Need a low carb sugar free chocolate syrup recipe to use for making chocolate milk and as an ice cream topping? It’s super easy to make your own.
Lately, I’ve been craving a lot of chocolate. In particular, chocolate milk. Then it dawned on me that I’ve never made my own homemade chocolate syrup.
When I first went sugar free, I used to buy sugar free chocolate syrup. The one brand that I used to use was the Walden Farms zero carb chocolate syrup.
However, I stopped buying commercially prepared products that contain artificial ingredients. Unfortunately, Walden Farms uses sucralose in their syrup which doesn’t appeal to me because I made the decision to only use natural products a few years ago.
You only need a few ingredients for this easy sugar free chocolate syrup recipe. And, I’m sure it turns out to be much cheaper to make it at home.
It’s really just a mix of cocoa sweetened water. You could thicken it up if you want to with xanthan or guar gum, but I don’t think thickeners add much.
Cooking the mixture does thicken it a bit without having to add any low carb thickener. I try to make things as simple as possible and stay away from adding extra fiber or carbs when I can.
Some unsweetened cocoa powders have less carbs than others. So, you can check the labels before buying to make sure you choose one with the lowest carb count.
You should look for cocoa powder that has more fiber which reduces the effective net carbs. I like to buy the one with the lowest net carb count because every little bit helps. If you want to be conservative, you can always choose the one with the lowest total carb count.
You should be able to whip this chocolate syrup up within 10 or 15 minutes. One you gather all your ingredients it’s just dumping it into a saucepan, whisking it up, and cooking it up a bit.
I find that a whisk helps blend the cocoa powder into the liquid best. I also like to use a mix of sweeteners.
To lower overall carbs, I often use concentrated stevia liquid and mix it with a powdered erythritol or inulin sweetener. The choice of sweeteners is really up to your own personal taste and preference.
You can use this sugar free chocolate syrup recipe just like any commercially prepared chocolate sauce. It blends well with low carb almond or coconut milk.
It’s also great to pour over ice cream to make a chocolate sundae. I had some low carb strawberry ice cream in the freezer that I made several weeks ago and it went perfect over that.
I’ll be sharing a special recipe either this week or next that used some of this homemade low carb chocolate syrup in it. Now that it’s cold, I may need to come up with a recipe that uses this syrup to make sugar free hot chocolate.
It’s so easy to make this low carb chocolate sauce. I’ll have to keep a jar in the refrigerator all the time! And, it’s perfect for making a low carb no bake banana split cake cheesecake.
Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup Recipe
Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup inulin sweetener or powdered erthritol
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla stevia drops
Instructions
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Combine water, cocoa powder, sweetener, and salt in medium pot.
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Bring mixture to a bowl, then reduce heat.
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Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Mixture should thicken up a bit.
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Remove from heat and stir in vanilla stevia.
Recipe Notes
Makes about 9 servings
Nutrition per serving: 1.2g net carbs, 0.9g protein (plus 8.9g erythritol if using Swerve or 8.9g additional fiber if using LC White - Inulin)
Preben says
I’d take you more seriously if you kept your opinions on artificial ingredients out of it. A quick search for sucralose shows that it’s been flagged as completely safe: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2076 (2011, 6 years ago!).
“Research into sweeteners shows they are perfectly safe to eat or drink on a daily basis as part of a healthy diet.”
Lisa says
Sucralose has been proven safe in many studies. I know people who have been using it for over 15 years. I just try to stick to natural based ingredients.
Ann says
Does the sweetener crystallize in the chocolate syrup once chilled in the refrigerator?
Lisa says
It may if you use erythritol. You could use all liquid sweetener or reduce the erythritol amount and replace with more liquid sweetener.
Lauren says
HI, can I use plain vanilla extract and Splenda? I’ve read a lot of recipes tonight and yours sounds best! Others use coconut oil and I avoid it due to high saturated fat content.
Lisa says
Yes. Splenda and extract works too. You’ll just need to adjust the amount to taste.
Kim says
How much is one serving (serving size)?
Lisa says
It’s about 1 tablespoon.
Patty Rosen says
How many ounces/tablespoons is a serving, please.
Lisa says
It’s about a tablespoon.
Melissa says
Just made this chocalate syrup and it is awesome!!! Been on the keto diet for 3 weeks now and have been craving chocolate. This syrup is a diet saver. Lol
Lisa says
Glad it was able to help you stay on track and satisfy the craving!
April says
Can I just use regular vanilla 1/2 tea and 1/2 tea of liquid stevia or monk fruit?
Lisa says
You’d still need 1 teaspoon of stevia drops or 2 teaspoons monk fruit along with the vanilla extract. I’d use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla with 1/2 teaspoon stevia drops and 1 teaspoon monk fruit.
Paula says
I suspect this might be good right off the spoon. Not that I would know. =)
Lisa says
It is and I have been known to do just that!
Mary Kelly says
Hi Lisa, Does the low carb chocolate sauce have to be refrigerated? Thanks Mary
Lisa says
I do keep it in the refrigerator.
Christopher LaFave says
Hey Lisa. I’m going to try this out pretty soon. I’m totally cool with adding the salt, especially when I’m doing keto, but it’s just piqued my curiosity. Is it added just for taste, or is there more to it?
Lisa says
The salt is a flavor enhancer, but it also acts as a natural preservative.
Ron says
Hi again Lisa!
I’ve been looking and using recipes from your wonderful site dated from about six years ago (and poss. earlier), coming up to the present.
I like the Food Facts box in your newer postings. However, one very vital bit of information is missing for me as a diabetic: the sugar count.
Why? The net carbs (as I see them calculated here and on most all other websites) is not correct for diabetics according to my doctors, since it is the simple deduction of all the fiber from the total carb count with no regard to the factoring of the sugars into the mix (which is what the body does). If the sugars continue to not be counted, the spikes for diabetics can become seemingly erratic instead of relatively predictable.
So, if in the future you include the sugar values for us diabetics, we can figure out for ourselves the net diabetic carbs that apply to us (there seems no need to modify how “normals” like to figure the net carbs). For information, here is the formula given by Kaiser for figuring net carbs for diabetics:
1. Double the sugar count (if there is any value in the sugar field)
2. Subtract that doubled sugar number from the total fiber
3. If the fiber has any number left (after step 2) that is above zero, subtract that from the total carbs
4. This is the net carbs for diabetics since sugar cannot be ignored by diabetics (maybe others can, but not diabetics)
Using the above formula on some recipes around the web that give (but don’t use) sugar counts to figure the net carbs sometimes raises the net diabetic carbs so high that the recipe is not really effectively low carb anymore (rats!)!
Please consider including the sugar count in future Food Facts tables so we diabetics can independently verify or “correct” the often much-too-low net carbs that is commonly favored in most low carb recipes (as they may be misleadingly low for sugar-sensitive diabetics, though certainly not intentionally).
Don’t change how you figure net cabs in the classic “but hopeful” way on your site, since how diabetics are told to figure it “conservatively” still seems a newer idea and is not in common use. Just please give us the sugar values and no longer omit sugar from the chart (that always caught my attention when I saw that sugar alone seemed omitted “since” sugar is never omitted in such charts in my experience).
Lisa, you’ve given me such hope that my life doesn’t have to be boring foodwise since I’m a diabetic; I just need new tricks and tools, and you continue to open that path of understanding and training for me. Thank you!
Lisa says
If there are sugar carbs, I do enter it into the nutrition label on newer recipes. I’m in the process of converting all older recipes over, but it’s taking some time.
Ron says
Thank you Lisa. Even if sugar is zero, please do indicate that instead of leaving some of us diabetics wondering please. Sugar kills diabetics, but not normal folks; so please understand my (our) desire to see zero or a number instead of no information at all (it just causes worry when nothing is indicated, since we cannot afford to assume).
And thanks for sharing the Calorie Counter. I do see it does not show zero when that applies and that instead it drops the whole category (like sugar) altogether instead of displaying zero. I think it is Calorie Counter who may be under-reporting here, not you Lisa! I just depend on you more than I think I should. I am deeply grateful for your enthusiastic sharing.
Food Facts on food in stores always show zero when that applies, and if a vital category is instead missing, it should indeed provoke anxiety in those who may have a life-and-death relationship to that missing category. Thanks for understanding the need of this one fretful diabetic.
becky nicolson says
How long will this keep in the fridge
Lisa says
At least two weeks, possibly more.
Karen says
So do you prefer liquid sucralose or the stevia and powdered erythritol? Recent posts have confused me.
Lisa says
I haven’t used sucralose in years. I only use natural based sweeteners now.