To make sugar-free hot chocolate, skip the cocoa mix and melt pure 100% cacao into hot water or milk without adding sugar. Pure cacao has almost no sugar of its own (about 0.2 g in the 20 g that goes into a mug, by USDA figures for unsweetened baking chocolate, the closest USDA match for 100% cacao), so nearly all the sugar in your cup comes from the milk and anything you stir in. For the least sugar, use water or an unsweetened plant milk, and sweeten it, if you like, with a sugar substitute.
How to make sugar-free hot chocolate (3 ways)
All three use 20 g of cacao (about 2 tablespoons of pieces) and the same method: melt the pieces in about 3 tablespoons of the liquid over low heat, whisk in the rest, warm to about 180°F (82°C) without boiling, then froth. It comes from our cacao hot chocolate recipe, which has the full steps and a microwave option. New to unsweetened cacao? Start with 10 g (about 1 tablespoon).
1. Unsweetened hot chocolate with cinnamon and vanilla
- 20 g cacao pieces (about 2 tablespoons): Alma Cacao or another 100% cacao paste
- 1 cup (8 oz, 240 ml) liquid: water or an unsweetened plant milk, or dairy milk (whole milk adds about 12 g of natural sugar per cup)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- A tiny pinch of fine salt
Whisk the cinnamon and salt into the melted cacao before you add the rest of the liquid, so the spice blends in instead of floating, and stir in the vanilla off the heat. Our dairy-free hot chocolate compares plant milks.
2. Lightly sweet, with a sugar substitute
- 20 g cacao pieces (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 cup (8 oz, 240 ml) milk: an unsweetened plant milk, or dairy milk (it adds natural sugar)
- A sugar substitute such as monk fruit or stevia: the amount your package lists as equal to 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar
- A tiny pinch of fine salt
- Optional: ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Whisk in the sweetener once the cacao has melted, until no grains remain, then taste and adjust. Sweeteners vary a lot in strength (monk fruit and stevia extracts are many times sweeter than sugar), so go by the sugar equivalent on your package. Using allulose? It is itself a sugar, though US labels can leave it out of the sugar count under FDA guidance. Happy with a little sugar? Start with 1 teaspoon of maple syrup or honey.
3. Keto-style hot chocolate
- 20 g cacao pieces (about 2 tablespoons)
- ¾ cup (6 oz, 180 ml) unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- A sugar substitute, to taste
- A tiny pinch of fine salt
Make the base with the almond milk, then whisk in the cream and sweetener off the heat before you froth. Cream plus cacao butter gives a thick, glossy cup.
Net carbs: the cacao adds about 2.4 g of what many carb counters call net carbs (carbohydrate minus fiber), by the same USDA figures; the table below has the full breakdown. Counting the almond milk and cream too, by USDA figures for each, the whole cup comes to about 5 g before sweetener. Brands vary, so check your labels.
Where the sugar in hot chocolate comes from
Three things put sugar into a mug of pure cacao hot chocolate:
- The milk. Dairy milk has its own natural sugar, lactose: about 12 g in a cup of whole milk, by USDA figures. Labels count it in Total Sugars, not Added Sugars. Water adds none; with plant milk, pick one labeled unsweetened and check its Total Sugars line.
- The sweetener. Honey and maple syrup are still sugar: the FDA counts sugars from syrups and honey as added sugars.
- The extras. Spices and salt add next to none, but vanilla extract is allowed to contain sugar or corn syrup under US rules (check the label), and toppings such as marshmallows add sugar back.
Sugar-free cocoa: what you are actually buying
"Sugar-free cocoa" can mean two different products. Unsweetened cocoa powder is just cocoa, with no sweetener and very little sugar of its own. A sugar-free hot cocoa mix is cocoa sweetened with a sugar substitute, and it may also contain other ingredients, such as thickeners or flavorings, so read the ingredient list. On a US label, "sugar free" means less than 0.5 g of sugars per serving.
Either way, cocoa is cacao with most of its butter pressed out: USDA lists 13.7 g of fat per 100 g of unsweetened cocoa powder, against 52.3 g for unsweetened baking chocolate. Whole cacao paste keeps all of it, so a mug made from paste tastes full even unsweetened, while a cocoa powder mug comes out thinner. More in our guide to how cacao and cocoa differ.
Healthy hot chocolate: what is actually in the cup
People looking for a healthy hot chocolate usually want less sugar, a short ingredient list and nothing added to the chocolate itself. Cacao is a food, not a medicine, so here is what 20 g of pure cacao brings to the mug:
| In 20 g of pure cacao | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | About 128 |
| Fat | About 10.5 g |
| Carbohydrate | About 5.7 g |
| Fiber | About 3.3 g |
| Sugars | About 0.2 g |
Computed from USDA FoodData Central values for unsweetened baking chocolate, the closest USDA match for 100% cacao. Reference values, not a lab test of any one bag, ours included. Our ceremonial cacao nutrition guide has the full facts, minerals included.
A 20 g cup also has about 16 to 32 mg of caffeine, a sixth to a third of the caffeine in a typical 8 oz cup of brewed coffee (about 95 mg). The low figure is USDA's; published lab data for baking chocolate run about twice as high, because cacao varies from bean to bean. Cacao also has far more theobromine than caffeine. Theobromine is a mild stimulant, so people sensitive to caffeine or other stimulants may feel it. If you are pregnant or nursing, take medication or manage a health condition, check with your healthcare provider first. Cacao and chocolate are toxic to dogs, so keep your cup out of reach. More on how much caffeine cacao has, cup by cup.
Common questions
How do you sweeten hot chocolate without sugar?
Use a sugar substitute such as monk fruit or stevia: start with the amount your package lists as equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar, whisk until no grains remain, then taste. A tiny pinch of salt softens bitterness, and cinnamon and vanilla add warmth. Honey and maple syrup do not count, since US labels list them as added sugars.
Is unsweetened hot chocolate bitter?
Yes. With no sweetener, a cup of 100% cacao tastes like the darkest chocolate: deep, rich and bitter. A tiny pinch of salt takes the edge off, and our dark hot chocolate guide has more ways to soften it.
Can you make keto hot chocolate with cacao paste?
Yes. Melt 20 g of 100% cacao paste into ¾ cup of unsweetened almond milk, then whisk in 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and a sugar substitute. By USDA figures for unsweetened baking chocolate, the closest USDA match for 100% cacao, 20 g has about 5.7 g of carbohydrate, including about 3.3 g of fiber, so about 2.4 g of net carbs. With the almond milk and cream, by USDA figures for each, the whole cup comes to about 5 g of net carbs before sweetener; brands vary, so check your labels.
Is sugar-free hot chocolate low in calories?
Not necessarily, because sugar-free is about sugar, not calories. By USDA figures for unsweetened baking chocolate, the closest USDA match for 100% cacao, 20 g of pure cacao has about 128 calories, most of them from its cacao butter, and milk or cream adds more.
Is sugar-free cocoa the same as unsweetened cocoa?
Not quite. Unsweetened cocoa is plain cocoa powder with no sweetener, while a sugar-free cocoa mix adds a sugar substitute and may contain other ingredients, so check the label.
How Alma Cacao fits in
We make these mugs with Alma Cacao, our ceremonial cacao: one ingredient, 100% whole cacao paste in small pieces that melt in about a minute, so how sweet your cup gets is up to you. It is single-origin, from native communities of the Peruvian Amazon, and traditionally fermented, sun-dried and stone ground in small batches. It is tested for heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury) by an ISO 17025 accredited lab and made in a GMP certified facility.
The co-op we source from gives 2% back to the producer communities, and we donate another 2% of every sale to For the Love of Mateo. A ½ lb Starter makes about 11 of these 20 g mugs, and the 1 lb canister is our most popular size.
