New Fair Foods 2026: Taste the Iowa State Fair's Latest Creations

[Hayley Schaefer] Every year the Iowa State Fair has dozens of new foods for you to try. This year there's 3 finalists vying for Best New Fair Food, and we have food vouchers. So who's hungry?

Would you consider yourself an adventurous eater?

[Madilyn Jacoby] Probably not, but I do like to try new things.

[Hayley] Okay, so out of these 3, which one would you pick? Porky Parm gnocchi or the ultimate mini apple pie?

[Madilyn] Porky Parm gnocchi.

[Hayley] Porky Parm gnocchi or the all-American scrambled egg roll?

[Madilyn] Gnocchi.

[Hayley] Gnocchi? Okay. All right, should we go try it?

[Madilyn] Of course.

[Hayley] Okay, let's go.

[Madilyn] Official taste test. Mmm, that's so good.

[Hayley] What kind of flavors are you getting through?

[Madilyn] Definitely lots of cheese, kind of like parmesan, like an alfredo sauce almost. It's really good, and I like the gnocchi. The gnocchi is really soft.

What would you give a rating of a 1 to 10?

[Madilyn] 11 out of 10. I love the pig. That's my favorite part.

[Hayley] Do you have any regrets of not picking the egg roll or the pie?

[Madilyn] No, absolutely none. This is amazing. I love it.

[Hayley] Amazing.

[Hayley] Okay, so I'm gonna ask you about the top 3 finalists for the new fair foods, and you pick which one you think you're more excited for. Porky Parm Gnocchi or the Ultimate Mini Apple Pie?

[Tony Dahlman] I'm gonna go with the gnocchi.

[Hayley] The gnocchi or the All-American Scrambled Egg Roll?

[Tony] Uh, it's, uh, Winn and Sara's have won for 2 years in a row, so I think that's gonna be a good one. So I'm gonna go with the egg roll.

[Hayley] The egg roll? Awesome. Okay.

[Tony] This is from Winn and Sara's Kitchen, the All-American Scrambled Egg Roll. Yeah, it's the egg roll. It has some nice crunch on the outside. I like the scrambled eggs. I like the cheese. I like the sausage. It's just a good, good combination of flavors. It's nice and easy to carry around the fair, so I think it's definitely deserving of being a finalist here at the Iowa State Fair.

[Hayley] Are you happy that's what you chose out of the 3 options?

[Tony] Oh yeah, no, I like this.

[Hayley] So I was told that you actually review fair food. So what do you rank them?

[Tony] I give them ribbons. I grew up as a 4-H'er, so I give them either a purple, blue, red, or white ribbon based upon what I think of them.

[Hayley] What color ribbon would you give this?

[Tony] Oh, this is purple ribbon quality right here. This is good food and I like it a lot.

[Hayley] Have you tried any of the new foods yet?

[Bethany Jensen] Not yet.

[Hayley] So first we'll have the All-American Scrambled Egg Roll or the Mini Apple Pie.

[Bethany] Uh, go apple pie.

[Hayley] And then, okay, Mini Apple Pie or the Porky Parm Gnocchi?

[Bethany] Apple pie.

[Hayley] So Mini Apple Pie, do you want to go try it?

[Bethany] That sounds great. I gotta go cinnamon ice cream first. Yes, I'm gonna go right through the middle. It's nice and steaming with the cinnamon ice cream. It's really good. It's got cinnamon sugar on the top. Wow. Apple pie filling, nice crispy dough. Delicious. Would recommend.

[Hayley] Are you happy with your choice out of the other 2 options? Are you happy you took that to the end?

[Bethany] I am, especially now that the sun's coming out and it's getting hot. This is perfect.

[Hayley] Well, it's not in contention for the best new fair food this year. Over the Top has a sweet treat called Sweet Americana that's America 250 themed. 3 scoops of ice cream, 3 different flavors. Let's get it for somebody. Would you guys like to try some ice cream? Um, sure, yeah.

[Girls] Um, sure, yeah.

[Hayley] Well, there's 11 new foods featured this year at the fair. There's always the classics you can count on as well. So for me, I think it's about time for a corn dog.