My all-time favorite Easy FUDGE! It’s super easy to make, no thermometer required and has a great old-fashioned, amazing fudge flavor and texture! 
These days you can hardly visit a tourist town without running across three or four shops advertising their “homemade fudge.”
Even nontourist towns seem to have one or two shops like that in their downtown stretches or main streets.
I have a problem with those shops. Their “homemade fudge” just doesn’t taste all that homemade.
It tastes the same as any tub of fudge you can get at any grocery store—and my choice adjective for the taste of store-bought fudge is “meh.” If you’ve never had real homemade fudge, you are missing out on one of the most succulent, rich candies/desserts you’ve ever enjoyed.
This easy fudge recipe is a great place to get started into that world of homemade fudge wonders.
If you’re checking out other fudge recipes online you’re likely to come across quicker, maybe even simpler recipes for fudge. Don’t fall into the trap!
Those recipes will not have the good old fashioned velvety fudge flavor and texture of this simple fudge recipe. Some recipes are little more than melted chocolate chips and some type of canned-milk product. (Heck, I’ve even seen some microwave fudge recipes.)
Absolutely no judgment at all if that’s what you’re looking for—just be aware that this recipe is the best fudge recipe I’ve ever found in terms of balancing time spent vs. final product.
It requires a minimal investment of maybe 15 minutes (not bad at all!), and produces a luscious fudge that is virtually foolproof. It is decadent enough to be something your grandma would have made.
With some easy fudge recipes, condensed milk is at the core of the whole thing.
I generally find that the fudge ends up with a sickly-sweet flavor, and is way to thick. This is because condensed milk is very thick and very sweet—it provides virtually all of the flavor and texture to those fudge recipes.
This is an easy fudge recipe without condensed milk. Instead, I use evaporated milk. It’s only slightly thicker and sweeter than regular milk, making it perfect for this fudge. My fudge recipe gets its sweetness from other ingredients—it’s a perfectly blended formula for a creamy decade.
This recipe doesn’t require a candy thermometer.
Wait… what? Can I say that again? This recipe does NOT require a candy thermometer!
That is a huge perk of this recipe. I love making candies, but those darn candy thermometers can be a pain. Want to make awesome fudge without all the hassle? Give this recipe a try.
Easy Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-12 Ounce Packages Chocolate Chips
- 1 Cup 2 Sticks Butter, Melted
- 1-7 Ounce Jar Marshmallow Cream
- 4 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1-12 Ounce Can Evaporated Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 Cups Nuts Chopped Optional
Instructions
- Grease a 9 X13 inch baking dish. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl combine chocolate chips, melted butter, and marshmallow cream. Set aside.
- Heat sugar and evaporated milk an extra large, heavy bottom saucepan, over medium heat and bring to a rolling boil. Continue to boil 7 minutes, stirring continuously.
- Pour the sugar/milk mixture over chocolate mixture and stir vigorously until smooth. Stir in vanilla and nuts. Pour into prepared pan and refrigerate until set (overnight is best).
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Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Notes For Easy Fudge:
Pots and Pans: It’s very important to remember to lightly butter the sides of your saucepan.
As you work with that ooey, gooey fudge goodness, having a little grease on the sides of the pan can give you some extra confidence that the mixture won’t stick to your pan. Plus, using butter gives it a great little buttery flavor!
I use a Dutch oven to boil the sugar and evaporated milk, but that’s not absolutely required. I do it because it’s the largest high-sided pan I own. It’s the largeness that is key. As the mixture heats up and boils it expands. If you don’t have a large enough high-sided pan… well, no one wants a hot, sticky mess all over the stove and kitchen. Plus, having on overflow like that could seriously burn you. Make sure to use the largest high-sided pan you own!
The recipe makes a large batch of fudge… like a 5 pound batch. Yay!!
When you’re working with that amount of fudge, getting it to come out of the baking dish easily is incredibly important. I suggest you grease the baking dish lightly with butter—this isn’t a job for plain ol’ nonstick cooking spray.
Another alternative would be to make a sling out of aluminum foil. This possibility is attractive for a few reasons: You can remove the entire 5-pound slab in one piece for easier cutting.
You can use nonstick cooking spray—for some reason the fudge doesn’t seem to stick to the foil as badly as it does to the baking dish.
To make the sling, line the baking dish with a double layer of aluminum foil. Overlap the narrow edges be a few inches. (This overlapped part will become your handles.) The double layer is important because it gives the strength needed to lift a hefty 5-pound slab out of the pan.
Chocolate: When you finally combine the milk/sugar mixture with the melted chocolate mixture try to work as quickly as you can. The fudge starts setting sooner than you think it will, and you want it to remain as soft and malleable as possible to get it in the pan.
This also applies to the rest of the added ingredients.
Have your nuts chopped and all the rest of the ingredients ready and measured before you actually start making the fudge. If you take too much time measuring and such as your working, the fudge may start to set before you’ve got everything in place!
Some people use fudges recipes with cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips. I find that the fudge doesn’t end up as creamy in powder is used, partially because the melted chips do so much to help achieve that awesome final texture.
Weather: It might seem odd to see a note about the weather in a recipe, but actually the overall humidity can really affect your final product with this easy chocolate fudge recipe.
Try to make your fudge on a dry day. If there’s too much humidity, your fudge can have a more sugary texture rather than that creamy, smooth texture we’re going for. If your kitchen happens to be too warm and humid it can cause the butter to separate from the candy.
Cutting: In order to get clean, smooth cuts from your finished fudge, don’t try to cut it right out of the refrigerator. Instead, let it sit until it’s gotten all the way to room temperature before cutting.
Variations: Chocolate fudge is my absolute favorite, and I definitely think you should give this recipe a chance before trying anything else.
Once you’ve tried it, you can experiment with different additions and ingredients.
This could be the basis for an easy peanut butter fudge recipe, or easy cookies and cream fudge recipe. Let me know what you discover!
Trouble Shooting Separating: Sometimes when you make fudge, using ANY recipe, it can separate. I have made this recipe dozens of times and never had it separate. But to make sure it doesn’t happen to you, here are a few tips:
There are a few reasons the butter can separate from the fudge—
- The first is mentioned above, making the fudge when it’s too humid.
- The second reason it can happen is if the directions for stirring aren’t followed exactly. It the recipe calls for constant stirring and you forget or get distracted and only stir occasionally, the butter can separate.
- A third reason there could be separating is if you use a thin bottom pan to make the fudge. Thin bottom (cheaper) pans don’t conduct heat as well and can create “hot spots” which can cause the butter to separate.
- A fourth, and most common reason fudge can separate happens when the candy has undergone an abrupt temperature shift, either becoming too cold or too hot in a very short period of time.
More Candy Ideas?
- Easy Crockpot Candy Recipe— This super delicious chocolate candy recipe practically makes itself. Perfect for gift giving. Makes a Big Batch!
- Cosmic Brownies – Amazing homemade, rich, fudgy topped with a wonderfully thick, chocolate ganache frosting.
- Easy Microwave Fudge Recipe – This candy is infused with chocolate flavor done in only a few minutes!
- White Chocolate Caramel Fudge– This recipe makes a yummy and unique fudge that marry two of everybody’s favorite flavors.
Easy Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe – This smooth texture fudge is infused with delicious goodness for a peanut lover! - Rocky Road Fudge -blends nutty peanut butter, chocolate, and marshmallows into the fudge version of the classic ice cream! It assembles in about 10 minutes!
- White Trash Recipe – Our White Trash Recipe is Crazy Delicious and incredibly addictive! It’s the perfect mix of creamy, crunchy, sweet and salty! Makes a great holiday gift
- Pumpkin Pie Fudge – packs delicious pumpkin pie flavors into a silky, decadent fudge! Combining two holiday must have treats into one… genius!
- Polar Bear Paw a See’s Candies favorite, wraps chewy caramel and peanut centers with smooth white chocolate candy coating & are perfect for the holidays!
This is THE BEST fudge recipe out there! I made many other “miracle” and “fantasy” and “easy” fudge recipes but none were easy or fantasy. Then I came across this one and have made 3 times now. Every batch turned out perfect and I don’t have a candy thermometer! This makes a HUGE amount of fudge. So easy, so yummy!
Hi Kate, I am so glad you have found an amazing fudge recipe that works for you and that you have made it so many times now! Thank you for sharing with us!
So do I melt the butter and chocolate together first, and then add in the sugar/milk mixture to it? I’m a little confused if I’m supposed to melt the chocolate first or not
Hi Katie. No, you only melt the butter. Then you mix the chocolate chips, melted butter, and marshmallow cream together. It all gets melted later, in step 4, when you pour the boiled milk and sugar mixture over it. Hope that helps 🙂
Gosh Jeri, I’m so sorry to hear that. It certainly isn’t supposed to function that way. I’ll have my techies check into it. Again, I’m sorry that happened to you!
I tried this fudge today and it separated as I was stirring it all together. (I think the temperature dropped too quickly.) I didn’t want to just throw the batch out so I put it back into the dutch oven on med-low heat, stirring constantly, and it all came together pretty quickly becoming smooth and shiny. There was some light separation as I put into the baking dish but the fudge turned out great!
Wow! What a great tip Laura. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Just in time for the holidays, I love this fudge recipe that doesn’t require a candy thermometer! Interesting that you mentioned not making this fudge on a wet day with high humidity. I knew that was true for making caramels, but not fudge. Thanks for the tip! Finally, I’m tickled to see you are a Bernese Mountain Dog lover. We have 5 Berners and nary a meal passes that someone doesn’t find a dog hair in their food! 🙂 Merry Christmas
Thank you Jennifer. Wow! I’m envious that you have 5 BMDs. They truly are “potato chip” dogs! Can’t have just one. We have 2 and are constantly delighted and entertained by them. Hope you enjoyed the fudge.
Mine did not come out smooth, I followed the directions to a tee, so not quite sure what happened..mine also pooled with oil at the top like somebody else mentioned. It is almost like the entire mixture didn’t get hot enough for it to get smooth. If I try this recipe a second time I will put it all in the hot pan and mix it together with the burner on still..
This sounds so good and easy! What would you suggest doing for just a small batch? I can not have 5 pounds of fudge near me or else i’ll eat it all!
Hey Carolyne. The recipe can be halved and poured into an 8 X 8 pan 🙂
Sounds wonderful and easy. I have had a similar recipe that I’ve used for years. Only difference is I did use marshmallows and cooked them in with the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. As it came to a boil the marshmallows melted. Boil for the alotted time then add chocolate chips and vanilla. I’m going to try this one.
Thanks so much Kathryn! Great tip!
Stupid question, but do you use milk chocolate , or semi sweet, chips?
I like it made with semi sweet 🙂
Thank you for asking that! I was wondering the same thing!
Can you use mini marshmallows in place of fluff
Hi Sandy. I’ve always made this recipe with the jar of marshmallow fluff. I haven’t tried it with mini marshmallows. I’m sorry!
I’ve been looking for a good homemade fudge recipe and just finished making yours. I haven’t tried it yet, but was concerned by the amount of oil on the top. There is literally pools of oil on top of the fudge. Is this normal? I followed the directions to a tee, and used real butter. Thank you!
Oh girl! No that is not normal! I’m not sure why in the world that would happen. This is a tried and true OLD recipe. It sounds like something didn’t work right I ‘m just not sure how in the world that could have happened!!!!
I tried the recipe (I am NOT a cook) and loved it , came out wonderfully!
Ray, I’m so happy to hear that! Congratulations 🙂
Hey Joyce. It sounds like you have a wonderful recipe! If you share it, I’d love to try it 🙂 Happy Holidays to you!
What is marshmallow cream?
Hi Cindy. Its a spreadable marshmallow cream. It comes in a jar and is widely available commercially.
Can you freeze this fudge?
Yes. I’ve done it many times before. 🙂
This was called millionaire fudge 30 years ago. The recipe used to be on the jar of marshmallow fluff. It is the only fudge I have ever made. The only difference is the choc chips. Originally you used 24 oz of chips and 12 oz of choc bar. It is easily converted into peanut butter (use part crunchy pb for an additional treat)! My father in laws favorite is the white chocolate I make. Experiment with flavors, keep it the same. However you want, JUST MAKE IT! You won’t be sorry!!!!!
Thanks Judy 🙂
I made this yesterday, turned out PERFECT.
Made it today and substituted White chocolate and it is SUPER SOFT. Can you tell me what I possibly did wrong?
HELP
Oh that’s you 🙂 I have seen the photos on Pinterest and here I am ! Good for me 🙂 Thank you for sharing and have a pleasant day !
Hi 2pots2cooks. So happy you’re here!