Churros are long sticks of fried dough, crisp on the outside and soft inside, usually rolled in cinnamon sugar. They’re eaten all over Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Latin America, and they’ve become a favorite at fairs, theme parks and Mexican restaurants across the United States. The fun facts about churros start with their shape, run through a couple of competing origin stories, and end, at least for us, with a warm one fresh out of the fryer.
We serve churros at El Chubby’s in Aurora, and they’re one of the easiest ways to end a meal on a happy note. Here are the facts we like best, plus a few thoughts on how to enjoy them.
Fact one: nobody agrees on where churros came from
For a food this popular, the origin is surprisingly murky. There are two stories you’ll hear most often, and neither one has been proven.
The first story says churros began with shepherds in the mountains of Spain. As the tale goes, they needed something they could cook over an open fire without an oven, and a simple dough of flour, water and salt fried in a pan did the job. Some versions add that the name comes from the churra, a breed of sheep from the Iberian Peninsula whose curly horns look a bit like a churro. It’s a charming story, though it’s hard to confirm.
The second story points east. In this telling, Portuguese sailors encountered fried dough sticks in China, such as the long fried breadsticks often called youtiao, and brought the idea home. Spanish cooks then adapted it, and the star shape was added along the way.
The honest answer is that fried dough is an old idea that shows up in many cultures, and churros probably took their modern form in Spain and Portugal before traveling to the Americas. From there, Mexico and the rest of Latin America made them their own.
Fact two: the ridges are there for a reason
A classic churro has ridges running down its length. That shape comes from piping the dough through a star-shaped nozzle, and it does more than look nice.
Churro dough is fairly wet and thick, a lot like the dough used for cream puffs. When a thick cylinder of that dough hits hot oil, the outside can brown long before the middle is done. The ridges add surface area and give heat more ways in, which helps the churro cook evenly. They also create more edges, and more edges means more crunch. The grooves also hold on to cinnamon sugar better than a smooth surface would.
That’s why a well-made churro has a crisp, almost crackly shell with a tender center. If you’ve ever had a churro that was greasy or doughy inside, chances are it wasn’t fried hot enough or long enough.
Fact three: churros are often eaten with chocolate
In Spain, churros are commonly served with a cup of thick hot chocolate for dipping, often as a breakfast or a late night snack. The chocolate is much thicker than the hot cocoa most Americans grew up with, closer to a pudding you could almost eat with a spoon.
In Mexico, churros are often sold by street vendors and at churrerías, sometimes filled with sweet fillings like cajeta (a caramel made from goat’s milk) or chocolate. They also pair naturally with Mexican hot chocolate, which is often flavored with cinnamon.
The common thread is that churros are rarely eaten alone. They show up with a drink, a dip, or friends, and they’re meant to be shared.
A few more churro facts worth knowing
Churros come in different sizes and shapes depending on where you are. Some are thin and looped, some are long and straight, and some are thick enough to be filled. In parts of Spain, a thicker relative called a porra is popular, too.
They’re also one of the simplest desserts to make in terms of ingredients. Traditional churro dough calls for little more than flour, water, salt and fat, sometimes with egg. The magic is in the technique: hot oil, a good piping bag and a fast roll in sugar while they’re still warm.
And they travel well, which is a big part of why they became a fair and theme park classic in the United States. You can eat one walking around without a fork or a plate.
Where to get churros in Aurora
At El Chubby’s, our churros come two ways: cinnamon or Oreo. Cinnamon is the classic, warm and sugary, just the way most people remember. Oreo is for anyone who wants a little cookies and cream with their churro.
Churros are just one part of our dessert menu. If you’re in the mood for something else sweet, we also make sopapillas, a sopapilla sundae, fried ice cream, horchata bites, doughnuts and mini apple empanadas. Horchata bites are a fun one if you like the cinnamon and rice flavor of horchata. The sopapilla sundae is a good pick for sharing.
If you’d like to learn more about the sweet side of Mexican food, we wrote a guide to the best Mexican desserts that covers several of these in more detail.
How to enjoy churros at El Chubby’s
Churros are best warm, so if you’re dining in, order them when you’re about halfway through your meal and they’ll land at the right moment. If you’re grabbing food to go, eat the churros first, before you even get home. We won’t tell anyone.
They make a great finish after something savory. A smothered burrito or a plate of Carne Asada Fries followed by a cinnamon churro is a pretty good afternoon. If you have little ones, keep in mind that every kids meal on our kids menu already comes with a sopapilla, so you may want to split a churro with them rather than order a whole extra dessert.
We’ve been serving our neighbors at 1191 S Abilene St since 1991, and a sweet ending has always been part of the deal. Stop by for dine-in, takeout or the drive-thru, or order online for pickup or delivery and add a couple of churros to your order.
