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You’ll only need 6 ingredients to make this easy salted caramel sauce. It’s so simple and delicious and it makes for the perfect topping for just about any dessert. From ice cream to brownies to cheesecake, you won’t be able to resist.
Easy Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe
Just hearing the words “salted caramel sauce” makes my mouth water. The rich, sweet flavor of classic caramel with just the right amount of cream marries beautifully with a perfect pop of salt, creating an unforgettable dessert topping. The addicting flavor and the silky smooth, velvety texture of this caramel sauce make it good enough to eat out of the jar, but I suppose you could go a more conventional route and drizzle it over ice cream or a gooey brownie. However you choose to enjoy it, you won’t be sorry. Plus, it’s super easy to make!
This is the perfect recipe for those of you looking to dip your toes into the world of caramel. Other versions, like my Classic Homemade Caramel Sauce, are a little trickier to get right. This recipe, on the other hand, is super user-friendly and will yield fabulous results every time.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce
I have been perfecting this salted caramel sauce recipe for years and, I’ll tell you what, it really is something to write home about. Here’s why I love it so much and why I think you will too.
- Surprisingly easy. Making your own sauce might sound complicated but it’s really not. In just a few simple steps (and only 6 ingredients) you’ll have yourself a restaurant-quality salted caramel sauce. You don’t even need a candy thermometer for this one!
- Adjustable. You can make this dessert topping as salty (or unsalty) as you want. Start with 1/2 a teaspoon, give it a taste, and add more if you’d like. Not that into the “salted” part of salted caramel sauce? Add just a pinch of salt to elevate the flavor without overwhelming your taste buds.
- It goes on everything. Ok maybe not chicken, but you can drizzle this caramel sauce over pretty much any dessert you can think of. Check out the section below titled “Ways To Use Salted Caramel Sauce” for inspiration.
What You’ll Need
Here’s a list of ingredients needed to make the best salted caramel sauce ever. Don’t forget to scroll to the recipe card below for precise measurements.
- Granulated sugar – The sugar actually melts and turns into caramel as it cooks. This is where your flavor is coming from.
- Water – This helps the sugar not burn as it sits and boils. The addition of the water is why it’s called “wet-method” caramel sauce.
- Unsalted butter – You really want to be able to control your salt content here, so go for unsalted butter.
- Heavy whipping cream – This is giving the caramel sauce it’s pourable factor. The high fat content in heavy cream also gives it a creamy texture. Don’t swap this out for milk or something else or it’ll thin out your sauce.
- Vanilla extract – For nice flavor.
- Salt – Use as little or as much as you like to achieve your desired saltiness.
How To Make Salted Caramel Sauce
It really is easier than you think. Just follow these simple (and few) steps and you’ll be drizzling homemade caramel sauce over every dessert in sight in no time.
- Dissolve the sugar. Whisk together the granulated sugar and water and cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the butter. Add the butter and let it melt.
- Cook. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and boil until the mixture turns a deep golden copper color.
- Make it creamy. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the heavy whipping cream, whisking as you go.
- Add some flavor. Whisk in the vanilla extract and half a teaspoon of salt (or more if you’re feeling spunky).
- Cool. Allow the caramel sauce to cool. Note that it will thicken as it cools.
Tips for Success
Striving for the perfect salted caramel sauce? Good. Here are some tips and tricks that will set you on the right track.
- Hands off. Once you bring the caramel sauce to a boil, it’s time to stop whisking. Whisking the sauce is a one-way ticket to crystallization, which you don’t want here. So, leave it be until it’s reached that deep golden copper color you are looking for.
- Keep an eye on it. While you shouldn’t whisk or stir while the caramel sauce is cooking, you do want to keep an eye on it. It’s possible that some parts of the sauce will brown more quickly than others. If needed, you can occasionally tip the pan from side to side to help things cook evenly.
- Stay safe. When you add the heavy cream, the caramel will bubble up quite a bit. So keep any exposed skin (and/or eyes) out of the way.
Ways To Use Salted Caramel Sauce
Gosh. I feel like homemade caramel sauce could go on anything. I’ve picked some of my favorites to set you in the right direction, though. Don’t be afraid to explore my blog for other options. It’s full of dessert recipes that would love the company of this sweet, velvety treat.
- Brownies. Drizzling salted caramel sauce over brownies is one of the best things I have ever encountered in the history of all desserts. Test it out with my Like a Box Brownies, these Ultimate Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies, or The World’s Fudgiest Homemade Brownies.
- Cake. Almost as good as caramel sauce on brownies is caramel sauce on cake. Drizzle some of this glorious confection over a slice of my Chocolate Mousse Cake, this Ultimate Layered Cookie Cake, or my Devil’s Food Cake.
- Cheesecake. Gosh, I love cheesecake. Maybe more than I love salted caramel sauce…but that’s beside the point. Combining the two is utter dessert heaven. Whip up my Chocolate Cheesecake With Cake Bottom, this New York Style Cheesecake, or The Ultimate Tiramisu Cheesecake and drizzle caramel sauce all over your slice.
- Ice cream. Spoon this dessert topping over a scoop of vanilla ice cream or my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream. You could even add it as a finishing touch to my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Pie, Oreo Brookie Ice Cream Cake, or this decadent S’mores Ice Cream Cake.
How Long Will Homemade Caramel Sauce Last?
Once the caramel sauce has cooled completely, seal it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge. It will stay good for up to two weeks.
More Sauce Recipes To Try
Adding a sauce to a dessert really takes it to the next level of deliciousness. It’s that perfect little flare that no one even knew they were missing. I encourage you to experiment with some of these other fabulous dessert sauces once you get this salted caramel one down.
Watch How It’s Made
Print
Easy Salted Caramel Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: about 1 1/4 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Easy Salted Caramel Sauce is about as simple as caramel sauce gets! It only uses 6 ingredients. Plus, it’s perfect for topping ice cream, brownies, or pretty much any other dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (207g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) water
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 to 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a medium to large sauce pan, combine the granulated sugar and water. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the butter and let it melt
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Stop whisking and don’t whisk at all during this part to help avoid crystallization. Allow to boil until the mixture turns a deep golden copper color, about 10-15 minutes, maybe longer depending on your stove. Keep an eye on it, but do not stir. If needed, you can occasionally tip the pan from side to side to help things cook evenly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add in the heavy whipping cream in a slow, steady stream. The caramel will bubbly up quite a bit, so be careful with this step. Whisk quickly and well as you add the cream, whisking until well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and half a teaspoon of salt and whisk to combine. Add additional salt to your desired saltiness.
- Allow the caramel sauce to cool. It will be fairly thin, but will thicken as it cools. Store it in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: – Full recipe
- Calories: 1604
- Sugar: 203.9 g
- Sodium: 1208.4 mg
- Fat: 89 g
- Carbohydrates: 204.1 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 256.5 mg
Categories
Adapted from Baker by Nature.
This recipe is easy and delicious. Is there a way to make it a bit thicker for a drip?
I can’t remember if I’ve already commented, but I’ve been using this recipe for a couple years now, and it’s amazing. I’ve gotten pretty good at making larger batches (harder than one would think) and EVERYBODY raves about. I only use about 1/8 tsp of salt (sodium conscious) and sometimes a Lil bit of vanilla bean. Amazing. Super vetted recipe, I’ve done a light blonde to a deep caramel, best results every time.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Awesome! Glad you enjoy it and thank you for sharing!
This turned out delicious! Made an apple crisp and thought a little Carmel sauce would be a good topper. I was kind of leery, but it was easy. Only issue was when adding the cream do it at the side and whisk on the side – that steam was painful! You warned us, but I just poured it in the middle like an idiot. Great recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I do love this recipe!! I make it 3 or 4 times a month! Tonight I made it and while it was cooling I fell asleep. It was on the stove, off the heat for 5-6 hours. Do I need to throw it away and make a new batch?
I’m glad you enjoy it! Are you worried it went bad? If so, it’s fine. No need to make a new batch.
Super easy & tastes absolutely delicious! Best recipe I have come across so far for salted caramel!
So glad you enjoyed it!
so I made this before it was amazing! I tried to make it today and omg it went wrong? I use double cream instead of whipping cream? is this why it didnt work? am left with sugar syrup with butter and double cream? can I save it? or throw away?
It sounds like there wasn’t much color to your sauce, which means that the sugar-water mixture didn’t cook for long enough. I’m not sure if cooking it more at this point would help it. I don’t think so.
My go to recipe for caramel! I can’t believe how easy and simple it is and how amazingly delicious it turns out! Goes good on so many things, apple crisp, cheesecake, ice cream or for dipping apple. My family is obsessed!
Glad you enjoy it!
I made this as a topping for a cheesecake, it didnt turn brown and I let it cook for over 20 min, it also seems to have crystals in it, once you have cooked it and it didnt turn brown, can you try to cook it again with the whipping cream in it to see if it would resemble a caramel color. Thank you,
Did you happen to double it or anything? It may take longer to brown if you did, but otherwise I’m not sure why that would happen unless there was something off about an ingredient.
I tried this recipe for the first time. I’ve never made caramel before so this is the first time doing it and it turned out amazingly well! It was like a liquid form of those caramel hard candies. It tasted divine! And with a bit of patience turned out really well! Thanks for this recipe will be adding this to my black book of deliciousness!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is amazing. I’ve tried other ones before and failed miserably when the caramel burnt, but this was perfect! I added it as a sauce topping to ice cream with apple cake…perfect! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Could i make this with regular cream instead of heavy whipping cream
Heavy whipping cream has a higher fat content so it’s going to produce a thicker and creamier sauce. You can use regular cream but the sauce may be a little thinner.
Made this recipe and it was delicious and easy easy! Will definitely make again!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Can I substitute the heavy whipping cream with evaporated milk?
I haven’t tried it to be able to say.
I have to say I really underestimated myself when it came to making this. I thought I’d fail, and I surely did not. This is such a simple recipe! So far I’ve made it twice and used it for caramel apple cupcakes and caramel apple pie. My husband even loves to dip his apple slices in it, and it’s hard to get him to eat anything sweet so I call that a win. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it!
Can you use this recipe to dip whole apples?
No, caramel for dipping apples is thicker
I’ve never made caramel before, but wanted some for a thanksgiving dessert, and WOW. Was floored when I tasted it because it tasted like… caramel! Delicious and easy to follow instructions.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I want to make this for a Christmas bazaar, is there a way to make it last longer than 2 weeks?
Well, it can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Love it! It was so good with my upside down banana cake. My kids have it over ice cream
So glad you enjoyed it!