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Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate + VIDEO

Slow cooker hot chocolate is not only easy to make, it can be tailored to your liking. Adjust the ingredients and you’ll have a vegan or keto friendly cup! This chocolatey beverage will have your kitchen smelling amazing as it cooks. When it’s done, set the appliance to the warm setting and your hot chocolate will stay heated through for hours.  Instructions to make this comforting hot chocolate in the Instant Pot are also included.

overhead shot of hot chocolate cup topped with marshmellows

What Is Hot Chocolate?

Hot chocolate is a beverage consisting of cocoa powder or some sort of chocolate that’s heated with milk (or water) and a sugary sweetener. Hot chocolate is served all over the world and there are many variations. What you see here is my slow cooker or pressure cooker (Instant Pot) version. I’m sure this can be adapted to be made on the stove-top as well but I have not tried yet.

before (slow cooker)

Double Chocolate, Milk & Cream

My hot chocolate uses both cocoa powder AND chocolate chips. Yes both. I’ll admit…this is chocolatey. If you think that this might be too much chocolate for you, lower the amount of chocolate chips to 1/2 cup. This hot chocolate also uses both milk and cream. 7 cups of milk of your choice (I used almond milk) and 1 cup of cream (I used whipping cream). Like a lot of my recipes you have some leeway with the ingredients. For the cream you can use whipping cream, heavy cream, half & half, or use more milk. For the milk I used almond milk but you can use whatever milk you want to use. Because this is cooked on the low setting for a relatively short amount of time, you do not have to worry about the milk starting to curdle.

after (slow cooker)

What Type Of Sweetener to Use

The short answer is one that fits your dietary needs. If you’re not worried about that, you can use your preferred sweetener whether it be honey, maple syrup, a zero-sugar sweetener (like Stevia), or regular granulated sugar. I used monk fruit sugar because I happened to have in my pantry.

topped with whipped cream

Make this Low-Carb/Keto

Did you know that cocoa powder is keto friendly? It is. Which means you can make this recipe low-carb & keto friendly by using ingredients that fit the dietary restrictions. To make this low-carb/keto, follow the guidelines below:

Milk use a nut milk like almond milk or a milk with a high fat content like whole milk
Cream use whipping cream, half & half, or more milk (see above)
Chocolate Chips use sugar-free chocolate chips
Sweetener use a zero-sugar sweetener
Cocoa powder make sure cocoa powder is the only ingredient
Vanilla n/a

topped with marshmallows

Make This Vegan

That’s right vegan. This homemade slow cooker hot chocolate can also easily be made vegan. To make this vegan, follow the guidelines below:

  • Milk use a nut milk like almond milk or cashew milk
  • Cream omit the cream & use more nut milk OR use coconut cream or coconut milk
  • Chocolate Chips use dairy-free chocolate chips
  • Sweetener use sugar, zero-sugar sweetener, or maple syrup
  • Cocoa powder make sure cocoa powder is the only ingredient
  • Vanilla 

FAQs & Tips

  • Garnish the hot chocolate with your ingredients like whipped topping or marshmallows.
  • To store leftover hot chocolate, let the beverage cool first. Pour into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Turn the slow cooker or Instant Pot to the WARM setting to keep the hot chocolate heated through.
  • Add ingredients like cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract, or even a liqueur. 
  • I used a 3.5-quart slow cooker but you can double this recipe to feed a larger crowd.

Hot Beverages

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overhead shot of hot chocolate cup topped with marshmellows

Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

Slow cooker hot chocolate is not only easy to make, it can be tailored to your liking. Adjust the ingredients and you’ll have a vegan or keto friendly cup! This chocolatey beverage will have your kitchen smelling amazing as it cooks. When it’s done, set the appliance to the warm setting and your hot chocolate will stay heated through for hours.  Instructions to make this comforting hot chocolate in the Instant Pot are also included.

  • Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 7 cups milk of your choice
  • 1 cup cream of your choice
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup sweetener of your choice
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Slow Cooker

  1. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker. Whisk to mix well.
  2. Cook LOW 2-3 hours. Whisk halfway through cooking & be sure to whisk the chocolate from the bottom.
  3. Keep on warm setting while serving.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the pressure cooker and select sauté. Pour in milk, cream, cocoa powder, sweetener, and vanilla. Stir to mix well and bring to a boil.
  2. Once boiling, stir in the chocolate chips and cook until they’re melted.
  3. Keep on warm setting while serving.

Notes

I used almond milk, whipping cream, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and monk fruit sweetener.

  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 3 hours

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 267
  • Sugar: 24.5 g
  • Sodium: 168.9 mg
  • Fat: 16.3 g
  • Saturated Fat: 8.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 30.2 g
  • Fiber: 2.8 g
  • Protein: 4.3 g
  • Cholesterol: 17 mg

 

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”QzXiVEQk” upload-date=”2020-12-18T00:21:08.000Z” name=”Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate” description=”This hot chocolate recipe couldn’t be any easier. Made in your slow cooker or Instant Pot, this chocolatey beverage will have your kitchen smelling amazing. Instructions on how to tailor the recipe to make it vegan or low-carb/keto are included below.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

debbie

Thursday 14th of December 2023

Great!! thank you - I am vegetarian - sometimes vegan but I can tweek your delicious slow-cooker recipes

Dayna

Wednesday 6th of December 2023

I’m doing the 7 cups of almond milk and then for the extra cup of cream/milk could I do coconut cream?

Shannon Epstein

Thursday 7th of December 2023

Absolutely. Fantastic idea, I'm going to try that myself!

Lorenzo

Thursday 17th of December 2020

This looks so much tastier than hot water and a packet of powder! Yum!