Best Churros Around the World and How to Rate Them

From Mexico City street carts to Madrid chocolate shops, here's what makes a great churro and how to track your favorites.

Churros are one of those treats that seem simple until you've had a really good one. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, dusted with cinnamon sugar or dipped in thick chocolate. Once you start paying attention to the differences between churros, you can't stop.

The churro basics

A churro is fried dough, usually piped through a star-shaped tip to get those signature ridges. The ridges aren't just decorative, they create more surface area for crunch. Traditional Spanish churros are thinner and often served plain alongside a cup of thick hot chocolate for dipping. Mexican-style churros tend to be thicker, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and sometimes filled with dulce de leche, chocolate, or cream.

What separates a good churro from a great one

Freshness is everything. A churro that's been sitting under a heat lamp for 20 minutes is a completely different experience from one that's handed to you still sizzling. The outside should shatter slightly when you bite in, and the inside should be light and airy, not dense or doughy. The chocolate dipping sauce, if there is one, should be thick enough to coat.

Churros around the world

Spain does the classic thin churro with hot chocolate. Mexico goes bigger with cinnamon sugar and filled varieties. Brazil has churros recheados stuffed with doce de leite. Korea has taken the churro and run with it, creating dessert churros with ice cream, matcha coating, and cereal toppings. Even the US has seen churro-inspired everything: churro ice cream sandwiches, churro waffles, churro lattes.

Tracking your churro journey

Because churros vary so much by region and style, they're perfect for journaling. Rate the crunch, note the filling, tag the location. Treatly makes it easy to snap a photo, create a sticker, and build your personal churro collection over time. Your future self will thank you when you're back in that city and need to remember which cart had the best ones.