Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

You’ll never go back to the store-bought after one taste of this homemade hot fudge sauce! It comes together in minutes and makes the best ice cream topping.

Let’s be honest here: How many of us buy hot fudge sauce for the sole purpose of eating it by the spoonful?

Or if you’re like me, you have just a little bit of ice cream alongside your massive amounts of warm fudge sauce. The pinnacle dessert experience, no contest.

Turns out that hot fudge sauce made homemade is literally the easiest thing ever AND absolutely blows the store-bought stuff outta the water. Seriously, you’ll be eating this liquid gold by the spoonful.

I’m willing to bet you have all the ingredients for this hot fudge sauce in your pantry as we speak, so really you have no excuse for not making a batch of this goodness!

Trust me, your ice cream game is seriously incomplete without it.

This Hot Fudge Sauce features…

• A thick and fudgy texture
• The perfect balance of rich chocolate flavor
• Minutes to make and the best topping for a bowl of ice cream

Making the Hot Fudge Sauce

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Granulated sugar
• Honey
• Cocoa powder
• Heavy whipping cream
• 2% or skim milk
• Bittersweet chocolate
• Vanilla extract
• Kosher salt

Choosing Your Chocolate

I recommend going with a high-quality bar of bittersweet chocolate for this hot fudge sauce. The better chocolate you use, the better it will melt into the fudge sauce and give it a smooth, velvety texture.

For chocolate brands that won’t break the bank but still give you a good quality, I recommend Lindt or Ghirardelli.

Tips for Perfect Hot Fudge Sauce

1. Simmer hot fudge sauce 2-3 minutes – this will thicken the sauce and make it perfectly smooth.
2. Whisk chocolate in off-heat – adding the chocolate off-heat will keep it from seizing.

Serving Suggestions

Try these ideas for ways to use your hot fudge sauce.

• Ice cream topper – drizzle warm fudge sauce over vanilla, strawberry, cookie dough, or your favorite ice cream.
• Cake topping – spoon hot fudge sauce over a layer or sheet cake just before serving.
• Use as a dipping sauce – dip fresh fruit, pound cake cubes, angel food cake cubes, or brownies in sauce.

Storing Instructions

This hot fudge sauce stores well in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. For best results, I recommend reheating fudge sauce 15-30 seconds in microwave before serving to bring it back to a warm, drizzling consistency.

I do not recommend freezing fudge sauce as this can make the texture a bit grainy once thawed.

Just look at that drizzle!! The texture of this hot fudge sauce is absolutely off the charts and you may never go back to the store-bought stuff again.

Big drizzles only of this liquid gold, friends!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch this hot fudge made step-by-step on Google web stories.

Try these other easy homemade sauces next!

• Fresh Cranberry Sauce
• Homemade BBQ Sauce
• Strawberry Sauce

This post was updated with new recipe tips and photos on 5/23/24.