Pickle cheesecake? Here are 10 wild new bites for the 2026 NC State Fair
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Every year, the North Carolina State Fair astounds culinary adventurers with new kinds of deep-fried wonders.
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This year, fair food vendors will unveil more than 80 new dishes to delight and dare the tastebuds of fairgoers, from caramel coated sweet treats, gooey cheese strings and crispy fried delicacies and indecencies.
There are already a few food trends emerging on this year’s fair menu: Biscoff is big, dirty sodas are here to stay, fried foods on a stick are forever.
The North Carolina State Fair returns Thursday, Oct. 15 for 10 deep-fried days of bites, games and rides.
Here are the 10 most fry-dacious foods on the menu for 2026.
Spicy braised beef stuffed into an egg roll wrapper, deep fried and served with consommé for dipping.
Three Hawaiian Sweet Rolls on a stick, deep fried and coated with cinnamon sugar and icing.
Talk about a tangy cheesecake. Here, New York style cheesecake is served on a stick, dunked in an icing of pickle-flavored white chocolate and rolled in fried pickle dust.
This take on loaded french fries features crispy fries topped with Cajun queso, blackened shrimp and crawfish and an Old Bay Aioli.
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The brightest new fair food on a stick, here a cheese-stuffed K-Dog is rolled in queso and neon Blue Heat Taki.
We’re starting to see the sweet side of nachos, including this basket filled with cinnamon sugary tortilla chips and creamy cheesecake mousse, strawberry compote and graham cracker crumbles.
Here a cheesy pocket of chicken shawarma is deep fried and rolled in bright red Flamin’ Hot Cheeto dust.
The Lobster Roll gets a buttery kick with jerk spice and a side of plantain chips.
Sweet, salty and very spicy collide in this dish, featuring Nashville style Hot Chicken, warm spiced peaches and crumbled corn bread, topped with a hot honey drizzle.
The ultimate blend of sweet and savory, hand-cut, double-smoked maple bacon is threaded around a skewer and wrapped in a cloud of brown sugar cotton candy.
To see the full list of new fair foods, visit ncagr.gov.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published October 5, 2026 at 12:56 PM with the headline “Pickle cheesecake? Here are 10 wild new bites for the 2026 NC State Fair.”
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