Good lord, I'm so ready to pig out on fair food. Before we slide into the fair season with our mouths and wallets open, let's discuss the top five Illinois fair foods.

The Best Part of Fair Season in Illinois

It always has been and always will be the food. Let the culinary chaos begin.

Ah, the fair! Where diets go to die and taste buds go to heaven. I’m ready to dive headfirst into a mountain of fried everything—Oreos, pickles, even butter!

My strategy?

One hand for a turkey leg, the other for cotton candy, and my pockets stuffed with funnel cakes. Who needs a balanced diet when you have a deep-fried smorgasbord of deliciousness?

The more ridiculous the better: chocolate-covered bacon, corn dogs the size of my arm, and lemonade so sweet it could power a small city.

Goodbye, waistline; hello, diabetes!

I'm an overweight Type 2 diabetic and I'm fairly certain too many fair food nights is how I got here. I save myself now for a couple of nights of fair food debauchery because I'm managing my diabetes at a level I didn't think was possible and after trimming off nearly 100 pounds, you know I'm not wasting my time on mediocre food. In my opinion, these are the best fair foods.

Top 5 Illinois Fair Foods

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I crave salty and crunchy things more than sweets, but if there's an Elephant Ear and any other kind of bread you want to throw in a fryer, I'm here for it!


 

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It's more about a childhood memory than wanting to eat one, but I find it hard to resist a giant turkey leg.

I'll enjoy about 4 or 5 bites and toss them out to make room for the food that nobody does better than Illinois.


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Sweet cornI'm set with butter, salt, pepper, a little Lawry's or Slap Ya Mama Seasong.


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As a Wisconsin native, the desire for cheese is strong. The wonderful thing about cheese is that almost everything tastes amazing when you throw it in a deep fryer. While you should visit Curd Fest in Wisconsin once, I have yet to find cheese curds at a fair anywhere that weren't great


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It needs no words, it just needs to be as long as my arm.

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