My Homemade Caramel Sauce tastes perfectly buttery, smooth, and sweet with a hint of salt. It’s irresistibly good, and even better, the recipe is simple with just 5 ingredients and no thermometer required. With my tips below, you’ll be whipping up a batch of salted caramel like a pro!
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Helpful Reader Review
“Never thought I would be able to make it like the picture. It turned out better than I thought it would. Absolutely delicious, creamy, it’s perfect. Thanks for the easy recipe. “ – Rosalind ★★★★★
Homemade Caramel Sauce
I published this recipe years ago, but I have updated it to be more foolproof and authentic. What I love most about this caramel sauce recipe is that it’s a true caramel sauce. If you prefer the original version, I have (more accurately) filed it under Butterscotch Sauce.
If you’ve ever shopped for caramel sauce at the grocery store and had a difficult time finding one without mystery “natural flavors” and corn syrup as the primary ingredient, this recipe is for you! It’s simple to make with only 5 basic ingredients and tastes amazing–better than anything at the store!
It’s so delicious, you’ll want to drizzle it on everything. Use it to dip Apples, and drizzle over countless desserts like my Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Pie, hot or Iced Coffee, ice cream… You name it! This is such a versatile sauce, and it keeps well in the refrigerator.
Caramel Sauce Ingredients
I suggest avoiding substitutions, since it’s perfectly balanced to prevent crystallization.
- Granulated sugar – melting white sugar slowly with water makes the base of the caramel sauce.
- Unsalted butter – cut into cubes. Make sure your butter is at room temperature since cold butter can break the sauce! European butter has a higher fat content and less water, which can make the sauce better and easier to make. I love Kerrygold butter.
- Heavy cream – warm before adding to keep the sauce from sputtering and breaking.
- Vanilla extract – Use Homemade Vanilla Extract or store-bought.
- Salt – cuts the sweetness to create an irresistible salted caramel flavor. You can add it to taste.
How to Make Caramel Sauce
The key to a successful homemade caramel sauce is to dissolve the sugar before simmering and not to stir at any point. This can flick sugar granules onto the sides of the pan, which will fall back into the mixture later and cause the whole thing to crystallize.
- Melt the sugar – Add the sugar to the bottom of a heavy-bottomed saucepan and shake the pan to distribute it evenly. Drizzle the water over the sugar and let it sit for a minute to fully moisten the sugar. DO NOT STIR – you don’t want sugar to get splashed on the sides of the pan. Set over medium-low heat and, without stirring, let the sugar dissolve completely until clear, about 5 minutes.
Pro Tip to Prevent Crystalization:
If you do see any sugar crystals at the edges, cover the pan with the lid for 30-60 seconds as it simmers; the steam will help wash the pan walls. If it does crystalize and firm up, add 2-3 Tbsp of hot water and stir until it melts again, then proceed.
- Simmer – Without stirring, bring to a simmer and increase to medium heat. When it starts to take on a little color, swirl the pan occasionally until it’s light amber or honey-colored (it takes about 5-8 minutes on my stove). Don’t let it brown too much, or it will taste bitter. As you swirl towards the end, any stray sugar crystals should dissolve.
Natasha’s Safety Tip:
Be careful not to touch or lick the hot utensils or the pan — melted sugar and caramel is scorching hot! Also, let the pan cool before washing it, then soak it in hot water to easily remove the caramel sauce.
- Add the butter – turn the heat to low, and whisk in half the butter. It will bubble vigorously. Once incorporated, stir in the rest of the butter. If it separates, remove the pan from the heat and stir until it comes together.
- Add the cream – while whisking, drizzle the warm cream into the pan (it will bubble up) and whisk until smooth (or 220°F), then remove the pan from the heat. Make sure you DO NOT add cold cream, or it may splatter.
- Finish with vanilla and salt – Whisk vanilla and salt to taste into the caramel off the heat.
- Cool and store – It will thicken in consistency as it cools, so let the caramel cool for a few minutes before using. Store cooled caramel in jars in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
How to Fix Crystalized Caramel Sauce?
I’ve had my fair share of crystallized caramel batches in developing the perfect recipe, so hopefully my tips above will prevent it for you. If it does look crystallized and seized at any point (see photo below), don’t worry! To fix siezed caramel: Add 2-4 Tbsp hot water to the separated mixture, and then reheat over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and swirl the pan to capture any remaining sugar crystals.
My Caramel is Liquid – is that Normal?
The caramel will be more liquid and drizzling consistency when it is still hot/warm and will thicken as it cools. After refrigeration, it will become very thick and will hold its shape on a spoon. Reheating it on the stovetop or in the microwave will loosen it up again.
How to Serve Caramel Sauce
I wasn’t kidding when I told you this homemade caramel sauce was versatile, so here is a long list of ideas, and I’m just scratching the surface!
- Caramel apples or dip for sliced apples
- Apple Turnovers (inside or out)
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Baked Apples
- Caramel French Toast
- Caramel Corn Pops Treats
- Churros Dip
- Mini Cheesecakes topping
- Crepes
- Apple Crisp Drizzle
- Pumpkin Waffles topping
- Apple Pancakes topping
- Affogato
- Banoffee Pie
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Cheesecake drizzle
- Sourdough Dutch Baby
- Dutch Apple Pie drizzle
My easy homemade caramel sauce recipe tastes amazing on top of so many desserts and dishes! It’s simple to make and tastes so much better than anything at the grocery store. Mix up a batch to keep on hand, and then tell me in the comments how you use your caramel sauce!
P.S. If you preferred my original sauce, check out my Butterscotch Sauce recipe.
Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened at room temperature, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, warm
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sea salt, or add to taste
Instructions
- Melt the sugar – Add the sugar to the bottom of a heavy-bottomed saucepan and shake the pan to distribute it evenly. Drizzle the water over the sugar and let it sit for a minute to fully moisten the sugar. DO NOT STIR – you don't want sugar to get splashed on the sides of the pan. Set over medium-low heat and, without stirring, let the sugar dissolve completely until clear, about 5 minutes. The mixture should be clear, and the sugar fully dissolved before it simmers.
- Simmer – Without stirring, bring to a simmer and increase to medium heat. If you see crystals on the sides of the pan, cover with lid for 30-60 seconds. When the caramel starts to take on a little color, swirl the pan occasionally until it's light amber or honey-colored (about 5-8 minutes). Don't let it brown too much, or it will taste bitter. As you swirl towards the end, any stray sugar crystals should dissolve.
- Add the butter – Reduce the heat to medium-low and carefully whisk in half of the softened butter cubes, then stir in the rest. The mixture will bubble vigorously — that’s normal. Keep whisking until the butter is fully incorporated. If it separates, remove from the heat and whisk until it comes together.
- Add the cream – Slowly stream in the warm cream while whisking constantly. Again, it will bubble up and steam. Keep whisking until smooth, then remove from heat.
- Finish with vanilla + salt – Turn off the heat and whisk in vanilla and salt. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
- Cool and store – Let cool slightly before using. It will thicken up quite a bit as it cools. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It firms up when refrigerated. Re-warm gently to drizzle.
Notes
- Do Not Stir – Stirring the sugar and water mixture can cause sugar crystals to stick to the pan walls. If those fall back into the pan later, it can “seed” the whole pan and crystallize your caramel. Also, let the sugar fully dissolve and turn clear before simmering. Be patient.
- Even Heating – use a heavy-bottomed saucepan (avoid non-stick pans) for even heat distribution and avoid temperature swings (add room-temperature or warm ingredients as directed).
- Don’t Rush It – Patience is key at every step. Don’t rush this with higher heat, or it can crystallize.
- Use a Lid – If you see sugar crystals at the edges of the pot at the simmering step, cover with a lid for 30-60 seconds; the steam will help wash the pan’s walls.
- Swirl occasionally – as soon as you start to see some color developing, gentle swirling helps to distribute color evenly and helps clear any remaining sugar flakes from the surface and walls.
- Use warm cream so it doesn’t splatter, separate, or burst, which can happen if you add cold liquid to a blazing-hot caramel sauce.
- European butter has a higher fat content and less water, which can make the sauce better and easier to make. I love Kerrygold butter.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Homemade Dessert Sauces
Dessert toppings, like my homemade caramel sauce, just taste better when made from scratch–and they are easy! Try these next:
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!