5 County Fair Inspired Recipes You Can Make Right In Your Own Kitchen

Going to the fair near my house is something I spend an entire year looking forward to (shout out to the Dutchess County Fair).

But nobody goes to their local fair to simply ride all the rides or attempt to win a goldfish to bring home as a new pet.

Local fairs are always known for their incredible food, and I literally make a list of all the things I want to try in the one day I have to pack it all in.

After all the fun is finished and I got to eat deep-fried Oreos and pet all the cows, I spend the next 364 days counting down all over again.

The fair makes me feel nostalgic and also sad when it’s done for the year, so I decided to recently make some fair inspired recipes to bring the magic to my kitchen. Here are 5 of my favorite recipes that you should absolutely try if you also love fairs!

Classic Fair Lemonade

As soon as I walk through the gates of the fair, I make a beeline for my favorite lemonade stand. TikToker @lizloveslemonade sells over 10,000 lemonades every summer at her local fair, and she’s generous enough to give us her exact recipe.

“This is by far our bestseller every year, this and the strawberry lemonade, but it’s literally so easy, and you can do it in about 30 seconds,” Liz says in her video.

Ingredients:

• 1 large lemon
• 1/4 a cup of sugar
• 1 cup of ice
• 2 cups of water

Instructions:

Grab a 32-ounce deli container and your large lemon. Slice your lemon into about 6 or 8 slices and put it in the container. Next, add your sugar and muddle/smash it together with the lemon slices (she recommends using the back of a wooden spoon).

Add in your ice and water, put the lid on the container, and shake it up the best you can. You’re done!

Fried Cheesecake Oreos

Deep-fried cheesecake and deep-fried Oreos are two of the best fried fair foods. You can combine both into one with this recipe from TikToker @mealsandmunchies.

Ingredients:

• 1 container of vegetable oil
• 1 cup of pancake mix
• 1/2 a cup of milk
• 1 splash of vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon of cheesecake instant pudding mix
• 1 egg
• 1 package of Oreos
• 1 package of cream cheese icing
• 1 box of powdered sugar

Instructions:

Heat up your whole container of vegetable oil in a large skillet, then assemble your batter. Add your pancake mix, milk, vanilla extract, cheesecake instant pudding mix, and egg to a bowl. Mix it up well.

After your oil is hot and ready, dip an Oreo into your batter and coat it generously. Place your Oreo into the oil, and put as many Oreos as you want into the pan.

Allow the Oreos to cook for several minutes on that side until they appear golden brown, then flip and repeat.

Keep them in there until they’re as brown as you prefer, then take them out and place them on a paper towel to get the remaining oil off.

Take the cream cheese icing, melt it in the microwave for ten seconds, and drizzle it over the top, along with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Fair Style Corn Dogs

TikToker @lettodcook is showing you how to recreate those beloved fair style corn dogs, and he says they’re budget-friendly!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of hot dogs
• 1 cup of cornmeal
• 1 cup of flour
• 1/4 of a cup of sugar
• 1/2 a Tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/2 a Tablespoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 Tablespoon of honey
• 1 container of vegetable oil

Instructions:

Open up your hot dogs and pat them dry with a paper towel. Then, place them in the air fryer until they “bust open.”

Make your dry batter with cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Mix together well.

Next, get together your wet batter, which is milk, honey, and the egg. Whisk together until combined.

Add your wet batter to your dry batter and mix it. Place your new batter into a 32-ounce deli container to make dipping your dogs easy.

Take your hotdogs out of the air fryer and place skewers in the middle of them. Dip the dogs into the batter and drop them into a pot of vegetable oil that has been heated to 350 degrees. Keep going until you have cooked up all your dogs!

This next step is optional should you want a crispier corn dog: heat your oil to 375 and put the corn dogs back in. Take them out when they begin to get brown.

Pulled Pork Nachos

Pulled pork nachos are another thing you can’t go to the fair without ordering, and this recipe from @justjessiejordan is by far my favorite.

Ingredients:

• 5 to 6 flour tortillas, sliced into triangles
• 1 Tablespoon of butter
• 1 Tablespoon of flour
• Milk
• 1 block of sharp cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
• 1 package of pre-made pulled pork
• Vegetable oil

Instructions:

In a saucepan, combine your butter and flour. Add milk until your mixture appears smooth and thick. Then, add in your sharp cheddar cheese a bit at a time until you get to the desired thickness.

While you can absolutely make pulled pork from scratch, she uses a pre-made package that she heats up in the microwave.

Stir your cheese after you do this, then make your nachos by frying up your tortillas in a pan of vegetable oil until they are brown (you can add a bit of salt).

When the nachos are done, add them to the cheese. Grab a cookie sheet, line it with tin foil, set it on top of the pot of cheese, and flip it over for a little bit before lifting it up: that way, all the cheese and nachos are easily transferred to the cookie sheet.

Put the pulled pork on top, and add any of your favorite toppings, like cream cheese or sliced jalapeños.

Fresh Apple Cake

TikToker @jessycooks says she won a blue ribbon at her local fair for her fresh apple cake recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 to 1 and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 4 cups of apples, chopped
• 1 cup of nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Instructions:

In a bowl, add your sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and baking soda and blend together. Mix in all your dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon (this is where your flavor comes from), and salt.

Add in your apples and nuts and fold them in. Place your batter on a greased baking pan and bake in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

If you want, you can top it with Jessy’s signature buttermilk icing, which she shows you how to make in a separate video, and you can view it here.

To make Jessy’s icing, you need half a stick of real butter melted in a pan on the stove, 1 cup of white sugar, half a cup of whole buttermilk, and a Tablespoon of corn syrup.

Whisk this all together and add in a splash of vanilla extract, as well as half of a teaspoon of baking soda. Whisk regularly for the next five minutes.

When it’s done, let it sit for a bit, and it will turn into a sauce that you can pour over your apple cake. It’s easy to see why Jessy got first place for this!

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