Gluten Free at the Minnesota State Fair (with photos)

Looking for gluten-free options at the Minnesota State Fair?

You’re in the right place!

I set out with my girls to enJOY a gluten-free fair experience. We wanted to have more options than corn on the cob — not that there’s anything wrong with corn, we’re all big fans and corn was actually on our list, but we ended up stuffed to the brim after a day of gluten-free goodness, so corn will have to wait until next year.

Luckily my friend Amy from The Savvy Celiac had already done all the work to find the GF options at the fair — in addition to having a GF awareness booth in the Health Fair 11 building, she also has a list of gluten-free options and their locations waiting for you at the booth. Or you can print out the list and bring it along by clicking HERE.

I had grand plans of getting to ALL of the places on the list, but let’s get serious…there were waaaaaaaaay too many to get to and sample, even with four of us snacking! (this is a very good problem to have) The GF options list is TWO pages of gluten-free goodness, so bring friends or stay for days.

Here it is….gluten free at the Minnesota State Fair!

First things first, stop and see the gluten free friends at their booth and grab your list. (tell Amy HELLO from me and that I sent you!)

*update: when posting to Twitter, found this Google map of GF options too!

Go give Bernie at hive five too!

Go to the FOOD building and get falafel on a stick with tzatziki sauce from Falafel King.

Also in the food building: Delicious Potato Skins has potato skins on the list. (the buffalo chips are NOT gluten free, but they have separate fryers) When we ordered, the girls at the counter weren’t 100% sure about the cheese sauce because another customer had told them that whey (from dairy) was not GF, when it fact it is fine. But their uncertainty threw me off, so I decided not to have the potato skins with cheese and bacon, BUT Katie did and she’s super sensitive celiac and was just fine. (they all loved them!)

We had high hopes for Sonny’s…they claimed to have GF beer battered brats, but after reading their cross contamination disclaimer, (I do appreciate the honesty.) we had some questions to ask — ALWAYS ask questions if you are a sensitive celiac like me, they did a great job with this list, but you still have to advocate for yourself!

Unfortunately the young lady working the counter was extremely rude. And I mean R-U-D-E. We were left standing with our mouths open in shock kind of rude. We decided the CC risk and her attitude were not worth the breaded meat on a stick.

Thank goodness our next experience was much better!

Maple glazed BACON on a stick!!! The ladies working were sweet like maple syrup. 😉 One of the owners is gluten free and two of their employees have celiac and are big bacon fans. (us too!)

Next up: MN Farmers Union Coffee Shop– they have sweet, frozen treats and “bee nice blueberry chipotle sweet corn” muffins. We tried mango, chai, and mocha ice cream bars on a stick (loved them all) and the not-too-sweet muffin was moist and delicious. (and huge!)

 

We had another round of falafel on a stick from Holy Land inside the International Bazaar — we preferred the larger falafels from Falafel King in the food building, but that may just have been because of the tasty sauce! They had a long list of GF options at Holy Land. Let me know if you try any of these…

Gluten-Free options at Holy Land

French Meadows Bakery & Cafe is all over the GF options!

The deep fried risotto poppers are spicy hot (may be too spicy for some, but I loved them!) and the most unique fair food of the day. They also make a mean iced coffee for the drive home. And don’t forget sweets — they have chocolate chip cookies that won’t make you any less sad when you see everyone walking around with buckets full of those yummy gluten filled ones, but they will help! They also had a peanut buttery krispie bar that there was no room left for.

On your way out, or if the temps are high, you will need a Dole Whip. The raspberry pineapple twist to be exact.

Need an ice cold drink? Splurge on a Fairborne cup. It will bring you smiles for days and days, I promise. 😉

photo credit: @mnstatefair on Instagram

Several of the stands had a GF beer I have not had called Burning Brothers Pyro, anyone tried it? Some also had Omission, which is a gluten removed beer (not a gluten-free beer) that many celiacs have gotten sick from, so I avoid it. We found Sweetland Orchard MN Hard Cider in Cherry Rhubarb, tart and tangy good!

Wish we could have made it down the whole list, but that’s what GF friends are for… now it’s YOUR turn to do gluten free at the fair and then come back and tell me what you tried!