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23 Fancy Ice Cream Sundaes That Put Store-Bought Chocolate Syrup to Shame

Ice cream sundaes: They’re nostalgic, customizable, extravagant and shareable (although we wouldn’t blame you for keeping one all to yourself). So why limit your indulgence to an annual banana split from your favorite scoop shop? We’ve rounded up 23 ice cream sundae recipes below, so you can enjoy them at home on the reg. Whether you’re all about hot fudge, grilled fruit or homemade caramel, there’s sure to be a treat here that’ll hit the spot.

20 No-Churn Ice Cream Recipes That Don’t Require a Fancy Ice Cream Maker


ice cream sundaes grilled pineapple split sundae with cherry sauce recipe
Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

1. Grilled Pineapple Split Sundae With Cherry Sauce

  • Time Commitment: 40 minutes
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients

We know *exactly* what to do with your farmers market cherry haul. Cook them with sugar and water on the stovetop, mash them to extract all their juices and strain them to create a vibrant syrup.

ice cream sundaes strawberry magic shell recipe
Photo: Mark Weinberg/Styling: Erin McDowell

2. 3-ingredient Strawberry Ice Cream Shell

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <10 ingredients, <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

Repurpose those freeze-dried strawberries that you forgot about in the pantry to create this lightning-fast ice cream topper. You can make 12 sundaes’ worth in 10 minutes flat.

ice cream sundaes cheaters bananas foster recipe hero
Taryn Pire

3. Cheater’s Bananas Foster

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

Nothing spices up a plain bowl of vanilla like buttery, brown sugar-y caramelized bananas. Peaches, plums, raspberries, mango and apples could all take over for banana, in case they aren’t your thing.

ice cream sundaes pineapple caramel sundae
Photo: Carmen Emmi/Styling: Caroline Lange

4. Ice Cream Sundae With Pineapple Caramel

  • Time Commitment: 20 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly

Canned pineapple juice + sugar + butter = the most spectacular, unexpected caramel you’ll ever make. To sweeten the pot even further, we finish the ice cream (vanilla or coconut are ideal) with toasted coconut flakes for crunch.

ice cream sundaes disney kitchen sink recipe cat
Disney Parks Blog

5. The Kitchen Sink Sundae From Disney’s Beach Club Resort

  • Time Commitment: 15 minutes
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, <30 minutes

Round up all the hungry friends you have and every spoon in your kitchen for this behemoth. Not only does it boast eight scoops of ice cream, but it’s also topped with an astounding 23 toppings, including cupcakes, cookies, candy bars and peanut butter sauce.

ice cream sundaes nectarine sundaes
The Recipe Critic

6. Grilled Nectarine Sundaes

  • Time Commitment: 20 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

The nectarines are brushed with honey and brown sugar, then popped on the grill until charred. Even better, there are puddles of decadent Nutella where the pits once were.

ice cream sundaes crossiant sundaes
How Sweet Eats

7. Crispy Croissant Sundaes With Red Wine Hot Fudge

  • Time Commitment: 30 minutes
  • Why I Love It: beginner-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Three of our favorite things in one bowl: breakfast, dessert and vino. The croissants are toasted in butter before being nestled between scoops of vanilla ice cream.

ice cream sundaes salted caramel chocolate covered potato chip sundaes 1
Half Baked Harvest

8. Salted Caramel Chocolate-covered Potato Chip Sundaes

  • Time Commitment: 45 minutes
  • Why I Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, gluten free

If you don’t make a second batch of chocolate-drizzled kettle chips just for munching, you’re doing it wrong. The peanut butter hot fudge adds an extra layer of salt to the sweet treat.

ice cream sundaes smores sundaes
Feed Me Phoebe

9. S’mores Sundaes

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

This dessert tastes like peak summer. Roast the marshmallows in foil on a hot grill to minimize mess and serve the sundaes in martini glasses for a grown-up spin on s’mores.

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The Modern Proper

10. Salted Caramel Apple Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 50 minutes
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Use a firm, tart-sweet type of apple, like Honeycrisp, that can hold its own against the heat without turning to mush. Drive the autumnal theme home by finishing each sundae with a dollop of apple butter.

ice cream sundaes brownie sundae
A Cookie Named Desire

11. Brownie Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

Start with store-bought brownies or make your own. (If you go the homemade or boxed mix route, stuff them with Oreos, cookie dough bites or nuts to surprise the kids.)

ice cream sundaes coffee salted caramel sauce
Salt & Wind

12. Coffee Salted Caramel Sauce

  • Time Commitment: 30 minutes
  • Why I Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

A few scoops of instant espresso add nuance, pleasant bitterness and much appreciated caffeine to this sundae staple. As for ice cream flavors, it tastes heavenly on chocolate, vanilla, dulce de leche, coffee and everything in between.

ice cream sundaes grilled banana sundae
Damn Delicious

13. Grilled Banana Ice Cream Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: beginner-friendly, <30 minutes, <10 ingredients

Bring on the cinnamon for these smoky, caramelized bananas. Feel free to substitute blueberries or raspberries for strawberries, or to use caramel or peanut butter sauce in place of chocolate syrup.

ice cream sundaes sundae pie
How Sweet Eats

14. Coffee Ice Cream Hot Fudge Sundae Pie With A Macaroon Crust

  • Time Commitment: 1 hour
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, gluten free

The chewy, five-ingredient macaroon crust is a total gamechanger, although you can save time by using a store-bought graham cracker, pie or Oreo crust.

ice cream sundaes fried ice cream
The Recipe Critic

15. Easy Fried Ice Cream

  • Time Commitment: 1 hour and 45 minutes
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients

You don’t need a flash freezer or deep fryer to pull this beloved novelty dessert off. All it takes is cornflakes, a skillet and a baking sheet.

ice cream sundaes bottoms up irish brownie sundae floats with burnt irish caramel hot fudge 2
Half Baked Harvest

16. Mini Chocolate Stout Brownie Sundae Floats With Burnt Irish Caramel And Hot Fudge

  • Time Commitment: 1 hour
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

Let us break this down for you: There’s Irish whiskey in the caramel, Guinness in the brownie batter and Irish cream in the hot fudge and coconut whipped cream. Any questions?

ice cream sundaes grilled pineapple donuts 3
Grandbaby Cakes

17. Grilled Pineapple Doughnut Sundaes

  • Time Commitment: 45 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <10 ingredients, special occasion-worthy, beginner-friendly

The key to the pineapple’s flavor is soaking it in a gooey sauce made with brown sugar, rum and orange juice. Give the doughnut sammies a tropical vibe by using coconut or mango ice cream in place of vanilla.

ice cream sundaes red white and blueberry sundae
Dinner at the Zoo

18. Red, White And Blueberry Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 15 minutes
  • Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

To quote Paulette Bonafonté, “you look like the Fourth of July!” Think vanilla, strawberry and blueberry ice creams doused in marshmallow sauce, candy melts and fresh fruit syrups. In case you thought it couldn’t get more seasonal, the sundae is served in a hulled-out watermelon.

ice cream sundaes grilled peaches 4
Ambitious Kitchen

19. Grilled Peach Salted Peanut Butter Caramel Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 15 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients

Charred summer peaches > bowls. You can riff on these however you’d like, but we’re partial to this sweet-and-salty combination starring 5-minute vegan salted peanut butter caramel.

ice cream sundaes caramel brownie blue diamond ice cream sundae v4 copy
What’s Gaby Cooking

20. Caramel Brownie Ice Cream Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Complete with rocky road ice cream, chocolate-covered almonds and chocolate curls. Add an additional layer of chopped strawberries for a hint of freshness.

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Cookie and Kate

21. Balsamic Stone Fruit Sundae

  • Time Commitment: 45 minutes
  • Why I Love It: special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

A mix of stone fruits is chopped and tossed in sugar and balsamic vinegar before being roasted to jammy perfection. Take your pick of peaches, nectarines, plums or cherries (or go ahead and use them all).

ice cream sundaes apple pie sundaes
Minimalist Baker

22. Apple Pie Sundaes

  • Time Commitment: 30 minutes
  • Why I Love It: vegan, dairy free, gluten free, beginner-friendly

Coconut oil, coconut sugar and plant-based ice cream make this dairy-free sundae possible. We’ll take extra candied maple-cinnamon pecans on ours, please.

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Two Peas & Their Pod

23. Banana Split

  • Time Commitment: 10 minutes
  • Why I Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

This classic sundae hits us right in the childhood. All the O.G. fixings are there, from the diced pineapple to the chopped peanuts to the maraschino cherries. It’s pure nostalgia, and a must-make before summer ends.


Taryn Pire is PureWow’s associate food editor. A former bartender and barista, she’s been writing about all things delicious since 2016, developing recipes, reviewing restaurants and investigating food trends at Food52, New Jersey Family Magazine and Taste Talks. When she isn’t testing TikTok’s latest viral recipe, she’s having popcorn for dinner and posting about it on Instagram @cookingwithpire.


taryn pire

Food Editor

  • Contributes to PureWow's food vertical
  • Spearheads PureWow's recipe vertical and newsletter
  • Studied English and writing at Ithaca College