Salted caramel sauce is easy and quick to make, and it is the perfect way to elevate your desserts. Sweet, salty, rich and creamy, this five ingredient caramel sauce is a must-have recipe!
It’s one of those toppings that works on an incredible variety of desserts. Pair it with apples and pears in the fall, drizzle it over chocolate desserts, or add it to your ice cream.
However you use this salted caramel sauce, you’re sure to love it!
I’m into everything salted caramel these days. I adapted my original caramel sauce recipe adding a little Fleur de Sel. However, you can substitute the fancier salt with cracks of sea salt if you wish. Either way, you won’t regret it!
Salted caramel sauce is decadent, creamy, and honestly… a little too easy to make. Don’t judge me if I eat it right off the spoon, okay?
I love caramel – so much so, that I’ve brought you some fabulous caramel toppings, icings, frostings and more! Don’t skip caramel icing, salted caramel frosting, and these fabulous caramel rolls.
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Why You’ll Love this Salted Caramel Sauce
- Easy to Make
- Only Five Ingredients
- Perfect as a Dessert Topping
- Keeps well
What is Fleur de Sel?
Fleur de sel is a type of salt that forms on the surface of seawater. It is more delicate and less salty than regular table salt and with less bitterness. f you don’t have fleur de sel, you can substitute it with freshly cracked sea salt.
It’s a French sea salt, hand harvested with a higher mineral complexity. It is available at specialty cooking stores, including Williams Sonoma.
Salted Caramel Sauce Ingredients
- Brown Sugar – The molasses in brown sugar makes this caramel sauce come to life!
- Heavy Cream – For pure decadence and the creamy consistency of this salted caramel sauce.
- Butter – Butter is a necessity for caramel sauce!
- Fleur de Sel – Or any type of cracked salt.
- Vanilla Extract – Use the best quality vanilla extract you can find, or make your own homemade vanilla extract if you’re up for it!
How to Make Salted Caramel Sauce
It takes just a few minutes to make this salty caramel sauce
- In a saucepan over medium-low, combine brown sugar, cream, butter and salt.
- Whisk as directed, until it thickens.
- Add vanilla and continue to whisk for another minute. Remove from heat and allow to thicken before serving.
Tips
- One of the keys to making this sauce so smooth is to warm all ingredients together slowly so that there isn’t a temperature gap (which encourages curdling).
- Continually whisk the sauce as it heats up.
- The recipe is easily doubled to make a bigger batch.
Halving, doubling or tripling a recipe? Use this Measurement Conversion Chart. Need a Baking Substitution? We’ve got a guide to those, too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Once the caramel syrup cools, it will thicken, so don’t worry if you think it is too thin. If, once it has cooled you still find it too thin, you could reheat it for slightly longer. If it is too thick, you can stir in a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream.
This delicious sweet and salty sauce will keep for up to two weeks. Once it has fully cooled, transfer it to a clean and sealable glass gar and keep it refrigerated.
It’s perfect to make ahead of time if you are planning a dinner party and great to keep in the fridge to effortlessly elevate a dessert.
Serving Suggestions
How to Store
- Room Temperature – You can leave this salted caramel sauce at room temperature for up to two hours. After that, it must be refrigerated.
- Refrigerator – This easy salted caramel sauce keeps refrigerated for two weeks. Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
Dietary Considerations
- Nut Free
- Gluten Free
- Vegetarian
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More Dessert Toppings
Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoon butter
- ¼ teaspoon fleur de sel or 8+ cracks of large salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium-low, combine brown sugar, cream, butter and salt.
- Whisk for five minutes as it thickens.
- Add vanilla and continue to whisk for another minute. Remove from heat and allow to thicken before serving. Refrigerate to store.
Tips
Tips
- One of the keys to making this sauce so smooth is to warm all ingredients together slowly so that there isn’t a temperature gap (which encourages curdling).
- Continually whisk the sauce as it heats up.
- The recipe is easily doubled to make a bigger batch.
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
Good morning. I made this caramel sauce last night and then warmed it up in a glass jar in a pot with water to kind of double boil it so the caramel can soften up. Last night my caramel was very smooth and gorgeous this morning when double double it at simmer the caramel is now kind of crystallized. How do I fix that?
Hi Jasmine!
I’ve never had that happen, but I bet if you add a little more liquid to it (milk or water) you might be able to get those crystals to dissolve.
I hope that helps- enjoy!
Julie
Hello, thanks for this recipe. Please how much does this yield in terms of cups? It only says 12 servings
Hi Annie! I’d estimate about 1 cup but have never measured it.