10-minute salted caramel sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce is quick, easier than you’d think, and comes together in just 10 minutes with 4 ingredients! It’s the perfect topping your favorite desserts and makes a lovely homemade holiday gift.

this recipe

Why you’ll love this Salted Caramel Sauce:

• 10 Minute Recipe – This Salted Caramel recipe takes just 10 minutes! Once you’ve made homemade caramel and you see how easy it is, you’ll never go back to store bought.
• Simple Ingredients – This recipe uses just 4 basic ingredients – butter, sugar, heavy cream, and salt.
• No Special Tools – You don’t need a candy thermometer!
• Incredibly Versatile – Add this magic elixir to ice cream sundaes, cakes, cobblers, cookies, and SO many desserts to amp them up! My favorite way to use it is on my Caramel Apple Galette.

Ingredient Overview:

As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).

• Granulated sugar – Use granulated sugar for best results. I haven’t tried this with other sugars. And, if you use brown sugar, you’ll end up with butterscotch, not caramel. See my Butterscotch Sauce Recipe if you want to make butterscotch!
• Butter – I always use salted butter for the best flavor, and I’ve made my salted caramel sauce with both unsalted and salted butter, and it’s MUCH better with salted. But, you can use unsalted butter if you prefer.
• Heavy Cream – Use full fat heavy cream for best results.
• Flaky Sea Salt – I love Maldon sea salt flakes, but you can use any similar brand. You can use a pinch of regular table salt if you can’t find flaky sea salt.

Recipe Substitutions & Variations:

• Dairy-free – I haven’t made this recipe dairy-free, but I think it could work well with your favorite trusted dairy-free butter sticks and dairy-free heavy cream.
• Gluten-free – This recipe is naturally gluten-free!
• Vanilla extract – Feel free to stir in 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract at the end of the recipe, along with the sea salt.

How to Make Salted Caramel Sauce:

Step 1: Cook the Sugar. Add the granulated sugar to a clean, dry saucepan. Cook over medium heat on the stovetop, stirring lazily with a wooden spoon as the sugar melts, until it’s completely broken down into a deep amber-colored liquid. 

As the sugar cooks, it will clump & melt (top right photo below). It’s almost ready in the bottom left photo, but there are still some clumps of sugar left that must melt before moving to the next step. 

Step 2: Add the Butter. Next, lower the burner to medium-low heat, and whisk the butter into the melted sugar. Some of it will may look a bit separated out from the caramel, but that’s fine. Mix it in the best you can, and move on.

Step 3: Add the Heavy Cream. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream. If the caramel sauce feels a bit clumpy or hard at this point, that’s fine.

It’s just the cold heavy cream solidifying a bit of the caramel – it’ll melt back down in a minute when we return the pan to the heat. 

Step 4: Finish the Caramel Sauce. Return the pot to the heat and cook over medium heat, letting the caramel get nice & bubbly, for a minute more. Then, stir in a pinch of flaky sea salt. This mixture will thicken as the caramel cools.  

Serving + Storing:

Allow caramel to cool for 10-15 minutes after cooking before using. Allow to cool down to room temperature before storing in a glass jar in the fridge. Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Caramel will become more solid in the fridge, and you’ll need to microwave it for 30 seconds or so before using.

This is truly the best salted caramel sauce! Use it to top any and all desserts (may I suggest my Caramel Apple Cider Cookies or Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake?) to take them up a notch.

It’s one of my favorite recipes to gift – pop it into a little jar with a ribbon for a beautiful homemade holiday gift. It’s better than any store-bought caramel, and it’s not sickly sweet like some caramel can be.

Expert Success Tips:

• Don’t Crank the Heat – Don’t be tempted to turn the heat higher to speed up the sugar melting. You’ll end up burning the liquid sugar before all the small lumps are out, which will result in a burnt tasting caramel. If this does happen, pour the hot molten sugar into a container you can toss and start again.
• Recipe Yield – When it comes to candy making, it’s typically not recommended that you double a recipe. I haven’t ever made a double batch of this, so I would err on the side of caution and say to make a few separate batches if you want more than 1 and 1/4 cups yield.
• Read the Recipe First – Salted caramel sauce is simple to make, but it helps to familiarize yourself with what to expect at each step before beginning, especially if this is your first time making it.

FAQs:

Special Tools:

• Mason Jars – A small mason jar with a ribbon tied on is the perfect way to gift this caramel. Affiliate link.

Recipes to Use Salted Caramel Sauce with:

• Dutch Caramel Apple Pie
• Best Ever 5-Ingredient Brownies
• Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
• Caramel Apple Turnovers
• Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with Rum Caramel
• Salted Caramel Apple Galette
• Homemade Apple Cider Donuts

---

---