Vegan Caramel Sauce
Learn how to make caramel without cream or butter. This homemade vegan caramel sauce recipe is the best and it’s so easy to make! By using condensed coconut milk and brown sugar, you get a thick and silky dulche de leche caramel sauce that’s salted to perfection.
Why I love this dairy free caramel
I’ve been dying to make over my salted caramel recipe since we went dairy free, and just in time for apple season. I can’t wait to drizzle this stuff over my favorite apple crisp.
I’m even plotting ways to serve it for breakfast. I’m thinking either a salted caramel sticky bun version of my vegan cinnamon rolls, but we’ll see.
Compared to traditional caramel sauce, this recipe is actually more of a dulche de leche, but I’ve never had success making vegan caramel any other method, so this is the one I’ll be sticking to from now on.
The results are nothing short of amazing. The caramel is smooth and silky with a perfectly sweet – and salty if you want it – flavor. It’s the vegan caramel of your dreams, I promise.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
Equipment
Ingredients:
- Sweetened condensed coconut milk – There are several companies that make this, and I normally find it in the organic section at my grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can always make your own. This recipe would be option.
- Coconut milk – I’ve also used a can of regular coconut milk. You don’t want to swap this out for light coconut milk or the stuff you find in the refrigerated section. You want the full-fat canned kind. My favorite brand is Aroy-D, but any brand should work.
How to make vegan caramel sauce
Mix the ingredients. Start by combining your ingredients in a large saucepan. Whisk them to combine and heat the pan to medium. Continue whisking until the sugar dissolves and the vegan butter melts.
Simmer the caramel. Let the caramel simmer on the stove over medium heat for about 20 minutes. This will slowly thicken the sauce and allow the water content to evaporate.
Let it cool. After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the burner and stir in the vanilla extract. Then transfer the caramel sauce to a heat safe container, like a mason jar or glass container, to cool.
This will take some time, and the caramel – particularly the oils from the coconut milk – needs that time to thicken. Coconut is super temperature sensitive and takes a while to re-solidify after being heated, so if it seems too thin, don’t panic. It will get there.
FAQS and tips for making salted caramel sauce
Yes. Sweetened condensed coconut milk is available at most grocery stores, usually in the organic/natural section. If you can’t find it, you can also make your own.
This vegan caramel is made from sugar, coconut milk and vegan butter. I’ve also added some vanilla extract and kosher salt for added flavor.
This recipe would be great with:
More sauce recipes you’ll love:
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 11- ounce can sweetened condensed coconut milk
- 1 15- ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter (or coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, coconut milks, vegan butter and salt in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat.
- Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
- Bring the mixture to a low boil (medium-high heat) and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the caramel sauce has thickened.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Transfer to a mason jar or other storage container.
I love this recipe, thanks for sharing. I want to try it 🙂
Salted caramel sauce is one of the greatest little pleasures in life! Gorgeous photography.
one of my favorite dessert sauces!
Delicious, I made it for the first time today. Note: If you don’t use coarse sea salt, use less salt.
Does it harden when you put it on nice cream(non-dairy ice cream)??
It will definitely get more solid, but if you warm it up before adding it, you should be good.
Can I use simple cream instead of double cream? What difference would it make? Thank you.
Yes, you definitely can! It will just have a slightly thinner consistency. 🙂
Yum! Very good! How long will it stay good in the refrigerator?
At what point is it supposed to thicken? Is it supposed to boil over?
Hi Courtney! Coconut oil is very temperature sensitive, so it will seem really thin while it’s hot. It will thicken when it cools. It shouldn’t boil over at any point. Hope it works out for you ok!
A new Canadian Thanksgiving tradition! Awesome on apple pie and thinking a drizzle on the pumpkin cheesecake won’t be a bad thing, either!
It would be really great on pumpkin cheesecake! I’m glad you liked it 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
How do you store it and how long will it keep?
We haven’t made it in forever since we’re dairy free now, but I would keep it no longer than 2 weeks in a mason jar or any airtight container.
How long does the vegan caramel sauce last in the fridge?
It should be good for at least a week!
I did everything but it will not thicken
You really need to let it cool completely before it will thicken.
Question: Does it taste more like caramel using the vegan butter over coconut oil? Which one is tastier?
I am so excited to make this for my husband to drizzle on his dairy free carrot cake. Do you think it would go well together?
One of your replies states that you haven’t made it in forever since you are now dairy free. Isn’t this a dairy free recipe?
Also, would it work for the caramel sauce in baked oatmeal caramel bars?
I just used to make it with dairy. I can’t say for sure how it will work in a baked recipe. I’d have to really take a look at it to decide if it would work.
Is there much of a coconut taste in this recipe?
Can I use white sugar?
No. Brown sugar is need since we aren’t actually caramelizing it.
This is an amazing recipe! Its relatively
easy to make,, and it freezes nicely too!! I top my homemade french Cannele’ with this topping. My friends and family love it! Thank you for sharing it!
This recipe is garbage. It took hours to thicken and it was only because I had to essentially freeze it. This is not as “simple” as the author wants to sell it as. Make real caramel and take a lactaid.
I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but we are a completely dairy free website so taking a lactase pill isn’t an option for most of our readers. I specifically stated in the article that coconut oil is very temperature sensitive and takes a while to cool enough to the point of being thick.
How long does this keep? I’m assuming just in an air tight container in the fridge is the best storage method? Thank you!
This is a greT recipe! I use the sauce on my French Cannele’. My clients at the farmer’s market love it! Thank you!!
i followed the directions exactly and it boiled over, never thickened after half an hour, and completely separated after cooling
It takes a lot longer than a half hour for it to cool down. Like I said in the post, coconut milk is very temperature sensitive and can remain liquid for a long time. Usually, it takes a few hours, or even overnight for it to thicken up again.
This is terrific, super simple. I shared this with my daughter’s an my niece. Thank you so much.
Your recipe looks amazing! I just made vegan caramel sauce yesterday using another recipe and it thickened up nicely, but the flavor only vaguely resembles caramel. I am low sugar also so I prefer to use a healthier sugar like coconut sugar or muscovado. I hope it works with your recipe! Although here in the Philippines, I have never seen sweetened condensed coconut milk before. Thanks for sharing!