Simple and Quick Champurrado Recipe

A simple and quick Champurrado recipe that is easy to make and oh so delicious. Similar to hot chocolate, Champurrado is a traditional warm Mexican drink made with Mexican chocolate, piloncillo, and masa harina. Ready in under 10 minutes!

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Does your hot chocolate need an upgrade? If the answer is yes, I think you are going to love this Champurrado recipe. It has all the warm and cozy feels you expect from a cup of hot cocoa but with the added nutrition and complexity of delicate corn flour.

We are huge hot chocolate fans in our house. Louisa, who would rather starve than cook herself something, is always game for making a pot of hot chocolate—in any form. The powdered stuff, melting tablets of Abuelita into warm milk, as long as it’s chocolate, she’ll happily make it.

It has been particularly cold here in Southern California (which is all relative, I know) but last week as I watched her whisk a packet of powder into a mug of warm water after track practice I thought to myself, I think we need to learn how to make Champurrado.

Want to join us? Great! Keep reading to see what we found out.

What is Champurrado?

Champurrado is one of those ancient Mexican food recipes. Its ingredients: chocolate and corn, predate colonial times. According to Beverages of Oaxaca by Salvador Cueva and Ricardo Bonilla, Champurrado is simply a mixture of a liquid made with corn and another made with cocoa.

Authentic Mexican Champurrado is made by cooking heirloom field corn in water. This liquid is called Tlaciahual and is always made a day in advance. Then the corn is finely ground, cooked with more water, and strained. Chocolate is then melted into this mixture and served in clay bowls.

Like with many traditional Mexican recipes, the authentic version is a bit more time consuming than most of us are willing to commit and involve ingredients that are hard to find here in the US. This Champurrado recipe is a much easier version made with masa harina that can be found in most grocery stores anywhere.

More Authentic Mexican Recipes To Explore

How To Make Homemade Chorizo

Easy Chamoy Sauce Recipe

Chicharrones de Harina

Ingredients

Traditionally Champurrado isn’t flavored with any spices but you can add cinnamon sticks to the simmering milk if you’d like. Here’s what else we’ll need:

• Whole milk or almond milk if you want a vegan version
• Water
• Piloncillo or dark brown sugar. Piloncillo is raw, unrefined sugar sold in cone or block shapes. It is notoriously difficult to chop so I buy the small 1-ounce cones and add it whole to the recipe.
• Mexican chocolate. There are lots of different brands of Mexican chocolate. Abuelita and Ibarra are the most common but if you live near a Mexican grocery store or specialty shop, ask if they have any artisan chocolate you can use in this recipe.
• Masa harina

How To Make Champurrado

If you have a molinillo, the traditional Mexican wooden whisk used to mix and froth hot chocolate, and are comfortable using it, you can use that instead of a wire whisk to mix the Champurrado.

Step one

You will need to blend the masa harina and water together first. This may seem like an extra, unnecessary step but the masa harina will clump up if you try to whisk it into the pot on the stove. Pour 2 cups water in a blender, add the masa and blend on high until smooth.

Pour this mixture into a large saucepan and add milk, piloncillo, and chocolate and place over medium heat.

Step two

Bring Champurrado to a simmer, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and continue to whisk until chocolate melts and piloncillo is completely dissolved. You can also add cinnamon sticks to this mixture but that is optional. Strain through a fine mesh sieve if desired to make it super smooth and serve hot.

More Authentic Mexican Drinks To Try!

• Jugo Verde
• Agua de Jamaica {Hibiscus Punch}
• Cucumber Mezcal Margaritas
• Authentic Michelada {Mexican Beer Cocktail}
• The Original Cadillac Margarita
• Ponche Navideño {Warm Mulled Fruit Punch}
• Vegan Atole {Warm Cinnamon and Corn Drink}

Ready To Upgrade Your Hot Cocoa?

Give this nourishing and chocolatey Champurrado recipe a try! Let me know when you make it by snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

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Resources

Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless

Beverages of Oaxaca by Salvador Cueva and Ricardo Bonilla