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This ultra silky, easy chocolate sauce recipe does double duty as fondue! Made with just chocolate and heavy cream (with a touch of vanilla and salt), it comes together in mere minutes. You can even drink it as hot chocolate, which will change your life forever. (Sorry!) 

Close up of spoon dripping chocolate sauce into a bowl.

I love Valentine’s Day, and not because all of the romance bullhonky, but because it’s a holiday, and I’ll take any excuse I can get to celebrate on a weekday. Every year I decorate the table with red streamers, and we make a big pot of cheese fondue (which you can read all about here). The kids love eating fondue, and even though I always intend to make it more than once a year, for some reason twelve months inevitably slip by before we eat it again. Maybe it’s more special that way.

Hand dipping a strawberry into a bowl of chocolate sauce.

Easy chocolate sauce recipe for fondue

For dessert, it has to be chocolate fondue. “Fondue” is a bit of an overstatement, as I’d be crazy to feed my kids a big pot of bubbling chocolate before bedtime (they’d be up for days. Who am I kidding, I’d be up for days). Instead, I’ve typically melted a bit of chocolate with cream in a little ramekin, into which we dunk our fixings. However, when writing my first book, The Food Processor Family Cookbook, I discovered a new way to make chocolate sauce, and it’s a total game changer. Instead of melting chocolate with cream in a saucepan or in the microwave, which results in a thick, often goopy texture, I chopped chocolate in a mini food processor and added hot cream. After a quick buzz, I had the creamiest, silkiest, lightest chocolate sauce ever!!

Process shot showing chocolate chopped in the food processor to make the easy chocolate sauce.
Process shot showing finished chocolate sauce in the food processor.

Easy chocolate sauce recipe for ice cream

This easy chocolate sauce is our staple Sunday night sundae sauce (Sunday night sundaes are one of our favorite traditions!), and now it’s my very favorite fondue. I serve it with fresh fruit, cookies and sometimes marshmallows for dunking, if Ella gets her way. ?

Side-shot of chocolate sauce drizzling over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Hand dunking a marshmallow into a bowl of chocolate sauce.

Vegan chocolate sauce

For a vegan variation, you can swap out the heavy cream for coconut cream!

Boozy, coffee hot chocolate

The sauce lasts for weeks in the fridge, and I dare you not to heat some up, add a shot of coffee and a shot of brandy or liqueur, and sip it when the kids aren’t watching… HEAVEN.

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Easy chocolate sauce recipe drizzling over a bowl of vanilla ice cream
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The Easiest Chocolate Sauce Recipe / Chocolate Fondue

This recipe is adapted from the chocolate sauce in my cookbook, The Food Processor Family Cookbook. It’s the creamiest, silkiest, lightest chocolate sauce ever, and it comes together in minutes using only four ingredients! Drizzle the sauce over ice cream, or serve it as fondue with your favorite fixings for dunking (we’re partial to fresh fruit, ladyfinger cookies and marshmallows, if my daughter gets her way). For a vegan variation, swap out the heavy cream for coconut cream.
Prep Time5 mins
Total Time5 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate fondue recipe, chocolate sauce recipe, easy chocolate sauce recipe
Servings: 1 1/4 cups
Author: Nicki Sizemore

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, (I prefer 70% cocoa content), coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch sea salt

Instructions

  • Place the chocolate in a mini food processor. Pulse until evenly chopped into small pieces. Once it’s evenly chopped, process until very finely ground.
  • Heat the heavy cream, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the food processor.
  • Process just until the mixture turns silky, about 5 seconds. Be careful not to overmix, as it could result in a grainy sauce.
  • Drizzle the chocolate sauce over ice cream, or serve it as fondue with fresh fruit, cookies, etc. for dunking.

Notes

Do Ahead: The chocolate sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, microwave the sauce on high in 15-second intervals, stirring after each, until warmed through.
Tips:
  • Use a good quality dark chocolate for this sauce. I prefer a chocolate with 70% cocoa content (since you’re adding cream, the chocolate won’t be too strong).  

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