Let’s be real: Often fair food is merely a vehicle for sugar and sodium slop with a plop of nostalgia. Not so at the OC Fair. This year the annual event swings for the fences, bringing some seriously unhinged yet delicious new eats to Costa Mesa. Everything from mozzarella meatballs on a stick to bacon cotton candy, blue raspberry Dole Whip and even frog legs will be available in handheld form, in addition to classic fair fare.

The fair, celebrating its 135th year, runs through Aug. 14. It’s bracing for roughly 1 million visitors, all of whom — amid roller coaster thrills, baking showdowns, livestock exhibits and live tunes — will require some serious sustenance. And while you can still get your hands on the classics, like corndogs and funnel cake, this year’s theme of “Find Your Happy” is a clear directive for you to discover your own culinary bliss.

The following is just a taste of the new, boundary-pushing snacks.

Bacon Nation

Bacon cotton candy and pork belly on a stick: Sure to be the must-have item at this year’s fair, the cotton candy features thick-cut, smoked pork belly enrobed by bacon-flavored cotton candy, studded with even more bacon on top. “We serve it as one big poof ball with a huge chunk of pork belly inside,” said Nate Janousek, co-owner and chef of the Bacon Nation and Spud Ranch concessions. “You get sweet and savory, you get that fluffy cotton candy texture, and you get the smokiness from the pork belly.”

Bacon-wrapped carnitas burrito: Janousek offers a burrito that’s filled with beans, rice and carnitas. “We cook it slowly until it’s tender and falls apart,” he said. Gilding the lily, he then wraps the burrito in bacon, fries the whole thing and serves it with salsa, sour cream and cheese. “It’s the bomb dot com,” he added.

Location: Family Fairway

The Candy Factory

Chocolate Dubai Strawberry Cup: Making his 33rd appearance at the fair this year, Dominic Palmieri debuts this creation. But unlike the innumerable Dubai chocolate concoctions flooding the market, which sometimes use a fraudulent filling made with white chocolate and pistachio flavoring, Palmieri’s stuff is the real deal. “There’s a global shortage of pistachio cream right now, but we have secured over 100 gallons of pistachio cream that will be then mixed with our kadayif, and we create Dubai chocolate cups.”

Ice cream nachos: Using shards of broken sugar cones that act as the “chips,” these come with vanilla ice cream and various sauces.

Location: Carnival

County Fair Cinnamon Rolls

Tres Leches Cinnamon Roll: As the name suggests, these parallel the cinnamon and ultra-dairy flavors of tres leches cake.

Location: Livestock

Chicken Charlie’s

Bean and cheese waffle cone: Collaborating with Foodbeast (shoutout to the Santa Ana-based food and drink publication!) for the first time, Charlie Boghosian’s Chicken Charlie offers a new bean and cheese waffle cone, which is just what it sounds like.

Frog legs: While not new to Chicken Charlie’s, these are a tip of the hat to Boghosian’s childhood in Damascus, Syria. “When I was young and growing up in Damascus, my uncle was a frog leg hunter, and he would always bring frog legs to the house where he would skin them, batter them and fry them,” he said. Now you can taste part of Boghosian’s heritage.

Lobster mac and cheese cone: Lux dish lobster mac and cheese gets the fair treatment by being shoved into an edible cone.

Mozzarella meatballs on a stick: For what could very well be one of the most sought-after dishes at the fair, Boghosian takes the corndog format to a new level — three meatballs and three pieces of mozzarella are plunged onto a skewer, battered and fried golden brown. “They’re like kebabs, if you will.”

Location: Main Mall

Enzo’s

Chicharron and Pork-a-palooza pizzas: Palmieri’s Enzo’s concession this year is debuting the Pork-a-palooza pie, which he bills as a New York-style pizza with spicy pepperoni, sausage and hot sauce. The dough is made 72 hours in advance in order to develop flavors. The chicharron iteration comes topped with pork rinds fried to glassy crispness.

Location: Carnival

Mom’s Bakeshoppe

Dubai Chocolate Brownie: A version of the viral Dubai chocolate treat.

Location: Livestock

Pepe’s Mariscos

Nopales (cactus) tacos: A new vegetarian-forward offering to alongside this concession’s ceviche tostadas, fried shrimp tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas and other Mexican fare.

Location: Main Mall

The Pineapple Whip Stand

Blue raspberry Dole Whip: This year, Palmieri reimagines a fan favorite, creating a blue raspberry Dole Whip, effectively changing the sunrise-hued pineapple frozen treat into a sky-blue raspberry dessert.

Location: Carnival

Rowdy’s Root Beer

Ice cream floats: Also new to the fair this year is this concession, where you can find varieties including root beer, orange, lemonade, Dr Pepper, strawberry dragon fruit and more.

Location: Centennial Farm

Spud Ranch

Pizza spud: A hefty baked potato gets stuffed with pepperoni pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. “For our baked potatoes, we use a big No. 40 Idaho potato, which by itself weighs over a pound,” said Janousek, who also operates Bacon Nation. After baking, the spud gets drizzled with pizza sauce and topped with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese blend. “Then we melt it so the cheese gets ooey gooey, and we serve it fresh and hot to our customers.”

Location: Family Fairway

Texas Donuts and Ice Cream

Cheddar bacon doughnut and matcha toasted coconut doughnuts: Forget glazed and old-fashioned. Instead, check out these vivid, new creations: a cheddar cheese- and bacon-laced dunker and a matcha example topped with toasted coconut. (Also of importance, the Maple Big D a la mode.)

Location: Main Mall

Tom’s Puffs and Pie

Pastries and pies: Another new concession at the fair offers handheld pies and pastries like cream puffs, chocolate eclairs, deep fried apple pie and more.

Location: Centennial Farm