2-Ingredient Easy No Bake Chocolate Fudge

No fussing around with candy thermometers — you can make thick, chocolately 2-ingredient fudge in just a few minutes. This practically foolproof microwave recipe is a perfect dessert for the holiday season!

I don’t know about you, but I find making traditional fudge hard. It’s so unforgiving with such a complicated process. Getting the fudge to the right temperature for the right amount of time while adding perfect amounts of ingredients in at just the right moment makes me feel crazy. And then I don’t even know if it came out for another four hours! 

Which is why I adore this super easy microwave fudge recipe. Using a couple of kitchen shortcuts allows me to toss the crazy and make fudge in my microwave in under 5 minutes. It sets up within an hour, and the end result? It’s creamy, smooth, and, well, fudgy! The chocolate flavor is deep and delicious. The hardest part of this recipe is not eating it all in one sitting!

What’s in 2-ingredient fudge? 

Two simple pantry staples make up this fudge, which is another reason to love it. You can keep these ingredients in your cupboard for just the right moment!

• Chocolate Frosting: Any store-bought 16 oz can of frosting will work for this. Pick your favorite brand and start making creamy fudge. I love Duncan Hines creamy chocolate flavor. 
• Semisweet Chocolate Chips: You’ll need 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips for this recipe. The chocolate chips are the secret to getting your fudge to set quickly.
• Optional: Mix-ins and decorations: Feel free to add additions to the base recipe. This fudge is fantastic with chopped walnuts or almonds mixed in. I also love adding sprinkles, chopped nuts, or flavored chips to the top to make these look absolutely gorgeous. Flaky salt is another elegant option, although, unlike the others, that is best sprinkled on just before serving. 

Making microwave fudge

Step 1 | Melt the frosting

Open your can of frosting and pop it in the microwave. You’re going to melt it completely. It takes me 1 minute in my microwave to get a lovely chocolate soup. 

Step 2 | Melt the chocolate chips

Place your chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave them in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until all the chips are smoothly melted. 

Step 3 | Combine

Pour the melted frosting into the chocolate chips and stir them until relatively smooth. You may have some small lumps — they will disappear into the fudge as it sets. If you are adding mix-ins, this is when you want to stir them in to your fudge base.

Step 4 | Let it set

Line a 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper or wax paper. Pour the fudge mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out. This is the perfect time to make decorative swirls on the top of the fudge with your spatula!

If you want to add decoration to the top, sprinkle your sprinkles, chips, or nuts on after a couple of minutes. You want the fudge to have colled to the touch so that you can avoid melting your sprinkles. 

You can leave your fudge to set up on the counter, or you can take the shortcut and put it in the fridge. On the counter, it will take about 2 hours to set up. In the fridge, it will be ready to go in about an hour. 

Substitutions

While there are only 2 simple ingredients in this easy fudge recipe, you can still make a few changes and have this come out right. Here are a few I can vouch for: 

•  For the frosting: You can make this with many kinds of canned frosting. If you can’t find regular chocolate, try vanilla frosting, cream cheese, dark chocolate, buttercream, or even strawberry. I do not recommend using whipped frosting varieties or coconut pecan. Another option is to sub the frosting with a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk. You don’t need to melt the milk — just add it directly to the melted chocolate chips. 
• For the chocolate chips: You can make this with white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips. This is also fantastic with 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 peanut butter chips. You can also drop the chocolate chips entirely and use a 16 oz jar of peanut butter. Both creamy peanut butter and crunchy peanut butter work!

How do I store leftovers?

The leftover fudge can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. Just put it in an airtight container, and it will keep for up to one week. 

You can freeze this fudge. Place it in a freezer safe container. It will keep for up to 3 months. To thaw, just place it on the counter for 4 hours or overnight.