Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce
This quick and easy homemade salted caramel sauce recipe requires only four ingredients, takes just 15 minutes, and comes out perfect every single time.
It's absolutely divine on ice cream sundaes, can be used in any recipe calling for caramel sauce (hello, salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars!), makes a wonderful hostess gift, and, most importantly, is delicious straight from the spoon (feel free to drop an extra spoonful in your coffee!).
The salted caramel possibilities are truly endless, especially when you have a no-fail, go-to recipe. I've found the simplest method to be the best when making caramel sauce – a pan, a whisk, and just a few simple ingredients is all you need.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Caramel Sauce
It’s easy to understand why people fall in love with a homemade salted caramel sauce; it’s not as cloyingly sweet as store-bought versions and has a much greater depth of flavor.
It doesn’t take much time or many ingredients to churn out a batch in your own kitchen and I guarantee you’ll be addicted! Here are the highlights:
- Quick: It only takes 15 minutes to get a smooth, creamy salted caramel sauce.
- Simple: You only need four ingredients and no fancy equipment.
- Lots of help: There are expert tips on making the recipe, as well as a video to guide you.
The Ingredients
These four ingredients undergo a magical transformation and result in the most amazing caramel sauce you’ll ever taste.
- Sugar: Regular white, granulated sugar.
- Unsalted Butter: Use the best butter you can, it makes such a difference in flavor! I love Kerrygold and highly recommend it. I use unsalted butter so that we can completely control the salt content in the sauce. If you can only use salted butter, you can do so but add only 2 teaspoons of the flaky sea salt, then taste and add more if desired.
- Heavy Cream: This is best at room temperature so it incorporates into the sauce properly. Heavy cream can be labeled in many different ways depending on the fat content; you can also use whipping cream, heavy whipping cream, light whipping cream, or double cream. Do not substitute milk, it is not thick enough for making this sauce.
- Salt: I highly recommend using flaky sea salt like fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt. If you need to substitute regular table salt, use only 1 teaspoon, or the sauce will be much too salty!
How to Make Salted Caramel
Caramel sauce can be intimidating, but the more you make it, the more you will get a feel for the look and the smell, and it will become second nature.
Here's a quick rundown of the process:
- Sugar goes straight into the saucepan (no water!) and is melted over medium heat, while you stir constantly. The sugar may clump at first but it will all eventually melt.
- Continue cooking until the melted sugar is a gorgeous amber color, then add the butter and whisk until it is completely melted.
- Remove the pan from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream, then stir in the salt. Your caramel sauce is done!
No Candy Thermometer Required
It is not necessary to use a thermometer when making this caramel sauce; simply using visual cues will work perfectly!
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The sauce may seem thinner than you'd expect when you're done whisking everything in, but it will thicken as it cools.
Recipe Success Tips
Below are a number of tips to help you make the most amazing caramel sauce!
- Prep Your Ingredients: Have all of the ingredients measured, at room temperature, and ready to go before you begin making the sauce. Things move quickly once the sugar starts to melt and pausing for a measurement or to grab something could cause the sauce to burn.
- Scaling the Recipe: Due to how much the sauce bubbles up when the heavy cream is added, doubling or tripling the recipe is not recommended. If you’d like to make a larger volume, I recommend making separate batches.
How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Salted Caramel Sauce
Allow the sauce to cool for a bit in the pot, then pour into a glass jar or other airtight container and cool completely, then store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. You can gently warm it up in the microwave or on the stove over low heat before using it again.
You can also freeze salted caramel sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then reheat as desired.
Can This Be Used for Caramel Apples?
While this is a delicious caramel sauce, it will not work for caramel apples; it is not thick enough to cling and set as a coating on the apples. I recommend using my homemade caramel apples recipe instead.
How to Use the Sauce
This salted caramel sauce quite literally goes with everything! Here are some ideas of how to use it, serve it, or gift it:
- Drizzle it over ice cream, brownies, pie, or cheesecake.
- Use it as a dip for apple slices or other fruit.
- Stir a spoonful into hot chocolate or coffee.
- Put it in a pretty mason jar, tie a ribbon around it, and give it as a hostess gift, birthday gift, or holiday gift.
- Whip it into buttercream frosting.
- Eat it by the spoonful.
Recipes That Use Salted Caramel Sauce
Use your batch of homemade caramel sauce in these recipes:
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Bars
- Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
- Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Salted Caramel Apple Cake
- Snickers Cupcakes
Watch the Recipe Video:
If you make this salted caramel recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating - it helps others find the recipe! ❤️️
Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (397 g) granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon fleur de sel, or any other flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Add the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a medium (3 to 4-quart) saucepan. Heat the sugar over medium heat, whisking it as it begins to melt. You'll see that the sugar will begin to form clumps, but that's okay. Just keep whisking and as it continues to cook, they will melt back down. Stop whisking once all of the sugar has melted, and swirl the pan occasionally while the sugar cooks.
- Continue cooking until the sugar has reached a deep amber color. It should look almost a reddish-brown, and have a slight toasted aroma. This is the point where caramel can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye.
- As soon as the caramel reaches its sweet spot, add the butter all at once. Be careful, as the caramel will bubble up when the butter is added. Whisk the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted. Remove the pan from heat.
- Slowly pour the cream into the caramel. Again, be careful because the mixture will once again bubble up ferociously.
- Whisk until all of the cream has been incorporated and you have a smooth sauce. Add the fleur de sel and whisk to incorporate.
- Set the sauce aside to cool for 10 to 15 minutes and then pour into your favorite glass jar and let cool to room temperature. The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Salt – I highly recommend using flaky sea salt like fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt. If you need to substitute table salt, use only 1 to 1½ teaspoons, or the sauce will be much too salty!
- Saucepan – It is important to use a saucepan of at least 4-quart capacity. It will seem too big for the job, but when the butter and cream are added, the sauce bubbles up ferociously, and you need that space so it doesn’t boil over.
- Storage – The caramel sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. This recipe is not suitable for canning or long-term storage.
- Freezing – The sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using it.
- Reheating Instructions – To reheat the sauce, remove the lid from the jar and microwave for about 45 seconds, then stir. It should be smooth and pourable, but not piping hot.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
what is the difference between caramel and dulce de leche? I’ve made DDL many times and it tastes pretty caramel-y…ish. Are they at all interchangeable?
Hi Gretchen, Caramel is essentially cooked sugar, while dulce de leche is cooked sweetened condensed milk. They don’t taste exactly the same, but you could probably use one for the other in a pinch.
Looks delicious! Congratulations on the Top 9!
What miraculous luck to come across this post (and your blog) at random just as I was thinking about adding an element to a soon-to-be dessert with both a sweet and salty spark! Plus I have been in search of a perfect and simple approach to caramel, and this seems to fit the bill. I look forward to trying it out… Thanks so much for sharing!
and I look forward to reading through your blog more. :)
I’ve made salted caramel frosting before with homemade salted caramel, similar to yours above, but mine always ALWAYS gets chunks of caramel in it — like strings of solidified caramel — I pick them out and use the rest of it, and it’s fine — but I cannot seem to master the art of caramel making. Maybe I need a thermometer?
Wow, great job! My favorite drink, well was until they pulled it, was the Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks….now that it is gone I guess I’ll just have to make my own! Love your blog, keep up the great work :)
Which salt is better for this recipe , coarse or grounded sea salt ?
I would argue neither, as ideally you’d really want to use a flaky sea salt such as fleur de sel or maldon. If you can’t find either, use a fine sea salt.
Oh this looks fantastic! Love, love this!!!!! congrats on top 9!
Great tutorial. Looks so yummy! Must try.
I’m bookmarking it for a future recipe. Congratulations on making the foodbuzz Top 9!
Please pass the caramel! Yum!
Hi! Love your blog!
This looks and sounds absolutely delicious, and I would love to try it. However, I am very new to baking and I don’t know if I could handle this. What do you think?
Should I just give it a try or keep working with simpler recipes?
Also, are there any tips you have for new bakers trying to become experts? Any recipes that are good starters?
Thanks you so much!!
Jess
Hi Jessica, Absolutely give it a try! If you just keep making simpler recipes, you won’t get experiment with anything else ;-) The worst that will happen is the sugar will burn. If you’re nervous, halve the recipe so if it doesn’t turn out the worst case scenario is you lose 1 cup of sugar. Not so bad! As for tips – just keep trying new recipes. The more time you spend in the kitchen, the more confidence you’ll have, and the more you’ll start to understand how the ingredients are working together. If you’re trying a new or more challenging recipe, do some Googling, see if there are variations, any common problems that people run into, etc. The biggest thing is just trial and error. Happy Baking! :)
So I’ve made salted caramel sauce several times, but this was my first attempt at the dry method. Oddly, even though I was trying to wisk the sugar as it melted, all the sudden I had very amber colored melted sugar at the bottom while half of it hadn’t melted! Needless to say, by the time I got it all melted (within like a minute or 2?) it was already the right color, but of course it seized up pretty bad when I added the butter and the cream. I salvaged a decent amount of it and I know it’s still going to taste amazing, but I lost a pretty big quantity of sugar to the bottom and sides of my pan :( Not sure why this happened so quickly. When I’ve used the wet method it’s taken 10-20 minutes to get amber-colored. I’m going to blame my old electric stove. Maybe I should keep the heat much lower next time?
Hi Ann, The dry method takes a lot less time than the water and sugar method. That being said, I constantly have trouble cooking on electric stoves. They take longer to get to temperature and then maintain, making it very difficult to truly control temperature if you need to bump it down. Next time I would try lower heat and see if that helps.
Looks delicious! I’m thinking a mocha base with this frosting would be divine (kinda like a Salted Caramel Mocha from St@rbucks). I’m partial to vanilla beans so I may try it on a vanilla bean base as well. :)
Oops, posted this on the wrong post! Should have been on your Salted Caramel Cupcake post. ;)
I just made this, and even though It’s overdone it’s amazing! Thanks for the great recipe! A warning to fellow readers though: don’t get your stove too hot or else it will get to 350F before you’re done whisking.
Salted Caramel is amazing stuff. I adore it. You are making me seriously hungry and I just finished dinner.
I totally want to stick my apple in that beautiful jar and drench it in your homemade salted caramel sauce….my mouth is watering…. oh yea…. :)
This is fabulous. When I first saw the photo I thought it was a straw. I was thinking “finally someone who likes caramel as much as me”. Lol. Great recipe.
I just made this and it turned out fabulous! I’d been thinking about trying the “dry” method for making caramel, just to see how it compared to the “wet” versions I’d made before. I decided to take the plunge tonight so I could take little jars of it to two friends tomorrow. And I’m happy to say that I’m officially a “dry” convert! I think it was less time consuming, plus for some reason it seemed like it was easier to tell when it was “just right” without edging too close to burning it. So thanks so much!!!
Beautiful sauce! What a great staple to have on hand!
I recently made caramel for the very first time when making my latest creation (on my blog). I used a different recipe using condensed milk and it came out perfectly but I’m so glad I saw this post as I can see where it’s so easy to go wrong.
This sauce looks so delightful. I can’t wait to try it and then think of ways I can add it to almost everything I eat! :)
Since it’s in a mason jar, does that mean I can drink it!? All I need is a straw :) Looks great and I always love when the simple version is best!
Yes, drinking it is perfectly acceptable :)
This makes me want to purchase an ice cream maker even more! Imagine this drizzled over vanilla or coffee ice cream….drool!
oh my god this is amazing. i am definitely making this next time i make vanilla ice cream!
Do you think I could use Sucanat? Its all I have in the house but I do happen to have some left over heavy cream that I need to use it or lose it!
Hi Jenny, You could try it, but I have no idea how it would turn out. It would be much sweeter, since it looks to be more of a brown sugar than regular white granulated sugar. I would recommend using white sugar, if you can.
Update! I tried sucanat and I think it would have worked, had I not burnt it! I burned it in the beginning but followed through anyway. It had a nice flavor until the burnt flavor crept in :P Then I tried white sugar and it burned before it hit 350. So my third attempt I ditched the cast iron dutch oven and used an All-Clad and turned the heat down then off just after 300 and its pretty good! Still a slight burnt tinge but not enough for us to stop eating it by the spoonful. I will definitely keep playing with it to see where I can catch that darn spot where it starts to burn. Maybe I need a new thermometer!
Hi Jenny, I’m glad it eventually worked out! My guess is that because cast iron retains heat so well, it got much hotter than a typical stainless steel pan.
Made this today – OMG, the best and easiest caramel I have ever made. Will be my go to recipe from now on! Thanks for a great post!
This caramel sauce looks wonderful and thank you for telling us how long it will keep in the fridge. Appreciate that.
So glad you did the tutorial! I will have to try this soon!
This looks amazing. I feel like I always use a different caramel recipe each time I make it, but it’d be nice to have one to always use, and this looks perfect!
I’ve only tried the dry method once and I had really great results. Not sure why I didn’t go back to it… I’m excited to give this recipe a try! Salted caramel is the best :)
I could definitely eat it by the spoonful!