Salted Caramel Sauce

Yield: 1 c. salted caramel sauce // Total Time: 15 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.

This salted caramel sauce is smooth, rich, and the perfect blend of salty and sweet. All you need to make this recipe is 5 simple ingredients and 15 minutes! My personal favorite use for this caramel is for iced coffees, but it is perfect for a sundae topping, these carmelitas, or just eating by the spoonful.

Salted caramel sauce

This salted caramel sauce is seriously one of my favorite side recipes, I make it all the time. It really is perfect for iced coffee, sundae’s, carmelitas, and eating by the spoonful. It also keeps super well in the freezer (thanks to all of the butter and cream – the good stuff!) The salt provides such a perfect balance to the sweetness that is caramel and makes it seriously delicious. All you need is five simple ingredients that you may already have on hand: granulated sugar, heavy whipping cream, butter, salt, and vanilla. Plus if you start now, you can have delicious salted caramel sauce in just 15 minutes!

Salted caramel sauce recipe tips

Weigh your ingredients

Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient. In a small batch recipe it is especially important to get those correct measurements because there is less room for error. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out!

Room temperature ingredients

It is important that the ingredients in this recipe are at room temperature so that they all incorporate properly with one another. Take out the butter and heavy cream at least 30 minutes before starting the recipe. If you don’t have room temperature ingredients, you’ll run the risk of the caramel forming a large and hard clump. If you are in a hurry and need some tricks to getting room temperature ingredients quickly, you can check out this post here!

Watch out for steam!

In order for the sugar to fully caramelize, it has to reach 360°F / 182°C. When we add in the butter and cream, lots of steam comes up from the sauce since the mixture is so hot. Use a long whisk and stay back to be sure to not hurt yourself while adding in the butter and cream!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Granulated sugar: the base of the caramel

Unsalted butter: helps make the caramel smooth and velvety. You can swap in salted butter for the unsalted if that is what you have on hand, just be careful when adding additional salt. I would recommending adding in the extra salt 1/4 tsp. at a time and tasting to make sure it does not end up too salty!

Heavy whipping cream: helps smooth out the caramel so it doesn’t completely harden up when cooled.

Salt: the perfect balance to the sweetness of the caramel.

Vanilla bean paste: I love using vanilla bean paste because you get to see those nice vanilla bean speckles without paying the crazy cost of vanilla beans. However, you can do a 1:1 swap with vanilla extract. I used this vanilla bean paste.

How to make salted caramel sauce

1. Caramelize the sugar. Add the sugar to a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Occasionally stir the sugar until all of it has melted and turned amber in color.

2. Add in the butter. Whisk the sliced butter until all of the butter has completely melted and combined with the sugar. You may have a layer of butter that looks like it’s not combining with the rest of the sugar, that is fine as long as you don’t have any full chunks of butter left!

3. Remove from the heat. Remove the caramel from the heat. While constantly whisking, slowly stream in the cream until all of it has been incorporated.

4. Add in the vanilla and salt. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Taste to adjust salt levels as desired!

5. Cool, serve, and enjoy! Cool the caramel in the fridge to allow it to thicken up before using. Keep the caramel stored in the fridge, or in the freezer for longer term storage. Enjoy!

Salted caramel sauce Q & A

Can I double this salted caramel sauce?

Definitely! Simply double all of the ingredients, or even triple them, for a large batch of salted caramel sauce.

Can I make this without salt?

Certainly! If you’re not a huge fan of salted caramel, but are a big fan of caramel sauce feel free to omit the added salt from the recipe. I will say that salt doesn’t only make things salty, but really brings out the flavor and sweetness of any food or baked good. Therefore I recommend at least adding 1/8 tsp. of salt to this recipe. If you are looking for just a hint of saltiness, you can try making this caramel with salted butter, or adding in 1/8 tsp. salt at a time until you’re happy with the taste.

How to store salted caramel sauce

Because this caramel is made with cream, it must be stored in the fridge. In the fridge it will keep well for 1 week. For longer term storage, you can freeze this caramel for up to 3 months. It keeps quite well in the freezer, great for if you want to make a large batch and have caramel any time!

Why do you measure in grams?

My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!

Tools and ingredients

For a full list of tools, equipment and ingredients that I use and love, you can check out this page here.

Did you make this salted caramel sauce?

If you made this salted caramel sauce I would love to see it and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!

Salted Caramel Sauce

Print Recipe

Rich, smooth, and flavorful salted caramel sauce

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword caramel, easy, fast, salted caramel, sauce

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Servings 1 cup

Ingredients

• 200 g granulated sugar (1 c.)
• 56 g unsalted butter room temperature (¼ c.)
• 130 g heavy whipping cream room temperature (5 oz.)
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

• Add the sugar to a medium sized saucepan set over medium heat. Stir ocasionally until the sugar begins to melt and caramelize, then stir constantly until the sugar is completely melted, caramelized, and smooth.
• Add in the butter and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
• Take the mixture off of the heat, and slowly whisk in the heavy cream until it is completely incorporated into the caramel. Whisk in the salt and vanilla.
• Allow the caramel to cool down in the fridge to thicken up before serving. Serve, and enjoy!