City Editor Kate, here. I can honestly say that I’ve never been more excited for the State Fair of Texas, which kicks off Friday, Sept. 27. My mouth is already watering in anticipation of the 10 Big Tex Choice Awards food finalists.
In the annual competition, fairgrounds concessionaires see who can make the best fair food in three different categories — Best Taste: Savory, Best Taste: Sweet, and Most Creative.
This year, over 65 recipes were submitted to the 20th anniversary of the Big Tex Choice Awards. An internal taste-testing team narrowed the submissions down to 24 semi-finalists and then 10 finalists. Don’t worry — you can be the final judge over the 24-day fair.
🌭 Savory snacks
Dominican Fitura Dog | The classic corn dog gets an upgrade with fritura cheese and Dominican salami and topped with garlic plantain chips, secret sauce, and cilantro.
The Drowning Taquitos | Hand-rolled chicken taquitos take a dip in the fixin’s — tangy cream sauce, jalapenos, guacamole, lettuce, tomatillo, pico de gallo, and cotija cheese.
Hippie Chips | Crunch on potato chips smothered in homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing, bacon bits, green onions, and a swirl of sriracha.
Hot Chick-in-Pancake Poppers | Take a Nashville hot chicken and pimento cheese sandwich on-the-go since its rolled into a ball, fried in pancake batter, and drizzled with sriracha and powdered sugar.
Texas Fried Burnt End Bombs | Munch on deep-fried barbecue bites filled with brisket, shredded potatoes, bacon, and cheese, then glazed with raspberry chipotle barbecue sauce.
🍭 Sweet treats
Nevins Nutty Bar-laska | Top a classic nutty bar with marshmallow, Oreos, strawberry sauce + freeze-dried strawberries.
Rousso’s Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick | What’s better than cotton candy? Cotton candy with bacon inside, obviously.
Strawberry Pop-Tarts Beignettfle | New Orleans comes to Fair Park with a beignet-meets-waffle pastry topped with strawberry custard, vanilla icing, fluffy whipped cream, and sprinkles.
Texas Sugar Rush Pickles | Don’t worry pickle-haters — you won’t even taste the brine on these cotton-candy flavored picked slices because they are coated in Lucky Charms, Froot Loops, and Cap’n Crunch, three types of sugar, and strawberry syrup before being topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tropical Two-Step Punch | Sip an alcoholic or zero-proof punch with notes of citrus, passionfruit, and mango.
Don’t believe that the Big Tex winners are worth the hype? Last year’s fairgoers will back us up.
🏆 Previous winners
A few of the past winners include fried Coca-Cola (Most Creative 2006), State Fair Cookie Fries (Most Creative 2016), Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger (Best Taste: Savory and Most Creative 2017), and Big Red Chicken Bread (Best Taste: Sweet 2019). Scroll down for the 2023 winners.
Best Taste: Savory — Deep Fried Pho
A very Texan rendition of a Vietnamese classic, this recipe deep fries noodles, beef, fresh herbs, and bean sprouts after they’ve been simmered in rich pho broth. The deep fried pho is served with a side of broth for dipping, hoisin sauce, sriracha, jalapeños, lime, and cilantro.
Best Taste: Sweet — Biscoff Delight
Just when you thought cheesecake couldn’t be any better, this dish was invented. It’s a New York-style slice of cheesecake coated in rich Belgian chocolate and a layer of crushed Biscoff cookies, drizzled with a drizzle of Lotus Biscoff spread, and topped with a Biscoff cookie.
Most Creative — Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas
These traditional sopapillas feature vanilla-caramel-infused bananas, sweet bourbon syrup, crushed candied pecans, sweetened mascarpone cheese, crumbled Nilla Wafers, and dusted with powdered sugar. Need we say more?
