Oklahoma State Fair’s Best New Foods of 2026: The Great Taste Winners
A smoked brisket biscuit topped with hot honey, a lemonade garnished with chicken nuggets, and an ice cream treat wrapped in toasted marshmallow may sound like an unusual combination. But at the 2026 Oklahoma State Fair, creative offerings like these competed for serious recognition.
The fair’s annual Great TASTE of a Fair competition brought together 30 food vendors to showcase their culinary creations. Judges selected first, second , and third place winners across four categories, with one dish earning the coveted fairest of Them All title. Held September 16, ahead of the fair’s September 17 opening, the competition recognized 12 standout foods and drinks. Here’s a closer look at the winners and what made their creations distinctive.
Sweet Heat Brisket Biscuit Takes the Overall Crown
FAIREST OF THEM ALL • FIRST PLACE, SLICE OF SAVORY, The biggest winner of the competition came from Champions BBQ, whose Sweet Heat Brisket Biscuit captured two awards. The dish combines smoked brisket with a buttermilk biscuit, then adds bacon jam, cowboy candy, sweet chili aioli, and hot honey.
It’s a combination built around contrasting flavors. The smoked brisket provides the barbecue foundation, while the accompanying toppings introduce sweetness and heat. The biscuit earned first place in the Slice of Savory category before advancing to the final round, where Chef Kevin Lee of Birdie’s and MAHT selected it as the overall FAIREST of Them All winner. According to The Oklahoman, Champions BBQ claimed the competition’s top honor with this creation.
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Slice of Savory: Three Creative Main Dish Winners
Beyond the grand-prize brisket biscuit, two other dishes earned recognition in the savory category. Second Place: Plantain Bowl, Afrikan Delights. Afrikan Delights brought West African-inspired flavors to the competition with its Plantain Bowl. The dish features fried, caramelized plantains paired with fresh vegetables and a choice of chicken, lamb, or beef. Sauce and toppings complete the combination. Rather than relying on a traditional fair-food format, the bowl brings together different textures and ingredients in a customizable dish.
Third Place: Buldak Carbonara Ramen Korean Corn Dog, Chan’s Eatery. Chan’s Eatery earned third place with a Korean-style corn dog featuring half mozzarella and half hot dog. Its distinctive feature is a coating of crispy Buldak carbonara ramen noodles, finished with cheesy seasoning and Buldak carbonara sauce. The combination turns an ordinary corn dog into something far more elaborate by using ramen noodles as part of its outer coating.
New to the Scene: Beef Skewers, Fried Rolls, and Ice Cream
The New to the Scene category showcased three different approaches to memorable fair food. First Place: Korean BBQ Beef Skewer, 1907. The winning entry from 1907 featured strips of beef marinated in Korean bulgogi sauce and flame grilled on a skewer. A Hatch green chile aioli completed the dish, adding a Southwestern-inspired finish to the Korean-style barbecue. The combination earned the category’s top award. Second Place: Deep-Fried Hawaiian Rolls, The Bacon Habit.
The Bacon Habit transformed Hawaiian rolls into a dessert by deep frying them, coating them in cinnamon sugar, and adding cream cheese frosting. Rather than treating the rolls as a side dish, the vendor turned them into a sweet fairground creation. The entry finished second in the category. Third Place: The Original Cinn Ice Cream Bar, Wondervan Pops combined brown sugar cinnamon ice cream with semi-sweet chocolate and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. The result was an ice cream bar built around a familiar cinnamon flavor, with chocolate and cereal adding contrasting textures. The Original Cinn earned third place.
Sips & Swigs: Lemonade Gets an Unexpected Twist
Drinks were just as inventive as the food, with three creations earning recognition. First Place: Totally Strawberry Lemonade. The Bacon Habit earned another award for its Totally Strawberry Lemonade. The drink combined strawberry lemonade with a colorful presentation inspired by a modern pop icon and her different eras. Its first place finish meant The Bacon Habit placed twice in separate categories. Second Place: Hot Honey Chicken Lemonade, Deep-Fried Mashed Potatoes. Perhaps the most unexpected drink on the winners list was Hot Honey Chicken Lemonade.
Created by Deep Fried Mashed Potatoes, it featured fresh squeezed lemonade with hot honey and honey popping juice pearls. The finishing touch? Two hot honey chicken nuggets used as a garnish. It’s an unusual crossover between a refreshing drink and a savory snack, which made it one of the competition’s most distinctive concepts. Third Place: Brown Butter Buzz, Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee. Brown Butter Buzz earned third place. The drink paired brown butter cold brew with maple cold foam, combining coffee with dessert-inspired flavors. It offered a different direction from the lemonade-focused first- and second-place winners.
Sweetest of the Sweet: Three Desserts Earn Top Honors
The dessert category featured warm cobbler, chocolate pie, and a flame-toasted ice cream creation. First Place: Strawberry Lemonade Cobbler in a Cone, The Original Cobbler in a Cone. This winning dessert combined warm strawberry cobbler with lemonade ice cream, all served inside a cone. The concept combined a traditional baked dessert with a frozen topping in a handheld format. It captured first place in the Sweetest of the Sweet category. Second Place: Route 66 Mother Rocky Road Pie. Cutie Pies claimed second place with its Rocky Road-inspired dessert. The corresponding new food description featured a six-inch chocolate cookie crust filled with chocolate cream pie, mini marshmallows, and toasted almonds.
Whipped cream and chocolate sauce completed the dessert. The combination put familiar rocky road ingredients in a pie. Third Place: K-Pop Marshmallow Ice Cream, Dragon Street Eats earned third place with one of the competition’s most theatrical desserts. The creation combined ice cream and a chocolate wafer wrapped in marshmallow, which was flame toasted in front of customers. Inspired by Korean street food, the dessert made preparation part of the presentation.
What Made the 2026 Winners Stand Out?
The Oklahoma State Fair’s official new-food announcement described all 12 award winning entries among its 2026 new offerings. These creations showed how fair vendors experimented with familiar ingredients in new formats, from brisket on a biscuit to fried rolls topped with frosting. Importantly, the awards reflected judges’ selections rather than a nationwide popularity ranking or public vote.
The 2026 Oklahoma State Fair ran September 17 through September 27 and has now concluded. Availability of these exact dishes outside the fair has not been confirmed. Still, the competition offered a memorable collection of culinary ideas, with Champions BBQ’s Sweet Heat Brisket Biscuit emerging as the overall winner. From chicken-topped lemonade to flame-toasted ice cream, the 2026 Oklahoma State Fair proved that creativity was a major ingredient in its award-winning food lineup.
