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Home Recipe Index Beverages Miscellaneous

Homemade Hot Chocolate {Only 3 Ingredients!}

★★★★★ 5 /5
Jump to Recipe Rate Recipe
Rachel Tiemeyer
By: Rachel TiemeyerPosted: 12/5/21Updated: 12/5/21

This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Did you know you can make homemade hot chocolate with only THREE ingredients? Skip the generic brand (made with highly processed, sugary ingredients) and make your own hot chocolate at home!

Ghirardelli Homemade hot chocolate in a white mug

Parents. You know how it goes.

Snow falls from the sky. Kids pillage the home for their snow gear that has been scattered about. You spend 30 minutes helping them get suited up appropriately. Kids play outside in the snow for 5.2 minutes. Kids return to the house and wet snow gear gets piled by the door. The clamoring for hot chocolate begins.

ghirardelli girl blowing on hot chocolate

However, what’s a parent to do if the pre-packaged hot chocolate is running low?

Fear not. We have an easy solution. You can make hot chocolate mix SO EASILY at home.

So, we’re excited to share our 3 ingredient recipe for delicious, all-natural homemade hot chocolate.

ghirardelli hot chocolate with marshmallows

Why Make Homemade Hot Chocolate?

Ingredients matter. As you will find in most of our recipes, we primarily use whole foods, real ingredients. Ingredients you can pronounce. Ingredients your great grandma would recognize.

This is why when I looked at the ingredients in a generic hot chocolate mix, I was shocked.

Ingredients in generic hot chocolate

What IS all that junk? Well, I can tell you, this is NOT real food. Not only is this mix full of highly processed, sugary ingredients, but it also contains corn syrup, artificial flavors, and preservatives.

Whenever possible, we try to make things from scratch. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to make your own things like pizza sauce, croutons, BBQ sauce, and even breadcrumbs.

Even better news is that you can make homemade hot chocolate with only THREE ingredients!

No trans fats, artificial flavors, or preservatives included. You probably have them in your pantry right now.

closeup of homemade hot chocolate mix

What’s in this Homemade Hot Chocolate?

You likely have the ingredients to make hot chocolate mix RIGHT now. All you need is:

  1. Cocoa powder – We recommend Ghirardelli brand or you can use cacao powder if you want a healthier alternative.
  2. Sugar – Plain old white sugar tastes and melts best, but you can use coconut sugar for a little more nutritious alternative.
  3. Milk – Whatever milk you want works (even non-dairy milk like almond milk), but whole milk will make it rich and creamy.

How to Make a Batch of Hot Chocolate Mix

While our recipe below is to make just one cup of hot chocolate, you can easily scale the recipe up and have a batch of the mix on hand. The cocoa powder/sugar ration is 1:1.

To make a batch of mix for 4 servings, put a 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder into a mason jar and give it a good shake. You’ll use 4 tablespoons (of 1/4 cup) of this powder per 1 cup of hot milk.

Now you can have hot chocolate mix ready to roll whenever the first snow flake flies.

Note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Read our full disclosure policy here.

Why Use Ghirardelli Cocoa?

We like Ghirardelli because it’s one of the best powdered cocoas you can get. It rivals speciality high end products but is much cheaper. Its flavor is deep, rich, and velvety.

This hot chocolate recipe will totally work with any type of 100% cocoa powder but we personally love Ghirardelli. You can even buy it on Amazon! Just be sure to get the 100% unsweetened cocoa, not the hot chocolate mix.

Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!

★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews

3-Ingredient Homemade Hot Chocolate Recipe

Avoid all the junk in store-bought hot chocolate mix by using just 3 simple ingredients to make your own. This recipe makes the best homemade hot chocolate ever!

Yield: 1 cup 1x
Prep: 2 minutesCook: 3 minutesTotal: 5 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons 100% cocoa powder (We recommend Ghirardelli brand)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup organic whole milk (sub: your favorite milk)

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions

  1. Pour all three ingredients into a small saucepan and heat over medium to medium-low heat.
  2. Whisk constantly until the ingredients are fully combined and the milk is hot.
  3. Serve immediately.

Notes/Tips

You can pull back on the sugar if you want. 

© Author: Thriving Home
Cuisine: American Method: Mix

Did you make this?

Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!

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hands holding ghirardelli hot chocolate

Tasty Tip: The Best Ever Homemade Popcorn is our favorite snack to enjoy with this hot chocolate. Have you tried it yet?

homemade popcorn with coconut oil
403 shares
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Rachel Tiemeyer

Rachel Tiemeyer

As co-founder of Thriving Home, Rachel dreams about creating recipes (literally) and uses her husband, her 3 kids, and even the neighbors as guinea pigs several nights a week. She believes that good food has the power to bring families and friends closer together and continues to wake up excited about her job each day, even after 10+ years!

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  1. AvatarNG says

    Posted on 12/15/22 at 7:12 pm

    Perfect hot chocolate! I added a splash of vanilla and a pinch of sea salt. SO GOOD!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 12/16/22 at 10:57 am

      Oooh, yummy additions! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  2. AvatarNatasha says

    Posted on 12/11/22 at 2:20 am

    Love it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. AvatarLaurie says

    Posted on 11/29/22 at 1:35 pm

    I use Ghiradeli sweet ground cocoa and just eliminate the sugar – yum!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 11/29/22 at 6:57 pm

      Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  4. AvatarZinnia says

    Posted on 11/13/22 at 2:45 pm

    It was so good!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 11/14/22 at 9:11 am

      Thanks Zinnia!

      Reply
  5. AvatarTaylor M. says

    Posted on 8/20/22 at 11:28 pm

    I am 7 months pregnant. It’s 90 degrees out still at 8pm but I’m craving hot cocoa. Just found out I have gestational diabetes so a ton of sugar is a no go…this was perfect! I had Dutch process ghiradelli in the cabinet and 2% milk. SO good. Saving this and will not buy premade cocoa again.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Polly ConnerPolly Conner says

      Posted on 8/23/22 at 11:28 am

      Thanks for taking the time to share this and leave a review, Taylor!

      Reply
  6. AvatarBabz says

    Posted on 1/28/22 at 8:43 am

    Can I use heavy whipping cream instead of milk-

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 1/28/22 at 9:07 am

      Oh that would be divine!

      Reply
  7. AvatarMilk Swallower says

    Posted on 1/27/22 at 8:35 am

    Can I just mix the cocoa powder and sugar together in the mug and then add hot milk ?

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 1/27/22 at 5:58 pm

      That’s a great idea!!

      Reply
  8. AvatarSandy says

    Posted on 1/4/22 at 10:23 am

    Can I use the white chocolate powder from Ghirardelli in place of the cocoa?

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 1/4/22 at 10:49 am

      We haven’t tried that, but it sounds yummy!

      Reply
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