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5-minute Hot Fudge Sauce has just three ingredients and is perfect to use all summer long! This simple recipe tastes like melted fudge and you can reheat leftovers to thin!
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Easy Hot Fudge Recipe
If there is one thing I want all summer long it’s ice cream!! I crave it in summer, probably because it’s so hot here in Sacramento. (Well…let’s be honest. I crave ice cream all the time because it’s so darn good!)
Recently Jordan had some friends over and they wanted ice cream sundaes. We had the ice cream covered but, to my dismay, we were out of chocolate sauce. Now, as a food blogger, I took this as a huge fail: I always have all the sauces on hand. I have chocolate sauce when I make pie and need a drizzle and caramel sauce for when I’m making something gooey. So how in the WORLD was I out of ALL OF THEM at once?! #momfail #bloggerfail
So I did what a good blogger does in these situations: I made my own hot fudge sauce. And, dare I say, it’s BETTER than the kind you buy?
5-minute hot fudge sauce has just 3 ingredients and is perfect for all your ice cream sundaes!
What’s the difference between hot fudge and chocolate sauce?
It’s so easy to buy hot fudge and chocolate sauce that making it homemade has to be easy or why bother, right? Well, I got you covered because this hot fudge recipe is the BEST.
Honestly, I’ve always wondered this! The main difference is the texture. Hot fudge is thicker and more rich while chocolate sauce is thinner and more pourable. Chocolate sauce stays sauce in the refrigerator, while hot fudge gets cold and thick…like fudge.
And, let me tell you, my hot fudge sauce recipe tastes like melted fudge! It’s PERFECT to put on top of your favorite O Organics ice cream!
3 Ingredients Needed
Some recipes are for hot fudge with cocoa powder, but this recipe uses sweetened condensed milk! There are only three total ingredients:
- Chocolate Chips – use your favorite flavor, but use a good brand! We love Trader Joe’s, Guittard, and Guirradelli.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Butter – unsalted or salted. The butter might seem like an odd ingredient, but it’s necessary. Without it the hot fudge will seize and not act properly, so don’t skip it.
How to make hot fudge
- Add sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate chips are melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter. Stir until butter is melted.
- Place hot fudge in a jar. Use while hot.
Favorite Recipes using liquid fudge:
- Drizzle it on peanut butter dip
- Make Hula Pie with it
- Pour it over Peanut Butter Ice Cream Brownies
5-minute Hot Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) can (396g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup (170g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips to a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate chips are melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Stir until butter is melted.
- Place hot fudge in a jar. Use while hot.
- Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To reheat: place jar in microwave and heat in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- This is a very thick sauce – the hotter it is the thinner, but it’s hot fudge, not chocolate sauce.
- You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Leftovers – store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will thicken and harden as it cools so heat to thin.
Recipe Nutrition
**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**
Last Updated on April 29, 2023
I just finished making this fudgey sauce and it is quite tasty! Next time, I may use a bit more chocolate and a pinch of coffee for a stronger flavor. As is, I do feel it will pair very well with the brownies I’m going to put it on along with some homemade caramel sauce. It will also be awesome on ice cream.
I try to avoid using hfcs as much as possible and this recipe helped to make that happen.
Thank you, very much!!!
Easy to make but the outcome leaves a little to be desired. The texture of the hot fudge when it hits the ice cream is really gummy and chewy.
Awesome recipe
Very disappointed! While hot I put it onto Ice cream and it seized and got very hard and difficult to break up with a spoon
The video for this sauce at the end, right before the sauce is poured into the jar, it says ‘stir in vanilla’. It never mentions the butter, and you don’t have vanilla listed as an ingredient. Should the video say ‘stir in butter’ instead ?
This is absolutely the easiest fudge and it’s so delicious. Thank you for sharing it. I followed the directions exactly as written and it came out perfectly.
Just as easy as stated! I think my chocolate chips were the issue (they are just cocoa liqueur and sugar, no emulsifiers). It turned out super thick BUT super tasty and ridiculously easy to make.
I saw Dorothy Kern respond to a comment to add milk upon reheating to thin it out. Totally gonna try that, and also make it again with different chocolate chips just in case.
10/10 would recommend, currently recommending to friends!
Mine turned perfect; thick and creamy. What a simple and fast way to make a super yummy fudge sauce! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
far better than store bought….yummy
I followed the recipe yet when I pour the sauce on ice cream, it almost immediately hardens. Any suggestions?
Is there a way I can thin this.
You can add some milk while heating it
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