This tiny countertop churro maker costs less than a trip to the state fair

One of the things I love about the internet is that it will just casually introduce you to something that has absolutely no business existing — and then you can’t stop thinking about it.

A churro maker. For your countertop. That you can own. For less than what you’d spend on a tank of gas driving to the state fair.

I don’t know who greenlit this product, but I’d like to send them a fruit basket.

What even is a countertop churro maker?

It’s basically a waffle iron situation, except instead of making waffles it extrudes little ridged churro tubes that you fry — or in some versions, bake right inside the machine. You fill it with batter, close the lid, wait a few minutes, and out comes something that smells exactly like standing in line at the state fair at 9pm with powdered sugar on your shirt.

Most of them work with a pretty standard churro batter — flour, water, butter, eggs, salt — stuff you probably already have. The machine does the shaping for you so you don’t need a pastry bag or a deep fryer or any real skills whatsoever.

Is the churro maker actually good or is it a gimmick?

Here’s the thing — a lot of “fun” kitchen gadgets fall apart the second you actually use them. They’re fine once, a novelty, and then they live in the back of a cabinet until you donate them to someone who’s also going to shove them in a cabinet.

The churro maker is different. The batter is forgiving, the cleanup is pretty minimal, and the output is genuinely a warm, crispy-ish churro you made in your own kitchen in about five minutes flat. That’s not a gimmick. That’s just a win.

The ones getting the most love right now run between $25 and $40, which is — and I want to be precise here — cheaper than what you’d spend on churros, funnel cake, and a lemonade at an actual fair. With parking. In the heat.

Why does this hit different than other novelty appliances?

Fair food scratches a very specific itch. It’s tied to summer and childhood and grease and joy. The mini donut maker, the corn dog maker, the waffle taco thing — people go crazy for these because they’re not really about the food. They’re about the feeling.

But the churro has something extra going for it. The cinnamon sugar smell when that thing is going? It fills up a whole room. It is genuinely one of the more pleasant things that can happen in a kitchen on a Tuesday night.

And unlike, say, the Temu paddleboard experiment — this is a $35 purchase with a very clear payoff that doesn’t require a body of water or a sense of adventure.

What does the batter actually involve?

Most basic churro batter is just water, butter, flour, eggs, and a pinch of salt — you bring the water and butter to a boil, stir in the flour, let it cool a little, then beat in the eggs. That’s it. The whole thing takes maybe ten minutes of prep.

Some people use a box mix or even pre-made pancake batter in a pinch. Amazon reviewers have gone full scientist about this. One reviewer swore by adding a splash of vanilla extract and an extra pinch of cinnamon directly into the batter — not just the coating — and honestly that sounds right to me.

The coating is just cinnamon sugar. You know the ratio. Two parts sugar, one part cinnamon, roll the warm churro in it while it’s still hot. Don’t overthink it.

Can you actually make these for a crowd?

So here’s the honest answer — not quickly. Most of the countertop churro makers do two or three at a time, so if you’re trying to feed a party, you’re running a small production line. Factor that in.

But for a smaller situation — a few people, a movie night, something to do on a rainy Saturday — it’s kind of perfect. It gives everyone something to watch and smell and wait for, and that anticipation is half the fun.

In a weird way, it replicates the fair experience better than I expected. You’re still waiting for your churro. You’re still watching it happen. You’re still a little too excited about fried dough. The parking lot is just your kitchen floor.

What do you dip churros in, and does it matter?

Chocolate dipping sauce is the classic. Melted chocolate chips with a little heavy cream, done. But the options from there get genuinely interesting — dulce de leche, cream cheese glaze, Nutella thinned with a little warm milk, salted caramel.

If you’ve ever been to a Mexican restaurant and dipped a churro in hot chocolate, you already know that warm drinking chocolate is maybe the move. Thick, barely sweetened, and you dunk the whole thing in there like it’s your job.

But what do I know? I’m just the one reporting findings from a $35 countertop appliance I can’t stop thinking about.

Is it worth buying right now?

If you like churros — even a normal, average amount — yes. It’s an easy yes. It costs less than a dinner out, the batter uses pantry staples, and the smell situation alone makes it worth the counter space.

The only reason to skip it is if you truly have zero counter space or if you’re one of those people who never makes anything fun at home. And if that’s you, I’m not judging. But I am a little sad for your Tuesday nights.

If you want to check out some of the viral kitchen gadgets that actually deliver versus the ones that collect dust, I’ve had some opinions about that. Some of them are great. Some of them are sitting in a landfill somewhere. The churro maker is firmly in the great column.

The countertop churro maker is proof that sometimes the most unserious purchase you can make is the one that brings the most joy per dollar. It’s warm dough and cinnamon sugar and the smell of summer in your kitchen on a Wednesday. That has value.

Get one. Make churros. Roll them in too much cinnamon sugar. Report back.

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