Ohio fair debuts America 250 egg flavors
Ohio State Fair debuts America 250 deviled eggs — birthday cake, mac & cheese, Cincinnati chili and more, July 29–Aug 9
- The 2026 Ohio State Fair will feature a variety of new and unconventional food items.
- Many new offerings are creative twists on classic fair foods like lemonade, corn dogs and funnel cakes.
- Ohio-centric flavors are prominent, with items like Cincinnati chili deviled eggs and an Inside Out Buckeye.
Don’t panic, traditionalists. We assure you there will be plenty of the fair foods you love – lemonade without nitrogen, fries without a dusting of spicy corn chips, corn dogs without cinnamon sugar, funnel cakes without fluffernutter icing – at the 2026 Ohio State Fair.
But this is Ohio. Let’s go wild.
Here is a rundown of what’s new and just a little bit out there at this year’s fair, which runs until Aug. 9 at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds in Columbus.
The wild side of Ohio traditions
Inside Out Buckeye: Our favorite of them all, from the Cookie Jar, is a chocolate-cream Oreo dunked in peanut-butter batter and fried golden. It’s then finished with chocolate icing, peanut-butter frosting and crumbles. Sounds like pure Ohio.
Cincinnati chili deviled eggs: The Ohio Poultry Association’s annual foray into deviled egg oddities includes one we all wish they’d thought of sooner. Cincinnati chili sounds like a pretty good addition to deviled-egg filling; so does Columbus pizza, which is another fair flavor.
Shaking up lemon shake-ups
Lemon shake-up meets dirty soda: Prowant Specialty Co. will mix fresh-squeezed lemonade with vanilla sweet cream, with optional flavor boosts of peach, strawberry or blue raspberry.
Lemon shake-up meets the ice cream shop: Another sweet-tart refreshment, this time from Rutana Concessions,adds a scoop of vanilla ice cream to lemonade.
Lemon shake-up meets matcha latte: Fresh-squeezed lemonade is paired with matcha green tea and topped with sweet cream in the fair’s version of a matcha latte from GH Concessions.
Lemon shake-up meets draft beer (kind of): Nitrogen-infused beverages have a smooth and creamy texture and a foamy head, kind of like a draft beer. Nitro frozen lemonade from Miller & Co. Concessions is nonalcoholic but is described as having a light, velvety mouthfeel with a crisp and bright flavor.
More fair favorites with a twist
Churro Korean Corn Dog: A Mexican favorite (churros) and an American favorite (corn dogs) get a mashup remake. Miller & Co. Concessions takes a stick of mozzarella cheese, dips it in batter and rolls it in cinnamon sugar after frying.
Hot Blue Takis Fries: Fresh-cut fries – the only kind to get at the fair – are covered in cheddar-cheese sauce and dusted with crushed Blue Heat Takis tortilla chips. (Never mind the color of these smothered fries from Prowant Specialty. They look a little maize and blue.)
Fancy funnel cakes: Forget the powdered sugar. Prowant Specialty will top its Fluffernutter Funnel Cakes with marshmallow and peanut-butter sauce. GH Concessions’ Star-Berry Cobbler Funnel Cake is finished off with strawberries, blueberries, cream-cheese icing and honey granola.
Cracker Jack Sundae: The sweet treat from North American Food Service includes vanilla ice cream, caramel, peanuts, popcorn and M&M’s. Fair publicists say it tastes “like a ballpark memory.”
State fair food goes global
Deep Fried Birria Taco: One of those multi-carb, only-at-the-fair foods, the item from Jim’s Deep Fried Tacos is a birria taco (shredded beef and Mexican cheese sealed in a tortilla) that’s dipped in a beer batter and deep-fried. It comes with consommé for dipping.
Blueberry Pie Bingsu: Bingsu is a Korean dessert made with shaved ice and toppings of fruit, condensed milk and other sweet bits. The version from Backdraft Brews & Bites brings it home to the Midwest with blueberry pie filling, graham cracker crumbs and sweetened condensed coconut milk.
Tanghulu: Skewers of strawberries, grapes, sliced banana and other fruits are coated in a sugar shell for this Chinese snack that’s crackly and super sweet. It’s offered by Fresh Fruit Candy.
Some new old favorites
Pork Belly in a Cone: How else would you serve pork belly at the fair? Mr. Pork Belly’s offering is fried fresh and served in a cone with four sauces.
Dill Pickle Cashews and Dill Pickle Pistachios: Two years after another fair vendor gave us all pickle lemonade, The Nut Shack is tossing freshly roasted nuts in its tangy secret dill-pickle seasoning.
Nutella Pocket: A new take on Uncrustables from Lad’s Management is filled with Nutella, peanut butter and chocolate sauce, then deep-fried.
Follow Dispatch dining reporter Bob Vitale on Instagram at @dispatchdining. You can reach him directly at [email protected].
