CBS News published a tasting guide for the new Minnesota State Fair food lineup on August 28, 2026, giving fairgoers a quick way to sort the worth-it bites from the ones that can wait. The roundup rates each dish on a 1-to-4 scale, with 4 reserved for food worth standing in line for and 1 for items better left to standard cheese curds and mini donuts.
The timing matters because the 2026 Minnesota State Fair is rolling out more than three dozen new food items, and the crowd at the fairgrounds is being asked to decide fast. WCCO's digital team is taste-testing the lineup, turning the fair's newest offerings into a practical cheat sheet for anyone trying to narrow down a long list of choices before the line gets any longer.
Among the highlighted dishes, Afro Deli & Grill, in the food building, served fried peri-peri hot chicken with mini beef sambusas, fried sweet plantains, peri-peri sauce and a choice of basbaas or spicy red chili sauce. Chan's Eatery, on Underwood Street between Murphy and Lee avenues, mixed coconut milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, mango flavoring, half and half, fresh and dried mango and a dried mango sugar rim into a drink that also got a score. Sara's Tipsy Pies, also in the food building, put forward a dessert built around swirled strawberry and ube marshmallow cream, chocolate chips, a fudge-filled gluten-friendly shortbread crust, whipped cream, strawberry sauce and edible glitter sprinkles. Paella Depot, on Judson Avenue between Clough and Nelson streets, was also part of the new-food push, though the detailed ratings stop there in the published rundown.
That is the pressure point for fairgoers reading the guide now: the fair is offering more than three dozen new items, but only a handful are spelled out in detail, leaving the rest to be discovered in person. The scoring system is clear, and the message is sharper than a generic preview — some foods are being framed as worth a detour, while others are being nudged aside for the old standbys that already have the line.
The unpublished part of the list is the story now. The guide gives a first pass at what to eat, but it also leaves one question hanging for anyone mapping out a visit: which of the other new Minnesota State Fair foods will land near the top of the scale when they finally get tasted.
