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This caramel sauce recipe is so simple, you’ll never want store-bought again! There are only 5 all-natural ingredients that all go into the pot at once and then you whisk until it’s thickened to your liking. How easy is that?! You’ll learn how to make caramel sauce in no time!
I’ve been disappointed many times looking for caramel that didn’t have high fructose corn syrup, or artificial colors and flavors, or other ingredients I couldn’t pronounce. It’s crazy! This caramel recipe is not just easy, but it tastes amazing. Nothing beats homemade caramel sauce!
I learned how to make caramel sauce from Pioneer Woman years ago and have been making this salted version ever since! The little bit of salt in this recipe balances the flavors perfectly so don’t skip it! There’s a reason why salted caramel is “a thing.”
Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar, packed
4 Tbsp unsalted butter*
1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
1/2 cup half and half (or use equal parts heavy cream and milk)
1 Tbsp real vanilla extract
*If using salted butter, cut the salt to 1/2 tsp or add it to taste.
To make the Easiest Salted Caramel Sauce:
1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over low heat, whisking constantly or until thickened and no longer watery (6-9 minutes). Keep in mind it thickens more as it cools.
P.S. That’s homemade vanilla extract you see up there. You only need to ingredients for it – so easy! It also makes for a great homemade gift!
Can I Make Caramel Sauce Ahead?
Homemade caramel sauce can easily be made ahead and we love keeping a jar in the refrigerator. Caramel sauce is great served warm, at room temperature or chilled with refrigeration. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 2 weeks. You can warm it slightly to make it more drizzle-able.
P.S. Be careful with the sampling – It’s easy to get carried away!
What Causes Caramel Sauce to be Grainy?
Sugar crystallization can cause a grainy caramel sauce giving your caramel sauce a rough consistency. To prevent this, use a pastry brush moistened with water to brush down the sides of your saucepan if any sugar is present on the sides of the pan. Also, avoid any ingredient substitutions.
To Fix a Grainy Caramel Sauce:
To fix a caramel that separates or a grainy caramel sauce, you want to add a little water (1 to 2 Tbsp), bring it to a boil, and re-dissolve the crystalized sugar. Once it’s smooth again, remove it from heat.
⬇Print-Friendly Caramel Sauce Recipe:
Easy Caramel Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, *
- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 cup half and half, or use equal parts heavy cream and milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small/medium saucepan and simmer over low heat, whisking constantly or until thickened and no longer watery (6-9 min). Keep in mind it thickens more as it cools. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 2 weeks. You can re-warm it slightly to make it more drizzle-able.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
We love this homemade caramel sauce over our pumpkin cheesecake, vanilla ice cream, over baked apples, and the mini cheesecakes I will post later this week, and everything we can possibly put caramel over ;).
I was excited to find such an easy recipe, but it was honestly too good to be true. It was still much too thin after over maybe 15 minutes of stirring and slaving over that pot. After cooling it didn’t thicken much more at all, and didn’t taste much like caramel. It was still somewhat tasty though, hence the three stars. Maybe it was something i did, but i wouldn’t really recommend this recipe.
Hi, did you make sure to measure accurately? Make sure with the brown sugar that you pack it into the cup. When it comes out of the cup, it should keep the form of the measuring cup and that is how you know you have enough. Also, be sure to use half and half and not plain milk.
hii Natasha,
can i use half light brown sugar and half white sugar?
Hi Amirah, I haven’t tested it that way but I imagine it would be lighter in color.
Thanks Natasha
hi Natasha,
made your caramel sauce recipe to go with your mini cheesecake recipe the caramel sauce was so DELICIOUS it was salty and sweet it was so balanced LOVE IT!!!!
Thank you Natasha.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that! This is our go-to and the most favorite caramel sauce!
Hi Natasha! Can we use dark brown sugar? That’s all I have in my pantry 🙁
I haven’t tried that yet but I imagine it should be alright. Please update us and let us know how it goes if you try it!
Hi I was just wondering would I be able to just use regular whipping cream instead of the half and half?
Hi Sage, you can use 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream to replace the 1/2 cup of half and half.
Thank you for clarifying!!! Salted caramel is one of my favorite cheesecakes. I can’t wait to try this!!!
Is there a way to replace the half and half without using heavy whipping cream?
Hi Lucy, you can use regular whipping cream instead of the half and half and you will have a slightly thicker caramel sauce which will still work great
Is it possible to use milk and butter to replace that
I haven’t tested that specifically to advise. If you do test that I recommend trying a small batch first.
Hi Natasha
Thank you so much for the reply. My friend actually made a Youtube video making chocolate cupcakes with a salted Caramel frosting and she also made your caramel sauce. We used milk and butter as a substitute and it turned out great! I’ll comment the video link when it comes out
Sounds good, Lucy! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
This is the best, easiest caramel sauce! I am so happy to have found a caramel sauce recipe with a great ingredient list!
A little patience goes a long way with this. But trust me, keep stirring for a bit until it’s cooled, and it will thicken to a beautiful, silky smooth caramel with a beautiful color!
I layered this over a pumpkin cheesecake, and it was amazing!! Luckily I saved the extra to be able to add to some other goodies here soon.
Thank you so much for sharing this awesome review with us, Kelly! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Have been whisking the carmel sauce on the stove for 20 min and it won’t thicken. Used the exact recipe.
Hi Heather, I suggest whisking constantly or until thickened and no longer watery (6-9 minutes). Keep in mind it thickens more as it cools. Also to make it thicker, cook the sauce longer. As more of the liquid evaporates, it will thicken. Was anything changed or altered in the recipe to further troubleshoot?
Hi natasha que i use the carAmel sauce to filling chocolate cake .
It doesn’t get hard whe is in the fridge.
Thanks
Hi Fanny, This caramel sauce may be a little thin for certain recipes – it won’t fully harden and dry as caramel candies would, although it will if you cooked it longer, but I still think it would be sticky to the touch.
This turned out perfect. Yum! it was hard to tell when it was done. After about 9 min. it seemed quite runny so I turned up the heat and bubbled it for about 1/2 min. Since I recently made another caramel sauce recipe and scorched it I was a little hesitant. it still seemed runny but once it cooled it was perfect. I’m going to drizzle over a slice of gingerbread loaf. Thank you. So easy and now I feel like a pro! P.S. I am not a good cook.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Trish!
Hi Natasha, I tried your sauce and it was both easy and great. Technically it’s not caramel, you just make use of the caramel taste of cane sugar, but that’s what makes it easy breezy. It tastes like caramel + butterscotch and that’s great! Thank you, Didi
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
what’s a substitute for heavy cream???
Hi Amirah, you can use regular whipping cream instead of the half and half and you will have a slightly thicker caramel sauce which will still work great
This is the most DELICIOUS caramel sauce I’ve ever tasted! Caramel is my favorite desert topping, and this is unbelievably easy and tasty. The only problem is how easy it is to eat by the spoonful! Try it in coffee with some milk for a caramel latte!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I loved this! It was absolutely delicious! But the problem with mine was that it was very thick and it basically cooled into a caramel candy instead of a sauce. I was wondering about what I might have done wrong? Thanks!
Hi Sharon, was anything altered in the recipe? I’m curious if it was possibly cooked down too much?
I made the sauce yesterday, it was absolutely perfect, the taste is like no other. Cooled put in fridge, took it out, put on cheesecake, it was grainy. Why? Is there anything I can do to correct this now? It still tastes awesome but I don’t like the graininess.
Hi Stella, I haven’t had it turn grainy on me so I wonder if any substitutions were made. I highly recommend making the recipe as directed before making any modifications or substitutions. Also, make sure to pack the brown sugar – you’ll know it’s packed adequately when you empty it from the cup and it holds its shape.
This happened to me the first time and it was caused by overcooking.
Hey Natasha, can I just use milk instead of using half and half?
Hi McKenna, I haven’t tested it with milk but you can use 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream to replace the 1/2 cup of half and half.
Hi 🙂 Can i use vegetable oil or any flavorless oil instead of butter?
Hi Rahima, I honestly haven’t tried it with oil so I can’t say for sure how it would work. Sorry I wish I could give you more information.
Best sauce ever! It tastes more like butterscotch but is the best sauce in history. I will never use another recipe again!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed this recipe, Sophie! That’s so great!
Hi Natasha,
How long does this keep in the fridge?
Hi Jess, you can refrigerate up to 2 weeks.
Ha-ha! About 5 minutes, because you can’t stop dipping a finger in it every time you open the fridge!
The best caramel sauce ever! I love everything caramel and this is by far the best. So tasty!
Also, my 4 year old daughter loves your videos! She wants to be like Natasha:) thank you for recipe.
Aaw she is so sweet! Thank you for trying out this recipe and for giving an excellent review!
Hi Natasha, will this recipe thicken enough to set – so you could have it as a layer on millionaires shortbread say? Thanks
Hi, it does firm up in the refrigerator. It might be slightly soft for layering millionaires shortbread but could still work. Let me know if you experiment.
Thank you and will do!
It was very easy to make but I think I overcooked it a bit because it got quite thick after taking it off the heat. I timed it for 9 minutes after it started to simmer. Is there any way to loosen it now?
Hi Candy, if the caramel sauce is too thick and you want it thinner, while it is on the heat, stir in 1-2 Tbsp of heavy cream to thin it out.
awesome !! can i use this recipe as donut filling?
Hi Miriam, that sounds like a delicious idea! I haven’t tested that but it may work! If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Love this recipe. So yummy on EVERYTHING. Made this multiple times since discovering it. I end up storing in 2 mason jars so that it doesn’t get too grainy when microwave to drizzle on things like ice cream, cake etc. (It went perfect on top of your medovik cake!) And sometimes (ah-hem, like everyday), I just grab spoonful and go to town. Thank you for all of your fun videos!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review Elisabeth!