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Costco fans, it happened. After months of pleading on social media, the churro is coming back. When I heard the news, I didn’t think about the food court. I thought about the beach, summer vacation, and the sound of a vendor calling out as he walked across the sand.
Here’s the whole story: Costco’s rocky history with churros, where the churro came from, and why, for those of us who grew up in Latin America, a churro is never just a snack.
Costco Churros Are Returning (Here’s What We Know)
Costco first announced the return in a September 16 Instagram post and followed up two days later with more details, confirming the churro will come back to food courts nationwide for a limited time. The returning treat is the twisted churro, the version introduced in 2021, priced at $1.49. Don’t expect it at every warehouse right away: Costco said launch dates will vary by location over the coming weeks. Costco is bringing back a fan favorite. See when it returns +2
People are clearly excited. By September 21, the announcement had drawn 5.8 million views and more than 350,000 likes on Instagram. 10TV
A Short History of the Costco Churro
The churro has had an up-and-down run at Costco:
- The early years: Accounts differ on exactly when it started. Some reports say churros first appeared in the 1990s for 99 cents, while another widely cited account says Costco began serving them in most clubs in 2003, replacing pretzels. Either way, the churro became a food court staple. Fox Newsbarrypopik
- The pandemic pause: Costco pulled churros, along with other popular items, from its food courts during COVID-19. foodnetwork
- The twisted churro era: The comeback version was bigger, made with a new dough braided with butter and cinnamon. foodnetwork
- The goodbye: After being reformulated and repriced, churros were discontinued in early 2024. Fox News
- The churro bites backlash: In March 2026, Costco introduced a $2.99 Caramel Churro Sundae topped with mini churro bites instead of the full-size pastry. Fans weren’t having it, and one of the most-liked comments said they wanted whole churros, not bits. Fox NewsFox News
- The return: Now, after all that asking, the real churro is back, at least for a while.
Where Do Churros Come From? The Surprisingly Mysterious History
Nobody knows for sure where churros came from, and historians love to argue about it.
The Spanish shepherds theory. The most romantic version says shepherds high in the Spanish mountains, with no fresh bread on hand, fried a simple dough of flour, water, and salt. The name supposedly comes from the Churra sheep they tended, whose ridged horns may have inspired the churro’s shape.
The China connection. Another theory points to youtiao, a Chinese fried dough stick. The idea is that Portuguese explorers found it in China in the 16th century, recreated it at home with added sugar, and the Spanish later piped it into the star shape we know. That star shape isn’t just decorative: it adds surface area, which makes churros crispier.
Even older roots. Recipes suggest a churro-like fried food existed in Moorish Spain, and mentions in 8th- and 9th-century Arab texts point to possible Arabic roots.
However it started, the churro crossed the ocean. Churros traveled to the Americas with the Spanish in the 16th century, and local cultures made them their own. In Mexico they’re dunked in chocolate or champurrado. In many Latin American countries they’re filled with dulce de leche, chocolate, or even guava paste. In Chile, many of us grew up eating them filled with manjar.
Why Churros Mean So Much to Those of Us Who Grew Up in Latin America
For many of us who grew up in Latin America, churros taste like summer vacation. In South America, summer vacation doesn’t come in June. It comes in December, January, and February, when school lets out and families head for the coast.
For me, churros were a big part of our summers in Chile, when the whole family would go spend time at a beach cottage for a few weeks. Churros were sold down the street at family that had kids that were all red heads.
The churro man was part of the ritual. You’d hear him before you saw him, calling out as he walked the hot sand with his basket. Somebody’s mom would dig for coins in her beach bag, and you’d get a paper-wrapped churro, still warm, with sugar sticking to your fingers and sand everywhere.
That’s why a $1.49 churro at Costco can hit so hard. For a lot of us, it’s a small taste of home, of summer, and of being a kid with nowhere to be but the beach.
So when your local Costco gets them back, grab one, or three. Eat it warm, and save a bite for nostalgia.