Best Hot Fudge Sauce for Stupendous Sundaes (or Eating from a Spoon)

The best chocolate sauce for ice cream isn’t Hershey’s syrup—even if that is the only chocolate sauce I grew up with. Nostalgia, in this case, did not trump the cold (er, hot) hard (er, gooey) truth of this taste test. You can do better than the chocolate syrup you use to make chocolate milk. There are plenty of hot fudge sauce options out there available at your grocery store—but only a few are really deserving of the best ice cream. 

In my search for the best hot fudge sauce I looked for thick and gooey chocolate sauce that was rich, heavy with cocoa flavor, and smooth. I will not abide  by a grainy sauce. Bonus points if it is good both hot and cold, because, yes, it is called a hot fudge sundae but sometimes you just want some chocolate sauce for ice cream and you don’t want to get the microwave involved. 

Here’s the best chocolate sauce for ice cream you can buy. 

Best Budget

Great Value Chocolate Syrup

Walmart

This is pretty good for a massive container of chocolate ice cream sauce. It advertises that it’s made with real cocoa and it really tastes like it. If you’re dishing ice cream out at a birthday party or just need a quick fix in the fridge for a scoop or to make chocolate milk, Walmart’s chocolate syrup is the way to go.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Best Texture

Smucker’s Hot Fudge Topping

Walmart

The texture of this hot fudge is unbeatable. It’s more like ganache than syrup. It’s extremely creamy and silky smooth. It’s not the best hot fudge sauce when it comes to flavor—not to say it’s bad, it’s just a bit more understated than the others on this list. But that texture, ooo whee. It’s delightful.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Cocoa-y

Hershey’s Hot Fudge Topping

Walmart

This hot fudge sauce tastes like brownie batter. It’s so thick and creamy and cocoa-y. Give it a quick zap in the microwave and ooze it onto a bowl of ice cream for an instant upgrade. Or, simply scoop out a spoonful and eat it cold as a pick-me-up. Seriously, this on a spoon with a little peanut butter? That’s a grade A end of the night treat to sneak when you pop into the kitchen for a “glass of water.”

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Ultra Thick

Private Selection Dark Chocolate Fudge Dessert Topping

Ralphs

If you want to put this on your ice cream, you need to warm it up. At room temp it is so thick it’s spreadable—so, I guess you could also just use it to make a sandwich if you wanted. It’s super-duper dark and rich with a high quality cocoa flavor. It almost tastes like homemade hot cocoa before you add the milk. It’s so close to being the best chocolate sauce, but since you absolutely have to heat it up in order to use it as a topping, I’m keeping it in the two slot.

Credit: Merc / Ralphs

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Smucker’s Hot Fudge

Walmart

This is the best hot fudge sauce you can buy and it comes in a squirt bottle with a big, wide hole so you can really squirt a lot onto your ice cream. And that’s good. Because you are going to want a lot. It’s so thick but it still squirts, so you can enjoy it right out of the fridge or at room temperature. But it’s also extremely good hot. It’s not too crazy sweet and even has a touch of salt to it—I am a sucker for salt and chocolate together. It coats your mouth with chocolaty flavor. I can’t believe you can just buy something this indulgent at the grocery store. And, as an adult, it’s your right to eat it whenever you dang well please. What a wonderful world.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other hot fudge sauces we tried: Kroger Chocolate Syrup, Torani Dark Chocolate, Sprouts Organic Chocolate Syrup, Berryhill Chocolate Flavored Syrup