My favorite time of year – The Minnesota State Fair! My 2023 Stats: 6 Hours. 10 Food. 9 Beers Tasted.

Get the breakdown below and let me know what foods you tried and/or plan to try this year!

Minnesota State Fair Food Review:

I do my best every year to strike the right balance between tried and true favorites and new to me foods. Here is the list of all the foods we tried before having to wave the white flag.

Cajun Cheese Curds:

The “Mini Donuts & Cheese Curds” stand (literally that’s what it’s called haha) is the stand my husband insists that we visit first every year so he can start his visit off with his favorite food. This year we got the cajun curds, which I really liked and would definitely recommend getting.

Cheese-On-A-Stick:

The Cheese On A Stick – Fresh Lemonade stand is the correct stand for your cheese-on-a-stick needs. This is my absolute favorite food and a must for me. I love them so much I go to their pop up at the Roseville VFW every summer as well.

Pickle Pizza:

The line for the pickle pizza at Rick’s Pizza stand was intense. We ended up going back towards the end of the night and only had to wait about 10 minutes, which was the shortest we saw the line all afternoon. This was the food I wanted to try the most this year, because I love all things pickle.

I have to admit that this pizza was a bit of a let down for me. It was really salty. However, if you’re from around the area, I would definitely say to try the pickle pizza at Young Joni!

Cheesecake Curds, Fruity Cereal Milk Biscuit + Bull Bites:

The LuLu’s Public House is the place to be every year. This year we tried two of the new items and also tried out the bull bites, because as we heard a woman properly sum it up while she was yelling at her husband “we need[ed] protein” after all that fried food haha.

Cheesecake Curds: Eli’s Cheesecake pieces covered in funnel cake batter, fried and dusted with powdered sugar and salt. Served with strawberry dipping sauce.

Fruity Cereal Milk Biscuit: Betty and Earl’s biscuit made with fruity cereal milk and cereal bits, drizzled with icing flavored with fruity cereal, and topped with more cereal bits.

Bull Bites: Cajun beef tenderloin tips

The bites were as expected and definitely hit the spot. The cheesecake curds were AMAZING. A definite must have. The biscuit, was good, but a little dry. Pro Tip: dip your biscuit in the leftover strawberry jam from the cheese curds and you get exactly the moisture (and taste) you need.

Nqaij with Chilled Rice Noodles:

The Hmong Sausage at UNION Hmong Kitchen was really good. It was spicy, but I found that the chilled rice noodles helped calm the heat.

Fried Butternut Squash Ravioli:

Oodles of Noodles had a new fair food I wanted to try this year:

Fried Butternut Squash Ravioli: Deep-fried butternut squash ravioli sprinkled with maple cinnamon sugar. Served with a side of whipped ricotta. (Vegetarian)

I really liked the sweetness of the butternut squash with the crunch of the deep fry.

Dill’iscious Grilled Cheese Bites:

O’Gara’s at the Fair always has a food we want to try. This year we got the dill grilled cheese bites. I didn’t get too much “dill,” but husband loved that it was on rye.

Cheese Curd Stuffed Pizza Pretzel:

This was our last food at the fair, so unfortunately the evening lighting made it a bit difficult to get a good photo. However, the pizza/pepperoni innards were everything I hoped for. Kudos Green Mill.

Minnesota State Fair Drink Review:

I tried a total of 9 beers over the course of 6 hours and was definitely feeling it by the end of the evening hahaha.

Pickle Kolsch + S’Mores Beer:

Giggles Campfire Grill has my favorite beer – Excelsior S’Mores Beer. I get it every year. I love the chocolate and graham cracker rim, too, yummm. However, protip is to drink it while it’s cold. This beer is definitely not great warm.

The Blacklist Dill Pickle Kölsch is one I was excited to try this year. I really liked the dill flavor, because it wasn’t super vinegary, but had enough of a pickle punch!

Grain Belt Blu W/ Frozen Topper

You can get the Schell’s Blu at multiple stands throughout the fair, but the frozen topper is available at the Schell’s booth right next to LuLu’s. A definite added bonus and perfect way to fight the heat.

Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild:

The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild in the Agriculture Horticulture Building is a must go for me every year because it’s a great way to try new craft beers.

This year the four pack I got consisted of:

• Modist Brewing Co. First Call
• Pryes Brewing Miraculum
• Broken Clock Brewing Ich Will
• Fergus Brewing Company Krumkake Ale

Mankato Short Cake’d Up:

At The Hangar I tried out the Mankato Strawberry Short Cake’d Up. I loved that it was fruity, but not overpowering.

Oktoberfest:

Husband got the Okterfest beer everywhere it was available. I tried one, but it’s not my favorite.

• Summit Oktoberfest

• Schell’s Oktoberfest

Nordic Waffles Preview Event:

I was honored to have been invited by Nordic Waffles for the second year in a row to attend their preview event the night before the fair officially opened to try out their new 2023 items AND experience some fan favorites.

We also had the honor of meeting the owner of Nordic Waffles, Stine Aasland, and it was cool to hear from her that her motivation behind the new foods this year was American BBQ and that’s the inspiration behind the bacon-wrapped waffle dog and also why she challenged Urban Growler with the task of brewing a good tasting dill pickle lemonade… a challenge they aced.

Urban Growler Pickle Lemonade:

“Kind of a Big Dill” Pickle Lemonade: Lemonade mixed with tangy dill pickling spices, craft brewed by Urban Growler and garnished with a crunchy slice of pickle.

Nordic Berry Lemonade: Fresh-squeezed lemons with an infusion of Nordic berry sauce.

This lemonade is a game changer. I am obsessed. I thought this would taste like pickle juice, but instead the lemonade has just the right hint of dill without it being overpowering.

Bacon-Wrapped Waffle Dog: Griddled bacon-wrapped Kramarczuk hot dog served on a Nordic Waffle with cheddar cheese, pickle slices and crispy onions and drizzled with burger sauce.

This waffle was absolutely delicious. I would gladly eat one of these every week.

Pebbles and Bam Bam: Reece’s chocolate peanut butter cups and fruity cereal

This waffle is a fan favorite from 2019 that Nordic Waffles brought back to celebrate their 5th anniversary at the fair. I’m very glad they did, because the candy/cereal mix was really good.

And that’s a wrap!

Minnesota State Fair
Open through Labor Day