations of the old fair treat. In addition to the pickle Oreos, there was also a Golden Oreo fried in a maple-based batter, and a chocolate Oreo that was covered in marshmallow, chocolate drizzle, and graham crackers, after getting the deep-fried treatment.

Those sound pretty good, but veering off the rails into outrageous territory was the Hot Cheeto deep-fried Oreos. Those came dusted in Cheetos and served with nacho cheese, because nothing goes with chocolate quite like those flavors. (Interpret that in any way you like.)

There are a handful of burgers that have largely remained regional specialties in spite of deserving national attention, and that includes Missouri's peanut butter-covered burger. State fairs are renowned for taking food ideas that might sound crazy, saying, "hold my beer," and then charging off into the sunset — which is exactly what happened with the peanut butter burger.

The standard peanut butter burger usually only gets a dollop of peanut butter for a serious kick, but Chicken Charlie's took it further. They used peanut butter, mixed into a sauce, and thoroughly coated meatballs before they were battered and deep-fried. Add more peanut butter and a sprinkling of powdered sugar, and you have a fair offering that is definitely on the polarizing side. Still, 6,000 were sold at the Orange County Fair in 2017, and as far as we're concerned, these peanut butter meatballs fall into the category of something you should try at least once.

If you did a double take at the idea of deep-fried potato salad, you're not alone — we did, too. There are all kinds of outstanding variations on traditional potato salad that are bound to steal the show, but we feel confident in saying that most of them are not going to involve hot oil. Potato salad is, as we know, that famously cold, mayo-based side, and who on earth would deep-fry it? The answer is Pearlie's Southern Kitchen, which says the idea was hatched during a family get-together, and some spur-of-the-moment experimentation. 

The experiment was reportedly an immediate hit. It's got all the traditional potato salad ingredients, such as diced potatoes, mayo, and relish, with special seasonings and sauce on the side. You can consider us intrigued. If you're wondering if this deep-fried dish was also debuted at the State Fair of Texas, you'd be correct. Of course, it was.

We said we had some questions for the State Fair of Texas, and now we know who to ask — Fernie's Funnel Cakes. That's a bit of a misnomer, if you ask us, as funnel cakes are just the start of things. This vendor is responsible for so many outlandish deep-fried creations that we just decided to put them all together. Things are going to start off strong, too, as we're going back to 2010, and Fernie's Fried Club Salad. 

Yep, that's right, folks, a fried salad. Everything got packaged into a spinach wrap that was deep-fried, and served on more lettuce, with dressing. Other highlights from the vendor include 2016's Down Home Chicken Pot Pie Pocket with Mac 'n Cheese Dip, which got seriously rave reviews. Respect.

However, our favorite appeared in 2019. That's when Fernie's added Fried Texas Sheet Cake, which garnered a Big Tex Award. The dessert, we'll add, was not your ordinary deep-fried item. This beauty included a bath and battering with ingredients including chocolate milk, buttermilk, egg whites, cinnamon, sugar, panko breadcrumbs, and Cocoa Puffs. We would love to be a fly on the wall of whatever experimental kitchen Fernie's has going on, and would even more so love to volunteer as taste testers.