The BEST Homemade Hot Chocolate Recipe {Just 3 ingredients!} (2024)

Looking for an easy homemade hot chocolate recipe? The secret to perfect homemade hot chocolate is just three ingredients (that you probably have on hand right now!) Cocoa + Milk + Sugar. That’s it! This recipe is so simple you’ll never buy hot cocoa mix again.

Print the recipe instantly here, or keep scrolling to see the step-by-step instructions with pictures below!

During the last Snowpocalypse when I had 5 kids stuck in my house during snowy weather I whipped up a batch of homemade hot chocolate that the kids just loved. The parents were pretty impressed that I could make homemade hot chocolate from scratch without a recipe.

The secret to perfect homemade hot chocolate is just three ingredients (that you probably have on hand right now!)

My mom taught me at a very early age to make this recipe for hot chocolate with just three ingredients, so today I’m going to pass along my secret recipe to y’all.

I actually had to do a few test batches to figure out the measurements since I’ve always eyeballed the ingredients and never followed an actual recipe. My mother taught me to mix sugar and cocoa powder together until it was “the color that hot chocolate is supposed to be”.

I’ll try to be a little more exact. Here is what I came up with in my non-test test kitchen.

My Easy Homemade Hot Chocolate Recipe:

• 2 Tablespoon Hershey’s cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup white sugar (use 1/4 cup sugar if you like your hot chocolate less sweet)
• 3 3/4 cups milk
• 1/4 cup milk (to be used separately from other milk)

Directions:

1. Stir together the cocoa powder and sugar in a medium saucepan.

2. The cocoa powder is going to be lumpy, and that’s ok. Just get them blended together.

3. Add 1/4 cup of milk. My mama always used evaporated canned milk for this part, but I figure most people don’t even know what that is these days, so any kind of milk will do. I used skim. You can use whatever you have on hand.

This is where the secret part comes in. See how the cocoa and milk don’t want to mix together very easily? We’re going to force them to love each other.

4. How can you force it? By applying heat. Bring the mixture to a low boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. It will go from that to this:

5. Let it boil for a minute or two, until the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. Be sure to stir, stir, stir. Don’t let it burn!

And PS? Is there anything more beautiful than boiling chocolate? Yum.

6. Once it’s all good and mixed together, I add the rest of the milk. I’m not going to lie—I didn’t even measure this out, I just poured straight from the jug. If you like a super sweet hot chocolate you could add less, if you like it less sweet, add more milk. This recipe is totally flexible, folks.

How hot is too hot?

When you add the cold milk, you’ll need to turn the heat back up to get the temperature hot again. You can let this simmer on the stove as long as you’d like, depending on how scalded your taste buds like to be when you sip hot drinks.

When I make it for kids I don’t let it heat back up after adding the milk and it makes it just lukewarm enough for my six year old’s tender mouth. You decide how hot you want yours to be.

Optional ingredient: Marshmallows

So there you go. Those are the exact steps you need to know to make homemade hot chocolate on the stove. Marshmallows are totally optional! Stay warm out there and enjoy!

Here is a printable version of the recipe if you need it:

I hope you enjoy this easy homemade hot chocolate recipe with your family. Let me know how you like it!

PS: If you’re planning to create a Hot Chocolate Bar for your holiday party, here are some free printable signs for you to download!

Free Hot Chocolate Bar Printable Signs