The Best Quick White Chocolate Sauce Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Where I make a small commission on purchased items, at no extra cost to you. See my disclosure for details.

Looking for a new ice cream topping? Want to elevate your homemade desserts? This easy white chocolate sauce recipe is exactly what you need! It’s silky smooth, made in just 10 minutes, and perfect over almost any dessert!

(This article includes recipes for both a thinner sauce and a thicker dipping style sauce.)

A spoon rippling white chocolate sauce in a glass jar

Why you’ll love this recipe

Having devoured many desserts in my time, I’m no stranger to a sweet sauce or topping. Especially of the white chocolate variety! (I’ve always been a white chocolate fiend!)

It just works SO well on a huge selection of puddings. Waffles, pancakes, crepes, ice cream… the list goes on!

2 sticks of crumpet churros in a jar of white chocolate dipping sauce

What is white chocolate sauce made of?

This white chocolate sauce (UK recipe) is made of white chocolate, evaporated milk, and a little sugar and butter. With a touch of salt and real vanilla to truly bring out the flavour.

If you’re more of a milk/dark chocolate fan, you might prefer this chocolate fudge sauce recipe instead.

3 jars of white chocolate sauce on a napkin

How to make white chocolate sauce

To make white chocolate sauce, just add most of the ingredients into a pan and place it over a low heat. Stir gently until it’s fully melted. Then remove from the heat and mix in the butter and flavourings – salt and vanilla. That’s it! Easy peasy. (See below for the ingredients and a full step by step picture recipe.)

Broken pieces of white chocolate on a plate

Ingredients

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s everything you might need to know…

White Chocolate – The star of the show, this will be the most dominant flavour in your sauce. That being said, it is possible to get away with using a super cheap white chocolate, IF you use a high quality vanilla. Otherwise, use one that you really like the flavour of.
Evaporated Milk – Not to be confused with condensed milk (as that is much thicker and sweeter), if you don’t have any, you can make your own evaporated milk. You could also use whole milk in a pinch, but you may need slightly less due to the higher water content.
Sugar – I used caster sugar, but granulated would also work fine as it’s melting anyway. I wouldn’t switch it for a brown sugar, as this will likely make your sauce darker in colour. And we want it more white for a white chocolate sauce.
Butter – You use very little in this recipe, but I tend to use unsalted. It won’t have too much of an impact if salted is all you have though. Don’t substitute it for margarine.
Salt – This helps to tone down the sweetness a little, so don’t skip adding it! It really helps to balance out the flavour.
Vanilla – Don’t use the awful supermarket own brands. They’re a waste of money! Make sure you use a high quality vanilla brand like Nielsen-Massey or Little Pod. I promise you, the flavour is worth the extra pennies! You can use extract or paste in this recipe, both work really well.

Broken pieces of white chocolate in a saucepan with a napkin

Emma’s top tips

Here are tips you’ll find helpful when making homemade white chocolate sauce.

Choose your ingredients wisely. As I mentioned before, you can use cheap white chocolate – so long as you’re using a high quality vanilla to compensate. The rest of the ingredients can be cost effective ones. But you need to at least use either good quality chocolate OR a good quality vanilla.
Read the recipe all the way through and prepare your ingredients before you start. Sounds really obvious, but this will help ensure you don’t make any costly or unnecessary mistakes.
Want to use this as a luscious dipping sauce? Make the thicker version (see below), allow to cool to room temperature, then chill fully in the fridge. It will now be thick enough to dunk your fave dippers in!
Sauce thickened up in the fridge but you want it to be runny again? Simply pop it into a microwavable bowl and microwave for 20-30 seconds (in 10 second intervals). Or heat gently in a pan over a low heat.

Someone dipping crumpet churros into a jar of white chocolate sauce

Timings

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some time managing info to make your life easier.

This recipe will only take 10 minutes to make from start to finish.
It can be immediately used as a warm pouring sauce, no need to wait.
Not using yours hot? Allow at least 45-60 mins for it to completely cool at room temperature (depending on the time of year/how warm your kitchen is).
If you want your sauce to fully chill and thicken, allow at least 3-4 hours.

A pot of white chocolate sauce with crumpet churros on the side

If you like this recipe…

…you might also like:

White Chocolate Sauce – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Please note, this recipe includes both UK metric and US Cup measurements.

Below are two recipes. One for a thinner sauce, and one for a thicker one. Both use the same method, but require a different ratio of ingredients.

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make approximately 400ml (3 + 2/3 Cup) of a thinner sauce. And approximately 350ml (3 + 1/2 Cups) of a thicker sauce.

For a thinner sauce

170g (6 oz) White Chocolate, broken into pieces
170ml (2/3 Cup + 1 tbsp) Evaporated Milk
40g (1/8 Cup + 1 tbsp) Caster Sugar
10g (1 tbsp) Unsalted Butter, room temperature and cubed
Pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract or Paste

For a thicker sauce

170g (6 oz) White Chocolate, broken into pieces
130ml (1/2 Cup + 1 tbsp) Evaporated Milk
30g (1/8 Cup) Caster Sugar, room temperature and cubed
10g (1 tbsp) Unsalted Butter
Pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract or Paste

Essential equipment

Saucepan
Wooden Spoon

Instructions

First add the broken white chocolate (170g | 6 oz), evaporated milk (170ml | 2/3 Cup + 1 tbsp for thinner – 130ml | 1/2 Cup + 1 tbsp for thicker) and caster sugar (40g | 1/8 Cup + 1 tbsp for thinner – 130ml | 1/2 Cup + 1 tbsp for thicker) into a saucepan.

Place the saucepan over a low heat, and stir with a wooden spoon until everything is fully melted.

Evaporated milk, white chocolate and sugar in a saucepan

melted evaporated milk, white chocolate and sugar in a saucepan

Next, remove the pan from the heat and add in the butter (10g | 1 tbsp), salt (pinch) and vanilla (1/2 tsp).

White chocolate sauce ingredients in a saucepan

Stir continuously, until the butter has melted and the chocolate sauce is smooth and silky.

homemade white chocolate sauce in a saucepan

And there you have it. Your white chocolate sauce is finished! Hurrah! I told you it would only take 10 minutes!

You can use is warm, straight away. Or chill for later.

Someone dripping white chocolate sauce into a jar

How to store white chocolate sauces

Store your homemade white chocolate sauce in an airtight container in the fridge. (Allow to come to room temperature first.) Consume within 7 days.

FAQs

Does white chocolate sauce need to be refrigerated?

Yes, you do need to refrigerate any leftover white chocolate sauce. And this will thicken it, so it doubles as a chocolate dipping sauce recipe too. Which is handy! But don’t worry, you can always heat it in the microwave until it’s warm and runny again. Two or three 10 second intervals is usually about right.

Someone spooning white chocolate sauce from a saucepan

What to do with white chocolate sauce

This sensational dessert sauce is the most ideal, quick and easy recipe to elevate your sweet treats! It’s a lovely addition to family puddings, elevates dinner party desserts and is the perfect white chocolate sauce for ice cream.
You can use it as a hot white chocolate sauce over desserts like fruit crumble and peach crisp. You can also use it chilled, as a white chocolate dipping sauce. And it’s certainly the most wonderful white chocolate ice cream topping!

How long does white chocolate sauce last?

Your chocolate sauce will last about 7 days, if kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

Someone spooning a pot of white chocolate sauce with crumpet churros on the side

How to make white chocolate sauce without cream

In this UK white chocolate sauce recipe, I don’t actually use cream. I use evaporated milk instead. Evaporated milk is thinner and makes it a little easier to get the right consistency, and not make it too thick.
When melted together, white chocolate and cream are more of a ganache than a sauce. Which isn’t what we’re aiming for here!

How to thicken white chocolate sauce

To thicken this white chocolate sauce, you’ll need to be preemptive rather than reactive. As you will need to use less evaporated milk to begin with, and reduce the sugar slightly.
But fear not! Further down in this post, I give recipes for both thinner AND thicker versions of this white chocolate sauce. So you’ll be set no matter what your saucy needs!

Loved this recipe? Pin it!

White chocolate sauce being spooned from a jar