🥜✨ Stir Up Something Special at the 2026 National Peanut Festival Recipe Contest!
📍 Brightspeed Hospitality Center
📅 Thursday, October 29, 2026
🎉 Theme: “Ease On Down the Row”
Calling all peanut-loving home cooks and student chefs! Put your culinary creativity to the test by preparing a delicious recipe featuring peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, or another peanut product.
🍽️ Contest Schedule
Entry drop-off: 7:30-9:30 AM at the NPF Volunteer Building
• Judging begins: 10:00 AM
• Awards ceremony: 1:00 PM at the BankPlus Arena
• Contest location: Brightspeed Hospitality Center, behind the NPF Office
🥄 Entry Requirements
Each recipe must contain at least ½ cup of peanuts or peanut butter
• Submit a finished dish providing at least 10 servings
• Entries must be presented in disposable containers
• Include a clearly typed or printed recipe on the official entry form
• Prepared mixes are permitted, but the brand name must be listed
• Limit one entry per person in each class
• Professional cooks and caterers are not eligible
• Previous year’s Adult and Student Grand Prize winners may not enter
👩🍳 Divisions
Adult Division: Ages 19 and older
• Student Division: Ages 18 and younger
Each division includes six classes:
- Cakes
- Candies
- Cookies and Bars
- Pies
- Cupcakes and Cake Pops
- Miscellaneous, including soups, dips, breads, main dishes, and other qualifying recipes
Please note: Boiled peanuts will not be accepted in the 2026 contest.
🏆 Adult Division Awards
Grand Prize: $150 and a KitchenAid mixer
• First Place: $100 and a blue ribbon
• Second Place: $75 and a red ribbon
• Third Place: $50 and a white ribbon
• Three Honorable Mention ribbons awarded in each class
🏆 Student Division Awards
Grand Prize: $125 and a KitchenAid mixer
• First Place: $75 and a blue ribbon
• Second Place: $50 and a red ribbon
• Third Place: $25 and a white ribbon
• Three Honorable Mention ribbons awarded in each class
Entries will be judged on texture, flavor, appearance, originality, and the effective use of peanut products. All entries become the property of the contest sponsors and will not be returned. Photographs of the winning recipes will be displayed at the fairgrounds.
The Grand Prize KitchenAid mixers are donated by the Alabama Peanut Producers Association.
🥜 Whether you specialize in peanut butter pie, decadent cakes, homemade candy, or an inventive savory dish, this is your chance to share your talents and celebrate one of Alabama’s favorite crops!
Questions? Contact Beth Taylor at (706) 410-5021 or Cynthia Riley at (334) 797-1259.
🌐 Visit www.nationalpeanutfestival.com for the official entry form and complete contest rules.