Vegan Chocolate Sauce (Paleo, Dairy Free)

This amazing chocolate sauce is the perfect topping for ice cream or used as a fruit dip. It puts store-bought versions to shame. It's great for a special occasion, but with just a handful of ingredients it's easy enough for an every day quick treat.

The other day, I was looking for a dairy free or vegan chocolate sauce recipe that didn't include coconut milk. Something that was an easy recipe, that would give me a homemade chocolate sauce with ingredients I had on hand and that wouldn't take forever to make.

Don't get me wrong - I love coconut milk as an ingredient. But it's undeniable that it leaves a coconutty "tinge" to everything it touches - and I really didn't want my chocolate sauce to taste like coconut.

So, I set off to do a little experimenting, and I think it paid off. This homemade chocolate syrup is made with just a few simple ingredients and can be made in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients

Remember, lazy is my middle name, so there's nothing crazy or foreign in the ingredient list. We're going to work with some dairy free or vegan chocolate chips (I like to use these from Enjoy Life brand, or Trader Joe's makes a store brand too!) and combine it with some dairy free milk.

I prefer almond milk as it tends to have the most neutral flavor to me, but use whichever kind you like. Just make sure it is plain unsweetened without added sugars. Here's a full guide to dairy subs if you're looking to use something other than almond milk.

Do make sure you use a milk alternative and not a creamer. I experimented once with an almond milk creamer and it came out much much too thick, and ended up rock hard in the fridge. You need the thinner milk with the higher water content to make this into a spoonable sauce.

I add a touch of sweetness with pure maple syrup, and give it a bit of depth of flavor with vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Instructions

To make the sauce, combine the ingredients in a double boiler over low-medium heat. If you don't have a double boiler, you can just use a small saucepan directly on the burner, but keep it on low heat.

Low and slow is the name of your game if your pot is directly on the burner. If you turn it up too high, the chocolate will burn before it has a chance to melt, leaving your sauce with a...singed taste.

You can also use coconut sugar or regular sugar as your sweetener, if you prefer it over the taste of the maple syrup. You'll need to add it earlier in the recipe to give it time to dissolve.

Once your ingredients are combined, allow it to cool to room temperature, and then you can pour it into a mason jar or another airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Once made, this does behave more like a traditional fudge sauce, in that it will harden up quite a bit in the fridge.

Let it come to room temperature before serving, or microwave it on 50% power in 10 or 20 second increments until your desired consistency is reached.

Serving

So you might ask, what does someone who eats dairy free put vegan chocolate sauce on?

"Nice cream," of course! That's a general term for anything that's ice cream not made from dairy - it might be oat milk, almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, or even avocado. Whatever the case may be, it's creamy and satisfies the sweet tooth without any of the dairy.

You can also make homemade "nice cream" - banana ice cream like this one or avocado based ice cream like this one are great options. The fruits give it a thick and creamy texture without the dairy.

Every once in awhile, I like to add a small dollop of almond butter or peanut butter (yes, I eat peanut butter sometimes!) to the top of my ice cream too. There's seriously nothing better in my opinion than the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

Top the whole thing with a bit of coconut whipped cream and you've got yourself a full vegan ice cream sundae!

This can also make a great gift - divide it up into some 4oz glass jars like these, tie on a "healthy vegan chocolate sauce" recipe card and a bow and use it as a hostess gift or holiday present.

Looking for another vegan dessert? Try my 3-Ingredient Chocolate Avocado pudding. Looking for Vegan Hot Chocolate? You can find my recipe for that one here.

I may earn a small commission off purchases made through affiliate links in this post from Amazon and other sellers. This helps me continue to run the blog and keep providing you fresh content. Thank you for your support!