Vegan Churros
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My vegan churros are fried until golden, dusted in cinnamon sugar, and served with a warm chocolate dipping sauce! They’re crispy, doughy, and sweet.
Love all things cinnamon? Try my vegan cinnamon rolls, vegan babka, or vegan coffee cake next.
I’ve always associated churros with something you’d get at a fair or Disneyland (yes, I went there). However, when I realized how easy they are to make at home, I knew I had to try it.
For my vegan churro recipe, I decided to keep it simple. With a handful of pantry staples, you’re guaranteed light and fluffy churros with a crisp, golden brown exterior, cinnamon sugar laced in every bite…and chocolate sauce for good measure.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- They’re actually better vegan. The best churros I ever had were in Spain, and I tested this recipe a dozen times to re-create them. It turns out Spanish churros aren’t even made with eggs!
- No complicated ingredients. You might even have everything you’ll need already!
- True churro texture. They’re crispy and firm on the outside, with fluffy, doughy centers and added crunch from the cinnamon sugar.
- That chocolate sauce! The sauce alone is good enough to bottle, and it couldn’t be easier to make.
Ingredients needed
- Oil. Use any neutral oil with a high smoke point, like canola oil or vegetable oil.
- Sugar. I used white sugar, but brown sugar or coconut sugar could also be used. I even had luck making sugar-free churros with sweeteners.
- Water. To mix the batter.
- Flour. I used all-purpose flour, but I also had good results with gluten-free flour. If you choose to make gluten-free churros, make sure there’s xanthan gum so they aren’t gummy.
- Cinnamon. For the cinnamon sugar coating.
For the warm chocolate sauce:
- Coconut cream. Use canned coconut cream, preferably full-fat. You’ll notice low-fat versions yield a more liquidy sauce.
- Vegan chocolate chips. Either make your own or buy them at the store. A chopped-up vegan chocolate bar can also be used.
How to make vegan churros
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Mix the dough. Boil water, oil, and sugar until the sugar dissolves, then add it to a bowl with the flour and mix into a dough. Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a large star tip.
Step 2- Make cinnamon sugar coating. Stir the cinnamon and remaining sugar in a bowl.
Step 3- Heat the oil. Heat oil in a deep pot. When it’s hot enough, pipe the dough into the oil. Fry the churros until golden, then remove them to a paper-towel-lined plate. When they’re still warm, toss them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Step 4- Make the chocolate sauce. Melt the coconut cream with chocolate chips in a small saucepan until smooth.
Step 5- Serve. Once the churros are fried, serve them warm with the chocolate sauce.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Use a kitchen thermometer. The oil is hot enough to fry when it reaches 190C/400F. If you don’t have a thermometer, carefully drop some dough into the oil. When it sizzles and rises to the top, you’re good to fry.
- Don’t have a piping bag? Just use a ziplock bag and snip a hole in one corner. That’s what I recommend for funnel cakes. They won’t have the classic crimping down the sides, but it’ll work!
- Keep a pair of scissors handy. I usually use scissors to snip the churros dough as I’m piping it into the oil.
- Work quickly with the cinnamon sugar. The more the churros have time to cool off, the less cinnamon sugar will stick to them.
- Skip the chocolate sauce and serve them with vegan caramel instead.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover churros should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
To freeze: Place churros in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
To reheat: Churros are best reheated in a non-stick pan or oven to maintain crispiness.
Frequently asked questions
Sadly, the churros at Disneyland are not vegan.
Your churros may be soft if the batter is too liquidy or if the oil isn’t hot enough. The batter should be thin enough to come out of the piping bag but still hold its shape, and the oil should be at least 190C/400F.
Unfortunately, I don’t recommend baking churros as they won’t have that essential crispy exterior.
More fun vegan desserts
- Vegan donuts
- Vegan ice cream cake
- Vegan brownies
- Or any of these vegan desserts
Vegan Churros
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oil vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar divided * See notes
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups all purpose flour gluten free, if needed
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
For the chocolate sauce
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1 cup chocolate chopped
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, add your oil, water, and 3 tablespoons of sugar and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir through the flour, until it forms a ball of dough.
- In a small bowl, mix together your remaining sugar and cinnamon for the coating.
- In a deep pot, add 3-4 inches of oil. Heat on high until it reaches 190C or until a piece of dough sizzles and rises to the top.
- Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe the dough over the pot of oil at around 4-5 inches. Pipe 2-3 churros at a time. Fry them until golden brown.
- Transfer the cooked churros onto a paper towel for 1-2 minutes, before quickly rolling them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Serve with warm chocolate sauce.
For the chocolate sauce
- In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, heat up your coconut cream until warm. Once warm, add your chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes, before whisking into the cream until a thick chocolate sauce remains.
These were pretty great!
Thank you! glad you liked them 🙂
I did not like it because I put too much of everything in the dough because I did not see any measurements.
Hi Carter- did you not follow the instructions in the recipe card? Full measurements are there 🙂
I actually never heard of this type of desert before. Churros should be so crispy and good flavour. Thanks!
I have tried this recipe a couple of times. They come out wet in the middle or fry up with hollow inside.What is the final texture supposed to be like? Can you send me a photo of the inside of one of your batches? I boil everything up make it to a pip able dough thicker than other churro recipe I have made and then fry at 400 until golden.
Hope you found the photos I sent you helpful! Churros should be slightly crisp on the outside and soft (but fully cooked) on the inside- a little hollow is actually normal. If they’re wet in the middle, I reckon it’s because the oil is not hot enough, which causes them to cook too slowly and absorbs oil rather than crisping it up. I recommend checking it reaches 190°C before piping.
Hiya! Love your recipes. Does subbing for refined coconut oil work here? Or will it affect the texture?
I haven’t tried- I think it should be okay!
Just did a trial batch for a dinner party tonight! And they are amazing!
I was just wondering if you can make the batter a couple of hours ahead? and store in the fridge?
I think it will thicken a little too much.
Perfect recipe! Tried today and they turned out amazing
I have to make gum free flour so use a blend of white rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch.
The dough is too thick to stir and no way it could be piped. We just fry up the lumps and love it.
Haven’t tried reducing the flour or increasing the water but that might help. Wondering if anyone has had this issue?
That is a great workaround! Gum-free flour blends tend to absorb more liquid than regular gluten-free flour, which is why the dough comes out thicker (I usually recommend ones with xanthan gum in it for this very reason- for any recipe calling for GF flour). Try adding water a tablespoon at a time until the dough is pipeable- it should be thick but smooth enough to squeeze through a piping bag. Glad you’re enjoying them as churro bites though 🙂
Tried them today and they were amazing
Had to runny up the dough a bit so i could get it through my piping bag but they turned out great!
These were so goood! The recipe is easy to follow and the churros came out crunchy, yet buttery soft inside. I also added 1 tsp vanilla extract to the batter and it was fabulous. 10/10 recommend this recipe!
Hi. Can you mix it with Kitchen aid machine ?
Hi Yash, yep you can use a kitchen aid to mix the dough. Just make sure it’s cooled for about 5-10 minutes so it’s not too hot before you put it in the mixing bowl. Use the paddle attachment and mix on medium for a couple of minutes. Hope this helps!
Hello, can I substitute coconut oil for the oil IN the churros? Thanks!!:) looks delicious!
Hello, have you tried making this recipe in an air fryer? Thanks!
I haven’t- let me know how it goes if you try!
My churros exploded!!!!!!!
Oh no! This usually happens when the dough has too much moisture or the oil isn’t hot enough when the churros go in. Make sure the dough is fully formed into a ball with no stickiness before piping, and that the oil has reached 190°C first- if it’s not hot enough, the churros absorb the oil and can burst. Hope the next batch goes better! 🙂
Hi! Can I make the mixture ahead of time, then pipe them into the oil right before we want to eat them?
You can try- I often find the batter becomes too thick.
Just made them: absolutely delicious! I got 16-18 5in churros. Very very similar to the original spanish ones!
Tips: mine needed 2-4 more tbsp of water; halve the sugar and the cinnamon (of the rolling part); fried for 7-9′.
Is that the whole amount of oil I need to put into the churro mix or should I divide it for the cooking oil too? Also just wondering if I could substitute the chocolate for peanut butter with coconut cream?
Thanks, T
I used to do a lot of Paleolithic and would get re ipes from your website. Now I am retired and cooking more and you have some great recipes I tend to be more vegetarian, but my husband loves normal meat and potatoes. I am trying to introduce veggies not an easy job
Can we bake these,or maybe air fry them instead?
They don’t turn out very well at all, unfortunately!
Will coconut sugar work? I have been thinking about trying to make churros all week! WOW! You read my mind. Thank you. Love your recipes! 🙂
Of course! It will just be darker in color 🙂