Going to the fair can be a lot of fun, but it can also be expensive! Luckily, you can experience the tastiness of the fair without paying the cost of admission and tickets.

These recipes can easily be made at home on a shoestring budget. We recommend making these recipes on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or for your next outdoor party. These recipes are delicious crowd pleasers!

Lemonade

The best lemonade can be made inexpensively from water, sugar and lemon juice. If you live in a warm climate where lemon trees are common, you can make your lemonade inexpensively by picking the lemons fresh from a tree in your yard or in a neighbor’s yard. To keep fresh lemonade on hand all year round, harvest lemons when they fall and freeze the juice in your freezer. If lemons are not commonly grown in your area, purchase lemons by the bag to pay the lowest price per lemon. To make lemonade, combine one cup lemon juice, one cup of sugar and six cups of water. Stir, refrigerate and then enjoy!

Fried Dough

Fried dough is a fair favorite. This recipe is budget-friendly because it uses less cooking oil than a lot of other recipes--and don’t forget, you can reuse the cooking oil to make more fried dough later.

Ingredients: 2 cups flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons cold butter cut into ½ inch cubes, ¾ cups of room temperature or warm water, Cooking oil, Powdered sugar

Mix the dough. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder, then integrate the butter into the dry ingredients. Crush the butter against the flour until it makes a crumbly mixture. Add water and knead the dough until it is soft. Let the dough rest, then divide it into 8 balls. Press the balls into discs.

Heat the oil. Fill the frying pan with ¼ or ⅜ of an inch of cooking oil, then heat the oil to about 375 degrees. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can tell when the oil is hot enough by putting a small piece of dough in the oil and watch it begin to cook. If the oil begins to smoke, this means it’s getting too hot and you should turn down the heat right away.

Cook the dough. When the oil reaches the right temperature, place the discs into the frying pan. Use tongs to remove the discs when they are light and puffy. Dust the dough with powdered sugar. If you want to save your cooking oil when you’re done, let it cool and then pour the oil into a jar. To filter the little bits of fried dough from the oil, place a paper towel in a funnel and run the oil through the funnel before allowing it to drip into the jar.

Caramel Apples

Just like the lemons, caramel apples are cheapest if you can get the apples for free from someone’s yard. You’ll also need caramel candies, which you can often buy on sale after holidays like Halloween and Christmas. Craft sticks which can be purchased at craft stores, or you can save money by saving and washing your leftover popsicle sticks.

Ingredients: Butter, 14 ounce package caramel candies, 2 tablespoons milk, 6 Apples, 6 Sticks, Toppings of your choice

Prep the work surface. Butter a baking sheet.

Melt the caramel. Unwrap the caramel candies and place them in a bowl. Add the milk and place into the microwave for 2 minutes. Stir midway through the microwaving process, then stir again at the end.

Prep the apples. Let the caramel sit for a minute while you pull the stems from the apples and push the sticks into the top. Or slice the apples and place in the sticks.

Dip the apples. Roll the apples in the caramel and in your topping of choice. Sit the apples on the buttered cookie sheet. Stick them in the refrigerator and allow them to cool.

Fried Onion Rings

Fried onion rings are made from cheap ingredients found around the house, and best of all, they can be fried in the leftover oil saved from the fried dough! One of the main ingredients in this recipe are the breadcrumbs that coat the onions. If you don’t have store-bought dried breadcrumbs, you can easily crush up saltine crackers or dried toast for the same effect.

Ingredients: 1 onion cut into ¼ inch slices, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 ¼ cup flour, 1 egg 1 teaspoon salt, ¾ cup bread crumbs, 1 cup milk, Salt, Oil

1. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder.
2. Dip the onion into the flour mixture.
3. Mix an egg into the flour and whisk it into a batter.
4. Dip the onions back into the batter.
5. Set aside the onions until the excess batter has dripped off.
6. Set the batter-dipped onions into the breadcrumbs. Shake off the extra breadcrumbs.
7. Heat the oil to approximately 365 degrees. You can tell when it’s warm enough by putting a tiny bit of batter-dipped onion into the oil. The oil is ready when the onion turns brown. Do not allow the oil to start smoking.
8. Place the onions into the batter and fry them until they turn golden brown. When they’re done frying, lay the onions onto a paper towel spread over a plate. Serve hot when the excess oil has run off.

Sources: kingarthurflour.com, allrecipes.com, allrecipes.com