It’s time for that annual rite of summer in Ohio: the unveiling of deviled egg flavors for the Ohio State Fair.
For 2026, it’s another collection that will make you wonder, ask why and then stand in line to get some.
Get ready for flavors of freedom to celebrate America 250: birthday cake, apple pie, mac and cheese, hot dog, ranch, brisket and Cincinnati chili.
The Ohio Poultry Association, which serves up thousands of deviled eggs each year in flavors few have ever imagined, unveiled this year’s lineup July 22. Some are savory, some are sweet, some are both in one bite. The deviled eggs are Ohio’s contribution to the world of fair-food oddities.
Past flavors have included bubble gum, cotton candy, chocolate chip cookie dough, dill pickle and Columbus pizza.
They’ll be available individually and in flights at the poultry association’s deviled egg headquarters outside the fairgrounds’ new Ohio Agriculture Center. The Ohio State Fair is scheduled for July 29 to Aug. 9 at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds in Columbus.
What’s so special about fair food?
From coast to coast, state fair concessions in the age of Instagram have become a competitive field.
At the Iowa State Fair in August, one vendor will serve a bacon-brisket mac and cheese doughnut, glazed with a sweet barbecue sauce, chopped brisket and a slice of fresh jalapeno. Florida is blurring sweet-savory boundaries even further with a Reese’s Pieces Donut Burger. It’s Angus beef, cheese and bacon on a Nutella doughnut bun that’s topped with chocolate, peanut butter and vanilla icing.
Here in Ohio, the menu of doctored-up deviled eggs once again will be the state’s contribution to the world of fair-food oddities.
Follow Dispatch dining reporter Bob Vitale on Instagram at @dispatchdining. You can reach him directly at rvitale@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: America 250 highlights deviled egg flavors for Ohio State Fair
Reporting by Bob Vitale, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bob Vitale, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
